Central to South America

December 2022 - April 2024

Starting the trip in Costa Rica and going south with the goal to reach Bolivia by the end of March. Read more

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Traveler Central to South America
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- Dec 18, 2022
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,167 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de San José Hospital Empalme Parque España 9.937204, -84.0726479°56’14” N 84°4’22” W
Day 2
San Jose
December 18, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Spent my first jet-legged day in San Jose… Watched the World Cup final on the street at 10am with locals and was surprised that even though I was in Latin America, more people were cheering for France than for Argentina.

Having spent two past weeks in Switzerland, which felt quite empty and reserved, I was consumed and astonished by all the movement, crowds on the streets and loud music coming out of every little store from the early morning to the late hours.

Latin America, I’ve missed you.

I ate patacones which are large pieces of smashed and dip-fried plantain, served with beans, rice, various dips and meats. Yummy!

San Jose is nice, and contrary to what I expected quite safe. Ok, there is more “real” life feeling compared to super touristic places in the north, but if you know your way around there is no reason to worry.

I walked across the wider central area alone and discovered street art, street food, marketplace and local park full of university students and entire families chilling around. Got some recommendations about places to visit and set my trip to a good start. 😌Read more
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- Dec 19, 2022, 11:29am
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 3,153 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de Cartago Pacayas San Pablo Irazú Volcano 9.981137, -83.8498559°58’52” N 83°50’59” W
Day 3
Irazu Volcan and Cartago
December 19, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Decided to visit the first volcano of my life. Hostel offered organized trips with other travelers with stops in some town and coffee farm for like 80$. I decided to go on my own in a local bus and make a stop on the way back in Cartago, a small local town that used to be the capital of Costa Rica in the past. Coffee farms are everywhere anyway. It was way more convenient both cost and time-wise.

Volcano was nice but the central crater lake has evaporated. Enjoyed the sights of fog and clouds moving, constantly present smell of acid and black volcanic rocks against the lush green forest on its outskirts. Met Diego there, a local interested in bird-watching who was there with full camera gear which size kinda scared me. Taught me a lot of things about birds, and we even saw some rare ones (don’t ask me for the names, please).

Stopped in Cartago for a lunch, loved the local market, tried like 5 new fruits, and enjoyed olla del carne which is unexpectedly tasty considering that it has all the veggies you can think of and a random large chunk of meat.

Saw Grinch escaping on the bicycle and causing mild traffic jam. Already at that point was falling in love with Costa Rica.Read more
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- Dec 20, 2022
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Altitude: 1,579 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de San José Salitral Matinilla Cerro Tacuatorí 9.875452, -84.1671059°52’32” N 84°10’2” W
Day 4
La Ventolera, views of San Jose
December 20, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Diego and I went to La Ventolera viewpoint recommended by one of the Couchsurfers on my first day… Visiting first the village of Bebedero, and hiking around 4km from there to the viewpoint.

It is a short and easy hike and really nice if you want to get a sense of how small actually Costa Rica is, cause you get the perfect views of the Central Valley and surrounding mountains and volcanoes.

It is also a nice route for bird watching and if you enjoy local and unpopular ways. Plenty of coffee farms on the way, good local food and just lots of greenery. Worth a half day visit from San Jose.Read more
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- Dec 22, 2022
- 🌧 24 °C
- Altitude: 520 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de Alajuela Orquídea Río Fortunita 10.439069, -84.66887710°26’21” N 84°40’8” W
Day 6
La Fortuna and the sloths
December 22, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
La Fortuna is one of the most visited spot for travelers in Costa Rica. From San Jose it is easy to get there and it was a nice sneak peek into the wilderness that I would experience later on.

Gaya and I met again (an Israeli girl I met in San Jose) and planned a cool full day trip to several sights around the area.

Firstly we went on Bogarin Trail which is famous for its sloths… It was super hard to spot them in the beginning, but as we spent more and more time there we got to see quite a few. The highlight was a baby sloth coming down to poop (yup, we watched it for the entire 1.5 hours).

After that we visited beautiful La Fortuna waterfall on our own, and were kinda disappointed that due to recent rain it was forbidden to swim.

The last place on our list were the hot springs. There are many resorts built around the area, advertising thermal waters, but we decided for the free version near the main road where all the locals go. It was a win! We had great time and saved 40$ per person 😉Read more
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- Dec 23, 2022
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 746 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de Alajuela Los Chorros 10.701862, -84.99552410°42’7” N 84°59’44” W
Day 7
Rio Celeste
December 23, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Gaya and I met again with an Indian girl that we met in San Jose and accompanied her to Rio Celeste Waterfall and trail a bit to the north. Nice walk, pretty waterfall, but very easy and tame. We spent a better part of the day driving to there and back and walking in the forest.Read more
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- Dec 25, 2022
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 1,293 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de Alajuela La Cruz 10.346225, -84.84401210°20’46” N 84°50’38” W
Day 9
Extremo Canopy and Bungee
December 25, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We went to Monteverde separately but Gaya had a weird situation with a stalker so she asked me to stay with me.

It worked out well and we already knew each other enough to share a room (and a queen bed). 🤣

Apparently canopy and adventure parks are a big thing in Monteverde, soooo even though I haven’t planned it, I joined Gaya. At first I thought I would just do the zip lines and Tarzan swing, but I ended up doing bungee jumping as well. When, if not now?

I was not as crazy to experience it as I would have been 10 years ago, but I did it for the young Milena. She would admire this adult for doing it and always hoped to become one like that 🙂Read more
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- Dec 26, 2022
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 1,408 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de Puntarenas Monte Verde Santa Elena 10.321864, -84.82215510°19’19” N 84°49’20” W
Day 10
Monteverde trees and night tour
December 26, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
One of the things I loved the most about Monteverde was that you could do so many different things for free or almost for free and enjoy equally even if not more than with overorganized national parks. But the best part that comes with it - immersion in nature.

We visited Ficus La Raíz, a natural bridge on the river formed by ficus’ roots, and El Árbol Hueco, a hollow tree - both accessible by walking from the town. For the hollow tree we had to trespass into private property, but the feeling of climbing into the tree from the inside was absolutely worth the risk.

Also the following evening I did a night tour. It was great and with the sharp eyes of our guide we saw many amazing animals, preying, sleeping or just chilling in the bushes and trees. The highlight was the green pit viper a.k.a la lora verde in Costa Rica. 😌Read more
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- Dec 26, 2022
- Altitude: 1,687 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de Puntarenas Cerro Plano 10.34217, -84.79311210°20’32” N 84°47’35” W
Day 10
Monteverde Cloud Forest
December 26, 2022 in Costa Rica
What can I say about Monteverde Cloud Forest, except that it was my favorite national park in Costa Rica even though we didn’t get to see that many animals in the park (without a guide and binoculars of course). Gaya and I enjoyed the forest in which you could feel very alone, even though it was quite popular amongst tourists.

We saw some monkeys and cool birds and amazing trees/plants/vegetation covered in cloud, and misty, sticky air. If it was a person it would be that gorgeous quite girl that doesn’t say a lot but whose eyes tell story on its own.

The wind at the highest point felt rejuvenating, you could feel it’s power and sense the remoteness and wilderness in the treetops hiding between clouds.

I learned what a continental divide is - a place where the rain drops falling on two different sides end up in two different oceans. 🤩Read more
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- Dec 28, 2022
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Costa Rica Provincia de Puntarenas Quepos Manuel Antonio Playa Espadilla Sur 9.392437, -84.1517799°23’33” N 84°9’6” W
Day 12
Playa Espadilla
December 28, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
After weeks of hiking volcanoes and forests almost every day, we really wanted just to chill and find nice place by the beach to stay until New Year’s. Well, guess what, not possible. Popular Santa Teresa and Northern Pacific beaches were all booked or too expensive, so Gaya and I decided to go bit more South. This is how my travel style sometimes define my trip by itself. Most of the times, it’s not bad.

We stayed between Quepos and Manuel Antonio and Playa Espadilla was the closest public beach. Wide stretch of sand, palm trees and the Pacific - we really enjoyed it. After visiting Manuel Antonio and overrated beach inside the national park - I can surely say that Espadilla has better vibe, more people, and believe it or not - more animals.

We enjoyed almost daily beautiful sunsets, stayed dancing on the beach and just really loved the place.Read more
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- Dec 30, 2022
- Altitude: Sea level
- Costa Rica Provincia de Puntarenas Bahía Ballena Uvita Punta Uvita 9.147598, -83.7606459°8’51” N 83°45’38” W
Day 14
Uvita Beach and whale watching
December 30, 2022 in Costa Rica
Uvita is basically nature’s logo of the natural wonder found there. Think: whales. A fluke-shaped piece of beach sticks right out of the jungle and is surely one of the best and the most authentic places in Costa Rica. Also my favorite beach there.

We found a good economic option for a whale-watching tour, and headed there early in the morning. The tour doesn’t guarantee that you will see whales - but we did 😍 I was too excited to even look at my phone so the video I have are far from good - who cares really, the proportional distortion from couple of meters to couple of pixels does it no justice anyway.

They we re mag ni fi cent!!!

We saw mom with a calf and the baby even jumped. A special moment for me, and one of my dreams come true. Not possible to describe really.Read more
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