Costa Rica – Adventure, Wildlife and Beauty

One of the things I love about sailing is there is plenty of time to think.   I like to sit quietly and just let my mind wander and often find myself picking things apart and trying to understand behaviour patterns and thought processes.   Friendship was one of those subjects I found myself delving into and, in particular, looking at relationships made while cruising.   I have come to realise that landbased, longterm friendships are quite different to those made while cruising.   If we had not undertaken this adventure I would be mixing with the fantastic group of people I have been lucky to call friends for many years and would not necessarily seek, or have a need, to increase that circle.   I did not spend enough time with the friends I already had, so why go out and get more, so making friends as you get older, is harder.   When living this transient life, you do the complete opposite – we make an effort to meet new people and get to know them, even for a short time and, as everyone is in the same situation, new friendships come easily and readily.   It is very special when you meet people that share similar beliefs, interests and sense of humour as you, so shared experiences are enhanced and appreciated all the more.   Iain and Fi are our match – they’re probably more experienced, more clever and more knowledgeable than us, but they put up with us tagging along on the many adventures we have shared together!   When they suggested joining us on a trip to Costa Rica we answered enthusiastically, pleased to have great company to explore a new country with, particularly as Iain is very good at finding hidden treasures off the beaten path.

We had booked space at Carenero Marina so we could leave our boats, and negotiated the narrow, shallow entrance just before high tide, squeezing into a berth that was only just wide enough for us.   The marina could accommodate about 30 boats and most of the yachts there appeared to have made the marina their home, some never to move again!   Surrounding the marina were houses built on stilts over the water and every day children jumped off the small jetty infront of their home and played in the water.   Several hammocks were strewn across a large room with a small cooking area at the back, providing all the space they needed.  

Early next morning we caught a water taxi the short distance to Bocas, the main town in the region.   From there we caught another boat and a bus to take us to the border town of Sixaola.   A bridge separates Panama from Costa Rica so after presenting our passports on the Panama side, we walked across the wide bridge to enter Costa Rica.   The wide concrete bridge felt a little like we were doing a prisoner exchange as we passed people trailing their luggage along the narrow pavement, coming in the opposite direction, heads down as they focused on their feet and walked across the bridge.  

Our passports were stamped and we were given a 90 day visa to explore Costa Rica, a perfect way to reset our Panama visas and enjoy the delights of a new country.   We were shepherded onto another minibus and sped through the countryside, arriving in Puerto Veijo 40 minutes later.   Puerto Veijo had black sand beaches on the Caribbean coast and, like most of Costa Rica, is bordered by jungle and we were told was the best place to see sloths in the wild, something which evaded us!  

Today Costa Rica is famous for its forests, incredible wildlife and plethora of National Parks but, as we learned, things were quite different a short time ago.   In the 1940’s corrupt banks encouraged land to be cleared of forest before farmers could borrow money and then forced these same farmers off their land with high interest rates.  They then sold the land to friends, relations or people with influence, establishing large banana plantations.   Fortunately a newly elected government in 1996 recognised what was happening as half the country’s forest cover had been destroyed, and immediately made it illegal to clear land and encouraged the rejuvenation of the forest.   Today almost 60% of the country is once again forest and the local people, known as Chico’s, appear proud of their country with noticeably less rubbish and a keen interest in their environment.

Puerto Viejo is a small coastal town which is popular with backpackers.  It has that lovely sleepy, budget feel to it with several cafes and a variety of tourist shops but still holding on to its own identity.   We went for walks in the forest close to our accommodation, intrepidly following Iain who had managed to find hidden waterfalls, tracks and jungle walks that even locals were not aware of!   Toucans, macaws and oropendola flew noisily above us and we enjoyed identifying birds as they sang or flew into the thick trees.

We caught a bus to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, choosing to sit on what turned out to be the wrong side of the bus, as the seats on the right side had much less leg room than the spacious left side.   We didn’t notice until we slid into the seat and found we didn’t fit, but it was already too late as all the seats across the aisle were already filled.   We squeezed ourselves into the space, pulling our knees towards our chest as we made our way through the countryside.   We arrived at the bus station in San Jose 5hrs later and unfolded ourselves from the seats before being exposed to the bustling capital.    Our apartment was a couple of kms from the bus station and we elected to walk as we needed to stretch our aching limbs after the cramped bus ride.   This involved walking through a busy, rough and (I was the only one who thought this) scary neighbourhood where, at one point Fi and I decided to follow the faster Steve, by crossing an intersection without being able to see the traffic lights.   All of a sudden we were being yelled at by two heavily armed policemen on a motorbike which was heading straight for us!  

We only had one day in the city to explore, so lost no time, dropping our bags in our Air BnB and getting back out to catch the last of the afternoon sunshine, following a list of POI’s (Points of Interest) Iain had researched and marked on the city map.   The city reminded me a little of Dakar in Senegal – some interesting parts but mostly a place that has grown without plans or thought and was now a large sprawl with few interesting buildings and some unusual statues and monuments scattered around!   I may be being unfair as we were only there for a day!  

On the way back to the apartment we were accosted by a young guy who offered to cut Steve’s hair.   As he had not had a good haircut for some time, Steve was willingly led into the barbers shop while we continued back to the accommodation.   Two hours later I was getting concerned until eventually a shorn, but tidy, Steve returned regaling stories of all the illicit things the barber had offered him in addition to the haircut!    

We picked up a hire car and left the city behind, heading to the Pacific coast where we stayed in a rustic retreat (with fabulous outdoor shower) in the hills high above the small, but busy town of Jaco and close to a surfers black sand beach.   Along the way we crossed Crocodile Bridge where, peering over the side, numerous large crocodiles basked on a muddy bank.

We spent a week walking to waterfalls which Iain had once again masterly discovered, walking deep into the countryside, meeting horse riding cowboys and inquisitive motorbike riding locals.  Everyone welcomed us with a warm smile and stilted conversation as we tried to understand their Spanish with our limited abilities.   One morning we arranged to meet Randal, a local bird expert, in a nearby National Park and were treated to numerous sightings of exotic and colourful birds as Randal mimicked their song and drew them closer to us.   He taught us how to identify birds and where to look for them, encouraging us to train our eyes so we could notice more creatures around us.   The next day we were fortunate enough to see a Roseate Spoonbill wading in shallow water as it swept side to side, and watched as it flew off, displaying its beautiful pink wings – a stunning bird.

We were returning from a tiring but wonderful walk in the late afternoon, Iain driving slowly down a narrow road through forest, when an animal ran out in front of us.  Iain stopped, as did the animal, turning to look at us as it reached the other side of the road.   Quickly Iain grabbed a camera as we all watched, speechless as the small wild cat froze on the grass verge before disappearing into the forest.   We identified it by its markings as either a young jaguar or an ocelot and have had many experts confirm this to us, although unsure which one we had seen but all agreeing how lucky we were as so few people are privileged enough to see them in the wild.  

We loved our time in Costa Rica, the incredible birdlife, the beautiful waterfalls, rich wildlife, lush forests, long empty beaches, clean environment and great adventures with team Ruffian.   Some of the not so great things – we saw more intensive farming than we’ve seen anywhere else outside Europe, primarily pineapples, bananas and palm oil.  The palm oil companies encourage banana farmers to diversity by giving low interest loans and free seedlings while tying them in to long contracts, but then pay them less than they would get selling their crop elsewhere.  The banana crops are wrapped in large plastic bags which are filled with toxic chemicals, chemicals which are banned in most western countries.   Pineapple crops are sprayed with harmful chemicals and the spray drift is not controlled so rivers are becoming polluted and people getting sick.   We avoided a number of the more popular National Parks, primarily because they have become so overcrowded we believed it would feel like we were visiting a zoo, but once you get off the well beaten tourist paths, there is still a beautiful country to discover.

Our lasting memories of our time here was spending it with good friends, Iain and Fi, exploring new places together and creating a lifetime of memories.

Photo credit of wild cat: Iain and Fi, Ruffian of Amble