The big letters of the surfing beach of Jaco in northern Costa Rica – and we had to pose with them of course!

The last couple of weeks have been stinking hot, most days staying in the high 90’sF/high 30’sC all day, and sometimes higher.  When its that hot, and when that jungle humidity is up to boot, its hard to do too much during the day.  Thank goodness for our very good little fans in Tramp to help us sleep at night.  So we had no problems when it started to rain at the beginning of our volcano jungle walk our first full day in Costa Rica.  We got wet, we loved the wet forest, the bubbling mud pots, steaming fumaroles and the huge intertangled vines and trees.  Costa Rica was already looking good.

It felt great to be in Costa Rica.  After passing through seven previous countries south of the US border, all of them with their own issues, challenges and risks, Costa Rica offers an alternative package.  Today the poster child for Central America, Costa Rica followed a similar path to its neighbours after independence from Spain in 1821 with civil conflict, injustices and corruption.  But in the 20^th century they began to take a different path with a focus on democracy, abolition of the military, investment, the environment and tourism.  Our kinda place.

Its a jungle out there and a lot of cool stuff grows in the jungle, including these colourful fungi

Today Costa Rica is politically stable, economically strong, has a life expectancy similar to the US, relatively low crime and a very strong emphasis on their unique environment.  Home to one of the widest ranges of flora and fauna in the world – and this in an area smaller than West Virginia – Costa Rica has proudly and diligently worked towards saving its natural heritage.  Today there are 35 national parks, countless number of wildlife reserves and privately owned preserves, such that 11% of the country is protected.  And everywhere you go you see and feel the benefits of this strong commitment.  On ya, Costa Rica.

A unique perspective – Julie caught in the mirror taking a photo of the only bull ring we’ve seen in Central America

After patiently battling our way through yet another bureaucratic border crossing we drove up to Volcan Rincon de la Vieja National Park and camped at a small lodge just outside the park.  We had already heard and read many times how expensive Costa Rica is compared to the rest of Central America, partly because it is stable and attracts hordes of visitors and ex-pats.  And so it was no surprise to have to pay $15 per person to enter the park the next day, although the cooling rain was free.  We didn’t see many birds or animals because of the weather but we did hear a howler monkey in the distance (or in my mind, a wounded velociraptor).  We’ve really enjoyed the volcanoes in the last couple countries and Costa Rica does them in style.

Fumaroles were all over the mountainside at Volcan Rincon de la Vieja National Park, emitting rotten egg sulfur smells and steam

Anyone for a very hot bubbling mud pot?

Everything is big and grows into monsters in the deep jungle

The trees look like they’ve got huge arms and legs to support themselves and grab any unsuspecting traveller

Of course we had to do the mud, even if it was a case of painting it on each other

We then visited a place featuring thermal hot springs and mud baths, all bubbling up from the belly of this big volcano.  We covered ourselves in mud, lolled about in the different hot pools, finding the best one at 40C/104F, and had a picnic in the shade.  Julie also stepped over a huge boa constrictor which was otherwise content to digest a large animal – probably a monkey we were told – that was bulging out in his stomach.  All in all a great experience – we’ve enjoyed thermal hot springs a few times on this trip and wanted to try it Costa Rican style.

Julie enjoying a 40C/104F thermal hot spring straight out of the ground

That afternoon we drove along their national highway, through small towns and across picturesque cattle grazing land, and commented that we could have easily been in rural America or Australia.  Costa Rica has outstanding roads, very little of the abject poverty we have seen so much of, and it seems most people live in modest but very nice homes, garages, gardens, the lot.  Cars are more plentiful and nicer, especially the omnipresent Mitsubishi Montero (known as the Pajero in Australia) and everyone politely follows the driving rules.

Dusty and Simpson, our new loyal fellow travellers, get great views of the Costa Rican countryside

We headed up a winding mountain road flanked by a string of well-tended fincas (ranches) with gorgeous grazing land, green grass and fat cows, hundreds of wind turbines following the ridge of the mountain, until we came to picture postcard Lake Arenal.  This large lake fronts a number of volcanoes and a national park, making it the perfect base to explore the area.  Under blustery conditions we found a spectacular little spot down on the lake’s shores all by ourselves to enjoy the sunset and revel in this beautiful setting.

A perfect campsite on the shores of a flooded Lake Arenal

An overlander’s landmark, the German Bakery in the town of New Arenal is a good place to meet, catch up on wifi and chow down

The road around Lake Arenal was in good condition but very curvy in spots and still had some narrow bridges

A strange phenomenon we hadn’t seen anywhere else – fences made of tree posts that regrow and need to be occasionally trimmed back

Lake Arenal and the area around it is a playground for visitors looking for that perfect soft adventure experience.  There is bungee jumping, mountain biking, volcanic hiking, kayaking, zip lining, tree-top sky walks, canyoning, white water tubing and much more.  The steep jungle mountains around the Arenal Volcano and the huge lake itself provide the backdrop to whatever your adrenaline levels can handle.  And we were ready to take it on!

A curious Capuchin monkey with his cute face watched us eat lunch beside Tramp

Thanks to Christmas gift money from our children – and with a wry smile since it was Valentine’s Day – we decided to do something completely different and go ziplining.  Blah to the notion this is a young person’s sport – we suited up with the rest of our group, rode the gondola up the mountain slope and then zipped down seven different lines, the longest 765 metres (about half a mile) over two deep chasms and a tunnel through the intertwined green jungle.  It was a hoot of an experience, great fun, and Julie in particular had to summon all her courage to get started – and she aced it!

The before shot – both of us look relatively calm before our big adrenaline rush

Julie is about to launch on a 500 metre zipline – not exactly in her comfort zone!

After a few ziplines we became expert at it and could smile, even before the Big Daddy zip that was 765 metres long

We’d only been in Costa Rica a couple of days but already we could tell that this place delivered on its reputation – the hype is true!