Pura Vida + Costa Rica!

 Welcome back, and happy summer (almost officially)!

Summer is one of those seasons that always creeps up on me in the best way possible. It feels like just yesterday we were "springing forward" in time, begrudgingly losing an hour of sleep, and now I am planning out which weekends I will be plopping myself on the beach. 

The transition from this spring to summer one was a special one because I got to go to one of the most beautiful countries I've ever been to: Costa Rica. The country's lush rainforests and relaxed culture have intrigued me ever since I learned about the different layers of the rainforest back in elementary school on Earth Day one year (anyone else?). I was lucky enough to find myself in Alaska last summer on a family trip and got to see some more rugged animals (think: moose, buffaloes, bears, sea lions, etc.), but I've always wanted to see the creatures that inhabit the rainforests of a place like Costa Rica.

Fun fact: Costa Rica accounts for only 0.03 percent of the earth's surface, but it contains nearly 6 percent of the world's biodiversity. 

So, as you can imagine, I'm not the only one who traveled to Costa Rica with the hopes of seeing a myriad of animals, including but certainly not limited to sloths, monkeys, and toucans. We traveled to Cost Rica right at the end of peak tourist season, or the 6 month long "dry" season where it largely doesn't rain, so we were able to see most of the animals on our list with, quite literally, no rain on our parade. If you are planning a trip to Costa Rica, definitely target going between the months of December and April/May, as the green season, where it rains nearly every day, runs from June to November. 

Tourism is a large part of Costa Rica's economy, and it was no surprise how friendly and welcoming all of the people we met in Costa Rica were. It is very common for people in Costa Rica to speak English, and there is a palpable influence from the US there. For instance, Costa Ricans are pretty in-tune to US politics in my limited experience (perhaps this is because they have no military and we have one of the biggest in the world!). I was also pleasantly surprised by how clean and sustainable everything was in Costa Rica; the beaches and parks were immaculate, which is due to the strict no-plastic policy in most of the national parks, and there were lots of water refill stations, which is not quite as ubiquitous in the US as it should be.  

It is impossible to capture just how awesome of a trip this was in a single blog post, but I'll attempt to with some highlights:

• Manuel Antonio National Park - This is a must-see spot on Costa Rica’s central Pacific Coast, consisting of a rugged rainforest, white-sand beaches, and even coral reefs! We spent a whole day here but honestly I would have spent more time just because of how beautiful the beaches were. We had a tour guide take us through the rainforest which I would highly recommend given that many of the animals are hard to spot if you don't know where/how to look for them. To name a few, we saw: white-faced moneys, toucans, red-eyed treefrogs, "halloween" crabs (orange and purple in color), branch birds, multiple species of lizards and iguanas, and...SLOTHS! They are my favorite because they are always smiling :)

• ATV driving- We booked this through our hotel, so it was in a small rainforest near where we stayed. I had never done this before and am definitely a slower driver than most, so I was out of my comfort zone. Our tour guide was great and even took us to a waterfall along the route. 

• Trying authentic Costa Rican food with family- I have distant family in Costa Rica that we were able to meet up with on the first day of our stay. My cousin used to be a tour guide, so he took us to a hole-in-the-wall place where we tried soursops drinks (fruit native to tropical regions of the Americas) and patacones (fried green plantains). Sooo delicious!

• Chocolate making/tasting- Cocoa beans grow naturally in Costa Rica, most commonly on the East Coast given the larger volumes of rain as compared to the Pacific Coast. Our guide walked us through the 5 stages of how chocolate is made, allowing us to taste the cocoa along the way. Spoiler alert: cocoa pre-condensed milk and sugar being added doesn't taste so hot. 

What would I change if I went back again? 

• Horseback riding- I love horses and have always been fascinated by how large and fast they are, but I would say that this isn't a must-do. Maybe it's just because we had a lackadaisical tour guide who's horse rammed into me at one point (no joke!). If you feel inclined to horseback ride in Costa Rica, I would suggest trying to do it on the beach instead of in the rainforest.

• Getting on a boat- We stayed right next to a marina, albeit we didn't spend much time there, but did not make it out on a boat. If you can, it seems worth doing at least a post-dinner boat trip along the coast to ensure that you can fully take in the gorgeous Pacific coastline.  

• Spend more time in the rainforest/at national parks- We only had 5 nights in Costa Rica, but if we had more time, I would tour another national park to test another beach and also spot more species of animals. The country is home to 28 national parks and dozens of other refuges, reserves, and conservation sites, so there is no shortage of opportunities to embrace nature and the diverse wildlife that Costa Rica is home to.

This trip was definitely one for the books; I didn't want to leave at the end of it! Here's to more adventures, more wanderlust, and more sloths!!

As they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida...

xoxo,

Rebecca