Pura Vida is everywhere, including on the Tshirts for sale at the beachside town of Dominical

It was in the jungle-clad mountains of Costa Rica we were first introduced to the saying of Pura Vida, or pure life.  Pura Vida seems to sum up how Costa Ricans view their country and themselves.  The saying is on every T-shirt and coffee mug you see and is spoken by people as part of any conversation.  We heard locals say it to each other as a form of casual greeting.  Costa Ricans know they’ve got a good thing going and they celebrate it in both words and action.  As a visitor we couldn’t help getting caught up in the Pura Vida mood.

With a Pura Vida vibe our journey continued through the beautiful jungle mountains and moved on to our next volcano at Poas Volcano National Park.  The Poas Volcano is a popular stop because you can drive right to the rim of the caldera.  This was a fabulous drive to the national park, thousands of turns on narrow winding roads, impenetrable forest on the steeper slopes, beautiful green grazing land and some crops on the lower hills.

Small fields of crop were carved out of the jungle, mainly coffee but we did see bananas and mangoes

The drive took us past the sunset hour but we eventually camped in the grounds of a restaurant high on the Poas Volcano’s slopes at 1,700 metres (about 5,300 feet) with a cold howling wind.  As a treat – why not? – we enjoyed a Valentine’s Day dinner in the restaurant with a swarm of Costa Ricans, live music and good times.  That night was the coldest weather we’ve had had for months.

A Valentine’s Day dinner at our colourful and friendly restaurant/camping spot on the high slopes of the Poas Volcano

Okay, so we don’t plan very far ahead, usually only one day at a time, and our online research is virtually zero (we rely on a downloaded guide book, a pathetic map and a downloaded map ap).  So at the restaurant that night the friendly owner told us the Poas Volcano road, which is the only access point to the rim of the volcano’s caldera to check out all the steam, sulphur rotten egg smells and bubbly mud pots, is ‘still closed’ due to unpredictable and dangerous volcanic activity.  Oops.

Well, it had been a heck of a drive up the winding road in the dark to get this far so the next morning we were going up the mountain as far as we could go and check out the views, no matter what.  The road climbed to 2,440 metres (7,500 feet), the temperature was down to 57F/13C but there was a knock-you-over wind that made it feel Antarctic.  The mountain scenes were beautiful with steep slopes of tall green grass, fat happy cattle and many houses featuring steep pitched roofs.  The whole scene took us back to the Austrian Tyrol which was kind of weird in itself.  If I had seen a dirndl or heard a cow bell I might have tipped.

The downside of planning day to day – this road had been closed for 8 months

Continuing the pattern of mixing volcanoes with beaches, we headed out to the coast and the famous surfer’s paradise of Jaco Beach.  This is where the surf scene started in Costa Rica many years ago and it still features good waves, a deep sandy beach and an excess of dreadlocks.  We wandered through the surf and tourist shops on the main drag and had a lovely lunch under a palm tree while watching families take surf lessons.  If it hadn’t been so metal-melting hot it would have been perfect.  57F in the morning and 97F in the afternoon.

On the way to the beach we crossed this large river which featured dozens of huge crocodiles – even by Australian standards this was pretty cool

Jaco Beach, allegedly world famous for surfing – we gave it a goodish score

Our lunch spot under a tree on the beach while we watched families take surfing lessons

We followed the coastal road past a couple other surfing paradises until we reached Manuel Antonio National Park, our target for the day.  We organised a camping spot on the beach and backed Tramp up under the palm trees before we jumped in the gentle surf for a refreshing dip.  And the best part of it was that this beach is the first white sandy beach we’ve seen since Baja.  I know the black sandy beaches are unique and special but when you get down on them it just looks and feels a bit like dirt.  Julie and I can be snobby about beaches but this one was excellent so we plopped ourselves down and didn’t move until well after sunset.

Our camp spot for the night on Manuel Antonio Beach right next to the national park

There’s always something to watch or do on the beach, including buying ice cream or cold drinks from the many salespeople that walk by

And the sunset was pretty good too!

Manuel Antonio National Park is the smallest of the parks in Costa Rica and the most popular.  Perched on a promontory that sticks out in the ocean between two gorgeous beaches, the park is home to a wide range of jungle animals and some dream-like sandy beaches to swim in.  The whole place, including where we had camped, is crazy with too many people crammed into not enough space.  And the tour groups can really do you in.  So to beat the crowds – and the stifling heat – we entered the park shortly after it opened at 7am.

The adorable little capuchin monkey was the poster child for the Manuel Antonio National Park

Julie checking out the monkeys which were everywhere

Already the tour groups and their guides clogged the main paths and boardwalks into the park but we used them to help us spot bats, monkeys and sloths in the trees above us.  The jungle was alive with critters of all shapes and sizes and we walked as long as we could before the heat overwhelmed us and a swim in the clear waters and mellow surf was required.

The star of the show in the park was the ubiquitous capuchin monkeys with their cute white/yellow faces, jungle travel Tarzan-style and penchant to steal people’s fruit and snacks.  Despite the crowds and the overwhelming heat (it was 104F/40C plus humidity you need a machete to cut through) we really enjoyed Manuel Antonio National Park.

The beautiful beaches in the park drew us in for a bit of sandy relaxation

We saw plenty of iguanas also which made us a little homesick for Australia

Another monkey shot – cute but not really trustworthy looking

The southern coastline of Costa Rica is lined with outstanding places for surfers to practice their trade.  We stopped at another popular spot, Dominical, and took in the colourful market, watched the surfers with up to three breaking waves at a time to choose from, hang gliders landing on the beach in front of us and the whole drop in/drop out scene.  Never mind we raised the average age of everyone there, we had lunch under the palm trees on the beach and gave Dominical the thumbs up.

The colourful market under the palm trees at Dominical gave Julie another chance to buy something

Plenty of choices if you are into Pura Vida T shirts

We ended up camping our last night in Costa Rica at a mirador, or lookout, high on the hill overlooking the northern parts of Golfo Dulce.  We had stunning views of the water and many different birds flitting in and around all the jungle that surrounded us.  A pair of colourful toucans graced us with their presence and it seemed we had the sunset over the jungle and the gulf all to ourselves.  We even built a fire just because we could.  Another perfect 10.

A toucan dropped by to say hello, then his partner came along and we watched as they canoodled in the trees near us

You call that a camping site?! We found this beautiful spot and set up for great views of the jungle and the bay down below…

…plus a fabulous sunset

Our five days in Costa Rica had been absolutely fabulous and it ranked with Guatemala as our favourite country in Central America.  Costa Rica was progressive, safe, environmentally attuned and had a wonderful combination of volcanoes, sandy beaches and national parks to explore.  We now understood why many North Americans buy property down here and why it is such a popular place to visit.  Costa Rica is the full package and lives up to its saying Pura Vida!

Sometimes travelling through the mountains the views would open up and deliver some spectacular scenes