Forests and wildlife in Costa Rica

We are travelling through Central America at the moment, and have recently crossed the border out of Nicaragua into Costa Rica. Our first stop in Costa Rica was in the north at the town of Liberia. But it was not the town that had our interest, it was the nearby Rincón de la Vieja National Park (NP). 

 

Leigh in Rincón de la Vieja Nat Pk, Costa Rica

Known for its thermal activity and unique vegetation, Rincón was on our to-do list. Costa Rica, while geographically small (it would fit within New Zealand’s North Island), punches above its weight in environmental conservation, and Rincón de la Vieja NP is part of that conservation effort.

Volcanic activity at Rincón de la Vieja (UNESCO), Costa Rica

Because of its biodiversity and its active volcano, Rincón de la Vieja NP is a UNESCO World Heritage site. To get there we shared a taxi (and the cost as US dollars are used here), then walked one of the park’s many trails seeing steaming mud holes, gnarled trees, and birds. It was a lovely walk.

Rincón de la Vieja Nat Pk, Costa Rica

But we had to firstly get out of Nicaragua before getting to Rincón NP. Taking binoculars into Nicaragua, it seems, is prohibited and we were detained at the border when we entered that country because of our binoculars. We were now unsure of what to expect when we exited Nicaragua - but no one mentioned it and we got out ok – with our binoculars. 

 

A Great Curassow in Rincón de la Vieja Nat Pk, Costa Rica

Then, we couldn’t get into Costa Rica - our flight tickets home to New Zealand were not accepted as proof that we would eventually leave the country. So, after a lot of debate with officials, we stood right there and went online via our global sim card (which thankfully worked in Costa Rica but hadn’t in Nicaragua) to buy two shuttle bus tickets out of Costa Rica – and we were allowed in!

The white cathedral in Liberia, Costa Rica

By this time, the only bus from the border to Liberia was a local one that collected and dropped dozens of people and goods along the route. Eventually, we arrived in Liberia ‘the White City’, originally named for its white gravel paving and white buildings. These days, the paving is black tarmac and the main white building is its modern cathedral.

View driving to Santa Elena, Costa Rica

After a few days in Liberia, we moved on to our next stop. We’d booked a shuttle bus (minivan), meaning we travelled by road, and this road was a corker. Once off the main highway, we had a clay, rutted, hilly and winding road that threw us around in the back of the van. But the views were fantastic.

 

Street in Santa Elena, Costa Rica

Our destination was the wee hilly town of Santa Elena (pop 2,300). It is full of tour operators, souvenir shops, restaurants, and broken footpaths, all of which we made good use of. This town is the entry point to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve which we visited.

In winter gear in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

The Monteverde Cloud Forest sits at an altitude of over 4,500 m at the top of the Continental Divide, the line of mountains running between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The altitude meant that we were out of summer gear and into winter-wear to ward off the cold and windy high-altitude mountain weather.

A trail in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

This Cloud Forest is home to an amazing 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity. It contains lush and moss-covered greenery, swamps, waterfalls, many birds and some other wildlife. We were there to walk a couple of the forest trails, and the first one was the Bosque Nuboso trail. 

Rain-ready the Bosque Nuboso trail, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

Running along the Continental Divide, the short but hilly Bosque Nuboso trail passes through various terrains that contain strangler fig plants, magnolias, plants with stilt roots, orchids, bromeliads, various species of birds, and amphibians. Being in a cloud forest, there was lots of mist and light rain.

A Selvatura Treetop Walkway bridge, Monteverde, Costa Rica

The next day, we headed to a different part of the cloud forest and walked the Selvatura Treetop Walkway. It was really great. The trail is only 3 km long, but it takes you through the forest and across eight suspension bridges that are more than 60 m high, giving wonderful views of the forest canopy below.

The Hummingbird Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica

After our walk at Selvatura, we were waiting for the bus to return to Santa Elena, when we spotted the Monteverde Hummingbird Garden. Aware that the bus would be soon arriving, we quickly popped into the café that runs the garden, and were delighted to find a group of hummingbirds at the feeders.

 

Hmm, shall I sleep on the tree or roof or chair?

While in Santa Elena we stayed in an AirBnB, and were regularly entertained by a battle-scarred coati, a fluffy mammal about the size of a large cat but with a foxy face. He arrived every morning, to snooze on the hot tin roof below us, and occasionally availed himself of our deck furniture. What a character.

 

Marg getting on the ferry to La Fortuna, Costa Rica

After enjoying Santa Elena, we moved on to our next destination which required us to cross a lake. Firstly, we rode a shuttle bus along another winding, rutted clay road with spectacular views, to Lake Arenal. Arriving there, we and our luggage were shifted onto a small boat that ferried us to the other side of the lake where we caught another shuttle bus to La Fortuna de San Carlos.

Central Park with volcano in background, La Fortuna, Costa Rica

La Fortuna is a small town (pop 15,000) that is the home of Arenal Volcano. The town has a lovely park in its centre with the usual tourist shops, travel agents and cafes around it. We stayed in an apartment within walking distance of the town and really enjoyed the vibrancy of the place.

 

Hanging bridge walkway at Mistico Park, La Fortuna, Costa Rica

The day after we arrived, we headed to Mistico Park, a place where the walkways have hanging bridges similar to those in Monteverde. However, it is in a rain forest and not a cloud forest and there are subtle differences - the main ones being that rain forests are at a lower altitude, are warmer, and have different vegetation.

The active Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna, Costa Rica

As we walked at treetop level through this beautiful primary forest, we had great views of the greenery and of the active Arenal Volcano. This volcano is around 7 km from La Fortuna and can be seen from almost every street in the town. It was formed 7,500 years ago and last erupted in 2010.

Seen on the Mistico trail, La Fortuna, Costa Rica

We really enjoyed the Mistico walk and spotted a couple of monkeys, coatis, tree frogs, iguanas, hummingbirds, parrots, owls, colourful and large butterflies, and a distant toucan. The foliage included some very large trees that are not found in the Monteverde cloud forest.

 

Sloth seen in La Fortuna, Costa Rica

The next day, we went on a sloth tour. We’d seen sloths in Bolivia but they are an icon in Costa Rica so we booked a tour as they are really hard to spot in the wild in the very high and mature trees in this area. We spotted several greyish balls high up in the trees where they sleep but only one that was active.

Cacao tree, coffee tree, sugarcane

Later, we took a tour about chocolate, coffee and sugarcane. We had done a chocolate tasting in Nicaragua a few weeks ago and have been on several coffee plantations, but we’ve never seen the process of turning cacao into chocolate, or sugarcane into juice. Regardless of what we’d already seen, this tour turned out to be wonderful. 

Red coffee cherry (top). Bean removed ready for drying (below)

It began with the process of picking a red coffee cherry. The beans are inside the cherry so the cherry skin and husk are removed to extract the bean which is then washed, dried and roasted. The longer the roasting time, the stronger the coffee. Then we had a taste and immediately fell in love with Costa Rican coffee.

 

(L-R) Cacao pods, pod cut, pod opened showing pulp, bean inside pulp

Next, we walked to the cacao plantation to learn about chocolate. Cacao pods grow in a variety of colours indicating their ripeness. We watched fascinated, as a pod was cut open to extract the soft white and juicy pulp that contains the cacao bean. We tasted the white pulp and it is very sweet.

Traditional cacao crusher, La Fortuna, Coast Rica

The pulp and bean are left to ferment. Then they are roasted, and the bean is extracted and crushed to make raw chocolate. We got to taste the crushed bean and enjoyed its bitter-sweet flavour - it’s like what you get in a block of very dark chocolate. We also got to taste it in a drink with sugar and again, loved it.

Sugarcane cleaning and an old crusher, La Fortuna, Cost Rica

Another short walk took us to a small sugarcane field. Sugarcane, the staple of so many developing countries is simply cut, cleaned, and put through a crusher to extract the juice, which is made into drinks or sugar. The tour was a sweet way to end our time in this area, and our next stop is San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.

This post is the eleventh in a series that tells the story of our travel in Mexico and Central America. The first post in the series can be found here.