Costa Rica (Feb 2018)

Pura Vida – Costa Rica!!!
(For the list of wildlife that we had the pleasure to see, here is the link )

After some of our friends had visited Costa Rica in the past few years, we had been contemplating on when to do that. We planned the whole thing in a couple of months and did it. Turned out to be a wonderful trip. Costa Rica is interesting from several different points of view – promotion of eco-tourism, nestled between Nicaragua and Panama, without a military force, safest country in Central America, etc., Though Costa Rica is considered a poor country, it is not a cheap place for tourism. One can expect nothing less than the expenses in US.

Initially, we were planning to cover the Arenal, Monteverde and Manual Antonio areas, but after reading more about the Osa Peninsula, we decided to spend half the time in Osa and the rest in Arenal area, doing White Water rafting in-between. One lesson we learned – don’t bother getting Colon at the airport. Almost all the places in the country accept US dollars and the rate in the airport is at least 10% lower than the market price. One good thing is that they accept the remaining Colons at the same rate.

Day 1

Being a small country, most domestic flights are small 10-15 passenger aircraft and operate from a nearby small airport. As of Feb 17^th, only one domestic airline was in service – Sansa. The other airline Nature Air just went out of service a few weeks back. When we arrived at the Sansa Airport, it was just a shack with weighing machines. They weighed all our luggage including us and gave us a re-usable laminated boarding pass. The boarding pass just says ‘Sansa’ and the destination ‘PTO’ (Puerto Jimenez). Interesting experience!

The flight to Puerto Jimenez (in Osa Province) is about 45min. We had about 12 passengers in that small aircraft. Before we left home, we checked the weather in Osa and it indicated about 80% rain for all the days we were planning to be there. So, the flight journey into the clouds kind of re-assured the forecast.

When we landed in Puerto Jimenez, the weather was hot and humid – maybe with some clouds. Didn’t seem like it was going to rain! The runway was probably a little less than a mile and with a barbed wire fence. Just got out of the plane, got our luggage right there, walked out of the metal gate and there he was – our driver to El Remanso Lodge. In about 10-15min, we got out of the town of Puerto Jimenez and were on the unpaved road.

The roads didn’t show any sign of rain in the last few days. It was dry and unpaved all the way to the lodge. 

The driver had a handy book on ‘Birds of Costa Rica’ and attempted to point to us all the birds possible on the way to the Lodge. Common Potoo was an interesting bird that blended so well on a leafless tree branch that we hardly believed the drive until after it turned its head! 😊.  A little up the road, the driver stopped to get a view of an Owl – tropical screech owl, which was also a difficult one to spot. The driver himself seems to be very knowledgeable – he mentioned that most of his knowledge is through experience doing this for the last year or so!

We reached the lodge a little afternoon and we were greeted with a glass of tropical fruit juice. We had our lunch and checked into the room with a view of the ocean down the hill. The lush green around us certainly gave us a feeling of a jungle. We took some rest and ventured into a trail on the property. A few steps down, I was just about to step on a snake! I just retreated slowly, took some pictures and didn’t proceed further. Later, we found out from the locals that the snake is a Fer-de-lance (Bothrops Asper), the most venomous snakes in Central America. The snake does not seem to have recognized the intruders – if it had, it was supposed to have taken a defensive position. Another couple in the lodge had seen is closer to the restaurant in a defensive coiled up position!

We then roamed around the property a bit, came back to the restaurant area for the beautiful sunset in the ocean. The heat and humidity already had us retire early. Following a scrumptious dinner, we called it a day.

Day 2

Around 4:30 a.m., we were woken up by some strange howling noises. Come to find out, that it was the howler monkeys (Alouatta palliate). It was so loud that no one can manage to sleep after that! Howlers are apparently alarm clocks of the jungle there.

Today, we went out on a boat ride in the ocean (Golfo Dulce) to see dolphins. We were accompanied by another couple from UK. They got very friendly very quickly that they even lent us money to buy sunscreen because we forgot to bring our wallets. To get to the ocean, it was a ride back into the town of Puerto Jimenez. The ride in the ocean was nice, where we saw turtles and dolphins up close. The beautiful scenery of the lush green coasts was pleasant. The border with Panama wasn’t that far from where we were.

After a little over two hours, we encountered them – there were a few pods of them in a broad area. We were able to spot both bottle-nose and spotted dolphins. When the boat speeds up to leave that area, the dolphins got playful and kept following the boat for a while. But, there was a pod with a baby and they did not do that! Not surprisingly, intelligent creatures. After some play time with dolphins, we came close to the shore and took a dip in the shallow beaches of the ocean – refreshing! We spotted a bunch of sea-birds flying overhead in the area, mainly the Magnificient Frigatebirds.

When the boat ride was completed, the same driver from El Remanso drove us back to the lodge – all along, trying to help us spot wild-life – Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum), Caimans, Road-side hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) and Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus). The varieties of birds we could see here in Osa has to be appreciated! Not to mention the 4 kinds of monkeys in Costa Rica – Squirrel, white-faced (Capuchin), spider and howler. It was interesting to note that in spider monkey families, spider monkeys have alpha females and this preserves their population much better. We could see all 4 types already on the trips from the lodge to Puerto Jimenez and back. They were all over the El Remanso property as well. In one particular wild-fig tree, we spotted plenty of spider monkeys and White-nosed coatis (Nasua narica) were also spotted, besides a few parrots fighting with each other. Apparently, these fig trees support a lot of wildlife ranging from birds to mammals. Osa Peninsula has about 2.5% of bio-diversity of the entire world (A guide told us that later) and home to at least half the species living in Costa Rica!

We had to move to a different room a little down the hill and with a better view of the ocean from our private balcony.

We decided to take the hike down to the beach in the afternoon. It was an easy hike down for about 20 minutes. The return was an arduous task because of the steep nature of the trail.

We saw a lot of leaf-cutter ants busy at work. Apparently, these ants cut fresh leaves, pile them up, let the fungus grow on these leaves and feed on the fungus – an industrious bunch with a plan! We got down to the beach which was private to El Remanso visitors – hardly anybody else was there. The high tide that day was around 5:00 p.m and we were there until about 4 p.m. During high tide, we were told, beach is completely covered by water and it was dangerous to be out there.

Took some rest and headed to the lobby just around sunset to have some snack/coffee and headed out to the night hike. Our guide was a biologist who seemed so interested in the diverse wild-life of the region. We were accompanied by another couple – again from UK! We saw so many different critters and insects in the pitch-black darkness with our flash lights. We could see the red-eyed green frog (Agalychnis callidryas), scorpion, smaller sized tarantula, bull-frog etc., A little hike to the dwelling place of a supposedly full-sized tarantula proved to be unlucky. The critter had gone out on a chore and nowhere to be found. 

We got back to the restaurant, had our dinner and called it a night in our new room. It was farther from the lobby/restaurant area and proved to be even darker. We certainly needed a flash light to get back to the room (especially, if you want to avoid stepping on a fer-de-lance by mistake). El Remanso being sort of an eco-lodge and make their own electricity, the rooms didn’t have any A/c – so, we had to rely on the little breeze from the ocean and the ceiling fan trying hard to provide some air movement!

Day 3

This day also began early, even before breakfast, to go for Bird-watching. This tour started right there on the property where we saw some Toucans, up-close and of course, some monkeys again. The Toucan we saw was the red-breasted toucan. The scope that the guide carried gave us remarkable up-close views and luckily the i-phone captured these zoomed up images so well with full of details. Then, we ventured on the back of a 4-wheeler for a short ride towards Puerto Jimenez but stopped in an area with vast expanse.

There, we saw so many varieties of birds busy with their morning chores and posing for us. The macaws were magnificent with the bright blue skies in the background. The macaws were so beautiful, but their noise was so loud that you could hear from several miles! The guide was mentioning that Macaws are monogamous and we seldom saw them in solitary, proving his point! Varieties of Kingfishers, white ibis, hummingbirds, parrots, raptors were some of the birds. We cannot forget the bright blue-colored Morpho butterflies flying around all the time.

 After the morning bird watch, we had a quick breakfast and went for a long hike. It was so hot and humid that this hike started with so much sweat already!  It was for about 3 hours and we hardly saw any wild-life. Pretty much all the wild-life had gone for taking a nap due to the heat. Several types of vegetation were very interesting to watch, especially the walking palm (Socratea exorrhiza), garlic flower tree (the yellow flowers of the tree gives a faint smell of garlic!), trees with aerial roots for monkeys to use as ladders and so on. The guide mentioned that the roots of the walking palm starts anew to move the tree to get better sunlight. Such movement can be as quick as a meter per year. Some trees are so gigantic both in height and breadth – probably only second to the Sequoias. The guide also pointed to a few medicinal trees, the names of which we couldn't remember now. The guide was showing us a variety of insects - one of the beetles he showed was known to feed on unhealthy trees and decimate them eventually. This way, the stronger trees survived better apparently - survival of the fittest!

After lunch, we just chilled out in our room with the view. After sunset, we went to the lobby/restaurant area, relaxed a bit and finished our dinner. We were going to vacate the next day – so packed up stuff and called it a day

Day 4

This day was for horseback riding. It was a short-drive from the El Remanso lodge. We were a little apprehensive about the horses, especially if they start galloping. The horse ride was arranged through Rancho Tropical. The ride started from their ranch going with macaws flying around in their property and continued along a serene beach.

Then, we crossed the road into a dense tropical forest. Some sections were so dense, but the horses were very well-trained – they kept on the trail for the most part with little guidance. We climbed up a mountain and the view from a location on the top was so amazing. The wilderness and serenity of this view gave a sense of peace. We continued further into the dense forest, crossing streams, going through narrow passages between the trees.

We suddenly realized that I had lost GoPro that was tied to the saddle. The climbing up and down and going through narrow passages would have popped the camera off. The guide initially suggested that we go back together, but looking at the way we were riding, he suggested that we stay and he go. Within a few minutes, he was back with another batch of riders. Apparently, the guide for the other batch had found the GoPro (whew!!).

 We continued the ride through the forest, followed by a ride on the meadows with again seeing some more birds. Finally, we ended this with refreshing fresh fruit snacks back at the ranch. Truly enjoyable ride with extremely friendly guides.

 Went back to the lodge, had our lunch, finished our packing in the room and left the lodge to Puerto Jimenez to catch our flight back to San Jose.

Overall, about El Remanso Lodge: The people there, including guides, people serving in the restaurant, the owners, the front-office lobby people – everybody was very pleasant to deal with and will actually remember you by first names. The guests at any one point in time would be not more than 30 people and you eventually get to know pretty much all of them. This way, we shared a lot of our experiences – somewhere very helpful. The food at the lodge was so great that it would pretty much spoil the visitors 😊

One disappointing feature was the inability to see any sloths up-close during the entire stay in Osa/El Remanso. The long-hike guide was able to spot one sitting on the top of a tree in the canopy. That was about it! Another interesting fact: in spite of all the vegetation, heat and humidity, mosquitoes were seldom there - apparently, the bat population of Osa feeds on them vigorously that they don't have a chance of survival to come and bite us!

Day 5

Outdoor Exploradores is the company through which we had booked for white water rafting in Pacuare river. The Pacuare River is one of the best places in the world for whitewater rafting and whitewater kayaking. On the way to their office, we saw one of the volcanoes (probably, Turrialba), which is one of the 5 active volcanoes of Costa Rica.

Once we arrived at their location, they provided a good breakfast and we traveled in their van to the river bed. The drive was so steep in some regions with lush green all around. All through the drive, a guide was scaring us about the ride (I mean, he was giving safety instructions)! Rafting began with some calm waters, but it became wild pretty soon! The classes of difficulty in Costa Rica terms seems to be a little liberal – even a Class 3 rapid seemed so wild and marginally scary. All the safety instructions came in handy, after all. Right after a Class 4 rapid, the guide made sure that we pass under a beautiful tall waterfall that took a beating on all our backs.

The water temperature was perfect that it wasn’t too cold or hot. Rafting location was so beautiful and wild – we saw a water snake, toucans and several other birds along the way. Some of the stretches were so narrow between two tall mountain range with lush jungles and waterfalls. The guide was saying that the waterfalls featured in the first Jurassic Park movie.

After about two hours, we came to a shore in the middle of nowhere where they had arranged for a lunch. It was so amazing how they put together such a fresh lunch so fast in the middle of a jungle. Our legs needed some relaxation after the wild ride. These areas were supposed to be occupied by indigenous people, a few of whom we met at this lunch place.

Then, we continued our rafting through a few more rapids and finally arrived at the base (no shuttle ride needed), ready to clean-up and go to Arenal area. The Exploradores company offered a set of pictures on a CD for $25. It was so worth it. I remember paying $20 for a single picture, years ago after rafting in a new river in West Virginia. The Arenal van took a bunch of people to La Fortuna in Arenal area. This town is located in the foothills of the Arenal Volcano. All along the way to La Fortuna, there were pineapple fields almost all the way!

Day 6

The next day, the outside environment was so foggy that we couldn’t even see which direction the Arenal volcano was – our room was supposed to have a view of the volcano. The shuttle for the Cano Negro trip came on time and it was about a couple of hours ride to the boathouse. On the way, we passed through an area with marshlands on either side of the road where many birds could be spotted. Roseate Spoonbill was not a common bird to spot and we spotted one, but it flew away too soon to be captured by our lenses. Once we arrived at the boathouse, we had a small snack (Arepas and Tamarind juice) which was very good. The boat ride started and we came to a spot, where we got off the shore to make a short hike to see an Albino Howler monkey having siesta on a tree branch.

Over the course of next few hours, we saw several birds, caimans, iguanas along the river bank, not to mention the monkeys again. Some of the birds – snow white egrets, hawks, kingfishers, tiger herons. We saw a family of Caimans with the mother and a bunch of younglings all in one spot – so cool! We saw a lineated woodpecker as well.

After the ride, the lunch provided was very fresh and delightful. The tamarind juice was so refreshing on a hot day like that. On the ride back to the hotel, we spotted the spoonbill again and were lucky enough to catch them in our images. This guide was mentioning about the pineapples of Costa Rica – pretty much Del Monte owns a lot of these plantations and the maturity period of pineapples have been drastically reduced from 18 months to 9 months to be the no.1 supplier of pineapples in the whole world, including to China. Being such a small country, this is no small feat. We could constantly see these endless fields with huge machinery applying pesticides all over.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we could see that the fog had lifted the Volcano showed up its peak. Most of the reviews we read mention that the peak can be covered in clouds most of the time, but we seem to have gotten lucky that the peak was visible clearly that day. We spent a little time in the gardens of Los Lagos where they had some wild-life like crocodile, butterflies and an ant farm – in a zoo-like setting. After this, we went back to the room, relaxed a bit and had coffee in the patio with the view of the Arenal, the peak still visible. The Los Lagos property was very well maintained and this provide a great view with Arenal in the backdrop.

After this took a taxi to the town of La Fortuna. We roamed around the town looking for some souvenirs but found out that prices can be bargained and certain items are better bought in the supermarkets. We inquired about local coffee and many had mentioned about 1820 and Naranjo brands. So, we bought some 1820 brand coffee.  We tried a palm-heart ceviche for the first time and it was refreshing. After this, we got back to the hotel, took a dip in the hot springs and resigned to the room for the night.

Day 7

We packed up our stuff, stored our luggage in the lobby and went to the Arenal hanging bridges guided tour. It was quite a bit of hike with big tourist crowd. There were several hanging bridges there and they do really hang and sway when you walk on them. Can be a bit dizzy. We saw a beautiful waterfall here.

After this, we continued our tour to the La Fortuna Waterfalls – it was so close to the hotel.The waterfall was so beautiful and we could see so many people taking a dip in the pool along with the waterfalls. We arrived back at the hotel, had a very relaxing lunch as we had time until our ride to San Jose was supposed to show up.

We bought some local dark chocolates near the hotel and continued the ride back to San Jose. The ride was very scenic, going through narrow roads up and down the mountain ranges. Along the way, there was some rain that made the landscape even more beautiful. Finally, we got to see some rain on the final day! The driver of the car (Drive Costa Rica) was very friendly and he shared a lot of info about the local – a lot of farm laborers are from Nicaragua, apparently and the life in Costa Rica is really expensive for locals as well. He works part-time with Border Patrol and shared some stories about them as well.

And, that is the end!!