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You have just landed on the home page of my blog recording our travels in Nicaragua and Costa Rica during January 2015.

Situated in the narrow strip that is Central America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean on one side, and the Caribbean on the other, these two countries are both stunningly beautiful with a wealth of flora and fauna.  There is an incredible amount to see.  There are mist-shrouded cloud-forests, smouldering volcanoes, beautiful bubbling hot springs, lush rainforests, rolling hills, huge tumbling rivers, sandy beaches that stretch for miles and incredible wildlife, not to mention sweet smelling coffee!

Costa Rica is also one of the most adventurous countries in Central America offering adrenaline junkies the ultimate thrill, whether it be zip-lining, white-water rafting, scuba diving, mountain biking, or even waterfall rappelling!

Nicaragua has emerged from years of political and military turmoil to become one of the friendliest and most welcoming countries in Central America.  Add to this natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes and it is a miracle that Nicaragua has retained its history and culture.  But it has! And it's people are proud to show it to you - always with a smile and a friendly "hola".

If this all intrigues you, read on!  The tabs of the left will guide you through our adventure day by day.  And if you have a thirst for more, the links on the right will take you to our other travels in South America, Australasia, and at home in England walking the long-distance footpath, the Cotswolds Way. 

A Summing Up - post written by Anni

Nicaragua

THE SIMPLEST AND HAPPIEST LIFE SEEMS TO BE IN NICARAGUA

Here we found people relieved to be away from conflict, and enjoying an improved quality

of life. A happy view of a better future despite current poverty. Everyone smiles, everyone

welcomes tourists and everyone enjoys what they have.

 

Costa Rica

I faced my fears (tarantulas) and got energised by the adrenalin of rafting, zip wire and waterfall

rappelling. In this beautiful small country we experienced nature tourism at its best. Widening our

horizons and pushing our boundaries, I leave as a stronger person.

 

Top 10

Walking on the roof of the Cathedral in Leon - the strangest white architecture.

 

Holding a newly hatched giant turtle on a beautiful remote beach - heart melting

Kayaking across Lake Nicaragua and up a river to see alligators on Ometepe

Island.

El Castilllo on Río San Juan - friendly, happy & lots of great things to see and do.

The wildlife at Cano Negro was so abundant and incredible.

White water rafting at Arenal was a high adrenalin boost

100s of hummingbirds at the garden & gallery in

Monteverde were sensationally beautiful.

Hotels in Tenorio, Arenal, Monteverde and Osa

peninsula for location, food, service & style

Zip wires and waterfall rappelling at El Remanso

were great personal challenges.

The warmth and friendliness of the people and some interesting fellow travellers

Interesting moments:

Elvis, our main guide for Nicaragua and his shared passion for

photography with Andy.

Doing our first kayak on a windy lagoon - surviving to watch an alpha

male tip over.

Andy having his first lust for coffee after 10 years. It's just so good here.

 

A 3 hour power cut in Granada whilst we were searching for dinner in the city

Crazy night boat tour in El Castllo - bailing water out of the boat/ guide with fingers missing

catching animals and letting them chew his stump/ general hilarity of the crew

Finding a chocolate factory in a remote village of around 400 people. The hot

chocolate was so divine we resorted our suitcases to bring some home.

Collecting the car in San Carlos and persuading the drop off driver to drive us part way

Leaving Ometepe ecolodge at 5am in the pitch black lighting our way with IPads

Being the "oldies" on the white water rafting, but being the only ones to stay in!

 

Osa Peninsula

An early departure from Monteverde saw us driving down the mountain on dirt roads, eventually to join the Pan American highway for the drive south to San Jose.

We took a flight in a small plane to Puerto Jiminez on the Osa Peninsula, one of Costa Rica's most unique and remote areas tucked away in the South West.  An interesting airstrip.  The narrow piece of tarmac was lined on each side by houses, with clothes hung out to dry on the perimeter fence.  As we taxied past a small boy was being bathed in a tin tub.  A dog lay on the end of the runway and casually watched us turn around.  We came to a stop with the wing overhanging the boundary wall to the town's cemetery. The "arrivals hall" was the shade provided by a Balsa Tree and you removed your own baggage from the hold.

We were driven 40 minutes in a land rover along bumpy roads to our retreat for our last 3 nights in Costa Rica, deep in the forests of the Osa Peninsula. El Remanso lodge consists of 12 cabins built on a steep hill (about 300 metres above sea level) that runs down to the coast, accessible via a steep 800 metre trail. The property is set in its own private 150 acre reserve, a wonderful location offering brilliant wildlife viewing opportunities.  After the damp of the cloud forests and rain forests this was the perfect place to unwind, enjoy the warmth and sunshine, swim in the pool, and feel pampered by the high standard of service consistently provided.  We awoke every morning to the sound of howler monkeys calling to each other across the treetops,a sort of primeval roar in surroundings straight out of Jurassic Park. 

 

We took advantage of the activities offered by the lodge.  One day we took an early morning bird watching trip and spotted many of the species endemic only to Costa Rica as well as toucans, parakeets, and beautiful macaws. Another morning we enjoyed our first zip wire experience, "flying" between high-rise platforms set in the trees and breakfasting on fresh pineapple whilst watching the forest come to life.  We abseiled down from the last platform to reach the forest floor.  Finally, another first, and an exhilarating experience, we rappelled down a series of waterfalls hidden deep in the forest. The last of these had a vertical drop of more than 70 feet. We rewarded ourselves by bathing in the rock pools whilst listening to the Pacific Ocean crashing onto the beach.

 

This was the perfect end to an amazing holiday, and it was only with great reluctance that we packed our bags and prepared for the return journey to San Jose, and then two more international flights via Miami back to London.

Monteverde - Selvatura Park

We visited Selvatura Park set 1600 metres up in the cloud forest where we hiked the Canopy Walkway, a 3 kilometre trail incorporating a series of suspension bridges set high above the forest canopy. This operation had a much more commercial feel about it, catering to large numbers of tourists.  The paths were largely concreted over, and the presence of nearby zip lines seemed to us to have driven most of the wildlife away.  Compared to St Elena cloud forest and the night walk it was a disappointing experience.  We did, however, enjoy another opportunity to photograph humming birds, and to see some of Costa Rica's resident species of butterflies.

Creatures of the Night

We went on a night hike into the forest. Armed with powerful torches we probed the undergrowth and scoured the tree tops for signs of life.  Some insects are so well camouflaged it is almost impossible to tell them apart from a leaf or twig, although our guide, Christian, was particularly adept at spotting things for us to see.  We saw stick insects, tiny frogs, green pit vipers, toucans, and more tarantulas. Christian picked up the millipede pictured below,  which, as a defence mechanism, squirted a sweet substance that smelled like marzipan.  It was, in fact, cyanide!

Monteverde and St Elena's Cloud Forest

We drove from La Fortuna around Lake Arenal to Monteverde. The scenery was stunning, although the roads, particularly the last 30km, were less impressive.

We visited The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, one of the most unique habitats in the world due to  its location high on the Caribbean side of the continental divide in the Tilaran Mountains. Clouds, born in the Caribbean, traverse across the land in an attempt to pass over the mountains before giving up and falling upon the Reserve.  Here three-hundred-year-old trees twist toward the skies, weighed down with layers of bromeliads. Green moss envelops every tree trunk, and the forest floor is littered with wet, fallen leaves.  A single tree can have as many as 200 different species of plants growing on it; an ecosystem unto itself.  More than 400 bird species dwell inside the forest. Our guide enticed a tarantula from its lair.  He knew that Anni was scared of spiders, and when he told her it could jump 5 metres he completely freaked her out!  (It can't, and they have very poor eyesight!  But, nevertheless, she justifiably felt very brave)?

Humming Birds