Costa Rica- a small country but one teeming with life. So much so that even its motto ‘Pura Vida’ (meaning ‚pure life’) can be heard a good ten times over in any conversation with a Tico (a local Costa Rican). (It can also mean anything between “hi”, “how are you?”, “you’re welcome”,” have a good day”, and “goodbye”.)
Costa Rica has increasingly become one of the global hotspots, with flights booking up fast, and American and European tourists flocking in to catch a glimpse of the famous three-toed sloth, the two contrasting oceans, and a nation that offers eight completely different climate zones.
Of course, we wanted a piece of the action too, and were anxious to obtain a three-month visa at the border. Not only because of this wonderful reputation, or because we wanted to slow down (driving through four countries in one month certainly takes its toll on you), but because we actually desperately needed it. My (Abigail) passport was up for renewal and as the British Embassy fails to do this in any other country than her majesty’s, it was really important that we had the time to send it off and get it back, alongside the new one. Plus, our family from Switzerland were flying in to see us!
What if we were only granted a month like our Swiss friends, Mike and Anik recently were? How would we see our family then? Could we cross to Panama and then turn back? Would I have to fly back to the UK spending a fortune on flights to physically renew the passport? This was now our seventh border crossing and we have come to know that you have absolutely zero control over the number of days printed in that stamp. After all, the officers in Honduras only gave us nine days in their country for fear that we would be rejected in Nicaragua!
But what might be, may not be, and it was all Pura Vida in the end! We got our 90 days and drove directly to DHL the following day, making the next nerve-wracking step; sending off the British passport, the one and only proof there is of my granted entry here in Costa Rica- Eek!
Wild camping…Yay! Our second night in the country was spent taking advantage of the opportunity to camp for free again. Where the USA offers ample public land to overnight on, Mexico and the C4 countries do not. And across this territory, it is not always considered as being wise to do so either. So it had been a while and we were not wasting any time in crossing through that first river, parking up right by the riverbank and enjoying a night spent in pure nature, under a star-filled sky and a family of howler monkeys.
It was a nice change and not the only one since crossing the border. Costa Rica is called the Switzerland of the Americas and the prices certainly reflect that! Whilst getting excited about eating at KFC and Papa John’s in nearby Liberia our wallets were not. Pretty much everything in this country is set to rocket high prices and believe us, this is not just because the figures displayed on the labels are in their thousands! (Yes, the ‘Colon’ currency is also a complicated one). The gas stations too fail to advertise their prices- the first time we have ever witnessed this on our travels.
The three months to follow would require a bit of budgeting… at least the meat is still cheaper than that in Switzerland!
It’s birthday time! And we decided to spend my special day at Thermomania. Sounds like a theme park right? Well, Miravilla Volcano is responsible for the many hot bubbling waters that can be found in the area, and this resort provided four natural pools in addition to some good old artificial ones too. We had all the pools to ourselves and enjoyed being able to fire up the grill for some delicious pork and Dutch oven pineapple birthday cake.
Lake Arenal was up next, and as we drove down the rolling hills, scenes of Switzerland came to mind. Cows with bells grazed on green pastures, wind turbines were working at full speed and a clear blue lake glistened in the background. There was even a German bakery selling Thüringer Bratwurst and some good quality bread. We settled in right on the lake and would stay there for the following four nights. The weather was pretty consistent with the morning sunshine giving us time to enjoy the warm waters before the heavy rain ascended upon us in the afternoons. This wild camp was a popular one with a different set of Overlanders joining us each day. ‘Big Troopy Life’ from Belgium pulled up about an hour after our arrival with their bright yellow rig. We had met them two times previously in Central America, and Marion and Christof from Germany arrived the next day. They had just shipped their Toyota Hilux and were embarking on a new adventure. This by the way would not be the only time we were going to meet them.
We did try out Lake Arenal’s microbrewery and although the beer wasn’t anything to write home about, the burgers on the other hand were. Our Pennsylvania friends, Jim, Colleen and family (who we’d met in Nicaragua) were renting an Airbnb not far away, and kindly offered us to park outside for the night. Zoe was in her element as she joined in with their movie night, took part in some dance shows and had a bath!
It may be a while until we see another bathtub but hot bubbly water is never too far away and La Fortuna offered us all the chance for another soak, this time in the river. We were not alone in checking out this tourist attraction, but it was free, which is probably the one and only ‘gratis’ thing to do in the area. La Fortuna is expensive and you end up spending a fortune just doing your laundry. Did we really spend $50 on four bags of washing? Ouch! We should have planned that one better. I guess we needed that Piña Colada and beer at the Fusion restaurant after receiving this hefty bill. The fish tacos and burritos also softened the blow. Very scrumptious!
Monteverde with its famous cloud forest is another one of Costa Rica’s must-sees. We knew we’d be returning soon with our family, but as we were already in the area we thought we’d take a little sample. Sky bridges towered over our heads and tourists were zigzagging through the thick jungle on zip lines. Monteverde had it all. But to be honest, we were finding the large choice of activities and the expensive packages a little overwhelming. So we settled for a night at the Ranario museum instead. Learning all about the many frog species to be found in the country, knowledge that would later be put to good use. With $20 per adult, as many unlimited visits as we like to observe the frogs both in the day and at night, and a free night’s stay in the car park, we were very chuffed!
Time for the beach!
The pass down from Monteverde into the Nicoya peninsula was just beautiful. It wasn’t long until we saw views of the pacific ocean and the little islets that surround. We were excited to be camping on the sand again, body surfing the waves and exploring the sealife that comes along with it (after all it is called Costa Rica – Rich Coast), and playa Coyote did not disappoint! We couldn’t believe our luck when we parked up in between a bunch of coconut trees with a warm vibrant sun setting in the distance. It was stunning, and it appeared that for the next three nights, we’d only have the shells and sand dollars, red crabs, a few turtle corpses and their ravenous vultures to keep us company. Oh, and maybe a couple of fishermen, who after their catch of the day exchanged two fish for two beers!
The Nicoya Peninsula is one of the five blue zones of the world. Apparently, it is the state to grow old in with many people making it past 100 years. In actual fact, there are many well-known celebrities choosing to live there too. I guess Mel Gibson wants to try his luck at passing the centennial milestone.
As well as its beautiful coastline and bioluminescent waters (more about that later), inland Nicoya is very rugged. There are lots of farmland and many deep river crossings. We walked a few of them to test the depth, and ended up turning back around again at one of them. When the water reaches this 6ft girl’s thighs, then you know you’d be better off doing a u-turn!
We did make it to the eastern side of the peninsula and stayed at a lovely humble campsite in Paquera. There, we met honeymooners Philipp and Larissa. They were from Germany and had hired an overlanding rig from ‘Nomad America’ for the first days of their marriage. We enjoyed exchanging stories over some pork ribs and sharing our mutual yearning to see a sloth. Where were these creatures hiding?
And just as we said goodbye to one set of Germans, it was time to reunite with another; Die Podtschis. We had first met them in Guatemala with the Dinos. They are riding down south like us and pretty much at the same pace, but on bikes! They were also in Paquera, and we met up over a pizza and took a night trip into the bioluminescent bay.
These waters are magical! A simple movement in the ocean disturbs the algae in the water which out of defense will produce light. If you go when it is dark enough, the sea is supposed to glow neon blue and green. There are many kayak tours in the area that take you through this natural wonder. The five of us were not too keen on a kayak tour but did have a little nosy. We ended up parking at a locals house, who spontaneously and graciously stopped what he was doing to help us catch some of the action. It turned out that we were a little too early to see the spectacle but when we swam, each stroke was like a sprinkle of fairy dust! Sparkle, glitter and shine.
It was time to put Silverskin on a ferry again and sail to Puntarenas. We were heading to the capital to run some errands and collect our drone.
What were the chances of bumping into yet another overlanding couple, tucked away by a river just off a busy highway in San Jose, parked in thick mud on a very wet rainy evening? Well, in our overlanding world- quite high actually! In our tribe, we’re all using the iOverlander app, and just as we leveled up, a familiar green Mitsubishi camper pulled in- it was @Gatogoesglobal, Kilian and Marcia from the Netherlands, travelling with their cat ‘Binkie’.
Unfortunately, they’d not had a good run of events. They were also coming from the Nicoya Peninsula and were robbed. This was the third time it had happened on their trip through the Americas. Whilst checking out a wild camp for just 5 minutes, an opportunist didn’t mess around in breaking into their van. Even though they had locked their vehicle the thief had somehow managed to quickly steal their phones and wallets!
This, sadly, was not the first story we had heard about Costa Rica. @Big Troopy Life and Simon and Steffi from @Aufwilderfahrt also had similar stories to tell, and all on the Nicoya Peninsula. This was a great reminder to us that you really must keep those valuables on you at all times.
We really felt for Kilian and Marcia. They were so discouraged that they seriously considered quitting their trip and returning back to the Netherlands. Who can blame them after a huge break-in when shipping their vehicle to Mexico, an incident where they were surrounded by 10 thugs one morning (also in Mexico), and now this! You’ve got to hand it to them for their tenacity! There wasn’t much we could do, they’d efficiently rang the Dutch embassy, canceled their cards and arranged a bank transfer from Western Union. Our family would soon be arriving from Switzerland and could help a little with getting the new credit cards over. We hope they can then put these experiences behind them and we wish only the best for their future along the road.
For us, we journeyed on with extra caution. We were about to collect something of great value to us; our drone. Because of the ban on drones in Nicaragua, ours had taken an airplane from Guatemala to Costa Rica, with a guy called Mark, a Brit we’d spontaneously met at our leaving party there. And where do you think it ended up? No other than a butchers! The Carnicería Santa Catalina, in San Jose. This was of course the first of many visits to this wonderful meat haven, but more about that in our next post!
Thanks for reading and we’ll ‚meat‘ you guys around the world!
