5 flights later, Matt and I landed in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Hoodies and beanies swapped for shorts and sandals. Southern Hemisphere swapped for Northern. 60% humidity swapped for 99%. 

We headed straight to pick up our hire car to relieve ourselves of our hefty, and now mostly redundant bags. The first reunion was with Marly who has been travelling through Central America and arrived from Guatemala. 

The roads were quiet and easy driving. Heading out towards the coast we were already amazed by the dense greenery and steep contours of the land. After a lunch in Jaco, we went to meet Rob who had been diving. 

The jungle rolled right up to the waters edge, tropical fruits discarded by colourful birds. The Scarlett macaw, faithfully monogamous, is often spotted in a noisy pair.  The water was so warm and inviting. 

The new travel team assembled, we headed for Jaco brewery, then began driving down the coast to our first nights accommodation.  The dusky evening light was made better by perching pelicans sitting in the trees, silhouetted by the ocean. 

The concept of Pura Vida is the relaxed life and friendly outlook that Costa Ricans – or Ticos – embrace. It is a greeting, a mindset and a sentiment which follows you everywhere.

We stayed near Quepos, on the outskirts of the Manuel Antonio National Park. The park is comprised of jungle, mangrove and stunning white sand beaches. In the morning we saw white faced capuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys and thousands of Halloween crabs. The humidity built until rain followed. The canopy cover was so heavy that despite the downpour, very little reached the floor of the forest. 

Jungle let up into mangroves and mangroves gave way to sweeping white sand beaches with coconut trees growing as far out onto them as the high tide would allow. Giant iguanas hid in the trees.

We spotted our first sloth sleeping high up in his favourite tree. Little to report except a furry ball! We also encountered a boar Coati as we walked around the rock formation known as the cathedral. It looked like a cross between a raccoon and a badger, with mouse like ears and a long snout! Another surprise was Costa Rica’s largest rodent, the Agouti, a sort of rabbit which had the hind legs of a deer. 

Back at our accommodation it was hard not to be drawn in by the brightly coloured birds. The Scarlett rumped tanager flew by often in brilliant flashes of red, and the noisy grackle kept us alert with different calls. 

The next morning, whilst explaining the Agouti to Matt and Marly, one hopped right past our airbnb. As with everywhere in Costa Rica, greenery and vegetation consumed every space and we were practically butted up against a wilderness of biodiversity. 

We drove in to Quepos to visit a roastery where local beans were roasted, ground and served. We enjoyed an espresso whilst the staff told us passionately about beans. Yes, it is true. Costa Rica is the only country in the world where it is legally prohibited to grow any type of coffee other than 100% Arabica. 

Since passing a law in 1989, the government banned the cultivation of the hardier but less flavorful Robusta bean to protect the country’s reputation and ensure that all exported and locally grown coffee meets premium quality standards. Thanks AI.

The roadtrip continued down the coast stopping at the beaches of Domincal and Domincalito. This coast is well known for surf and we set about enquiring for boards for the next few days. In the meantime, a swim in the surf was a bit tumultuous, but very needed in the afternoon heat. Even better followed by a fresh coconut. 

We ended our day at our next stop in Uvita. Our Airbnb provided the perfect birdwatching opportunity from the swimming pool with golden capped tanagers, toucans and woodpeckers busying themselves overhead, and howler monkeys making noise in the distance.

The next day introduced us to wet season with rain most of the day. Despite the downpour, it was warm so very nice to walk around exploring, albeit drenched. 

Uvita’s beaches are protected as a national park, again coconut palm fringes and pristine. The centre of the beach has a natural rock formation of a whales tail sticking out to sea. Over the length of the tail, the two parts of the sea wrap around and meet. As it was nearing high tide we ran along the whale spine, seawater closing around our knees as we ran back in. 

For lunch we visited a soda. These are local eating establishments found all over that serve a local menu of casados- a plate of rice, beans, plantain, salad and a meat, egg or cheese. 

The next two days were surf days. With two surf boards and two body boards we took turns exhausting ourselves catching waves – and catching some sunburn in the process.

On the second morning, Rob and I went inland to Oro Verde Nature Reserve for a morning bird watching tour. It was insane. The guide Samantha seemed so in tune with every movement, every call, pointing out colourful Trogons, hummingbirds as small as a wasp, woodpeckers, woodcreepers and toucans. From the more open areas we entered into the darker undergrowth where a leaf tosser hopped around the undergrowth searching for snacks, and a great Timarou sat camouflaged on his ground nest. Her party trick was mimicking the call of the streaky chested antpitta, or in particular, one antpitta called Suzie. Suzie is in the same place every morning, calling and hoping over for a chat. The funniest part being that to make a sound, Suzie had to inflate up like a pair of bagpipes, or like the bird from shrek which Fiona defeats into a pile of feathers by challenging it to a duel of the highest notes.  After three hours and a brain swelling amount of information, Samantha took us to the family home where the view over the whale tail, Uvita and the birds circulating on the thermals was insane. Breakfast was coffee, the traditional Gallo Pinto, and a song that Samantha had written and performed about Costa Rica. 

After a week in Costa Rica, we waved Matt off to the airport, and continued south.