This is a story-style travel blog featuring my adventure through Central America in the fall of 2023. I did a 17-day tour called Central American Journey, from the company Intrepid. We visited Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. You can read the blog in order, or about whichever destination intrigues you! Within my stories, I’ll offer some recommendations and some tips and tricks for a smooth journey. When I travel, I mostly do group tours and the reasons are:
* As a solo woman traveler, it is much safer especially if traveling long distances or to countries that can be dangerous in some parts
*The itineraries are amazing and usually include all of the things you’d want to see and do…and if not, there is free time to do as you wish;
*You don’t have to worry about booking transport, finding hotels, etc. Sometimes that can contribute to the adventure, but it’s also nice to sit back and relax and let your tour leader be in charge
* And finally…the new people you meet on your tour become your family, and I’ve made lifelong friends in these journeys. For myself, this has equal importance with exploring new countries.
This morning starts with an early wakeup call as we need to hit the road to make our way to Costa Rica. First, we take the ferry back to the mainland and wave goodbye to the volcanoes that did not erupt while we were on their island. Phew!
It is a hot one already, as we pass through the last border crossing of this trip. The walk from the border to our next van is making me feel a bit ill, because it’s so damn hot. I load up on more water and fan myself like crazy in hopes of feeling better. We make a lunch stop at a strip mall in Liberia; us girls head over to Subway to grab a sandwich. Out of all the countries we’ve visited, Costa Rica is the most Americanized.
Costa Rica is the most popular and touristy countries in all of Central America, and is a democratic and peaceful country. They are one of the 5 countries in the world without an army! There is so much biodiversity here; a good chunk of the country is conservation and natural protected territory. There are over 34,000 species of insects in Costa Rica…yikes! But also, a ton of species of butterflies <sigh>. Their culture is multiethnic; the laid back and friendly people live together peacefully. Their motto is PURA VIDA, and you hear it everywhere you go – as hello, goodbye, thank you…you name it. It translates to “pure life”.I was in Costa Rica in 2005, so it’s really cool to come back and see it all again almost 20 years later!
The first destination we will visit in Costa Rica is Monteverde, described as “the jewel in the crown of cloud forests”. It is high in the mountains, and the flora is lush and beautiful. There is a humid, misty feeling in the air, and it’s a bit cooler than our previous destinations. And rainstorms are constantly on the brink.
We are staying at Hotel Los Jardines, and it’s one of the nicest places we’ve stayed so far.
The rooms are a good size, and the restaurant area is cozy. It’s a bit of a walk downhill to the town of Santa Elena, and we head over to Bar Amigos for some beers and a snack before our evening activity.
Tonight we are doing a night walk in the cloud forest, in hopes to see some cool critters that are easier to spot when the sun goes down. Most of the fauna here are nocturnal.
It’s not a difficult walk, but you have to be careful not to slip as the ground is generally wet. We have our raingear on, armed with flashlights and ready to go. It’s quiet, but yet we can hear the noises of all kinds of birds and insects. Here are some highlights:
We leave the path, and trek through some tall grass to a tree where our guide finds this scorpion…and what’s cool is they also glow in certain light!
We see a kinkajou and a few cute birds but the photos are either non existent or just not very great. But we did snap a decent one of this toucan….
After the walk we have a late-night dinner at Thomas and Thiago.
I haven’t had much of an appetite all day but I end up ordering the spinach ravioli…it is soooo good! A bit of a pricier restaurant, but totally worth it.
We have an easy evening back at the hotel to rest up for a day of adrenaline and adventure tomorrow!!
This morning, we have breakfast at the hotel and the van picks us up as we head for the canopy forest to do some ZIPLINING! Now, I’ve ziplined here back in 2005, but I’m still a bit nervous. I was not very good at it back then either; I kept getting stuck in the middle of the line and then had to haul myself manually to the other side. I do not want this to happen this time, since I need to come across as a pro to my fellow zippers. Haha.
We get all geared up…the outfit consists of a harness, helmet, and gloves.
They give us a quick lesson on how to zipline….I pay extra attention in hopes it will go much smoother this time. The first run is nothing too crazy, and this time I’ve mastered the proper hold on the line…..if you squeeze too tight, it slows you down and that’s how you get stuck. I zip along, and make it to the end no problems. Although it is quite a rough landing; even if you squeeze tight to stop on the line at the end, it’s still a hard stop with a bit of zipline whiplash.
There’s short hike through the tree trails in between each line, and at one point they add in a “fun” repel type of drop where you basically jump off the platform backwards. There is no necessity in this, as we just walk back up to the place we started the repel to get to the next line. Adds a bit of excitement and if you haven’t yelped or screamed yet, this is where you will. Haha. The lines are getting higher and longer as we continue and my anxiety is rising a little, as I get paranoid that my equipment will fail and I will fall to my death into the trees.
To get to these next group of lines, we have a small jeep pick us up to drive us there. Shit’s about to get real. On the last 2 lines, we have the option to go “superman” style. I did not get to do this last time, so I’m ready to try it. Getting into the superman position is not an easy task. Your legs go back into the foot stirrups while you try to hold your upper body at the same time. Then it’s time to “relax” and let the harness hold you ….well, let’s just say this is not the easiest position when you have boobs. My first attempt is so painful that I have to get down and reposition the chest straps. After I’ve done the super awkward moves to get back into superman pose, I’m off and flying though the cloud forest. It’s so weird to not be holding onto anything, and all that’s coming out of my mouth is a mix off eeeeeeeeeeeee ,and please don’t break, please don’t break.
I successfully complete both runs, and the zipline tour is over. Or is it…………We have the option for one last adrenaline rush……to do a Tarzan swing off the high platform. My first thought is OH HELL NO; I did a canyon swing years ago in New Zealand and it was one of the most terrifying things (but also cool. Haha). I’m with Poline and Paige, and neither of them want to do it. I decide to go look over the edge, see how high it is, see how shaky my legs feel. I see Ivonne waving down below…. she had just jumped! Well, now I feel like I can’t chicken out and I figure, hey, what if I never get to do this again. So, I step off the platform and swing the hell off, legs involuntarily flailing(if you’ve done a fall like this before, you know what I mean…it’s so weird. Haha). Ok, yeah, it is worth the rush. The only other person to join this madness is James. And now the 3 of us have to walk all the way back up to the starting point…..it’s quite a trek and it’s still really humid but totally worth it.
Now it’s lunch time, so after we get dropped off back at the hotel to refresh, we walk into town.
And hit up a place called Tico y Rico for lunch.
I order a chicken casado plate and a Pilsen beer. Casados have a variety of things on the plate, as you can see in the pic.
PRO TIP: in addition to chicken (or pork or beef) casado, if you’re looking for some cool things to try in Costa Rica, here are some options: gallo pinto(rice and beans), arroz con pollo(chicken and rice), sopa Negra(black bean soup), patacones(fried plantains), tamal(their version of a tamale, but wrapped in banana leaves). Some beverages to try are Cacique/Guaro(a sugar cane alcohol), Colada fresca(like a pina colada, but with guaro). For beers, you can’t go wrong with a Pilsen, Imperial, Bavaria or Rock Ice. And of course, the coffee!!!! Some of the best beans in the world!
After lunch, I hit up a couple of souvenir shops to bring home more stuff to decorate my already very decorated home. Did I mention how much I love souvenirs? Haha.
PRO TIP : Some notable items to pick up from Costa Rica are coffee, any kind of wooden crafty items, artisanal chocolate, salsa lizano, painted wooden oxcarts, Boruca masks, handcrafted jewelry, and if you have room..maybe even a chorreador coffee maker!
Our last activity in Monteverde is a hanging bridge walk. The bridges are a little shaky, which adds to the fun!
It takes a couple hours; I’m hoping to see some wildlife but today it’s just some birds and lots of cool trees.
It is a beautiful walk, but about half way through it gets a little too “hikey” for me -it’s a bit more challenging than I expected. And it’s starting to get dark and I’m having panic flashbacks from that damn volcano hike in Guatemala (see that blog for the whole story). Looking back now, it was a cool experience but at the time I was heavily regretting my decision to do the activity. Haha. As soon as we get back to the main office, there is a massive downpour so we hang out and wait till it clears up. Our driver tells us there was a sloth down the road earlier today, so we walk over to have a look. The sloth is still there; it’s not the easiest thing to see, since sloths usually perch up high in the trees and don’t move much.
FUN FACT: Sloths only come down from the trees once a week….to pee and poop! They are very picky about personal hygiene, which is why they don’t do this while up in the trees. But mainly, they do this for communication and reproduction purposes.
It’s been such an exhausting day, so the group is happy to stay at the hotel and have a quiet night in the lounge for dinner, drinks and games.
Tomorrow, we head over to La Fortuna/Arenal volcano …..
Everywhere On Earth With Erin 