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Costa Rica or the Rich Coast is one of the richest and most developed of all the Central American countries, so it is not a surprise to hear that we didn´t stay very long as found it to be rather expensive, full of American tourists and quite pretentious. However, within all this it does have its nuggets of charm and some of the most beautiful wildlife you can imagine.
While the country has only about 0.25% of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity, highlighting it´s rich flora and fauna. So after spending a couple of days soaking up the sun "Benidorm" style in Tamarindo we headed inland to witness some of the best wildlife I have ever seen.
Our trip to La Fortuna was pretty spectacular as stopped off at a cafe which was surrounded by Macaws and spider monkeys in the neighbouring trees. Pretty good start of the nature trail.
One of the first stops was a trip to Caño Negro, a wildlife refuge near to the Nicaraguan border, home to around 307 species of birds and 78 species of mammals. On the way to the reserve we spotted a sloth (oso perezoso) lazy in a tree on the side of the road. Sloths are literally the laziest animals in the world; only coming out of their trees once a week to go to the loo on the ground. The move at the speed of tortoises (unless under threat) and sleep for around 15 - 18 hours a day. Sounds pretty idylic.
At the reserve we spotted howler monkeys, spider monkeys, white-faced monkeys, iguanas, caymans, egrets, kingfisher and loads other birds whose names I cannot remember.
The next of a our nature visits was in Monteverde where we did a night tour of the surrounding rainforest. Monteverde, is a cloud forest set about 1400 metres above sea level and has been named by National Geographic as "the jewel in the crown of cloud forest reserves".
The weather was not great so donned our macks, grabbed our torches and hoped it wouldn´t bucket down. We saw loads of different insects, a tarantula but the best was a sloth which was at eye level. He had obviously come down for his weekly toilet break and was on his way up again. Truly amazing moment of the trip.
A visit to Costa Rica wouldn´t be complete without a trip to El Renario (frog farm). Costa Rica is home to around 175 amphibians, 85% of which are frogs including the famous green tree frog which you often find on postcards.
So that was Costa Rica in a nutshell. Although the landscape is beautiful and the wildlife breathtaking, I wouldn´t necessarily hurry back.
Next stop is Panama.
- comments
jo did you see any wood pigeons?
Mama Any Sloaths??