Jungle paradise with an abundant wildlife, adventure activities and nature experiences. Once you experience Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity, you’ll understand why the nation’s motto is pura vida, or “pure life”.
If you’re coming from Madrid like us, there are many flights daily to Costa Rica. One great tip is to break your flights up like we did! We flew from Madrid to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Havana and then San Jose. It might seem like many hours, but is was not that bad. We felt like the time “flew” by hahah. When we arrived in San Jose we took a bus to Quepos. We arrived at night at our hotel so the jet lag was not that bad, in the morning we felt super fresh.
MANUEL ANTONIO PARK
Spotting wildlife must be a high up on the list of Costa Rica must-do’s. So the first thing we visited was el Parque National Manuel Antonio.The park is perfect for spotting many animals. We thought we would’t see many, but there was a pleasant surprise. There are many monkeys, slots, insects and birds.
The visit to the park ended on Manuel Antonio beach, a beach full of wild life, palms and amazing underwater life. There are living some crazy monkeys and raccoons. Be very careful because they love to sill food. Don’t let things without supervision at the beach or anywhere here because they will steal your bag and run away with it.
A must, once you are in Quepos is spotting whales. We were super lucky to see a mother and her calf. This was one of the most amazing and unique experience ever. We even did snorkelling on this excursion. I had a pleasant surprise to see that the fish love to be petted. Just wow!!
w h a l e w a t c h i n g
I told to our guide “you know what? I tried to pet a fish and he didn’t run, he loved it”. And the guide was “because here in Costa Rica people don’t harm animals and they are not afraid of people”. I have always knew Costa Rica is a super respectful country when it comes to nature and animals and now I was living it. Super awesome!
MONTEVERDE
Monteverde is perhaps not the most famous place in Costa Rica, but it’s definitely a must while in Costa Rica. This is also the perfect place to try the zip lining. It was a little bit scary but such an awesome experience.
A coffee tour in Monteverde it’s a very nice thing to do. You will be among other things introduced to the traditional role of coffee in the country and the lifecycle of the coffee planting.
This country is also famous for the amount of bird species. Here live around 400 species of birds and Monteverde is one of the best bird watching areas in Costa Rica. More precisely, the Curi-Cancha Reserve boasts the best bird diversity in the locality.
On a tour through this reserve, you will get the opportunity to see some of Costa Rica’s most beautiful birds and of course the famous hummingbirds.
Some 1.400 orchid species are growing in Costa Rica and about 500 can be found in Monteverde. The Orchid House, in particular has over 460 species in their natural habitat on display.
In our 10 days in Costa Rica we had to see the Caribbean part too. We took a private car from La Fortuna to Puerto Viejo.
MANZANILLO
We decided to stay in Manzanillo. And it was the best decision. This was a slice of paradise. The tropical setting, lots of animals and friendly locals will bring you sunset dinners. We actually, had the dinner of our life. A few meters from our hotel it was this cute restaurant where live a family of slots. During the dinner in this romantic setting, we’ve seen 3 slots. I mean how amazing is this!
Very close to where we stayed it was playa Playa Manzanillo. This is stunning beach with sparkling turquoise water and palm tree forests. There was nobody around and you will feel like you have the beach all to yourself.
SAN JOSE
We returned to San Jose a night before the flight. We had free the next morning. So we decided to do one more visit before going back home. We visited this magnificent animal sanctuary. A place with many rescued animals. This is a non-profit foundation dedicated to conserving Costa Rica’s wildlife.
The animal sanctuary and wildlife conservation center is the oldest of its kind with 30 years of experience in rehabilitating wildlife, breeding endangered species, preserving habitat, and providing lifetime care. The Rescate Wildlife Center receives over 2,700 animals annually with a goal to release them back into the wild. Animals unable to adapt to their original habitat are the only animals kept in the wildlife sanctuary.
Madeleine 𓇼 