Costa Rica Critter Round-Up

Warning: image-heavy post ahead. One of the reasons I wanted to visit Costa Rica was because of its incredible biodiversity. Although it's a pretty small country, the landscape and the climate changes quickly from cloud forest to rain forest to hot, dry beaches and as such, it would be difficult to spend two weeks there and not see some cool creatures. 

Spot the howler monkeys

Tamarindo & Mal País: In Search of the Perfect Beach

After an action-packed first week in Costa Rica, we have been spending our second week hopping from beach to beach. En route from our hotel to Playa Tamarindo, the heavens opened for the first time of the holiday and we were forced to seek refuge in one of the main restaurants that line the main drag of 'Tamagringo.' 

Tamarindo: Leaping in Paradise

We left the cloud forest today, journeying over rocky, unpaved roads down the mountain, until we finally reached the Pan-American highway, where things improved a little. Still it's hard to complain when we were in our hotel pool cooling off well before noon.

We're staying near at El Sabanero Eco Lodge, near Tamarindo, a little way away from the beach and the shops. It's pretty quiet out here, but we're expecting another dawn wake-up call from the monkeys. Later, though, we are going in search of food and waves, and a little bit more civilisation. Relatively speaking.

The Caffeine Chronicles: The Common Cup, Monteverde, Costa Rica

There isn't a huge amount to do in the towns of Monteverde and Santa Elena — the restaurants tend to be touristy and overpriced — but we did manage to find a few nice places to go. Top of my list was The Common Cup, an independent coffee shop serving espresso drinks made with Monteverde coffee roasted on site. Plus, they do a good line in latte art. Yesterday, I tried a cappuccino, which was too milky for me; this morning's macchiato was much better: rich and creamy.

Monteverde: I've Looked at Clouds from Both Sides Now

When you're staying in Monteverde, Costa Rica, most of the activities are in or near one of the cloud forests. The two largest are the Monteverde reserve and the Santa Elena reserve, but I still haven't worked out which is which, especially given the two 'towns' of Monteverde and Santa Elena are next-door neighbours, and neither consists of anything more than a few unpaved roads on the hilltop, with a handful of sodas, touristy shops and hotels.

Monteverde: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

We left our lovely little cabin at the foot of the Volcán Arenal early this morning (we were staying at Hotel Campo Verde and I would highly recommended it).

La Fortuna: She's a Waterfall

In La Fortuna and the Arenal National Park, there are a whole load of activities on offer. It's one of the most popular regions in Costa Rica! As we will be doing a canopy tour in our next location, we decided to do a four-in-one combination tour, which offered a floating safari, a tour of the Catarata de La Fortuna, a hike around the Volcán Arenal and a visit to one of the many hot springs in the area.