D163: Backpackers Costa Linda @ Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

After a 12 hours overnight boat trip to San Carlos and a 199km cruising on the Rio San Juan, finally I reached the isolated San Juan Del Norte aka Greytown. As the Rio San Juan is the actual border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica the Nicaraguan army has at least five check points on Rio San Juan. Most of the checkpoints are just routine protocols. At one of the points I had my camera visible but in its case and turned off. One of the officers was staring at me for 2 minutes and then he started to preach me that at security points nobody can take pictures. I was aware of this. But the funny thing is that he knew I was not taking pictures. But he tried to scare me or maybe he wanted a bribe. That would not been a surprise on this side of the world.

San Juan del Norte is a place where there is no Internet, electricity is scarce but people are nice and funny. All these make you feel great at this end of the world place. I was lucky to have met Ivan a Spanish volunteer on the boat to San Juan del Sur so he could recommend me a place to stay. Hospedaje Anderson was a Caribbean style wooden house built a meter or so above the ground. Below the house it was a swamp so during the night I was mortified that some crocodiles might be having a siesta under my room J. 

Here I spent two days (D156 & D157) chilling with the manageress and her 4 year old son Carlos Javier, going on a boat trip to the old abandoned Greytown, observing dolphins where the river flows into the Caribbean Sea.

San Juan del Norte was my last stop in Nicaragua so I wanted to get to Costa Rica. From San Juan Del Norte Costa Rica was only a kilometre away but due to lack of Costa Rican checkpoint I needed to go back all the way to San Carlos just to officially cross. Five in the morning on D158, I boarded the express panga back to San Carlos. Once I got there, cleared customs and got on the boat on Rio Suerte to Costa Rica.

The one hour trip was like being in the zoo filled with monkeys, birds and iguanas except the fauna was not caged. On the boat I was sitting beside Ana, a Nicaraguan (Nica) woman who was living in Costa Rica for 15 years. In the past Costa Rica did not have enough work force so because of this a lot of hardworking Nicas immigrated to Costa Rica to work and build a new life. I was lucky with Ana as she knew exactly what needed to be done on the Costa Rican side: from where the bus to San Jose would leave and most importantly where an ATM is located to withdraw some local money. We got on the San Jose bus and half an hour later the bus broke down on the main road. Another bus driver offered to bring us to our destination but we would need to stand for five hours. Again Ana told me to get my bags and she was running to the other bus to find some seats. When I got on the other bus it was a chaos. Everybody was pushing and trying to go forward. And I, the only gringa (tourist) on the bus had a seat as Ana was quick enough to get us some seats. I offered to hold children or sit beside me but all rudely refused my offer.

Once in San Jose I was ripped off by a taxi driver who was driving me around just for the meter to generate a skyrocketed bill. At the hostel where I picked they offered me a shithole room so my first impression of Costa Rica was pretty bad. At this stage after so much travelling I did not have the energy to pack and go again so I decided to stay another night in San Jose in a different room.

D 159 was about exploring the city mainly on foot. At first glance San Jose looked horrible but as the day was going by I started to get fond of it. It was interesting to see that men and women in suits were having their lunch breaks in the huge green parks which felt like an oasis away from the stress and busyness of the city. I was walking happily on the pedestrian path when suddenly my right leg disappeared in a hole full of mucky water. Luckily only my shoes got wet and I did not break my leg. All the time you have to pay attention where you step as there are holes without warnings everywhere. I finished my day with a Woody Allen movie at a proper cinema! What a treat!

Next morning (D160) I was ready again to continue my journey to Tortuguero another place in the middle of nowhere. After two bus trips and an eventful crocodile filled boat trip I landed in another marvelous gem of the Caribbean, Tortuguero. As its name suggests, “the turtle place” is the place where different kinds of sea turtles come to lay their eggs at different time of the year. 

I was very lucky to observe one green turtle laying her 115 eggs, then covering up with the sand and camouflaging it with litter and branches. While we were waiting for her to finish up with the camouflage another two turtles came out of the water to lay their eggs. And then she was ready to walk back very slowly to the water. Her energy level hit rock bottom. Suddenly one of the turtles who came out of the water went back again. It has been said that sometimes the male turtle comes to check the area if there any predators and then goes back to the water to inform the female. There are cases when there is a predator like a crazy jaguar and the male sacrifices himself for the female and his potential children. This was the first time I saw something like this and I have to say it was quite impressive but in the same time emotional.

In the Parque Nacional Tortuguero there are a lot of jaguars, poisonous snakes. A few tourist and researchers have witnessed jaguars attacking and killing green turtles on the beach. Sometimes a jaguar kills 10 green turtles a night and only eats one of them. Nature can be a crazy and a dangerous place sometimes.

The following morning starting at 6 o’clock the adventure continued with a canoe trip on the river in the Parque Nacional Tortuguero. I hate waking up early in the morning but unfortunately it does not apply the same to the fauna and the local people. The main river was full of canoes and motorboats packed with curious tourists like me and some loud guides. I do not know how these guides want to spot wildlife if they are scaring all of them away with their voice. 

During this tour we spotted different types of birds, Jesus Christ lizard, brown iguana. As we were getting deeper into the Cano Chiquero (Chiquero Creek) a lot of agile spider monkeys and a few white faced monkeys could be seen. On our way back we saw a crocodile from 20cm having a siesta.

On D162 I headed from Tortuguero to Manuel Antonio via San Jose. The village of Manuel Antonio is full of tourists but I understand why because the scenery is just breath-taking. The white sand beach is huge and clean.

D163 was all about exploring and admiring the beautiful Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio just 350m from the hostel that I am staying. This park has four beaches (Playa Gemela, Playa Escondida, Playa Manuel Antonio, Playa Espadilla Sur), several trails to viewpoints to the surrounding islands. Not to forget to mention the rich wildlife consisting of the cheeky white faced monkey, the lazy two-toed sloth, huge iguanas and the crab-eater raccoon.

Also this place (Playa Manuel Antonio) was where I had the courage to swim for the first time in Pacific Ocean. The power of the waves and currents are just impressive but scary. Definitely you should take seriously the warnings regarding this ocean.

Tomorrow again will be packing / travelling further east to Uvita. But at least I can sleep in a bit as I am taking a short break from waking up at silly early hours J.