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Out of one week in Costa Rica we stayed in two different places almost at the opposite sides of the country and we crossed most of the country in two journeys. With the exception of the drier and sunnier northern and the Pacific region that we had a glimpse of from the road, the images and memories that I relate to Costa Rica are: banana plantations, rivers, rainforest, colibries and rain. All of them were abundant throughout our stay. The country explodes with the dark green flora and is overall quite humid, especially the Caribbean coast.
We initially stayed for three nights in St Elena, a small town/village in the region of Monteverde, the cloud forest reserve. The climate change from the sunny hot weather on the Pan American highway, up to around 1500m just over an hour away, was remarkable. It is noticeably cooler, constantly super windy, with the gusts that occasionally pushed us so strongly that we nearly lost our balance - similar experience to 'bura',the northern wind in the southern and coastal areas of the Balkans. The clouds in Monteverde are cutting through the trees above and often send showers down on the area by the way of this strong wind. The upside of this was that we saw a double rainbow every day.
The entrances to the forest are only a few kilometres away, reached by the windy, bumpy mountain roads, and this region, like the most of the country, is described and promoted as one of the most biodiverse ones in the world. So you can imagine our disappointment when we did a two-hour (very expensive) guided tour and ended up freezing and soaking wet with only a glimpse of the following: one tarantula inside a tree trunk, one quetzal high up on a tree, one hummingbird nest and a small bird that comes from the robin family. To top it all, our driver left without us due to a misunderstanding with our guide, who ended up driving us back. On the other hand, it gave us an opportunity to chat with the guide and get a sense of how some of the people that live in Costa Rica view their country. In his opinion the biggest potential is in Eco tourism and agriculture, the corruption is as rife as in most other Central American countries and studying hard and gaining a diploma will not necessarily bring you a higher income. It was interesting that he more than implied that even tough the forest is a fine example of the great biodiversity, due to the high frequency of the tourists in the area, there is a very small chance to see the wildlife...and they charge 45USD for such a tour!
We had a really enjoyable visit the day before, when we went for a stroll along 8 hanging bridges enjoying a bird's-eye view of the area. Every couple of minutes we saw people ziplining above our heads; we also visited the colibri garden. That was the first time we saw up close so many of these elusive beautiful little birds. They varied in size and colours, gathered around the feeders and, at times, whizzed past our heads like Tinkerbells. It was a magical experience, one of the best ones we had on this trip. We continued to see the colibries on the Caribbean cost as well, feeding on the bright coloured hibiscus flowers.
We were looking forward to our next destination Puerto Viejo with the promise of beautiful beaches and a relaxed Caribbean vibe. What we encountered was a very humid town, with an array of food and accommodation establishments, with too much rubbish on the streets, a smell of dump and rotten wood and the rough sea - to make a fair point, the weather was not at its best and most of the beaches in that area are anyway popular for surfing rather than swimming. The 'relaxed Caribbean vibe' is characterised by the marijuana smoking culture,quite openly almost everywhere.
There were little groups on every corner ranging from children to adults offering us all kinds of drugs. I don't mind the presence of marijuana, especially its use for medicinal purposes, but I am deeply irritated with the lazy attitude of the people selling it.
The nature in Puerto Viejo is also very rich and the tree opposite our hotel could be described as a bird watchers paradise. We saw many different birds, mostly small and colourful. There were also some brown squirrels, the first ones we saw here.
The locals extensively use the slogan PURA VIDA; this literally means "pure life" and is commonly used in the country, especially down south from what we heard. I looked up in the dictionary and it explains that the phrase has a variety of meanings generally relating to the gratitude and the appreciation of life, nature and other people; it is also used as a greeting. At the risk of sounding cynical, I observed that the phrase is overused, both for commercial purposes (souvenirs etc) and amongst the people. Because, even tough there seems to be more Eco awareness and regards for the living beings such as animals than in other Central American countries, the sight of Walmarts, McDonalds, mass imported souvenirs from China, high prices driven by the presence of American expats and the growing economy, the jaded or downright arrogant staff in tourism establishments such as hotels, supermarkets and tour operators, rubbish in Puerto Viejo all showed us that the 'vida' is becoming less and less 'pura', but it certainly presents a very attractive identity ideal to hold on to.
We spent some of the time on the beach, watching surfers. It was very interesting to observe and learn more about this sport. It must be thrilling to feel the right moment, catch THE wave and move in synchrony with it, until the momentum evaporates. And it must take a real passion and dedication to spent most of time struggling through the waves and currents in order to get to the right spot. And then starts a waiting game, which can last for 10-15 minutes at times before a surfer gets up and rides that one wave for about 30 seconds!
Our most enjoyable time during the two rainy days here was a visit to the animal sanctuary. We walked a 12km round trip, soaking in the rain, but it didn't really matter because it was warm. The animals such as birds, monkeys, wild cats etc are brought to the sanctuary for a variety of reasons. They were either kept as pets (which now carries a prison sentence in Costa Rica. Well done!!) or attempted to be smuggled out of the country and on to the black market. Some of them are found abandoned or injured, sometimes by the electricity cables. There are lots of volunteers helping and supporting the animals at the sanctuary. The wonderful thing they do is help the animals in need and how they work on enabling them to return to their natural habitat as soon as possible. For example, a toucan with clipped wings will grow his wings to the full size and be able to fly further in about a year; in the meantime, he is free to move around. The monkeys we saw are taken to the nearby jungle every day and they come back in the evening at their own will. If a monkey doesn't come back, that means he was accepted by a wild group and that is where the transition ends. For anyone interested, it is called Jaguar Rescue Center. After eight years of working as a music therapist with generally very little feedback about a real difference this work makes for the people we aim to help, seeing a real benefit taking place was a breath of fresh air.
With such a short time spent in Costa Rica, we didn't really give it a chance to seduce us with the beauty and uniqueness so many are enchanted with. Instead, I was glad to move on from the suffocating humidity, rain, expensive everything and unsatisfactory feeling of hollowness overtaking what probably used to be a great substance.
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