34 MEMORIES OF COSTA RICA


November/December 2020 Travel News


TURTLES AND HUMMINGBIRDS I


Travel writer ROBIN NOWACKI explores two superb contrasting rain forest experiences in Costa Rica - one of the most fashionable destinations in the world


N 1992 I travelled to Mexico via Madrid to write a guide to be on board the first ever direct flights by British Airways to Mexico City from London commencing 1993. Recently I undertook a similar journey - but this time


directly to a different Central American destination – Costa Rica. My first impression of Costa Rica was in the capital,


San Jose, where I found similarities with Mexico in the day to day life of the people there in this country tiny in comparison – just north of Panama with the Caribbean Sea to the east and Pacific Ocean to the west. Within Costa Rica I found a stunning a range of


quite superb natural attractions, ranging from towering live volcanoes as high as the highest Alps, steamy tropical rain forests dissected by broad rivers hugging Caribbean beaches where Green Turtles lay their eggs, and cloud forests where some of the finest coffee known to man is grown and humming birds and howler monkeys thrive.


any attempts of photography either by camera or mobile phone. The Green Turtle I watched give birth, whilst still


in the trance, was tagged with a tracking device by a conservationist so as to keep an eye on its movements once the evidently quite exhausted creature returned to the sea, not due to return for another two years. The Green Turtle, which nests at Toruguero from


July to October, endeavours to return to the same beach each time, others nesting along the Costa Rica Caribbean coast are not so specific and these include the Loggerhead (May to August), the Hawksbill (May to November) and the Leatherback March to July). Within the Toruguero National Park the mode


of transport is by boat, with the village that bears its name virtually an island situated as it is between the Caribbean and a broad inland waterway lake sized in proportion. Here there are a number of resort hotels offering wonderful ecotourism opportunities, I stayed at the Evergreen Lodge in one of many individual hut sized rooms raised on stilts about two metres above the rain forest floor to be safe from flooding from the frequent heavy rainforest downfalls which thunder on to the steel roofs.


There was a basic bathroom, no television or


WiFi (there were areas in the resort where this was accessible), and no glass windows, just mesh to keep out the mosquitos and other insects. By night a gentle breeze through the mesh mixed


with the sounds of the creatures of the forest ensured a wonderful sleep, until dawn when the huge dog like growls of the Howler Monkeys above could be heard. In fact high up the forest canopy was full of monkeys including the Spider and White Faced, and on occasions both Two and Three Fingered Sloths could be spotted, whist at ground level tiny frogs could be spotted. (www. evergreentortuguero.com) For most travellers the only way out of here is by one


of the long boats pushed along by 100 horse powered outboard motors, this is how I arrived with suitcase and rucksack. However I was lucky enough to leave from the small airstrip near Toruguero Village by a single engine turbo propped aircraft operated by NatureAir Group (natureair.com), the 40 minute flight, with spectacular views, took me back to San Jose.


MONTEVERDE, COFFEE AND CLOUD FOREST


In the north west of Costa Rica lies another ecotourism jewel, take the Pan American Highway


The Evergreen Lodge offers individual hut-sized rooms raised on stilts above the rain forest floor


being totally enveloped in a blanket of cloud the next. As wonderful an experience as Tortuguero, here


the virgin forest takes on a mystical dimension when covered in cloud, then becomes spectacularly beautiful in the clear sunlight air, all within a couple of hours walk. At the Selvatura Park the brave are offered


thrilling zip wire experiences through the rain forest canopy including one a kilometre long, for others the suspension bridge tour is a must, at times 100 metres


the world’s best and in Monteverde’s micro climate this crop flourishes. Highly recommended is the visit to the Don Juan Farm, where I was both thoroughly educated in how coffee is grown and processed whilst being highly entertained by Junior Ramirez Vindas. Both the coffee and chocolate made at the farm make wonderful natural Costa Rican gifts for friends and family back in the UK.


TIPS Pack a light weight waterproof coat or jacket, heavy


Costa Rica offers lots of opportunities for ecotourism


The original Spanish colonialists chose the location


of San Jose well, it’s elevation above sea level in what is known as the Central Valley keeps it a good 10 degrees cooler than Costa Rica’s coastal areas such as the Tortuguero (Region of Turtles ) Plain.


TURTLES AT TORTUGUERRO NATIONAL PARK Here is a vast area of humid rain forest along


the Caribbean where lies the beach of the village of Tortuguero - the most important nesting site of the endangered Green Turtle in the Western Hemisphere. At one stage close to extinction, in an attempt to


save this species the Tortuguero National Park was established in 1970 leading to perhaps one of the earliest success stories of ecotourism, for the villagers working with conservationists have come to earn a good steady income from the many thousands of tourists who visit to watch the turtles. Every night during the nesting seasons hundreds


follow guides from the village through pitch black forest paths to the beach, where if lucky as I was, they can watch these wonderful creatures, leave the sea, dig deep holes in the sand to lay between 100 and 125 eggs, cover them, and return to the lapping waters of the Caribbean. The whole process takes several hours and during


the laying process the turtle enters a trance like state, allowing tourists to view the eggs being laid with aid of special red light touches held by the guides, who forbid


Costa Rica has some beautiful isolated beaches lined with shady palm trees


from San Jose for about two hours, then soon after briefly passing a stretch of the Pacific Ocean on the left, turn onto a dirt road which winds up for an hour, and you will find yourself in the stunning Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Here the small town of Santa Elena, despite its isolation, offers some good hotels and restaurants, as well as supermarkets and banks, and is accessible by bus. At 1,440 metres above sea level Monteverde was refreshingly the coolest place I visited in tropical Costa Rica, where a fascinating micro-climate allows for clear skies with distant views of the Pacific one hour, to then


above the ground, one is truly walking at tree top level with Howler and Spider Monkeys and rare birds as companions, as the bridges swing unnervingly from side to side. Close to the main lodge are the Hummingbird Galleries where hundreds of these tiny birds in all the colours of the rainbow, buzz around fonts of sugared water, coming so close one can feel the wind from their wings and hear their buzz.


COFFEE Costa Rican coffee is generally regarded as one of


rain often as warm as a shower at home is often a reality be it when watching turtles of exploring the rain forest. The US Dollar is excepted everywhere.


** PLEASE NOTE THE WRITER VISITED COSTA RICA


BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CRISIS AND SO SOME OF THE PLACES HE VISITED AND MENTIONED MIGHT NOW BE CLOSED.


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