costa rica

La Fortuna (2026)

Failed to do any exploring in San José - this was a brief glimpse from the bus in. And here's another glimpse of San José from the bus out! A cute little town, somewhere on the way to La Fortuna The Costa Rican countryside in this region is incredibly picturesque. Noticed a number of what seemed to be holiday/expat homes en route to La Fortuna (not these ones). Many small businesses openly displayed as [insert Western nationality]-run as well. Seems to be a popular place to move to. Here is La Fortuna. I'm not sure why I took this pic as it's not the most attractive, but it's pretty much the only one I have of the town itself so I'm keeping it. The main town square/park, with the central church adjacent outside of the frame. The town felt pretty small, and very centred around tourism. Arenal lava fields. There was a massive eruption back in 1968 that laid waste to the surrounding area, yet in the decades since the vegetation and wildlife has made a triumphant comeback. More lava fields, this time with grazing cow friends. <3 And here's the volcano itself. I spent two days in La Fortuna and this was one of the only 'clear' glimpses I managed to get, as it's often covered by clouds. If you squint, you can just about make out a sloth in the branches there. This way my one and only sighting of the much-advertised but (for me) very elusive animal. Image taken by a friend through the tour guide's binoculars. Did a little 'hike' on one of the forest trails here, hoping to see some wildlife. Didn't get much beyond lots of these wild turkeys who seemed entirely unbothered by humans. Another bird (I'm not sure which?) near the lunch stop for the day. After lunch, we were in luck: the clouds actually parted for a reasonable length of time, giving us unobstructed views of the mighty volcano at last! Naturally, this needed to happen. The ridiculous swimshorts are because I was actually on my way to a nearby waterfall when the clouds magically parted. :/ Here's a closer look at the waterfall. The powerful La Fortuna waterfall, viewed from a distance. Would return to it later. Iconic behaviour at La Fortuna waterfall (these antics drew much attention, ha). While it's possible to swim in the pool beneath there, the waterfall is *incredibly* powerful. We were told that people had lost their lives here, and there was a guard with a very loud whistle who didn't hesitate to use it when people got too close (yes, it was used on me). This was a fun day out and the waterfall was probably the highlight. After this we went to some local hot springs, drank a lot of booze, and tried and failed to do karaoke before retiring for the night.

Monteverde (2026)

Next morning, a new friend was driving to Monteverde and was kind enough to let me tag along. Once there, I spent the afternoon researching and arranging activities, but found time to wander over to Ficus La Raiz - a fallen tree whose roots have formed a natural bridge over a small creek. This was within walking distance of my hostel and delightfully empty! Made a last-minute call to participate in a 'night walk' as such tours supposedly offer a much-higher chance of seeing wildlife, which was my main objective here. Alas, it didn't really work out like that for me, but it was a nice sky. (Have no idea where this was btw - I was picked up and driven to some random reserve and never really grasped my bearings, lol.) There were multiple tiny scorpions running around, which was kinda startling (could only see them with the guide's UV light). Saw lots of insects too, of which this grasshopper (?) was probably the most attractive. This tiiiiiinnnny little micro-frog was a cutie. Not sure how he survives at so minuscule a size! The tour guide for the night walk was very informative and knowledgeable, full credit to him. Not his fault that most animals were in hiding, but it meant that he had to focus on spiders a lot instead. And for someone with mild arachnophobia, this wasn't particularly enjoyable! WAY too many tarantulas round here. Aside from these critters, the most exciting part of this night walk was the lovely elderly Minnesotan couple who were the other members of my 'tour'. Proudly anti-Trump and lovely to chat to. The elusive TOUCAN! At last! This sighting, viewed through the guide's binoculars, was my only clear shot of a toucan (alongside sloths, the animals that I most wished to see) during the entire trip. And it was bloody asleep! Gorgeous nonetheless tho. The next morning I got up early and took the first available shuttle to Curi Cancha nature reserve. Early morning is the best time to view birdlife as they're very active during that time. Of course, with my luck, I managed to see fuck all. There were some nice trees tho. Another cool tree on the Curi Cancha trails. A cool view from the reserve - I think that's the Pacific ocean in the distance there. The only decent shots of birds that I managed to get were these damned wild turkeys again. The Continental Divide: "a mountainous, high-elevation ridge running from northwest to southeast, separating Pacific and Caribbean watersheds." (Thanks Google!) Some lush vegetation from Curi Cancha. And some more, cos I certainly wasn't seeing any animals to take pics of instead. The most exciting sighting of the morning was this agouti who was running around doing his thing. Cute. Should also mention that this coati was rummaging through the forest floor and was also very cute. But I still haven't forgiven his species for that one time they barbarically ROBBED me of my french fries when at Iguazu Falls, so he can do one. I still don't really understand what a 'cloud forest' is, but I think I like it. By this stage, I was pretty disillusioned, having dropped a fair amount of $$ in Costa Rica for not that much in the way of wildlife. Luckily, I had most of these trails to myself in Curi Cancha, so was able to appreciate the quietude of the natural surrounds while pondering my next move. One more badass tree from Curi Cancha. The 'hanging bridges' of Selvatura. After my morning #fail at Curi Cancha, I tried to salvage the rest of my time in Monteverde. First, I tried getting onto a waterfall hike that was recommended by the elderly Minnesotan couple from the night before, but I was unable to find affordable transport to the trailhead in time. Then I tried joining a ziplining group with some cool people from my hostel, but it was sold out. So I ended up spending the afternoon at these 'hanging bridges' instead. $50 to walk on a bunch of bridges that traverse the forest canopy. It was sold as a 'hike' through the cloud forest, but it's only a hike if you've never actually hiked in your life before. Needless to say, I was unimpressed. Probably should have saved my money, but I felt like I had to take a chance on something. Got a cool pic out of it, I guess. To be fair, some of the canopy views were pretty cool. Just not $50 for an 'adventure' cool. More of the forest canopy. And again. And here's one last pic of a hanging bridge (there are eight in total iirc). A needless expense. The hanging bridges properly took the wind out of my Costa Rican sails, but there was still time for one last sunset at this mirador which is popular with locals. Not entirely sure why... Beautiful sky though, for sure. And Monteverde was a nice town, if a little isolated and in need of more affordable public transport. After this, I'd pretty much given up on Costa Rica. I considered backtracking to Manuel Antonio or heading over to the Pacific coast, but realised that doing so would complicate onward travel to Nicaragua. With expenses racking up alongside my disappointment, I decided to cut my losses and head straight for Nicaragua instead.

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