Hola! from Costa Rica

Hola everyone! It’s that time of year again… 

I have received a lot of blank looks this time about where Costa Rica is situated within world geography. So let me start with a short introduction to the country before getting into the actual trip update.

Costa Rica is located in the southern part of Central America, the narrow isthmus that joins North and South America. To the north is Nicaragua; to the south Panama (if you’ve heard of the Panama Canal, this is just north of that). The east coast collides with the Caribbean Sea whereas the west coast encounters the Pacific Ocean.

Even at around 635 miles long, 135 miles across and just 51,000sq km this small country has a lot to offer; dozens of habitats are squeezed into this tiny area: from rainforest and cloud forest to tropical dry forest, mangroves to mountains and volcanos, Costa Rica is packed with biodiversity. It has 615 species per 10,000 sq. km, the world’s largest number, greater than Rwanda’s wildlife rich 596 and the USAs poor 104. Due to its location, species from different continents have been comingling here for millennia. However, numerous species are declining or in danger of extinction due to habitat destruction, hunting and harvesting of eggs.

In 2009, the then President set a goal that Costa Rica would become carbon neutral by 2021, the first in the world. For its overall environmental performance, Costa Rica was ranked in the top five nations in a 2012 study produced by Yale and Columbia Universities. Costa Rica so we were informed, now uses 100% renewable energy – 85% hydroelectric, 10% geothermal and 5% solar/wind.

Costa Rica is also a neutral country with no standing army; it was abolished in 1949. At the same time the country was desegregated and women and blacks were given the right to vote. With no money to spend on military, the money is ploughed back into the country and today 50% of Costa Rica is protected. ‘Protected’ is a bit ambiguous as there is still corruption and if someone offers enough money, the protected areas can be unprotected; deforestation is a continuing problem as a result. Large areas are also swallowed up by Palm plantations.

Another of Costa Rica’s main danger comes from tourists and maintaining the delicate balance of bringing in tourist dollars to help maintain and protect more without the numbers of tourists being so great that it destroys the very thing they’ve come to see! The ethos of the company we’ve chosen to travel with is to tread lightly on the country with as much of an ethical and sustainable trip as is possible; such as using a variety of (local) transport, hiring local guides and staying in small locally/family owned accommodation (with sustainability credentials hopefully such as recycling, energy saving, use of natural light in rooms as a minimum).

San Jose was quiet; we’d picked a Sunday and a public holiday to visit. All the museums, central market and other public buildings were closed. We did get to wander around the town which was fairly easy to navigate, watch a parade, enjoy some of the plazas (squares), see Parroquia Nuestra Senora de la Soledad (ornate church) and visit the Artisan market which was open. Then in the evening we met our group: 5 other Brits, 2 Canadians, 1 Aussie and 1 Swiss. Introductions and trip preparation over, we went out for dinner together. Our first hotel was exceptionally good on sustainability by also using rainwater for flushing toilets and a solar system for heating water as well as those other things mentioned above.

Manuel Antonio National Park on the central Pacific coast is a dry tropical forest (still a rainforest but with slightly less rain, around 3.9m annually – yes that’s metres) consisting of both primary and secondary forest, mangroves and marine resources. Created in 1972 it is the country’s smallest national park even after it was enlarged to 1983 land hectares in 2000 and also comprises a 55,100 hectare marine area protecting islets of nesting seabirds. On a guided trek we saw lots of wildlife including White-faced Capuchin monkeys, Mantled Howler Monkeys, endangered Squirrel Monkeys (known locally as Mono Titi), Two-toed Sloths, Three-toed Sloths, Raccoons, Agoutis (like giant guinea pigs), lizards, birds, butterflies and a fleeting glimpse of an Ocelot (type of medium sized wild cat, bearing a resemblance to a leopard).

On another tour to seek out Scarlet Macaws (reduced pockets of distribution due to trapping, poaching, habitat destruction and increased use of pesticides), we saw more Squirrel Monkeys, Toucans, Crested Caracaras, Sloths and other birds as well as several Scarlet Macaws on the trip.

The weather was 34’c and an energy zapping 80% humidity, with torrential rainstorms including a spectacular thunder and lightning storm.

Santa Elena and Reserva Biologica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde in north-western Costa Rica are areas of virginal tropical cloud forest. These are very rich ecosystems; reputedly having 20% of the world plant diversity and 16% of the world vertebrate diversity. Established in 1972, the 4000 hectare Monteverde Cloud Forest apparently has 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 120 species of amphibians and reptiles and 3000 species of plants including 878 species of epiphytes (live on trees but do not harm them; merely using them as a means to get nutrients from the floating mist through exposed roots) of which there are over 500 species of orchids. The climate was cooler (28’C / 65% humidity despite the cloud/mist so still warm by British standards) as we were at an elevation of 860-1840m above sea level at the pinnacle of Costa Rica’s continental divide where warm trade winds from the Caribbean in the east meet those from the Pacific in the West cooling and condensing into clouds. The most famous resident is the Resplendent Quetzal, a bird considered divine by pre-Columbian cultures of Central America and sought after for its long iridescent-green tail feathers which adorned their royal headdresses, and rare to spot even today. But on our guided tour, spot a few we did; males in nests, their long tail feathers sticking out and one in the cloud. Also their ‘cousin’, an Orange-bellied Trogon along with hummingbirds, Costa Rican Robins and Wrens, Toucans, Toucanets and the young of the interestingly named Tawny-throated Leaftosser.

A lot of life in the cloud forest is at canopy level – some 30-60m up – difficult to see from ground level. Several companies offer canopy tours which is a series of zip lines through the trees with the lines getting increasingly longer, faster and higher up through the canopy with the final lines coming out above canopy level and the last two offering you the opportunity to fly like Superman over the canopy; a great way to see above the trees.

Another way to see the reserve is on a night walk where all sorts of creatures can be seen including frogs, sleeping birds, snakes, armadillos, honey bears (aka kinkajou, a small arboreal mammal related to the raccoon but looks more like a cross between a cat and a monkey), spiders, moths, beetles, fireflies, glow worms etc.

Our final encounter with Monteverde was a 3km Treetops walk on a trail linked by 8 bridges which went through and over the canopy. It demonstrated quite nicely why the Cloud Forest gets its name as we spent the entire walk engulfed in cloud and fog!!! However, it proved to be incredibly atmospheric, also bringing to mind images of the film Jurassic Park at times!

So from there we continued onto the northern lowlands that will be continued in the next instalment.

Adios,

Kath & Andy