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  • travelophyta

Central to South America

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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  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    Punta Uva

    January 7, 2023 in Costa Rica

    Punta Uva was a really rewarding trip. Diego and I went with a bus and walked alongside the coast, enjoying the views, and finding random sleeping sloths and monkeys. Seeing them literally hanging from the trees I got an impression that they really know how to enjoy the view.

    After the walk we decided to rent a kayak for like 10$ and go up the river, from the place where it enters the sea. That was absolutely the best call - I felt like in the Indiana Jones movie - the river was super calm and mirror-like, reflecting trees which were intertwining couple of meters above our heads. There were vines hanging, eagles praying, turtles swimming and taking sun… and absolute quiet once we got upstream enough for the forest to absorb the sounds of the people at the beach. Unfortunately I didn’t bring the phone, so this amazing scenery, you’ll just have to imagine!!

    One of the best experiences not advertised at all, and quite cheap for Costa Rica.    Read more

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    Cahuita National Park

    January 6, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    The moment I felt better I decided to go on a trip and having read that Cahuita is very easy to walk (though it could be long) it was an easy choice. We were welcomed by a toucan which my expert bird-watching friend saw within seconds of arriving at the reception. I loved Cahuita, saw tons of insects, lizards, some more birds aaand of course monkeys and sloths.

    But the star of the day was definitely yellow eyelash pit viper, hidden beneath the broken tree skin of a palm tree. If it wasn’t for a small group of people looking at it, I am not sure we would’ve seen it. Well, maybe Diego’s sharp eyes accostumed to movement, colors and adaptations of tropical fauna, but mine for sure not.

    I was feeling tired from being sick and laying in bed for a couple of days so we were making a lot of breaks. There were a lot of people, but it was still great to be there.

    The beach was also quite nice and I enjoyed the Caribbean sea for the first time since getting there ☺️    Read more

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

    January 4, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I reached Puerto Viejo after stopping for a day in San Jose, and guess who I found at the bus station - my good old friend Diego!

    Unfortunately I got immediately sick and high fever shook me for couple of days so I didn’t do much. As soon as I felt better we got together and started exploring.

    It’s nice and it’s touristy, but also it’s the Caribbean, so everything is forgiven.

    Puerto Viejo is nice little town and a popular stop for people crossing from Panama to Costa Rica and vice versa. Playa Negra and Cocles are two closest beaches within walking distance and they are nice, but there are nicer ones around.

    I ate almost every day different versions of rice and beans - not because there were not other options, but because they were absolutely amazing, cooked with coconut milk and a bit spicy.    Read more

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    Manuel Antonio National Park

    January 2, 2023 in Costa Rica

    Ehhh, here is a short one: not worth a visit. It is ok for people who go to CR just for a couple of days and want to spend a lot of money to take photos of animals.

    Great marketing. Even greater prices. And the greatest crowds of Costa Rica that made me feel like I was in an amusement park for rich gringos, not national park.

    If you went to as many parks and natural havens as me before going to Manuel Antonio, you will be disappointed.

    However, later on I heard of a boat night tour through the park and mangroves that is quite nice, lonely and full of animal sightings. Can’t say if it is worth it as I didn’t go, but it sure sounded better than my experience.

    The beach is nice, but crowded with only tourists taking photos so it also felt like fake marketing.    Read more

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    Waterfall Nauyaca

    January 1, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    I decided to start the year the same way I hope for the rest of the year to go - exploring, hiking, swimming in a waterfall and spending time in nature.

    Waterfall Nauyaca was a good option for a day trip from Quepos, accessible by 1.5hr long bus ride. I went there early, enjoyed the hike, saw some monkeys (by this time I’ve seen so many that they became a “common” sight).

    I swam and chilled and recognized a familiar face - a traveler from Italy that Gaya and I kept bumping into ever since La Fortuna in different places.

    He showed me that you can actually access the upper waterfall, larger and truly magnificent, so we went there and even though we were not supposed to, entered water, jumped around the rocks, enjoying the views, breeze, and just taking in everything about this cute little wild oasis.

    We headed back to make it in time for the last bus at 4pm (both of us asked our drivers) but the bus never came. Then a weird “taxi” (read spooky random guy with the car) came and tried to convince us to give us a ride to the closest town for the crazy amount of money. We refused and he kept pushing which made me feel insecure for the first time on this trip and sure as hell that I won’t be entering that car.

    So, logically, we decided for the safer option - hitchhiking. It was already 5:30pm, getting a bit dark, in the hills and 30km from the closest town. However we found a ride in the first 10 minutes - some old hippie Canadian expats gave us a ride in their camper van and we chatted and listen to the mellow blues sounds. There was an accident on the road and that’s why they canceled the bus without any announcement - it took us additional 2 hours in the van to reach the closest town.

    We made it home around 7, taking a mix of hitchhiking, taxis and buses, but it was so much fun. A good start for sure, way better than I could’ve had planned.    Read more

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

  • travelophytaCentral to South AmericaTraveler

    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

    Trip start
    December 17, 2022
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