Costa Rica By Martin Peters

It’s been 9 months since I visited Costa Rica as part of a 9 week trip of Central and South America. Including where I went on this trip, I have been fortunate enough to visit 43 countries and have lived/worked in 4.

Travelling has been a huge part of my life for about 7 years now and I really hope that this blog will make you consider adding Costa Rica to your bucket list. It’s a place of genuine beauty, ranging from nature to the personalities of the local people. Here is my story of 2-week experience of one of the world’s most breathtaking places.

San Jose: I had heard a few stories on my travels from people that I met that Costa Rica is a great place to go to, but when I asked them to describe it, they mainly just described it as ‘very green’. To be honest I didn’t know how to take that. Green? Out of every word these people could have used to form a sentence to describe the country, they choose a colour……am I making a mistake going here? The answer hit me in the face about 2 minutes into the car ride out of San Jose airport. I had absolutely made the right decision! I ordered an Uber and as we left the airport grounds, I looked straight ahead through the windscreen, then out the side door windows, before diverting my eyes back to the road ahead of me. IT’S SO GREEN! The mountains, the forests, the roaming landscapes of trees and this was just the highway leaving the capital city airport! The Uber driver must have been wondering what type of passenger he was giving a ride to as I tried to pick my mouth up off the passenger seat floor. He didn’t speak much English and my Spanish is very broken, but as soon as I said ‘very green’ in the native language, his face lit up and he knew exactly what I was talking about. I had a lot of the country to see, but instantly I knew exactly what the other travellers I had met were talking about. The driver dropped me off at the Exe San Jose Center hotel. Walking in the reception area is quite small and I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place. My friend from my hometown of Swindon had just done a trip through some of Central America and had booked the hotel so I had no idea what the Exe Hotel was meant to look like. My friend collected me from reception and i went to drop my bag in the room before heading out to explore. The lift doors open and I was shocked at how big the hotel is. It’s very modern, peacefully quiet with very good-sized rooms that comfortably fitted 2 king sized beds in. I had just spent the previous week in the Amazon rainforest, so this level of comfort at a very attractive prize was very welcomed! The location is also fantastic. It is in the heart of San Jose and is in walkable distance of all the sights, museum’s and historical spots. The first night was mostly about food, talking travel stories with my friend and getting an early night, ready for a full day of seeing what San Jose has to offer. We started the next day with a free walking tour of the main city sights. The tour lasted 3 hours and all they ask is that if you enjoy the tour, you tip your guide. The meeting point was by the National Theatre of Costa Rica…..what a place! The beautiful architecture of the building set in a bustling square of locals carrying on with their day to day lives. The tour guide spoke perfect English and was full of energy. He showed us around the main square and then took us on foot around the city to see the Democracy Plaza, The National Park and China Town. We were also taken to a local coffee shop where we were able to try some coffee and buy some locally grown beans. Costa Rica is world famous for coffee and anyone needing their caffeine fix would be far from disappointed. The enthusiasm of the guide made it impossible to not fall in love with the country already!

The next day was all about Sloths. Native to Costa Rica, seeing these cute little creatures is a must! We took an Uber to the Toucan Rescue Ranch which is about 30/40 minutes outside of the city. When we arrived, we had realised that we had made a mistake as to go there, you have to book in advance. A very kind worker saw us stood by the locked gates and came to talk to us. We explained that we made a mistake and didn’t realise that we were meant to book in advance. He had a full tour for that afternoon but very kindly said he would let us sneak in. Such a lovely thing for him to do! Everyone arrived and we gathered in the welcome area/shop to watch a short video and go through a few ground rules. The Toucan Rescue Ranch is purely about rescue, rehabilitation and release. Zoo’s are becoming evermore controversial for the welfare of animals, but this is far from a zoo. Some animals might be too injured to be released into the wild, but they remain well cared for and looked after for the rest of their lives. They are open and honest about their release programme and it can be viewed in full on their website too, just encase you wanted your mind put at rest before visiting. The ranch is full of the vast wildlife that Costa Rica has to offer. The group was split into half so that everyone had the perfect opportunity to learn about the animals. From Monkeys to Toucan’s, the knowledge we were gaining and stories of the animals were mesmerising. It was so refreshing to see animals being so well cared for, it was so far from anything that Netflix viewers would have seen on a certain Tiger show! The main lure of guests to the ranch are the sloths and the ones who are part of the release programme are kept in giant enclosures full of trees for them to live in and to avoid too much human interaction that might stop their release. As the tour went on, you are shown the sloths who unfortunately can’t be released, but you get a closer view of these incredible beings. There is also a nursery where 2 baby sloths were sleeping, the cuteness levels were off the charts! If anyone is hoping that they will be able to hold/cuddle a sloth, then I’m sorry to tell you that this isn’t allowed. It isn’t safe for the Sloth’s mental or physical wellbeing and if you see anywhere offering this, then they are not a legitimate rescue centre and you should avoid going! I only had 3 nights in San Jose and as I will explain, compared to the rest of Costa Rica, it is the place to spend the least amount of time in. Don’t take that as a negative though, as San Jose has plenty to offer and is a very picturesque city, quite far from what you would normally expect from a capital!