With a fantastic time in Nicaragua sadly disappearing into the distance, it was time to cheer ourselves up with the famous tropical paradise of Costa Rica. Home of many green things, a welcome sight after possibly the hottest and driest three weeks of our lives. With another crazy border crossing (border officials forcing you to pay for fake entrance tickets, whilst other guards are trying to protect you from the scams!) behind us, we jumped on the highway and headed South down the PanAmericana once again. But the real beauty of Costa Rica lies in the Cloud Forests (like a rain forest is a forest in the rain, a cloud forest is, well, yes you get it). Commissioning a Jeep with a great father and daughter duo from Holland that we met, we headed into the mountains. After a good night's sleep, we jumped on the first bus of the day to take us into the huge national forest parks - here are some of the sights:
Early morning light
The Intercontinental Divide, stretching from Argentina to Canada
The centipede, stretching from here to there
A chirpy little chappy
The forest was incredible to walk around and explore all the different trails - with some great swing bridges reminiscent of NZ!
Another chirpy chappy
More birds.
Some of the birds were a bit noisier than others - this one hummed!
Dids.
And the butterflies weren't wanting to be outdone, this big fellow only let us take a photo as he was injured.
Stanna.
And some of them were just plain shy
And what's the best way to end a day walking round the forests? With a visit to the local cheesery and ice creamery.
Yum!
The next day, we set ourselves the task of having a completely free (but brilliantly fun) day. First step, take the advice of the locals and go down the back streets to find the woods on the hill - and keep an eye out for the "Ficus trees, you'll know them when you see them". A tough walk up the hill (mountain?!) and we later found them. They were amazing - who'd have thought a tree could be one of the greatest memories of the trip? These are parasitic vine trees, which grow on other trees, killing it and then leaving an empty cylinder inside. Great for climbing!
Going up!
The view from the inside
Thinking that tree was it, we walked aimlessly around and stumbled across this big boy. Can you see me?
Where's Wally?
The afternoon saw us climb the local TV aerial mountain - yet another steep climb with not many open views, but we were rewarded with a really inquisitive Coati at the top.
How do you do?
He could smell our lunch of rice and beans!
Get your coati, you've pulled
The definition of "free" of course doesn't involve the Costa Rican coffee fix, made the traditional way...
Pinkys out
Day 3 and it was time to get extreme, with something a quarter of the visitors to Costa Rica do - Canopy Zipline Tours. Sarah doesn't like rollercoasters at all, so this was a big deal. Shouting "Just book it!" at me, I sprinted out the room to the tour guide and got us reserved for the next day. We picked the aptly named Extremo Tours, and boy was it extremo. Consisting of 15 zip lines, a tarzan swing, rappelling and a 1.1km long superman line over a gully. Gulp. Here's a few action shots:
Nerves before the action starts
Do I have to?
Zoom zoom!
Rappelling out the tree, 30m up!
Halfway round the course - we were given the 'opportunity' to do a huge tarzan swing. So big, and so fast!
Me Jane. No, you Jane. Me Tarzan.
All too soon (two hours of adrenaline!), it was nearly over and time for the penultimate line of the day; the superman line over the width of the valley.
Completely not scared
Getting ready for launch
Bringing this blog into the 21st Century, we also took a few short videos. Filled with mild expletives and screams.
Back at HQ, the local scarlet macaw was waiting for us in the car park - happy to shout her name "LOLA!" for a quick pat on the head.
Meeting the locals
How to round a day off like that? Meet up with our Dutch friends and persuade him to take his flute, recorder, Hawaiian clarinet and tenor saxophone to the local open stage night. He'd given us a quick taster, but when he got fired up alongside the bassist and drummer - he was exceptional. And the only photo we got? Howk gently helping out a local blues singer, by using his recorder...
Your average Tico night out
This is a great, varied and odd holiday. And it just keeps getting better!
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