Flavia & Gregory go LA

The bus journey from Panama City to San Jose was quite tiring. We chose to travel with Panaline and, although the bus was of a good standard, their seats did not recline enough to allow a good sleep. So we slept little and got to San Jose at 3pm tired and in a bad mood. We landed at JCFriends Hostal, as suggested by our taxi driver, which is somewhere west of the city centre - not really sure about where, as we have not explored San Jose at all during our two-nights stay there. All we did was walk down the road two blocks to the cash point and restaurant and then back to our bathroomless room.

The same day we arrived, we decided to book an excursion with Expediciones Tropicales, which is one of the big agencies here. The idea was to stay a couple of days and visit the Volcan Poas, a coffee finca and other bits and pieces, however, when we started reading about this 4 in 1 combo tour where they take you to see the volcano and 3 other sights all in one day, we thought it may be worth investing some money and save a precious day or two. So we booked the $80 a head all day trip, which would have included a visit to the volcano, the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, arts and crafts shop and coffee plantation visit. Well, the program turned out to be a little different and absolutely worth every penny. First thing we went to see the volcano, which must be seen in the morning before the clouds roll in. The weather was terrible and we honestly thought there was no point walking up to the viewpoint - we did anyways and surprise surprise, the clouds were everywhere but above the crater!!! So we managed to get a good look at this active volcano and its huge crater filled with milky turquoise broiling water with the smell of rotten eggs. Quite impressive. On the way back, from the minibus the driver spotted a sloth hanging from a telephone cable, so we all got off and started taking pictures till the sloth realised that he was at the centre of the attention and slowly moved back into the trees. From the volcano we were taken for breakfast to a restaurant with beautiful landscaped gardens and lake. After that, we visited the La Paz waterfall and then from there it was a two-hour drive to the Sarapiqui river, where we were put onto a boat to ´look for caimans´. The boat trip was completely unexpected and worthwhile: we saw a number of caimans and American crocodiles, a few large iguanas, spider monkeys, another sleeping sloth and a few birds. The boat took us to a private area where they had a serpentario, a ranario and a mariposario and where, after visiting all three, we had lunch. While the butterfly farm was fairly pathetic, they had a good few interesting snakes but above all the frogs! They had the frogs in a net garden rather than under glass, which made it so much nicer to look at and photograph them. Tiny red poison dart frogs and black and green dart frogs - there are no golden frogs in Costa Rica - they are highly toxic and absolutely gorgeous. Then it started pouring down but by then it was time to head back to San Jose. Absolutely great day, amazing what money can buy....

So far, our impression of Costa Rica is very positive. It is all true, the country is fully geared up for tourism - the excursion today and the countless ministry of tourism posters in our simple hostel proves that they are extremely serious about it. ´More than a country, a commitment to the world´ - how strong is that!!!
Everywhere there are signs of properties with butterfly farms, trout farms, coffee tasting, canopy lines. Yes, it is very touristy, but no wonder! It is an impressively LUSH country, a country of volcanos, rainforests, cloud forests, abundant wildlife and beaches. The Costa Rican Nation has 185 years of independent life and democracy and is known worldwide for its political stability, in sharp contrast to the brutal conflicts and poverty that have affected most of the rest of Central America. It also has no standing army since 1948 - a smart country that has focused its interest and resources to the development of education, health and environmental sustainability and awareness. Our guide today mentioned that 100% of the energy in Costa Rica is renewable, the majority coming from idroelectrical plants, then wind, then thermic and finally biomass. Now, that deserves a lot of respect!!

VOLCAN POAS

La Paz waterfall

Starting our Sarapiqui safari

The most talked-about snake in Central America, the fer-de-lance, much feared for its aggressiveness and lethal venom.

Black and green dart frog

Blue-jeans dart frog - this one must have washed them too much... most of these frogs have really noticeable dark blue legs and waist, quite funny

SLOTH on the Wire