Living the Pura Vida in Costa Rica

I think the hardest part of a blog post is getting started. We are experiencing so many wonderful things on our three month journey, it is difficult to do any of them justice. There are simply too many details to describe. Summarizing a place is an ongoing challenge for me and I hope somebody out there is following along and enjoying the ride with us.

We just completed our third visit to Costa Rica, one of our favourite places for biodiversity and history. Our goals for this 8-day stop were to see friends we made back in 2020, do some hiking, and go birdwatching as much as possible. To do this, we rented our friends’ Airbnb in Cachí, a region approximately 2 hours’ drive from the capital city of San Jose, and then trekked northeast for a short stay on the small island of Tortuguero.

Everywhere you go in Costa Rica, you will hear the phrase "Pura Vida." The direct translation means "pure life" and it is used interchangably in a ton of daily conversational exchanges including "Hello, thank you, cheers, bon appetit, my pleasure." Many of the people we talked to simply love their country and it is easy to understand the concept of living well here, not just physically but also having a good mindset.

Cachí is in a mountainous region and is surrounded by dense rainforest. As expected, daily rain is the norm but the only thing it prevented us from doing was making the drive up to the summit of Irazu volcano. The view is supposed to be amazing and both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean can be seen from there. However, we could not see the top of the volcano due to clouds and rain and we decided that those photo opportunities were not meant to be on this trip. Instead, we took a drive to Tipanti National Park to do some hiking and birdwatching.

There are two trails in the park, one easy, and one diffficult. Because of the rain, the trails were muddy so we opted for the easier route. The forest was lush and we spotted many plant varieties we haven't seen before. Unfortunately, the trees were so healthy and full, we could only hear the birds, and not see them. Oh well, just because you might love nature does not mean that nature has to love you back! As it turned out, luck was on our side as we drove back down the mountain. We saw quite a few birds along the side of the road such as mot mots, Montezuma oropendola, and Groove Billed Ani (a unique variety of cuckoo).

A fern-like tree covering a large area, providing shade and inhibiting our ability to see birds!

There is a small place near Cachi called Ujarras that has some incredible ruins of a church that dates back to 1561. In its early days, the chapel had a thatched roof. Ujarras, the town, was transferred under a new law and became the town of Villa Paraiso. The ruins of the church were declared a national monumnet in 1985.

The second, shorter part of our stay in Costa Rica was on a sandbar island called Tortuguero. To get there, we had a long, slow drive in the rain. Average speed on the mountain highways was 40 km/hour. This meant that the driving portion of our 162 km journey took a little over 3.5 hours. Once we arrived at the entrance to Tortuguero National Park on the mainland, we had to board a river boat. The boat was a long narrow vessel that accommodated 20 passengers, one person on each side, with all the luggage in the aisle. The river portion of the journey took about an hour with a quick stop at a riverside gas station. Herons, egrets, and a very large iguana were all spotted along the way.

We stayed at hotel called Casa Thierma. It actually had two buildings; the reception and breakfast building with 2 rooms and a separate house around the corner and down the street with 3 bedrooms and a shared living room and kitchen. Each bedroom has its own private bathroom and lockable door. In our case, we had the added bonus of a rooster in the house next door right outside our window. This over-achiever didn't wake us up at dawn, he decided that 2:00 am was a suitable time and he didn't stop until 7:00...every day!

Eager to start exploring the island, we signed up for two tours. The first is what they called a canal tour through the National Park but it was actually a motorized boat travelling through various channels of the river, La Suerte. Other options included canoes and kayaks. Our tour was interrupted several times due to bursts of torrential rain. Our guide manoeuvered the boat under huge palm fronds several times to give us cover. We were glad not to be on the canoes or kayaks at this stage. All the boats were taking on water and the guides had to continuously bail water (including ours). Athough the weather prompted us to end the tour sooner than expected, we saw a variety of birds including 3 types of heron, Green Ibis, and Jicanas. The female Jicana is polyamourous. She will mate with a male who builds the nest, incubates the eggs, and cares for the young. Then, she finds a new mate and continues the cycle without having to do any of the hard work. She is truly living the Pura Vida!

The second tour we arranged was a walking tour through the park. It was scheduled for the afternoon and we were worried that it, too, would get rained out. To prepare, we packed our ponchos and rented rubber boots. Good thing, too...the rain had flooded the trail in several places and it was nice to have dry feet after 3 hours of walking. Norton, our guide, pointed out several types of animals including poison dart frogs, monkeys, and sloths as well as medicinal plants.

Tortuguero only has a population of about 3000 people and they are 100% dependent on the tourist trade. There are no motorized forms of transportation (except boats). Everyone either walks or cycles. As a result, it is very laid back and quiet (unless you have rooster for a neighbour).

The long, rainy drive back to San Jose took us through 35km mountain pass with a final elevation of 1570 metres (5151 feet). Considering we started at sea level, this was a very long, very slow climb with several semi trucks and cars overheating on the way up. It took us about 75 minutes to get to the other side.

Our third trip to Costa Rica did not disappoint. Because we have visited various parts of the country before, we were prepared for the crazy style of driving including high mountain passes, , windy roads, very slow speeds and congestion. If you plan on renting a car, don't bother pre-purchasing insurance from third party agents as it is not accepted here. Just purchase the full (and mandatory) insurance offered at car rental companies. The weather can change at any moment; be ready for rain at any time and in any amount! We enjoyed meeting people as we made our way to our various stops. They are friendly and tolerant of our often misused or mispronounced Spanish words. Everyone was willing to teach us their language and we are constantly learning. Finally, nature plays a huge part in our travels and we have been constantly amazed at the diversity of birds and plants, and the sheer amount of land that has been set aside for conservation. You must purchase tickets before visiting (and sometimes reserving your time) at National Parks. You can do this online through Sinac. Just take a screenshot of your reservation number and show it to the park agent when you arrive. With this, we hope you can visit Costa Rica and experience the Pura Vida.