Costa Ricans greet each other with the words ‘Pura vida’, which has 2 meanings. One is ‘pure life’ and the other ‘just life’. The country has taken another direction than most middle American countries. After their civil war in 1944 they abolished the army and invested in education instead. Many farms were reforested and now the county is the cleanest, richest and happiest (it ranks among the 10 happiest countries among most northern european ones) of all middle american countries.
Not too many people visit Costa Rica by boat, which can be noticed by the cumbersome checking process. We had to pass with an agent through 3 different offices in town and then return to the last office a few hours later. It took most of the day, but then we (and the boat) were legally in Costa Rica.
The country is most known for its nature parks. The first one we visited was Coronado which can only be reached by panga (fast boat). We saw all 4 monkey species of Costa Rica and an ant eater. The next park was Monte Verde where we did a day and night walk. We saw a toukan, scorpion, tarantula, snakes and frogs at night and the quetzal, which some people find the most beautiful bird on the earth, and butterfliesduring the day. We then went to el Silencio where we saw the bizote (nose bear). Then to rio Celeste with a beautiful blue river and finally Caño negro by boat, with many birds, caymans, crocodiles.
Besides all this beauty we visited a small family chocolate farm. After tasting 6 different species of cacao plants (where it was extremely difficult to tast the differences), they made a chocolate paste from the beans and turned it into pure chocolate milk.
Where Beatriz choose for a nice walk and a climb inside a strangler fig tree, I choose for something with more adrenaline. Flying on a zipline over the canopies of a tropical rainforest is incredibly beautiful.
On our way to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico we pass many countries. After Panama and Costa Rica, we will visit Nicaragua but probably skip El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala before we reach Mexico.
The photo of the puma above was a ‘bit’ edited with AI…
WOW!