A new country! Yuppyyyyy, really excited. Particularly because everybody talks about Costa Rica!
18th of January 2020
Lush, lush, lush. First impressions. One highway, palms everywhere and a thick bushes. The green is greener here, taller and the iguanas cross the road all the time! Our first night was not spectacular as we stopped somewhere in a bay looking for batteries for the car. But on the day after, while driving we saw a dirt road of the highway. Just mere meters in and a fresh and much needed cold stream surrounded by trees. Jump in! Quick and delicious. Continue driving and again off the main road, 500 mts away and we are in paradise. Playa Piñuela. An incredible beach, the huge forest as a backdrop, clean and nice water. We stayed here for 2 nights.
We are spending 2 weeks with our friends Patry y Carlos exploring first the volcanos and forest side of the country and then the glorious beaches. This country looks like a perfect country for us, small enough but with lots of variety in environments and backgrounds. We could hike, go deep into forest, bath in waterfalls, enjoy the thermal springs, ride the weaves of a super transparent water, coconut palms on the beach, white sand. And yet, as much as I enjoyed it all, I can help but not feeling completely comfortable. It is by far the more “developed” country of all the Latin American countries we have been (and by that I mean the whole country rather than the capital cities) but they are so used to have tourists and US expats living here that it is not only a very expensive country but also not so friendly. Hard to explain. The roads are some of the worst we have travelled. Only 2 main roads in great condition running through the country and the rest appalling. There are no shoulders at all to park the car just for a quick bite and usually people are looking for opportunities to make money from you. I would say that the delicacies of customer service approach is being somehow deluded!
I am disappointed and waiting to see if the next few weeks bring me a different sense of what I am feeling right now.
Off to the Caribbean side, with promises of more palm beaches and beautiful waters. We spent the next weeks basking in the nice weather, not so hot, cloudy, and with furious waters! Playa Negra, Cahuita National Park, Puerto Viejo, Cocles, Punta Uva and Playa Manzanillo. What I love about the landscape was the unusual amount of trees or just huge tree trunks on the water or just laying on the beach. The mood here is very laid back, very hippy style of living, We found more Argentinians here than anywhere else. Visiting, working, living… from time to time we do engage with the local people but it is very sporadic. I adore sleeping so close to the ocean, windows open, a nice breeze coming through and the inspiring noise of waves crushing.
I have to make a stop for a super honorary mention of the Cahuita National Park. A wonderful trial, nested in between the ocean and the forest. It has everything that a hike should have and even more! Gigantic plants, uneven but flat trials, some on sand, plenty on boardwalk. It rain so bad and yet it was even prettier as the leaves and trees took a shine to it. And so many animals! We saw the oso perezozo, monkeys, racuns, squirrels, turquoise butterflies. We went from one end to the other and come back! Such was the beautiful landscape.
20th of February
Finally leaving the Caribeean side and all the crazy weather, rain, humidity, heat and more rain. We want to do more walks but the weather is not helping. We decided then to go….to the beaches on the Pacific side!!! And so we arrived at La Herradura and we couldn’t move. Took the kayak, the bikes, the big chairs, and it was paradise for a few days!
 |
| La Herradura beach |
