Travel to Costa Rica: Pura Vida, Man!

Well, I’m back from our travels in Costa Rica!  In short, the trip totally exceeded my expectations (which okay, were set pretty high anyways). It was beautiful, soul-nourishing and immersed in a magic that is hard to describe. We met so many wonderful people and enjoyed some extremely delicious food. For those that are curious, I would like to share my experiences with this Central American gem.

 

Flying into any new location can be exhilarating but landing in San Jose at midnight was a particular adventure. For one thing, the city was barely distinguishable at night. In comparison to the sprawling cityscape of Mexico City, Alajuela was just a collection of scattered lights stitched into an inky black backdrop. It wasn’t until the next day I got to truly see Costa Rica and the sight was bewildering. By day, we were engulfed in a towering canopy of exotic trees and foggy mountains. Had they been there all along?  

It was a three hour drive to Manuel Antonio, where we stayed for the duration of our trip. With the exception of a few ventures to the nearby Quepos we spent most of our time roaming the one-car roads of this town that was hugged by the beach and rainforest in all directions. Along the way I saw graffiti on bridges, signs and scrawled across buildings: No Tan Rico. It translates to mean, not too rich and was a play on the country’s name: the Rich Coast in English. It wasn’t long before I saw evidence of the truth behind the graffiti, tin-roofed shantytowns dotting the roadside and people hustling their goods to any passing tourist with the desperation that kind of broke my heart.

However, one thing that quickly became evident was that most Costa Ricans were not only friendly but kind as well. Costa Rica’s charm isn’t just it’s people though but the spectacular explosion of flor y fauna that in habits this small country. On our daily hikes off our mountain-top hotel we would greet our friend, a peculiar three-toed sloth that hung cheerfully in the same spot for the entire time we were there.  

 But probably the most memorable of our companions were the cheeky mono titi (squirrel monkeys) that joined us every morning at breakfast. Without fail one of them would come up to my table, and chirp sweetly before trying to make a dash for my plate. It would have been annoying if they weren’t so sickeningly cute. 

Same goes for the Capuchin monkeys that ran across the rooftops. For awhile, I thought it was an upstairs neighbor or maybe someone was doing construction work until our cable went out and I went out on the patio to see this guy tugging at our television cable.

 The blue ropes are meant to help critters like monkeys and sloths safely cross the road. So cool!

Living in the rainforest for a week was a lot like going to the zoo. Only difference is that in Costa Rica it isn’t rare to be woken up at 400AM by the ear-piercing sound of a howler monkey outside your window. I can only describe it as a cross between a dying seal and a melt down alarm. Youtube it and share a wince with me.


Stay tuned for part II of my travels to Costa Rica and if you want to see more pictures of the trip be sure to check out my #travellingmermaid hashtag on instagram!