Costa Rica

A unique border crossing has brought us to Costa Rica. We motored down a river that snaked through the jungle, past military checkpoints and spotting lots of birds and monkeys on the riverbank. Our pulses did raise a little when the Nicaraguan army boarded our boat and instructed everyone to put on their life jackets, and Babs (true to form) insisted on questioning exactly why we should comply. After their curt response in Spanish and a glance at the automatic rifles, we quickly followed everyone else in wearing our neon safety vests. Costa Rica has fairly strict laws governing what foodstuffs can be brought into the country, so as we approached the landing point it was amusing to see quite a few people pass their contraband to the captain, who was able to bypass the normal bag search and smuggle the goods into the country. We're just assuming the jars contained spices and not heroin...

Crossing into Costa Rica

After a couple of bus journeys from the dock, we arrive in La Fortuna in the late afternoon. It's a stunningly-located town, dominated by Volcán Arenal which rises up above the town and is wreathed in mist when we arrive. The relative affluence of Costa Rica, compared to other central american countries, is also immediately apparent. Instead of dusty streets and shanty huts, every building is bricks and mortar, with well-kept lawns and lots of modern cars on the streets. We have to admit that it's great to be back to modern ways after more than a month of some pretty 'rustic' places. The return to modernity also allows us to get a replacement ipod cable and enjoy some great food: the highlight was definitely the burgers at a local soda, which were the best we've ever had. Although La Fortuna seems like a nice town to spend a few days in, we have to move on the next morning, so we set off on a jeep-boat-jeep trip over the mountains towards the west of the country, taking in some stunning landscape on the way.

Our jeep-boat-jeep scenery

After arriving in Santa Elena, we spent a bit of time shopping around for the best zip-line tours, which are set up over the top of the jungle. Each company competes to have the longest and highest zip lines, with the current leader Xtremo who offers zip lines up to a kilometre long and 200m high. We were not disappointed. The whole experience was amazing, with a combination of zip lines , swings and hiking through the jungle. Probably the scariest of the lot was the tarzan swing, which at first looked just like a regular swing from a height. It's not until after you are pushed from the platform that you realize there's a 10 foot drop before the rope takes hold and you swing 30m, narrowly avoiding branches and trees. If this wasn't bad enough, one poor girl (of slightly larger proportions) was so scared to go alone that she asked if one of the guides would hook on and swing with her, as they regularly do on the zip lines. However, on this occasion, the guide readily said yes, simulated locking his harness behind her, before pushing the great hippo off the platform alone. It seemed hilarious to all of us below, but we did feel a litlte guilty when we saw her in tears as she swung by.

Joined-up zip lining!

The highlight of the whole thing was definitely the last zip line. In this one everyone wears a double harness attaching them to the cable at the waist and chest, leaving them suspended like superman over the jungle below. It's the largest and highest line on the tour, though for most of the way people are too terrified to open their eyes and appreciate the amazing views. The really scary part is the end of the line, when you quickly realise you're travelling far too fast without any means to break. The sheer terror doesn't end until the last few seconds, when the automatic brake kicks in, as SuperBabs can ably demonstrate:

The remainder of our time in Santa Elena was spent a little more sedately. A couple of days relaxing and enjoying the cooler mountain climate were more than welcome. We also visited another of the nearby parks, where there is a series of walkways constructed over the top of the cloud forest. While we didn't see a lot of wildlife, the area is really beautiful and gives a completely different perspective on the rainforest and appreciation for its massive size.

Above the cloud forest

After so long away from the beach, we decided it was time to make a return to the Pacific coast. A couple of bus trips later and we had crossed the country and arrived in Cahuita, a chilled out town near several beaches and a national park. It's an area that is particularly famous for the numbers of sloths, and we didn't have to wait long to see one. While having dinner at a bar that evening, we noticed a furry shape shimmying along the overhead telephone cable. Sure enough, our friendly neighbourhood sloth was venturing out for a late-night stroll, much to the amusement of passers by. Deciding that we wanted a better view, we set out for a walk through the national park the following day. The range of creatures on show was fantastic, but even more impressive was how close we could come without disturbing them. We seen several species of monkeys, chased a few agoutis and spotted a heron wading in the sea. The best of the lot was another sloth, which hung lazily from a branch just a few feet above the main park walkway. He didn't seem to mind our presence at all and only moved on after he'd cleared the branch of all its leaves.

Sloth

We had been warned off Costa Rica as a very expensive place, full of American tourists on organised tours and with little excitement. While it undoubtedly has a far greater number of visitors than elsewhere, it's still a fantastic country. It has some of the best scenery we have seen, exhilirating tours and magnificent wildlife, not to mention the higher standards of living. The slightly higher prices are well worth paying for all that. But best of all was the variety of what's on offer: it had stunning mountain ranges, pristine beaches and some of the most accessible wildlife we've found so far. We're so glad to have come here, not least because we now have the opportunity to make the short trip south to Panama, the last country on our trip.