Costa Rica holiday

Our family love marine life, wildlife and a little nightlife and Costa Rica fits the bill. Latin American countries are becoming very popular with UK visitors. There are some direct charter flights which make it more accessible and these fly in the winter months. We stayed in the Guanacaste region (North West Coast on the Pacific ocean) on Papagayo Beach.

Costa Rica is two thirds the size of Scotland with a 4.5 million population, it is politically stable and their armed forces were abolished in 1948, to save on the defense budget and put this money towards its people (inspired idea).

It is ideal for a fly drive as there are so many protected national parks which offer 3 climatic zones and dramatic scenery with over 800 species of birds (more than the whole of North America) and a huge diversity of wildlife in such a small area.

We hired a car to do some exploring (with a very useful GPS ), visiting the active Arenal volcano and some of the protected wildlife areas. We encountered howler monkeys overhead in the rainforest as well as white faced capuchins and spider monkeys as we followed jungle trails. We searched out tarantulas and tree frogs as well as ant-eaters and sloths, all seemingly harmless but very fascinating. All our trekking was very manageable (but sweaty and hot mostly) and would be easily achievable by the moderately fit. The driving, although on the right, was safe and enabled us to get a real feel for the countryside and its people.

Cost Rica is a haven for ‘twitchers’ with hummingbirds (250 species in all) and toucans being easily spotted, sighting scarlet macaws flying over head was one of the many highlights of the trip. We were surprised at the cost of eating out (we had a McDonalds which was more expensive than here) but found that the local fare restaurants worked out quite a lot cheaper.

If anyone is thinking of a real adventure of a holiday, Costa Rica deserves consideration, I can highly recommend it!