Winter arrived in Salzburg – so Babsi & I were in search for some warm sunshine. This time our destination was Costa Rica – due to the rivers and the amazing wildlife. During our 4 weeks we fell in love with that beautiful country and its people, the Ticos, who were just super friendly. Read on for some of our highlights:

Corcovado National Park: Living in the jungle

The
NP Corcovado, which is situated at the Peninsula de Osa, is the biggest remaining
rainforest in Costa Rica. You can do daytrips at the border of the National
Park, but we decided to walk 20km to the ranger station at Sirena. After 2 days
of recovery we hiked all the way back to our starting point. The Park itself
is maybe the best place to observe mammals (and of course birds, reptiles and
the tropical rainforest itself).

During our stay there we got a funny rhytm: at 5:30 am the howler monkeys started
to cry, at 6 am you could listen to the first people and at 6:30 it was time
for Gallo Pinto (Typical breakfast consisting of Rice’n'Beans). The rest of
the day was pure nature watching. Tamanduas, Squirrel – & Capuccinmonkeys,
Iguanas, Peccaries and lots of different birds like the Scarlet Macaws, Frigatebirds
and once we even saw a crocodile – quite scarry if you sit in a canoe and the
croc swims just 2-3m besides you …

Reserva Santa Elena & the Ranarium: quack quack

In
the Santa Elena region it was time for another rainforest typ – the Cloud Rainforest.
There it was rather tough to see animals but the forest seemed like an enchanted
place. Lots of ferns and mosses hang from the trees and you think you are in
the middle of a fairytale. But be warned: it’s a Cloud Rainforest – so take
your Poncho Emergencia or your Salzburger Schnürlregencape with you …

Sadly we didn’t see any poison dart-frog at all, so we decided to visit the
Ranarium – the Frog Pond. There we saw and photographed many different ones
like the tiny Blue Jeans Frog (just 2cm) or the typical Costa Rican frog – the
Red-eyed Greenfrog …

Manuel Antonio: seakayaking in a National Park

Manuel
Antonio offered us the opportunity to go for a seakayaking trip. We started
on the Playa Espadrillio and explored the coastline and the beaches of the National
Park (which was closed on that day) for 3 hours. Just amazing!

On the next day we returned to the Nation Park Manuel Antonio – but this time
on foot. There we saw an endless amount of iguanas, the funny rabbit-rat-mixture
called Aguati and an endless amount of Squirrel and White faced Cappucin monkeys.
Additionally I went for three snorkelling trips on all the beaches in the Park.
The best one was at the gravelbeach in the southern end of the park (swim to
the left side for big, tropical fish). Ah, and there we saw the three-toed sloth
for the first time – what a relaxed creature …

The rivers of Costa Rica: warm & funny

I
don’t know why, but when I travel with Babsi it rains cats’n'dogs. New Zealand,
Canada and now the Carribean slope of Costa Rica. Due to 4 days of heavy rainfall,
we couldn’t paddle the Pacuare. But before we spend for brilliant days on different
rivers …

• Lower Rio Sarapiqui in flood: this turned out to be a funride
  similar to the Isel in Eastern tyrol. Nice warm-up.
• Rio Torro: this was an amazing river-experience – a WW
  3(4) gorge in a tropical rainforest… and the yellow water (sulfanat from
  the volcan) has 15-20°C
• Upper Rio Sarapiqui – Volcan put in: another superb river
  - Eddyline hopping a bouldergarden in green, warm water
• Rio Torro Amarillo: if you think of a riverbed full of
  boulders that are up to 2m, lots of yellow water (another volcan) and warm,
  tropical rainfall then you know what we enjoyed :)

Important: There are plans to dam the Pacuare – one of the
worlds finest gorges. Support
the locals to stop the dam!

Tamarindo: let’s go surfin’

After
the heavy rainfalls on the Carribean slope we fled to the sunny Pacific. In
Tamarindo on the Peninsula de Nicoya we found a perfect spot for our last days:

• a beautiful beach with nice waves for surfing and nice views ;)
• a snorkelling trip at the Isla Capitan with some corals, a huge fish-crowd,
  a moraine and colorful fish
• the Leatherback turtles in the night (which ment no sleep between 23:00
  and 3:30 for two nights – we didn’t see them in the first night. But in the
  2nd night we saw a turtle and they are one of the most amazing creatures I
  have ever seen)
• the Mangrove for another nature exploration trip
• and of course Batidos con leche and Pina Colladas on the beach

Overall it was an amazing trip and I just want to say “Muchas gracias”
to the Ticos for sharing their beautiful country with Babsi and me.

And now enjoy the photos (hopefully)