Nicole schreibt...

Costa Rica 2017

Central America was not an area I had considered for a vacation - until I had to write about Costa Rica as a travel destination and realized what an interesting place it is. Despite its small size, it has an enormous range of different micro climates and is thought to have - relative to its size - the biggest biodiversity on the planet. What's more, the country's governments have always taken great pains to conserve this biodiversity with more than a quarter of the land now national parks or other areas of conservation. And while most of Central America busied itself with civil wars and gang warfare, Costa Rica permanently abolished its army as far back as 1949, making for a peaceful and somewhat prosperous nation. So my curiosity was piqued and I was happy to discover that among the many touristy offerings of Costa Rica are horse-riding vacations. Whenever it comes to nature, I find the horse my favorite mode of transport as it gets me off the beaten tracks and does the walking for me. And so I was off over the carnival week, starting a long trek from Cologne via Frankfurt and Houston to Costa Rica's capital San Jose. The +11 hrs flight to Houston especially worried me with my propensity to getting infernal headaches and when Lufthansa dangled an upgrade to Business Class at me, I took the opportunity to place a bid - and actually won. It did feel good admittedly to first swan into the Business Lounge at Frankfurt Airport for a coffee and then onto the upper deck of the A380 on my own money, not to mention having a comfy "bed in the sky" for 11 hours. I had been a bit worried about US immigration in Houston, since the yanks are incapable of just letting people transferring between planes without all that nonsense, but luckily they are now separating people clutching ESTAs from people needing visas straightaway, making you deal with a kiosk check first before making you wait in (a shorter) line for a human immigration officer. Plus, most desks were actually staffed, so I was through within half an hour and had plenty of time for a quick meal and wandering around the shops at Houston Airport before being on my way to San Jose. Where that lovely sight awaited me at the exit - a chap with my name on a board to take me to the hotel straightaway, the Park Inn by Radisson.

Next morning after breakfast the trip started properly with the horse riders assembling and being taken to the farm. Turned out it were three French ladies and me, so you'd think I was happy to work on my French, but we ended up speaking English throughout anyway. We were taken to the farm near Orotina near the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, where the horses were distributed. So here's me and Geri, my new best friend for the following days. The first ride already gave me a sense of adventure when we first saw a crocodile in a river, then had to cross the very same river only a few minutes later! And no, there's no photo of the croc, just as I'd realize in days to come that horse-riding and trying to catch wildlife on photo do not mix well.

We took the horses to La Maravila, the house where we'd spend the next days with our lovely hosts, making us feel like we were really staying with a local family and Mommy serving home-cooked local food every day. Not to mention that incredible Costa Rican wildlife with more different birds than you can shake a guide book at - including a whole bunch of red macaws popping by from time to time. And what a surprise when the dark balls in the trees, which I had taken for birds' nests, came to life and turned out to be monkeys! Another bonus was the pool in the garden, which offered perfect refreshment after some sweaty hours in the saddle every day.

The first full-day outing took us (past more birds, monkeys and fruit I had never seen before) to the endless stretches of Guacalilo and Bajamar Beaches, which are still unspoilt by mass tourism and only visited by a handful of local families. There was ample room for some fantastic gallops along the beach and a break by a little beach bar where we could enjoy a cold drink before heading back to La Maravila.

The second full-day outing was basically a tour through the nearby countryside and little villages, allowing a nice glimpse into regular Tico life with many pretty colourful houses, huge gardens with an abundance of flowers, a deserted railway line and once again a whole lot of different birds and other animals. Once again we did stop along the way, this time in what I assume is a fairly typical village pub where we didn't only get nicely chilled drinks but also a little "fish in a glass" snack that actually wasn't bad at all (even if fellow rider Maria doesn't look too convinced here).

The next day would already be my last in the saddle although it transpired that the French ladies would all continue on to more riding later, having booked with some French travel agency. But although I really enjoyed the days in La Maravila and in the saddle, four days of horse-riding were quite enough for me. It was a fantastic group though with much better community spirit than on my previous outings to Ireland and Jordan, as evidenced by the fact that we all came together for some group photos before the last ride back to the ranch, so here we are:

The last ride took us down to the Machuca River amid more amazing nature, where our horses at some point were up to their bellies in water (and I tried not to think about potential crocodiles in the river). Once again I was enchanted by the stillness of nature here, so far away from basically everything to do with modern civilization. We came another big posse of monkeys in the trees, but sadly I failed to take a single nice picture of them. At least this turtle remained nicely still on its rock in the river.

Finally we were back at the ranch, where we had to say goodbye to our horses and, after one last lunch, to our hosts before continuing on to the last leg of our journey, the famous Arenal volcano, one of Costa Rica's main tourist draws. The volcano is still very active and until some years ago tourists would flock to the village of La Fortuna to admire the red-glowing flows of lava that still trickled down the flank of the volcano, forming an incredible sight at night. These days the Arenal is quiet, but volcanic activity below the earth's surface means that there's a whole bunch of hot springs. We first stopped at the hotel, which was really two rows of lovely wooden huts (with me getting a whole hut to myself) and which had a lovely little pool in the garden. Then we continued to one of the hot springs spas/pools that take advantage of the Arenal's natural heat. While I am not sure the hot water would be all that nice during a hot sunny day, it was perfect bliss on a mellow evening, especially with a pina colada in hand.

Needless to say that there were also plenty of birds around the hotel garden, including tiny hummingbirds, that buzzed around the flowers and were quite a sight to see. The yellow-breasted chap is apparently called the Great Kiskadee. There had been a few at La Maravila, but they were ubiquitous in La Fortuna. And in case you wonder - yes, I did see the famous Toucan (which is much bigger than I thought) but sadly wasn't able to catch a good picture of him.

Next morning another adventure awaited me: We were going ziplining, also known as a canopy tour. Apparently it was invented in Costa Rica some years ago before it spread all over the world as a way to enjoy the rainforests in true Tarzan fashion. I had been a bit worried about it as I'm generally not good with heights, but the guides were fantastic and I never felt unsafe for a second as we moved steadily downhill over a total of 14 zip lines. In fact I enjoyed it greatly, making me feel that it's as close as I'll ever get to really feeling like a bird soaring over the countryside. I didn't really take photos during the tour, but I should be getting some soon from the other riders. Following that adventure we had a longer break at the hotel, which we used to wander into La Fortuna proper for a poke around the souvenir shops and a visit to the bank for my fellow travellers for their upcoming days in the countryside while I was already thinking of how to get rid of my last Colones. Here's the village church and another interesting native of Costa Rica: The pizote, also known as coati. A whole bunch of them lived by one of the roadside restaurants.

In the afternoon we were taken on one more excursion, this time to the other side of the Arenal volcano, where the mighty eruption of 1968 had taken place, which completely flattened three villages. This pic of fellow traveller Justine in front of a volcanic rock really gives a good impression of just how huge the rocks were the Arenal spewed up back then. And while it has been dormant since 2010, it could always erupt again. The trail also offered nice views onto nearby Lake Arenal and another small pond hidden away in the dense forests.

After the hike and one last lunch together in a nice roadside restaurant, the time came to say goodbye. The three French ladies and our guide continued on to their second riding adventure, while I'd stay another night in La Fortuna. I went back into the village for dinner and another poke around the souvenir shops, though I ended up buying my souvenirs in the local supermarket - another can of the Costa Rican Imperial beer, some regular Costa Rican coffee (unlike the overpriced coffee in the souvenir shops) and a bottle of the yummy Salsa condiment we used daily at La Maravila.

Next day my own trip came to an end as I was picked up by an Interbus (known as Gringo Bus locally as they ferry tourists around the country) to be taken back to San Jose. The trip was a bit of a nightmare with a one-hour-detour down some godawful potholed track to deliver an elderly couple to their hotel at the arse-end of nowhere and later on infernal congestion in San Jose, but I was rewarded by a surprise upgrade to the five-star Radisson hotel as the Park Inn (where I should have been) was overbooked. So the trip came to a nice end with a few hours at the poolside, dinner and a night in a fabulous hotel room, before the long journey back from San Jose via Toronto (and hassle-free quick Canadian transfer) to Frankfurt and home. I have hardly ever met a friendlier people than the Ticos (as the Costa Ricans call themselves) or felt more welcome anywhere. Even though I didn't even visit most of Costa Rica's most famous national parks, wildlife and nature were impressive enough already - and I think I might just want to return some day, then without horses, but to actually visit the national parks and see even more of the country's amazing wildlife...