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Roadtrip through Costa Rica
  • Lisa Glaettli
juli 2022

Roadtrip through Costa Rica

Et 25-dagers eventyr av Lisa Les mer
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  • Reisens start
    3. juli 2022
    Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    Arrival in San José

    3. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    My flight to San José was one of the worst I‘ve ever had, because I was still feeling sick and I was afraid that the flight would aggravate my situation, but luckily nothing happened anymore. When I arrived in San José, Noah was waiting for me. He had already picked up our rental car and we drove to our First Hostel: Gaudy‘s Eco Hostel. It wasn‘t the prettiest but it was clean and the people were friendly and since it was only fot one night it was okay. I couldnt eat anything because I still wasnt feeling too good and I had a little fever and Noah still had two sandwiches left, so we stayed at the room and went to sleep very early. The next morning we ate breakfast at the hostel. They made pancakes for Noah and I tried to eat some muesli. I already felt better and after taking a painkiller for my head I was ready to go grocery shopping and then start our roadtrip!Les mer

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    From San José to Osa Island

    4. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    Our aim for the day was to get to the Osa Island in the south of Costa Rica by 5 pm. This was the deadline for the check-in at the hostel we had booked. We left San José and everything went well. The city and the streets weren‘t too busy and as soon as we got further away the highways were basically empty. We had expected the streets to be in worse conditions but they were totally okay. We stopped at the famous Crocodile Bridge to see the huge crocodiles lazily hangind around at the riverbanks. At Jaco we stopped to buy a fresh coconut and to see the view. After 3 hours of driving we did a lunch break where we had Smoothies and a Salad. Even though we had calculated enough time to get there in the end the street got really bad. So the last twenty minutes we lost some time and our poor car had to fight quite hard. We got to the check-in at 16:57 so perfectly in time. They told us that we still made tmit but that we had to be fast now. The hostel was in the middle of the junge, still 45 minutes away by foot and at 6 it would get dark. We unpacked some things, grabbed food and started walking to the Bolita Ranforest hostel.Les mer

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    Bolita Rainforest Hostel

    5. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    To get to the Hostel we had to cross a river and hike through the Jungle. When we got there it was dark and we were really hungry. Ron, the friendly owner of the place showed us around and told us the lost important things such as that the water was drinkable, not to step on spiders, snakes or frogs, because they were everywhere and to be quiet between 10pm and 6am. We cooked dinner, veggie pasta, in our outdoor kitchen and went to sleep. Our room was very simple but we didnt need more. There were some bathrooms and showers a bit further away and the mainhouse was also really close. The next day we went hiking on the trails of the Bolita area. There was a map and all the trails were perfectly marked. The cool thing was that we were actually right next to the Corcovado national park and the variety of plants and animals was exactly the same but instead of paying a guide to walk us around we could walk on our own and see everything by our own. We did all the trails except for the small waterfalls next to the house. We saw monkeys, tucans, a snake, frogs and many birds. We gpt to big waterfalls where we went swimming. We got back at 2 pm and I sat down on a chair with a beautiful view and while Noah was sleeping I planned our further trip. The next day we ate breakfast on the terrasse, where we got visited by some Colibris drinking nectar in the flowers around us and walked to the waterfalls we hadnt seen. While we were walking it started raining really hard and I took a big leave and used it as umbrella haha. At around 9 we left and walked down to Dos Brazos where our car was parked. Some backpackers we met at the Hostel asked us to take them with us until Uvita, where they wanted to take a but to go further to the north and of course we let them come with us. So we were 5 people in the car: Sebastian, a danish guy, Henning and his girlfriend from Germany, Noah and me, driving to Uvita, listening to songs and singing along.Les mer

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    Ballena de Uvita

    7. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Next Stop: the Ballena National Park in Uvita. When we arrived around lunchtime we checked into our Hostel, cascada verde, that we had booked very spontanously and we were surprised by how cool it was. Again it was a bit further outside the village in between trees but reachable by car this time. There was a terrace with a beautiful view, where you could even see the sea. Sebatian the danish guy hadn’t gotten on the bus in the end and instead had come to the hostel with us, where he found a room to stay. In the afternoon the three of us went to see the cascadas, close to the hostel. Afterwards we found a butterfly house, the mariposario, totally by chance and got to see some very pretty butterflies. In the evening we cooked in the hostel together. We tried out a costa-rican vegetable and ate rice with pico de gallo, avocado and tuna out of the can. It was a typical backpackers dinner I would say, but it was not bad at all. The next day we went to the national park and walked along the beautiful beach, which seemed endless. There was high tide at first but as the tide slowly went down and the water moved away we could start to see the shape of a whale fin appearing at one corner of the beach. We walked to the very end of the fin and as we turned around we were stunned by the view: dark, almost black sand im front of a forest of light green palmtrees encircled by dark green hills under the blue sky. The clouds had almost faded away completely at this point and the sun was heating up the air, so that when we got back to the main beach, we went for a swim anf hung around on our towels. At some point Sebastian got hungry so he went off and came back with two coconuts. It was really funny to see him trying to open them. Eventually he did it and we had fresh coconut to snack. On our way back we stopped at the supermarked and bought local fruits we wanted to try, two beers, of which one was glutenfree and some potato chips. We sat down in the hostel and had our ice cold beer with the chips. Next to us there were monkeys playing in the trees and we observed them for a while. In the evening Noah and I went out to eat in a restaurant. The next morning we had breakfast on our pretty terrace, and explored a place they call bamboo forest, with hige bamboos and found a river with crystal clear and emerald blue water. We checked out from our hostel at 11 and drove to our next destination, Dominical.Les mer

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    Sleepy Dominical

    8. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    We arrived in Dominical in the afternoon and decided to take a look at the small city after we checked-in at the good vibes hostel. Its a very small village with one pedestrian street at the beach with many souvernir vendors and tables where sellers sell their wood-art, bracelets and beach towels. And there‘s another street for cars with some restaurants and shops, a school and some bars. The people we saw are either backpackers, surfers or locals working in the tourist industry. The beach looked totally different from what we had seen before, the sea was wild and on the sand there were pieces of wood and stones. The restaurants all have the same cozy atmosphere, with fairy lights and wooden tables, walls and floors and look a bit like tree houses. We drank a smoothie in one little cute place and Noah ate fresh fish tacos. We walked past a super fancy restaurant where we went for dinner in the evening and shared fish, shrimp and palmheart cevice and again both had fish tacos. Earlier we couldnt see the sunset because there were too many clouds but the sky still looked beautiful at around 6. the next morning we woke up later than usual and had breakfast at the beach. Now let me shock you: noah eats a lot more than me, and to show you what a lot more means, i‘ll gove you an example. We had bought fresh mango, passionfruit, granola a 500g yogurt cup of which i ate half mango, half passion fruit and 2 big spoons of yogurt with some granola. Noah ate THE REST. So all the yogurt that was left in the 500g (half a kilogram) cup he ate with the rest of the mango, the passion fruit and at least half of the whole vereal pack. I almost had a heart attack, saved the rest of my glutenfree cereal and told him we would go buy him some cheap cereal with gluten. At 11 we had booked a surfing lesson. It was quite expensive but so worth it. Noah had never surfed before and bevause I was sick of always taking the beginner lessons too, we had each a personal instructor focusing only on one of us. Mine war Jordi and after he saw that I was able to do the pop up, we went out into the deep water and waited for green waves. (Waves that havent broken yet) I actually managed to get some and to ride them until the beach!! Some others I fell off and got tumbled around like in a washing machine. I got tired super fast, especially my arms and after 2 hours I was dead. We wanted to go buy some food and cook pasta at home but as we got out from this super cool glutenfree-shop (which had cookies, all kinds of pasta, flower, crackers, and whatever my heart could long for), it was raining so hard we wouldnt have made it back wothout being completely wet, so we waited, waited, went into some shops, waited, eventually drank a cot tumeric golden dirty chai latte (yummy) and then walked home. It was already 3pm so we didnt eat. Noah ate 4 meat skewers from a street vendor on our way back. Then we wanted to see the Nauyaca waterfalls with sebastian but they were already closed, so we went to the beach in the stormy weather and walked up to rocks to see the view which turned out to be very beaitiful. In the evening we had dinner at a place called phat noodle and they had a lot of glutenfree options for me. I shared a thai curry and a phad thai with sebatian. When we wanted to go back home our car was out of battery because unfortunately we had forgotten to turn off the lights in the back. Some local costarican people, called ticos, helped up push the car so that noah could get it going again. After some attempts it worked and we drove around a bot to get the system back on track. After getting back home, talking to the other guests for a while, we went to bed.Les mer

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    Two faces of Quepos and Manuel Antonio

    10. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    We woke up early and ate breakfast at the almost 100% glutenfree mono congo café in dominical. We went to see the Nauyaca waterfalls in the morning and then drove to Quepos, our next stop. In Quepos we checked- in at the Villas Jacquelina Hotel, nice but a bit far from the city center, and walked around the area. First, as we walked along the main road, we got to a very luxurious tourist place which looked a bit like a gated community. The buildings were all perfectly white and built around a plaza with view over the sea. There were many fancy seafood restaurants and super expensive souvenir shops. The place was called marina pez-vela, and is a harbour for sporthfishing. We soon figured out that this was the place rich old men went on hilodays. I didnt like it at all, i felt more and more uncomfortable every second we spent there. When we left I realized even more what hige contrast there is between this marina and the rest of poor quepos. We wanted to walk on the beach but it was separeted by a river we had to cross. It was way deeped than we expected, so unfortunately I got wet almost up to my tummy. The beach was beautiful but I couldnt really enjoy it because I was still discussing with Noah about this gated community we‘ve seen. His point of view was that it was good on one hand because it provided jobs for the people living in quepos. I agreed to a certain point but still thought that the money could‘ve been used for the local economy and to renovate parts of the city. We didnt walk back on the beach because we wanted to see another part of the city. What we didnt know was that, this oart wasn‘t a real city.. it was a slum. A dirty road covered with holes and with dogs walking on it, dying of starvation , many huts, most of them very small with people sitting in front of them, all looking sad and lifeless, and a very bad smell. Noah and I went completely quiet. I was speechless, I didnt even know what to think. As we passed the people and the houses, I felt so so bad. When we got to the end of the road we had to take a ferry taxi that brought us to the other side. We walked back to the hotel but almost didnt talk. Eventually we started talking about what we‘ve seen and how injust everything is. It couldnt get out of my head during thw whole evening. We cooked veggie pasta together and Noah ate a lot, as usual. I dont know how a person can eat this quantity of food. The next morning we woke up at 6 and went to Manuel Antonio National Park. When we were at about 1 kilometre before the park entrance my google maps suggested, people who looked like park rangers told us to leave the highway and park in some parking lot at the side of a street. We told them we wanted to go to Manuel Antonio and they said rhis was the parking. I almost couldnt believe them because there were no other cars there, but they looked really professional. We got out of the car but my intuition told me that something was wrong. I told Noah to get back into the car and we ignored those people shouting and telling us to turn around and followed my google maps, which in the end brought us to the real park parking lot. We parked and were thankful that we hadnt been tricked.

    My biggest goal for the day was to find a sloth, because I had never seen one plus I thought and still consider them super cute. We walked around the park anf did every possible trail. We saw iguanas, monkeys, of which one had a very special relationship with Noah, some type of pigs and in the end even two sloths. There were many tourists at some beaches but on the trails we were basically alone. After seeing everything we decided to leave and drove our car to Jacó.    Les mer

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    Rainy Days In Jacó

    13. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    When we arrived in Jaco it was sunny so we decided to go for a walk along the main street. It was the first bigger city since San José and we were excited to see some nice shops. The Hostel De Haan had highly been recommended by some friends who had already been to Costa Rica, so our expectations were high. We were welcomed by the friendly owner Wilson, who suggested us some activities and places to see. While we were walking it started raining so we hid in a supermarket because we had to buy things for dinner anyways. It started raining so bad that we were reluctant to walk back right away so we stayed in the supermarket, which by now is basically our home, walked around, fooled around and eventually when the rain was less heavy we walked back to the hostel. We survived but Noah‘s baguette unfortunately didnt. Now, let me talk about something: Of course it matters if a hostel is clean, the beds are more or less comfy and the place is safe but what is most important is that there‘s a good equipped kitchen. Hostel De Haan provided everything, even a pool but the kitchen was a catastrophy. There was one tiny little pan, about as big as the palm of my hand and some dirty pots. We wanted to make lentil daahl and it was nearly impossible. The stove didnt really work either by the way. In the end after struggeling for a while we managed to cook something similar. We started taking it as a challenge to cook a meal with zero equipment, thinking bout it now it was funny but at that moment i was quite desperate (noah can approve). We were tired so we just played some card games and then tried out the Jacó Bar close to the hostel, where we tried the chiliguaro shot. This is a typical costa rican spicy shot - we didnt really like it but i still think its a matter of habit. The next day we rented boards at our hostel and went surfing and I got a sunburn (yes mom, i put on sunscreen but the sun was too strong). Afterwards we went to the city and did some shopping. The woman in the shop where I bought some clothes told me I should go to the supermarket and get aloe vera for my skin, what we did later on, as you can see in the video. We went to a place which is rated the best burger place in costa rica so noah obviously had to try one. He was happy:). Afterwards we hiked to the Miro, a really nice viewpoint but the moment we got there it started raining really really heavily but there was a ceiling. We were kind of stuck so we waited for a while. There were other people who also didnt leave the place. At some point we realized it was gonna get dark before the rain stops so we got undressed up to our underwear, put everything we had in the small plastic bag we had thanks to my shopping earlier and started walking. The people thaught we were crazy but honestly, for me, this was one of the highlights. As we got down to the village and kept walking in out underwear on the streets in jaco, suddenly and totally by chance I met Aline and Dömi, two ski instructors from Laax. They had been travelling for 8 weeks through Nicaragua and now through Costa Rica. They‘re heading to Panama next. We chatted for a while, couldnt believe this crazy coincidence and walked on until we got to a waffle place that made glutenfree waffles and ordered some, still in our underwear. Next day, surfing, but the waves were a bit rough. In the afternoon we went Ziplining and later on had dinner at a really really nice place called green room. There was even life music. The next morning we left Jaco. However, before leaving we took a picture with Wilson, the owner! And back we were on the road towsrds Puntarenas where we would get the ferry…Les mer

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    Ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera

    14. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We got to the ferry terminal very early which was good so we didnt have to wait at all and even had some time to walk around. Puntarenas was not super pretty though. I really had to go to the washroom but I guess they must‘ve had some problems woth that because every single toilet in Puntarenas was closed, even woth signs saying „forbidden to enter“. Eventually I found one. On the ferry we listened to music and enjoyed the scenery and the landscapes. After an hour we arrived in Paquera and drove on to our next destination: Santa Teresa.Les mer

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    „FAKE“ Santa Teresa

    14. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    We had heard a lot about Santa Teresa even before getting there. Some people said it was beautiful and totally worth it, one girl in Uvita Hostel told us it was hell on earth, so we were very curious to explore this place by ourselves to make up our own mind. The roads leading to Santa T were in quite bad condition and there were huge trucks in front of us all the time that were driving super slowly and that no one was passing. Noah got VERY impatient at pne point and started getting mad at all the people who had the chance to pass the trucks but didnt do so. Well whatever, eventually we arrived in the village and the road was still a dirty muddy brownish road full of holes with way more cars, bikes and motorbikes on it than it should actually carry. The Hostel on the other hand was very nice. It was one of the Selina Hostels, the most expensive one we booked so far and it was way more luxurious than what we‘re used to, which was good because we needed to settle down at a nice and clean space for once, so we could unpack everything and do laundry (which was fully booked unfortunately) and most of all to have a hot shower that we havent had since the beginning of our travels. At 4pm we were welcomed with a „welcome drink“ they serve at Selina Hostel for newcomers. Then when we had enough energy, we started walking along the dirt road and saw some really pretty cafés at the side of the street, all decorated realy nicely, with fairylights and paintings, flowers and butterflies, whatever nice things they could use to make a place look really pretty. They were totally instagrammable, it felt a bit like an influencers parallel universe. The contrast between the muddy road with trash at both sides and some destroyed huts with even more trash in front of them, and the cute litle cafés was immense, but I focused on the nice things I saw on our way. At some point it started raining (surprise suprise) and once again, rainjacket was not in our bags. We stopped at a nice place called eat street, like the foodtruck place in the dominican republic, but since we were in Santa T, it was way prettier than what i had seen before. But it was way less authentic. You could clearly tell that each food truck belonged to the same company, all of them coordinated and tuned to serve things that matched with the rest. I would say almost too perfect. I liked the way local people in the Dom Rep just selled whatever they had cooked in their foodtrucks, independant from what the others did. Noah took Tuna tacos and I had a cocktail. When it stopped raining a bot we walked down to the beach, ehich was really beautiful, we even got to see the sunset. At night we went for dinner at the Drift Bar, where they make exquisite glutenfree food. Noah and I shared so we could try out more. Noah also tried his first Sangría!! Back at the hostel we went for a swim in our pool. The next morning I woke up and went to Yoga class. I liked it but it was a bit boring, it was a lot of meditation and I ususally prefer a faster flow and more excercise. Noah was tired so after eating breakfast (I finally made my famous banana pancakes, which Noah loves!!) he went back to bed and I walked along the beach. I found some parts where there was a lot of trash in the sand and I had to think agin about the dirty trash street. So many contrasts. Very nice beach, white sand, seashells, but plastic everywhere. After lunchtime it stopped raining and we rented bikes. Honestly, i‘ve never seen such weird bikes. It was hard to ride them especially on these streets full of holes. We drove to a beach where we stayed a bit. At one point I wanted to get off my bike but fell over, but didn‘t die, I just got a bit dirty. Afterwards we went to drink something at a place called „Art Coffee“ and Noah had Crepes. (So the baby was fed up and wasnt gonna cry). We went to the beach and again saw a beautiful sunset. We stayed for a long long time and eventually went home to bed. I stayed up and wrote a bit in my book, however, when I got back to the room, Noah was occupying the WHOLE bed. So i had to try to move him to his side, and I have to admit after his crepe this wasnt that easy. Next morning I woke up early and prepared beakfast for Noah and me. I made Porridge with Chia seeds and honey, topped with Dragonfruit and Passion Fruit and Granola. When Noah woke up we ate and went to the bike rental to return our bikes. We walked back on the beach and checked out. Our Next destination was waiting for us!Les mer

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    Montezuma,my „spiritual“ heaven on earth

    16. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    As we were getting closer to Montezuma I already started to feel that this was going to be a good place. The road led us through a very small colorful citycenter and a bit further along the coast. We didnt find our hostel at first and were a bit confused but then we saw it and walked into a green garden with flowers and trees and people playing games and getting tanned on the soft green grass. First of all we were amazed by the beautiful view in front of us, then, as I looked more closely to the people because I wanted to know what type of people this place hosted, when I suddenly noticed a head with short light blond hair. As I looked more closely I recognized Sebastian playing chess on the ground with another guy. I was so so so suprised and happy to see him. We had kind of lost him after leaving Dominical so seeing him now was really awesome. The other guy was Anton, a german friend he had met in Mexico and with whom he had traveled to Nicaragua and Panama. We met Antinea, a colunteer working at the hostel as a work & travel and she told us we couldnt do the check -in yet, so we left our stuff and walked to the center because just like every Saturday there was the prganic farmers market. The market consists in lical people selling their homemade products. There was home made Ricotta, Granola, hot sauce, bracelets (Noah and I bought 2 together as a souvenir), streetfood, clothes and many fruits and veggies. There was also music played by people with guitars and ukuleles. I absolutely LOVED this place and I couldnt resist, I bought veggies for dinner. We went to the center of the village and got an ice cream at a place Sebastian our ice cream specialist recommended. Then we walked on to a place called Piedra Colorada that we found on google maps and looked nice. We stayed there and went back to the hostel. The Hostel was so nice that Noah and I enjoyed just staying there. I read a bit, wrote and relaxed. Then we started cooking dinner. At the Piedra Colorada, The boys and I decided that we were gonna cook for the 4 of us. I wanted to make Quinoah bowl so I told the guys what veggies they had to cut and where to put them and coordinated everything which resulted in a good & healthy Quinoa Bowl. We drank Sangría from the supermarket as we were cooking which was way better than expected. When we sat down at the table we could tell that the other guests at the hostel were a bit jealous because we had made such a plate for dinner. Others were just eating basic spaghettis or rice with whatever instead. I was really happy because Anton and Sebastian were so so greatful for eating with us. They said this was the healthiest meal they had eaten so far and that they were very thankful for me cooking for them and that it was very good. I love it when people appreciate my effort, it makes me want to do such things for people if I know that its not going to be taken for granted. After dinner I told them that they had to clean the kitchen and I went out with Antinea to a bar in town wjere people played live music. There we met a friend of hers and had a drink. It was kind of crazy. Antinea was 28 years old and Marci her friend 39, so there was a 10 and 20 year age difference between us but still it felt like we all had the exact same age, I couldnt even tell what age, just three women listening to music, sitting in a bar, talking about some quite deep topics and just exchanging our thoughts and feelings. I think I desperately needed some female energy:) Both of them are quite different than me, way more spiritual, something I never really considered or even thought about but it was super interesting to listen to their opinions, their experiences and what they had to say about it. I even opened up to them about things that were making me angry and sad at the moment and it felt good to talk with them, even though they technically were strangers to me. Later on the boys came after their chess game and the kitchen cleaning. We went to „Chico‘s“ Bar and danced until about 1. Then we saw a streetfood truck in front of the bar and Noah had a funny looking hot dog, (Baby was fed and quiet again) which Anton called perro caliente directly translated to spanish, which obviously doesnt work. Eventually after dancing a bit more we went back to the hostel. We slept at about 2 and I woke up the next morning at 5:30. I dont know why and I probably would‘ve tried to go back to sleep but then I saw that the sky was all pink through the tiny window and decided I had to see. When I got out I got suprised by a beautiful sunrise (I didnt even know I could see the sun risind over the horizon from this place!!!!)
    Currently I am lying in a cozy Hammok after 3 hours of sleep and writing this. Tired but very happy and absolutely keen on living many more experiences here.    Les mer

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    Crossing the Nicoya Pensinsula

    17. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    The cool thing about having a car is that you can stop wherever and whenever you want. Thats what we did on our roadtrip from Montezuma to Santa Elena in Monteverde. Before leaving the hostel we went for a walk at the beach where we found very pretty shells and stones. We started driving around 11 and took Sebastian and Anton with us. They hopped off at a busstop a couple of kilometres away from Nicoya. They were heading to Samara and hoped to get on a bus in that direction. Noah and I stopped to get some fresh coconut water and buy very cheap fruit for breakfast the next morning. Our next stop was the „puente de amistad de Taiwan“ or something like that. It wasnt that crazy of a place but since it was on our way and we wanted to get out of the car for a while it was great. Then we stopped at a food truck place where we drank a cappuccino and a mochacchino. Noah‘s mochaccino was already veery sweet and even though it already had a strong chocolate flavour he even put more sugar in;) After 3 hours of driving we started getting closer to the monteverde forests. We felt the air getting cooler and the vegetation around us changing. The street we were driving on was asphalt, however it was quite narrow, there were many curves and it was extremely steep. Noah drove like a pro, he managed to bring our car and us up this mount everest in one piece. We started seeing the foggy rainforests of monteverde at some point and got aut of the car a couple of times to get a better view. We arrived in Santa Elena at the OutBox Inn Hotel in the late afternoon.Les mer

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    EXTREME adventure Monteverde

    18. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    We thought the Roads up to Monteverde were much worse and deifficult to drive on than they actually turned out to be. As we were driving up the narrow but still asphalted roads we started feeling the cool and fresh air from outside and knew we had almost reached our next destination. Santa Elena is located in a forested mountainious region at 1600 meters above sea level and is biologically the most diverse place in Costa rica, due to its cloud forest that has established thanks to the cold and humid climate. When we arrived we checked in at OutBox Inn Hostel, a very modern hostel in the center of Santa Elena completely made out of wood, with an outdoor kitchen on the balcony. We walked around Santa Elena and explored the tiny center. We saw a beautiful Sunset and were joined by a dog who accompanied us back to our hostel. We cooked in our outdoor kitchen and tried to make lentil pasta with eggplant and kale, but the stove heated up veeeryy slowly. After all we did it and had dinner, although it got pretty late. The next day we were picked up after breakfast and brought to the Selvatura Park where we did a hanging bridges hike through the cloudforest. It was very nice and we even had an encounter with a cute monkey walking past us. In the afternoon a dream of mine came true: we went bunjee jumping. Apparently it‘s the highest jump in whole central america, 146 metres above the forest and 60 metres of free fall! When we got there apart from us there was one other girl, Sandra from Germany, who told us it was already her fourth bunjee jump. As we got on the platform which was like a Gondola that brought us to the middle of the canyon, I expected myself getting really nervous and excited and full of adrenalin, but actually no. I didnt feel anything except for happiness to try something new. When they asked who wanted to jump first and the others ones didnt say amything I just went. They attached my feet to this long blue rope and brought me to the edge of the platform. They did a doublecheck, I asked again if I could really just jump, looked forward and jumped. Only the seco d I jumped off I felt the adrenaling rushing through my veins, a feeling which while I was falling was replaced by doubt if it would actually hold me, especially as the forest was coming closer and closer. However already a couple of seconds later on I felt something lifting me up from my feet and pulling me upwards and I knew for sure I was safe. I rebounced a couple of times which was awesome because It felt like flying until they gave me the second rope where I could attach myself in order for them to pull me up. Noah was next and aswell did it quite easily. Sandra took about a minute because she was pannicking in the beginning. After bunjee we went to a coffee place, read our books for a bit and relaxed from all the excitment. Subsequently we rented a motorbike and drove around the coty and nearby hills we both drove it by turns and I have to admit than other than the car, I might even be a better motodriver than Noah. I guess the streets of The dominican Las Terrenas have taught me a lot. We saw the sunset while we were driwing which was beautiful. Sooner or later we returned the bike and cooked Quinoa- Lentil Curry with PakChoi, Kale, Potato, Tomatos and Zucchini, while drinking cocktails from a bar close by. I really hope Noah doesnt die from my healthy food, I think he already has a massive deficiency and lack of bread and carbs im his system.. or at least that‘s what he sais;)
    We went to bed, where I cuddles with persephone, the sloth, our newest family member!🦥    Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    Back on the Road to la Fortuna

    19. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    From Santa Elena we drove on a beautiful road, crossing parts of Guanacaste‘s flatlands and hills, passing little cities and villages until we got to the Lake Arenal. We drove around the whole lake on the highway, stopped for Nachos and Smoothies at a Restaurant and drove on to our next place for the night: Casa Torre Eco Lodge with view on the Arenal Vulcano.Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    The Invisible Volcano

    19. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    We got to the Casa Torre Eco Lodge in the early afternoon and chilled a bit first. Then we drove to the Catarata De Fortuna, the Waterfalls. When we arrived at the entrance we started following the path leading to the falls. We saw many signs saying that there were 500 stairsteps ahead and that this path wasnt suited for pregnant, obese, ill and people over 50 and that they should walk it at their own risk. After we had walked down these 500 steps I was delighted to see a very familiar face. Till was standing right in front of me with his bathing suit and glasses, pale white skin as usual and a smile on his face even though he hadn‘t seen me yet:) So I ran towards him, said TILLLLL and hugged him. He was totally surprised and pretty confused in the beginning. He introduced me and Noah to his friend Loris, he is traveling with. We talked for a while and decided to go for a drink in La Fortuna later on. They had been staying in Selina Hostel for 3 days already and I had known they were there but seeing them at the Waterfalls was a total coincidence. Noah and I went to the falls which were way too touristy, went into the water, walked on the stones and decided these were now definitely the last waterfalls we would visit in Costa Rica. At some point we walked back, hiked up the 500 steps, got to the car and drove to the small city. I had expected it to be prettier but at least it had a park with some flowers. Oh and there was a chocolate factory and shop - where I bought some 100% cacao chocolate, I wanted to use for something I learned here and that i‘ll talk about later. We also bought 2 chocolate sweets, one with orange and the other one with passion fruit, just to try. We walked on and drank a coffee. I am very proud to state that with me Noah is starting to drink/like/tolerate coffee! We started off with Latte Macchiato, went straight to Mocha and today we got to his first Cappuccino. It was a mistake, he actually had wanted a mocha but hey, we‘re getting there. (Statement 21.7.2022). At the coffee place we met Till and Loris and went to the Fortuna Pub to drink a Guaro Sour, one of my new favourite Cocktails. As much as I love Amaretto sour, this might have become my new number 1. We also played some Jenga and had lots of fun. When we got back to the Hotel, I was so tired that I fell asleep without even cooking and eating dinner. The next morning we woke up and hoped for a nice volcano view.. well no.. Nevertheless we went to the Nationalpark with Fabian, a guy we met at the Hotel and walked on the paths. There were some pretty viewpoints, still wirhout volcano view and we got to walk on lava fields whoch was interesting. When we got back my dream came true and I saw a sloth from really really close. It was so so so cute. Almost as cute as Persephone. We went to the terrace and relaxed a bit and ate. I ate the rest of the Curry and Noah made 250grams of Pasta with Cheese, yum. Then a bit later finally I took my cacao pieces and started cutting them. When we were in Santa Teresa we met two girls in the kitchen of our Hostel who were making some kind of bewerage and because I didnt really know what it was I asked. She said she was making hot chocolate with pure cacao which was part of a ritual. She told me that it was all about prepairing the ingredients, stirring them all together and while stirring, putting in as much good and positive energy as possible and then putting it in a mug. Before drinking, one should say positive things and think about what makes them happy and what they‘re thankful for. Then drink it slowly. She asked if Noah and I wanted to try and of course we said yes. So she made us one too and gave it to us. We shared it on the terrace afterwards and it was really nice and actually felt good. I actually liked the idea of it so lich that I bought a chocolate block too and made it aswell. Consequently we drank our hot cacao and relaxed a bit longer. In the late afternoon we drove to la Fortuna and picked up Till and Loris to drive to the natural hot springs. They were my highlight of the Fortuna-trip but unfortunately nobody took pictures of it! Still to keep the memory better I tried to draw what I could still see in my head the day after. It was really beautiful. Due to the volcano and the underground heat, the rivers all carry hot water. At the place we went, over time the water and the currents had built some kind of hot pools. Above, the plants had built a ceiling out of leaves, we could still see the sky though. We stayed there until it got dark and even received beer from other people who were there. Imagine - ice cold beer in a hot natural pool, pretty cool right? Oh I almost forgot the best part of it: as it got dark we started seeing fireflies everywhere, it looked really magical. In the evening the four of us went to Anch‘io Restaurant in La Fortuna. There was glutenfree pasta and I was super excited. I ordered Pasta ai frutti di Mare and asked what sauce they would make it with. They told me it was olive oil so I said yes. But then they brought me white sauce and said the olive oil spoon had already been contaminated with gluten so they wanted to be sure. Even though I absolutely dislike white sauce I didnt send it back and ate about an eighth of it, then gave it to Noah since he‘s always hungry anyways. My high expectations being destroyed like that really killed my mood for a while but then it got better with the Guaro Sour we drank at the Selina Hostel later on.Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    Heading To The East Coast

    21. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We had breakfast at the Organico in La Fortuna. It‘s an almost glutenfree place that serves meals three times a day. I had a coffee, a juice and a smoothiebowl with glutenfree granola and it really made up for the pasta the night before. Then we left with all our things and drove to La Pavona, to the „embarquero de barcos“ the port for the boarts when you want to go to Tortuguero, a place that can only be reached either by boat or by plane. On our way there we stopped twice, one time to buy lychees from a seller on the road and the second time walk around in a park because we had been sotting in the car for a long time. We got to La Pavona and waited for the next boat. It took us one hour to get to Tortuguero later on but we had a very nice view throughout the whole time. We weren‘t really enthousiastic about wearing these stupid life vests though.Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende
    1

    Tortuguero - where the turtles live

    22. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    When we arrived in Tortuguero after about 1 hour of boat, we walked around the small village. There was one street with many shops for tourists, places where they selled tours and various restaurants and coffee shops. As we were walking it started to rain. It wasnt just raindrops it felt like a waterfall above our heads, so we hid in a café and drank a cocktail. I had a ginger cucumber lemon vodka tonic and Noah drank some crazy banana coco loco. We went to bed quite early that night because we had to be ready for the next day! Our alarm was set for 5:12 am, because at 5:45 we had to be ready at the reception for our canoe tour through the Tortuguero Nationalpark. We had actually expected Kayaks but Canoes were okay too since we didnt have to workout that much then:) The tour was very interesting we saw many monkeys, birds, iguanas, jesus christ lizards, more birds, more iguanas, some caimans and we even saw a small sea turtle. We only saw its head, nevertheless it was my highlight. Funfact: the jesus christ turtle got his name because due to its velocity and the shape of its feet it can run on water for a short distance. After the tour Noah had to do some stuff for university and was really tired, so he read and slept for a while and I enjoyed the time I had on my own. First I made breakfast and was entertained by a cute little cat miauing and jumping on the table all the time, then I walked around the village. I walked to one end until I got to the supermarket and bought some food, which I wanted to bring home first before walking on. on the way back somehow I ended up on the beach. As I was walking I found a coconut and decided to try to open it up to see if there was coconut water in it. I felt like Tarzan once again but was happy when I got to drink the fresh water came out. I went back to the Aracari Garden Hostel, left the groceries and walked on. At this point I have to say that the hostel we booked was really nice. Just like it says in its name, they have a huge garden with hammocks and tables, an outdoor kitchen and nice private rooms. I walked back to the village, this time in the other direction. I was a bit thirsty so I got a smoothie and talked with the owners of the place for while. Since I didnt want to drink it while I was walking, I sat down in a small park and soom some children, all boys, came up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy a bracelet they had made. I couldnt say no so I tried one on but it was too small, so I asked them if they could make it bigger and sat down next to them. They talked to me, asked me where I was from and told me they were between 7 and 9 years old and lived in Tortuguero. They wanted to earn some money so them and their friends could all have a picknick together. When I asked them what they wanted to eat they started telling me about delicious cookies, cakes, bread, crackers, fruit, sweets and it made me really happy just to listen to them and watch them. I think it is just beautiful how grateful they are for such simple things. European children would probably buy some online games with their money. But it seems like children here just have a completely different attitude towards certain things. I could feel their appreciation and it warmed my heart. Later on I went to the seaturtle conservacy center, which was kind of a museum and they let me watch a very interesting movie about the seaturtles in Tortuguero, about how everything had started and had been built up by the biologist Archie Carr, and about the current projects. I also visited the second part of the museum where they explained certain characteristics of seaturtles and especially talked about them being at risk of extinction because of global warming and most of all, human impact. After I left I went back to the hostel where Noah was waiting and we went to the Tortuguero Nationalpark Trail. I was tired of walking to be honest but still we did the 5 kilometres in our boots we had to rent because the path was very muddy at some points. Afterwards we went to the Buddah Café again and I had a Cocktail and Noah ate something between lunch and dinner, it was a whole meal though. We watched the sunset, sitting at a really good spot, on beach chairs right at the river on the café’s terrace. At night at 10pm after real dinner, we went on a turtle tour and got to see seaturtles nesting, laying eggs, covering the nest and making their way back to the sea. It was a lot of waiting because tourists were just allowed to see some specific parts of the process, they tried to let the turtles as undisturbed as possible, which I thought was great. At first we were worried it would be a bit of a tourist trap, but then after seeing the turtles we were proved wrong. The next morning i prepared Porridge with fresh fruits and Granola for myself and we left for La Pavona with the boat. At some point during the ride the waves got high and water came into the boat. Noah got pretty wet and so did the backpacks and suitcases at the bottom of the boat. Luckily our stuff was on top. Noah tought it was really funny:)Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    Our way down the eastcoast

    23. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We had about 4 hours of driving ahead so I offered Noah to drive for a bit as long as the streets were not too crowded and it was all pretty mich straight highway. I managed to drive pretty well but when we got to a crossroad in the middle of a city and i had to slow down and stop, then start over again, slow down it got too stressful so we stopped and got cash at the atm. Apparently there was a problem with my card or the atm itsself because the card came out but the money didnt. We had some problems finding out whether the money had been deducted or not but finally it was all good. In the end we got the money, filled the tanks, bought 3kg of lychees and were ready for the rest of the drive. We stopped at a beach where we ate some things we had bought and our leftovers for lunch and found a coconut which we opened and drank.Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    Exploring Puerto Viejo

    23. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Of course to be able to explore you gotta have the right equipment. With our helmets and glasses we were ready for whatever may come:). When we got to the Casa Wolaba, our hostel for the next couple of days, we got some bad news. They told us that they had expected us the day before, and since we werent there they had just given the room to somebody else a couple of minutes ago. We were really surprised and to be honest at the beginning I thought it was our mistake and we might had booked it wrong because we had booked so many hostels at once and it had been quite complicated with the dates. However I doublechecked and saw that on hostelworld we had chosen the right dates and I showed it to the receptionists as a proof. They admitted it was due to a problem in the system and were sorry but couldnt do anything about it. We realized it wasnt getting to a point so we started looking for another hostel until suddenly the girl who had gotten pur doubleroom said she would look for another hostel since it was her last night anyways and she only got our room because we weren‘t there, she hadndt even booked a private room in the first place. This was very friendly and fair from her and we thanked her a rhousand times. We couldnt check in right away, so we walked around the city and checked out some shops and stands. Puerto Viejo is the prettiest city i‘ve seen in Costa Rica so far. It reminded me a bit of Las Terrenas and made me feel at home right away. We could tell that the atmosphere was very different from what we had experienced at the pacific coast. While the other side was quite busy and definitely overhyped, over here we could really feel the carribbean warm, relaxed and easy-going vibe. In the evening we ate dinner at the hostel and met a couple of people whom I went out with later. There were many young backpackers, all like us, travelling through the country and living their best life. Noah was tired so after palying beerpong he went to bed and I joined the group. When we got to Johnny‘s, a bar right at the beach, it started to rain. At first the mood was going down and even though the bar inside was super busy we tried to hide from the pouring rain. Then, looking outside I saw people dancing in the rain along the music and singing their lungs out. I was so fascinated and hyped that I didnt care about my dry clothes anymore. I went outside and danced with them. A couple of minutes later I was completely wet and undescribably happy. This was what I had wished for on the carribbean side of the country, this was what I called pura vida, and pura vida it was. At some point I lost the rest of the group and ended up dancing with two guys of which one was getting wayyyyy too close to me the whole time. As hard as I tried dancing away he kept coming closer until I realized it was time to go. I didnt even tell them because I knew that he would try to hold me back (eww) and walked out. It was pretty dark and I wasnt sure about which way to go. My data didnt work either and there were some strange people standing at the side of the street so I decided to indulge into the carribbean-puertoviejo- lifestyle completely and take a tuc tuc home. Its actually the same like the motoconchos in Las Terrenas but they have 3 wheels and look more like a car. I found one and told him to bring me to Casa Wolaba, our Hostel. It all worked out perfectly and 15 minutes later I was lying in bed and ready to sleep:)
    The next morning we woke up and rented bikes. This is how all the people in Puerto Viejo move from one place to another. It‘s quite big and when there‘s traffic, the bike is the best choice. We didnt really have a plan so we just drove along the sea, checked out some beaches and viewpoints until we got to the manzanillo nationalpark at the end of the road. There we had to continue by foot. We saw really pretty beaches woth crystal clear blue water and even went into a cave where we struggled getting out because the waves were crashing on the rocks pretty hard. On our way back we stopped at a foodstand to get typical mango con sal y chile, which is basically fresh cut mango with hotsauce and salt. What we didnt know was that zhe hot sauce was actually burning hot - my lips and mouth were dying. We went back to the village and ordered an Aperol Spritz and a frappuccino with chocolate. Quiz: Who got which beverage? Very hard to guess, right? Then we went to Cocles beach where we saw people playing Volleyball. Noah of course joined them and I did too for a while but when Noah went on to play on the field against the good players I was just a gread supporter and cheerleader:) Noah palyed like a professional, I was so happy and cheered, they even kicked out the current leaders from the volleyfield! At night we went to Shaku Con Fusion Restaurant with two guys we met. There we drank one of the best cocktails i‘ve had in CR, it was a mix of blackberry, coconut rum and dark rum. The restaurant was famous for its sauces. The idea was that you could choose a sauce and whether you wanted veggies, chicken, shrimps or the fish- catch of the day. All the sauces were homemade and glutenfree - juppieee! I ended up taking Sweet Guava Green Curry with fresh Mahi Mahi and it was delicious. Noah took the Mahi Mahi with Tandoori Sauce. I ate way to much and almost rolled home. I was so tired that I slept right away. Noah played beerpong with the others downstairs but came upstairs 20 mins later. What a day of pura vida!    Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    Punta Uva - Last Day

    25. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    I woke up very early, so while Noah was still sleeping I took my bike and drove around the town looking for a coffee. It was quite hard to find because it was only 6am but eventually I found a place. The coffee was not the best but It was coffee. I drove to a beach nearby to drink it. Then I drove on to Playa Cocles, a bit further and then came back. Once Noah was awake we tried to make pancakes but since the pans were non really non stick and not even the oil helped, we gave it up and I ate granola with fruits. Noah ate leftovers from the day before. At 9:30 we went to the „Jaguar Rescue Center“ (this is only the name, there are no jaguars) where they showed us the different animals they had rescued and the ones that couldnt be released back into nature because of various reasons. It was really interesting to see these wild animals so close and to learn more about them. Later on we drove to Punta Uva with our bikes, a beautiful beach with a reef where we went snorkelling. There weren‘t a lot of corals but plenty of colorful fish. After our beach chillout we went to a restaurant called „Tostas“ where everything they had, could be done glutenfree. We took smoothies and big Saladbowls. I had very good bread too and even bought some in the end. In the evening after some souvenir shopping, we went to the Beach with two drinks and watched the sunset. There were two children playing around in the sand and giggeling and clearly having a lot of fun and seeing it made me really happy. We ate dinner at the hostel. It wasnt our fanciest dinner but it was good:)
    Unbelievable our time in Costa Rica is almost over…    Les mer

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  • Lisa GlaettliRoadtrip through Costa RicaReisende

    Grande Finale

    26. juli 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    On our last day we drove our car back from Puerto Viejo to San José and took some family pictures with our Vierlivier and Persephone on the way. [Even though Noah had had some problems accepting our youngest child Persephone in the beginning, because he felt that she caught a big part of my attention and he probably was jealous, I think now he starts tolerating her and seeing her as a member of our invincible team!] We crossed the whole country one more time, drove behind huge trucks, got annoyed, listened to good music, sang along and eventually got to our Hostel. After we organized all our stuff we went to the city center where we walked through the mercado central. We drank a coffee at a pretty Café and went to the supermarket to buy all the ingredients to cook Paella. Back in the Hostel we prepared our dinner and it turned out delicious, probably the best we‘ve ever made, even with fresh seafood. Yummie. We went to sleep early because we were tired and we had a long day ahead. When we woke up we walked to the grocery store to buy milk, made pancakes one last time and headed to the airport, where we said goodbye to our vierlivier and where we are currently waiting for our boarding.

    On this backpacking trip through the whole country of Costa Rica i‘ve learned incredibly much. On one hand i‘ve learned how to live with only a few belongings, shower with cold water every day and fight agains aggressive mosquitos. On the other hand I learned a lot about nature and its inhabitants, the culture and the people. The costa ricans have enthralled and inspired me with their „joie de vivre“, their pura vida.
    I hope I will be able to take a part of this with me and to continue being thankful for the smallest things, just like the „ticos“ taught me. This experience has changed me and was the best thing I could‘ve done.

    Thanks to you for reading my posts and for showing so much interest in my adventure! See you soon in Switzerland!
    Ich chans chum erwarte euch z‘gseh❤️

    Pura vida!    Les mer

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    Reisens slutt
    27. juli 2022
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