Costa Rica’s Exotic Landscapes & High-Adrenaline Adventures

Costa Rica was never on my bucket list. At least not until I started seeing images on various Social Media sites that really caught my eye. The stunning Landscapes, variety of Animals and Adventurous nature of the country really drew me to the point of booking!

I left it extremely late in planning this trip, I decided to book around Christmas 2024 in time for the tail end of January 2025. I would be travelling around Costa Rica almost the entirety of February, which was a perfect time to visit due to it being the middle of the dry season.

My Adventure was to commence in the Capital City San Jose and traverse the country clockwise, touching on many of the highlights that Costa Rica had to offer.

I would be using almost every form of transport available along the way, from buses, boats, planes, bikes and zip lines!

I chose to split my flight, so I flew from London Heathrow to Miami and then Miami to San Jose. The transfer at Miami was ridiculously close, as I had to run the length of the airport to catch the onward flight to Costa Rica!

It was fantastic flying over the coast coming into Costa Rica seeing the stunning blues and greens of the Caribbean Sea.

My Flying time ended up around 18 hours, and I landed in San Jose on Thu 30th January 2024. I have learned lessons from previous trips, so I had already booked a transfer from the airport to my Hotel. The taxi transfer only took 30 minutes right into the heart of San Jose and dropped me off at my first Hotel which was the Aloft San Jose Hotel.

Getting to my Hotel early afternoon have me the opportunity to take a casual stroll around San Jose City Centre. I have to say the city was giving me huge Vietnam vibes, just without the thousands of mopeds.

I was well situated and this set me up nicely for a few days on my own before meeting with the small tour group I was due to be travelling around Costa Rica with.

Taking the first day nice and easy provided me with enough time to find my bearings and plan the next few days. I planned to do a few hikes as well as venture to the outskirts of the city to get a taste of the forest covered volcanic mountains I could see towering above the cityscape in the distance.

I slept very well after that long journey over, London to San Jose seemed like a extremely tedious flight via Miami, I would definitely pay slightly more and fly direct next time.

I woke to the sounds of diesel motorbikes roaring past at 6am as I could have not been more centrally based in city. Today for my second day, I had planned to travel to the outskirts of the city centre to a great Hiking spot called the ‘Mantra Trail’ located at Hacienda y Beneficio La Chimba in Santa Ana.

It was a blisteringly hot day and I caught a 30 min Uber to start of the trail. When I arrived, and the Mantra Trail had 3 distances, 3km, 5km and 9km, so I opted for the 5km due to the heat! The Trail had a great range of photo opportunities including a coffee farm, stunning view points and cool statues along the way.

The highlight for me was the ‘Hand of Mantra’, that was a huge wooden hand with steps leading to its palm, where you could stand for the most amazing photo ever! (See the photo below to see me standing on the Hand of Mantra!)

For my third day in San Jose, I decided to tap up Trip advisor for top things to do in San Jose and ended up booking myself on the ‘San Jose Walking Nature Tour‘ which was led by a local biologist Melissa. It allowed us to traverse the city looking for (and finding) tropical birds, sloths, exotic plants, insects and a whole host of wildlife and fauna.

Melissa our Tour Guide was amazing! She was extremely knowledgeable and explained things well, but more importantly her passion for the wildlife and nature around the San Jose area was an absolute joy to behold. A great trip and would thoroughly recommend if you have a spare half-day!

My fourth day in San Jose allowed me to peruse the city centre at a leisurely pace and soak up some of the colourful architecture and street life. It was certainly a bustling place with so much going on, it was such a sensory overload!!

I also moved to my second and final San Jose Hotel, this was it was a Modern Boutique Hotel called Urban Green Hotel & Suites.

After meeting the small group I was due to be travelling around Costa Rica with, we boarded a mini-bus and commenced the 5hr drive from San Jose to Quepos. Quepos is situated on the Southwest coast of Costa Rica.

Day five was probably one of my favourite days as we hiked through Manuel Antonio National Park that had an amazing variety of wildlife. We headed to the coastline and one of the most stunning beaches I have ever witnessed. Walking through the forest that opened out onto Manuel Antonio Beach was like a scene from ‘The Beach’. There were hundreds of iguanas and monkeys just walking around the beach whilst we went for a swim, it was just surreal!

Day six was right up my street, we went Kayaking in the Costa Rican Mangroves, Quepos. We actually kayaked 5km into the thick Jungle tributaries, it was so peaceful, with the silence only to be broken by the calls of birds such as macaws. We saw such a range of wildlife, crabs, iguanas, tropical birds, howler monkeys and turtles to name a few!

I would thoroughly recommend Quepos to anyone visiting Costa Rica, it had everything all within one place, Rainforests, Mangroves, Stunning Beaches and Lagoons.

Reluctantly departing Quepos, we had a lengthy drive ahead of us. Over 5 hours it took traversing the West Coast of Costa Rica to get to our next location, The cloud Forests of Monteverde! Having had such a lengthy journey, I was so tired, however still excited for our first Night Walk on arrival! It was extremely windy but we were lucky enough to see Sloths, Scorpions, Tree Snakes and Sleeping Birds!

Day eight was an absolute Extreme Activities Highlight! We went to one of the country’s biggest Tree-top Canopy Zip Line Park, run by 100% Aventura! This was such great fun, although I was very nervous beforehand, the guides made sure it went without a hitch and I could not believe how high some of the Zip Lines were over the Jungle, it was a real Bucket List moment. The best Activities were the ‘Superman Zip Line’ and also the ‘Tarzan Swing’ – only for the brave though!!

We were actually only in Monteverde for 1 full day, so after the Adventure Experience, we travelled directly to one of the highest parts of the area for a 5km hike Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Being in the Cloud Forest it is always drizzling, so there is almost always a permanent Rainbow!

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Hike did not disappoint, there were many different varieties of Humming Birds, Tropical Birds and insects, the highlight had to be coming face to face with a huge Tarantula!

Arenal Volcano

Another 4 hour journey travelling from the West coast and the Pacific side of Costa Rica towards the North of the Country and from The Cloud Forests of Monteverde to the Volcanic surroundings of La Fortuna! La Fortuna was the most idyllic town situated at the very base of the Arenal Volcano, an active Volcano that is 1,657m high and has a crater with a diameter of 140m. We were to be based out of La Fortuna for the next 3 days, this would be our longest stay in any one location throughout the trip.

Los Lagos Hotel Spa & Resort

Our 4 hour drive also included a fantastic hour long boat trip over the largest lake in Costa Rica called Arenal Lake at 85km square and depths of around 60m. The lake was at the foot of the active Arenal Volcano, so we got some amazing views for the entire trip! After what was a long day travelling to get to La Fortuna, we spent the evening in the luxurious ‘Los Lagos Hotel Spa & Resort‘ enjoying numerous natural Hot Springs that are possible due to the interaction of groundwater with magma from Arenal Volcano.

La Fortuna Waterfall & Hanging Bridges

Day ten was absolutely brilliant! We Hiked 5km deep into the Jungle surrounding the base of the Volcano to find the stunning ‘Fortuna Waterfall‘. We needed to traverse over 500 steep steps leading to the 70m Waterfall, but it was well worth it! It was a sweltering day, so we cooled off in the pool at the foot of the Waterfall, but the power was immense and people were trying to swim towards it, but stood no chance! We then headed to The ‘Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges‘. This was a fantastic 5km Hike through the Jungle that included walking over 16 Hanging Bridges. The views were spectacular! Both of these activities are MUST DO’S if you visit Costa Rica.

Rappelling & Canyoning

On our final day in La Fortuna, I had booked an ‘Extreme Adventure’ Package that included a great day out Rappelling & Canyoning down 300ft Waterfalls! This was such great fun, even though I was a little nervous, this was an awesome way to really immerse yourself in the breathtaking activities Costa Rica has to offer.

The Adventurous Activities did not stop at La Fortuna! After a 3hr drive across the North of Costa Rica, we arrived at our next destination, the Sarapiquí Rainforest. Up until this point we had been staying in a range of different Hotels, however this location was different. When we arrived we were introduced to our ‘Sarapiquí Rainforest Lodge’.

The Lodge was amazing, we were literally in the middle of the Jungle and surrounded my a myriad of Wildlife. Just withing a few steps of our Lodge were several varieties of toucans eating bunches of bananas hung up for them. I really enjoyed watching such amazing Tropical Birds living in their natural habitat just metres away..

As night fell on the twelfth day, we were treated to a Night Walk in the Jungle surrounding the Lodge to spot a variety of Wildlife. We saw animals such as:

• Scorpions
• Two-toed Sloth
• Red-eyed Tree Frogs
• Central American Bullfrog
• Plumed Basilisk Lizard
• Stick insects
• Emerald Tree Boa Snake
• Sleeping Birds (literally asleep!)

That night back at my Lodge, I was woken up in the middle of the night by something scratching in the bathroom.. I went in to find that an animal had gnawed through the roof and gone to the look on top of my toilet seat! Let’s just say I didn’t sleep too well for the remainder of the night!

I was up extremely early at 5am for some early morning Bird Watching on Day Thirteen. We walked around listening and watching the amazing variety of Birds that were up singing their heart out! From Toucans and noisy Parakeets, to pairs of stunning Macaws flying over us. I tried to make some notes of the Birds as we saw them, but I just could not keep up with the sheer amount (as well as the fact I couldn’t spell their names!)

After our Bird watching morning, it was time for something I was looking forward to the most on the trip, Whitewater Rafting! We got taken in the back of a Tractor Trailer 30 mins to the ‘Pozo Azul Rafting Centre‘, which was an experience in itself! Once there we were kitted up with life jackets, helmets and paddles and headed down to the Sarapiquí River or Rio Sarapiquí.

The first few kilometres we were just tasked with getting used to the rhythm of the rowing as a team of 6 people on the raft, which is harder than it looks when the rapids of the river are trying to spin, twist and flip you!

We ended up paddling over 11km and some of the rapids and waterfalls were around 6ft, so we got absolutely pummelled along the way, but what an awesome experience! I would really recommend Whitewater Rafting if you ever get to travel around Costa Rica, there are many places, but point at which we joined the Sarapiquí River was fantastic and had plenty of options for people that wanted to go easy as well as those more experienced or looking for a thrill to go longer and harder!

From the Adrenaline Highs of La Fortuna and Sarapiquí, we were now heading to a more luxurious and laid back part of the Journey. This was a long drive, but after 5 bumpy hours we travelled from Sarapiquí to Tortuguero port. From this port we then had to clamber (with all of our luggage), onto a thin River Boat that snaked for over 2 hours to reach Tortuguero. The Boat journey was a tour in itself with breathtaking views of the Rainforest and animals along the way, such as Herons, Egrets, Caiman, Alligators and King Fishers.

Tortuguero was situated almost as far North East as you could get in Costa Rica, the coastline sat along the Caribbean Sea and we were not actually that far from the Nicaraguan Border.

For the 2 days I was in Tortuguero I stayed at ‘The Hotel Tortuguero Beachfront‘, a luxurious Beach Front Hotel that led onto one of the Worlds most protected Turtle Nature Reserves. This Coastline was breathtaking and like something out of the Jurassic age! This Tortuguero Coastline is the most important nesting site of the endangered green turtle in the Western Hemisphere. Turtles such as Giant leatherback, Hawksbill and Loggerhead Turtles all nest and lay their eggs on this Beach, so it was a privilege to visit, even if it was out of season.

After having spent a couple of days chilling a long way from civilisation at Tortuguero, it was time for another lengthy journey to our final location before we headed back to San Jose. We had to take the 2hr Long Boat back to the Port, then travel another 3 hours down the Caribbean Coastline to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca on the South East Coast.

We thought we had seen everything Costa Rica had to offer, but we could not be more wrong! On Day seventeen we cycled a total of 18km to a glorious beach that really was Paradise called ‘Playa Punta Uva‘. This Beach could not have been more perfect. The Jungle really did reach right to the Coastline and allowed us to see animals such as families of Sloths on the Beach!

We had an amazing experience whilst cycling, I saw something out of the corner of my eye clinging to a bus shelter by the side of the road, I took a second glance and saw that it was a mother Sloth carrying her baby. This really did make the trip for me, seeing sloths like this in the wild and just moving around was just amazing.

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca has a big influence from the Caribbean, so there were Jamaican flags and culture everywhere I looked! It made the 2 days I stayed here an extremely laid back time.

After enjoying the Coastline and glorious Beaches that Puerto Viejo de Talamanca had to offer it was time to pack my luggage for the final time to head back to the Capital San Jose.

Another long bus journey back to the Capital City San Jose on Day eighteen, and after 5 bump, windy, jerky hours, we were back to the same Hotel it all started The Urban Green Hotel & Suites.

On our Final night together in San Jose, I was declared a ‘G Adventures VIP’ by our Tour Guide due to the fact I had been on so many Adventures with the company, this was an amazing way to depart from the group I travelled with.

I had 2 final days in San Jose and a few of the group were luckily enough around for one of those days, so we all planned to go on our final trip together to Hike around the ‘Poas Volcano National Park‘

POAS VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK

We took a 1.5hr Uber from San Jose to Poás Volcano, this seemed like a much longer journey than it actually was as we needed to head out of the city and around plenty of winding roads to get there!

Having reached the entrance to the Volcano, it was then a 5km hike to the top. Would you believe it, when we got to the view point after 3-4 hours of travelling, it was blanket fog! (We had to laugh though), literally could not see anything.. We walked the trails surrounding the Volcano which was great but we forgot it was at height, so doing it quickly wasn’t the best idea.

Poás Volcano actually stands 2708m high and since 1989, it’s been emitting gas that has caused acid rain in the area. There was a series of lights at the top and when the blue light was on, it signified high levels of acid!

At the top, on a good day, we should have been able to see two craters, the main one which is 1.5km across and 300m deep. Then there’s the beautiful Botos Lagoon, a chilly, rain-fed lake that drains toward the Caribbean through the Ángel River, which feeds into the Sarapiquí.

LA PAZ WATERFALL GARDENS

After saying my goodbyes to the remaining group and for my final, I decided to take a similar route to the Volcano but peeled away to the West to visit the mind blowing ‘La Paz waterfall Gardens‘.

I really have seen nothing like this place on Earth before. It was like a huge Nature Reserve with numerous Waterfalls and the focal point being the Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation centre.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was blazing down and it was probably one of the most enjoyable days of the entire trip! I strolled around all day, had some lunch, got to see the elusive Jaguar and got up close and personal to many beautiful animals and birds at the rehab centre. What a way to end the trip!

TROPICAL BIRDS

One of the trip highlights for me was the sheer variety of Tropical Birds! From the moment I landed, I was able to catch sight of were Parakeets and the stunningly colouful Macaws. Some of the other birds I was lucky enough to see were:

• Black-Mandibled Toucans
• Montezuma Oropendola
• Broad-Billed Motmot
• Blue-Gray Tanager
• Humming Birds (many varieties)

REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

It was amazing to see so many reptiles and amphibians roaming or slithering around, we were so lucky to see such a variety, such as:

• Red-eyed tree Frog
• Glass Frog
• Jesus Christ lizard
• Green Vine Snakes
• Eye-lash Viper
• Poison Dart Frog
• Alligators & Caiman
• Iguanas (everywhere!)

INSECTS & BUTTERFLIES

I was blown away by the variety of insects throughout my journey around Costa Rica. All you had to do was stop for a second, then you’d start to notice. I saw many insects and butterflies such as:

• Blue Morpho Butterfly
• Malachite Butterfly
• Stick Insects
• Tarantula
• Leafcutter Ants (My Favourites)

MAMMALS

What a huge selection of unusual Mammals Costa Rica has! The obvious animal that everyone is on the hunt for is the Sloth, that I was lucky enough to see! Other Mammals I got to see were:

• Two & three-toed Sloths
• Jaguars
• White-faced Capuchin Monkey
• Howler Monkeys
• Dolphins
• White-nosed Coati

I’d go as far to say that this Trip was one of the best I’ve ever been on. This was easily a 10/10 trip for me and equalled my previous favourite trip to Madagascar in terms of enjoyment.

This was a last-minute trip, so having had zero expectations at all for Costa Rica, I had also never met anyone that had visited either, so I really was going into this adventure blind. I had obviously known that it was a stunning country, but nothing could have prepared me for just how beautiful it was.

From the moment we started to head out of the Capital City, San Jose, the sheer beauty of the landscapes and diversity of animals was breathtaking! Being a trip that circumnavigated the entire country, I was lucky enough to see a vast range of scenery, from Jungles, protected Coastlines, Turtle breeding grounds, Volcanic landscapes to Dream Beaches and idyllic Waterfalls.

One of my ‘Pinch me Moments’ was seeing a Mum Sloth with her Baby just climbing under a Bus Shelter next to the road. This was near the end of my trip too, so it was a great way to bring the journey to a close.

Another great moment for me was on the final day, when I was officially announced as a ‘VIP’ by our G Adventures Tour Guide, which was such a nice surprise! This was due to the fact I had been on so many of these adventures with the tour group.

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