Category: aventura

Río Pedras

This is a short hike with many small waterfalls and pools for swimming. It seems to be popular for the locals to bring their kids to play in the shallow water. It is far enough out of the way and requires a long enough hike in that it remains free of tourists.

There is a lot to see if you are in the mood for hiking. There is a forest, ruins of old mills, and you can just keep hiking up the waterfall until you run out of waterfalls.

Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

To get to Corcovado National Park, you must travel with a guide. Costa Rica keeps their wildlife safe and their parks absolutely pristine by not allowing tourists to come unsupervised.

They picked us up early in the morning, and we traveled by boat into the park. Hundreds of tourists were unloading at the same time and I absolutely feared the worst. I am very much into private camping and long solo hikes through nowhere. The guides were well versed in preserving this semi-private experience of nature. The tour guides gave each other a little space and kept everyone very quiet. They ensured we saw as much wildlife as possible, without molesting the animals. Again any plastic containers and processed foods were confiscated. And the park was kept absolutely pristine.

The guides offered opportunities for photos when it was safe and would not bother the animals. Of course we did not have professional equipment or time to wait out the perfect photo, but I will share anyway.

These are potoo birds. Maybe my favorite of the animals we were able to see. They don’t really nest so much as camoflauge really well on the top of a tree stump. They hold incredibly still and just appear to be a part of the tree. I highly recommend a google search on these guys for a good laugh. They look a bit like muppets from the front.

I saw frogs, lizards, and ants.

I saw my very first tapir. He was so cute. It’s funny they are muddy and dirty, but still so adorable you just want to give them a cuddle.

Here is a hawk. I believe this is a mangrove black hawk. He’s regal.

Here is a white nosed coati.

And a toucan butt! He absolutely refused to turn around for the camera.

I believe this is a crested guan.

And the pigs. OMG the peccary pigs.

Sirena National Park, Costa Rica

The next adventure was glamping in Sirena National Park. We had to park somewhere north and nervously await one of only a few boats to transport us into the park. The wide rivers were full of life and we could see fish, and birds, and crocodiles as we made our way to the “hotel.”

Mangrove forest.

The rivers gave way to open ocean and the views of Costa Rica’s rocky shores were breath taking.

The boat let us off on a beach of rocks and sand. As I write this, I am realizing I will have to find a thesaurus because I am running out of words to describe this country.

We had to make a short climb to the top of the hill to find our glamping check in. The vegetation was lush and green. The ocean was an incredible, rich blue. And everything was pristine. Absolutely no tourist trash anywhere to be seen.

After checking in, we made our way down to the beach and played in the little pools that formed in the stones.

I learned the ocean here has a very fast tide. Everyone left the beach rather suddenly. It was just before sunset. I was curious why, but I really wanted to splash in the water. As an experienced swimmer, I am embarassed to say that I did not notice the undertow until it was a bit too late. Or maybe it came on suddenly. A large wave came, I went under, and was dragged down and tumbled across the sand as the water pulled me a short distance out to sea. Fortunately, I knew better than to fight and saved my energy. The salt water left me bouyant and it was easy to tell the moment I was ejected from the riptide. I had been pulled past the wave break but not to worry. The waves were coming in slow but high. So I floated over the next few, caught my breath, and swam in between the waves.

That was enough adrenaline for me. I watched the sunset from the shore instead.

In the evening though, once the sun was down, the beaches were overrun with hermit crabs! I had thought it was strange I have never seen anything like this in my life. They were even climbing the trees. I thought it was so strange there were no shells on the beach. Now I know it´s because they all had occupants.