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Costa Rica 2023
  • Gina Steiner
  • Gina Steiner

Costa Rica 2023

A 21-day adventure by Gina Read more
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  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Bye bye Mawamba Lodge

    October 9, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    This morning I'm going to leave form here. It was very interesting and relaxing here in Tortuguero NP.

    So today I'm heading back down the "Central America's Amazon" down the Caribbean coast to the border of Panama. I'll stay there for the rest of the time and only sleep the last night before the return flight in San José.

    It will take quite some time until I'll arrive tonight in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca since I will again travel in 3 stages: boat, bus, shuttle.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Butterflies all over

    October 9, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Butterflies are one of Costa Rica's most colorful creatures. With 1,500 different species of butterflies and 12,000 different species of moths, the numbers are astonishingly high. Costa Rica has 90% of all Central American species and 18% of the entire Earth's population. From the central valley of San Jose to the top of every mountain and volcano, you can spot these fragile creatures.

    This big one is a giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) and the small one is a Julia butterfly (Dryas iulia).    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Cahuita National Park

    October 10, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Today I went hiking 🥾 in the Cahuita NP along the coast 🌊 to the most trapped point called Punta Cahuita, went swimming 🏊 there, ate a pineapple 🍍 and hiked back.

    Well and while swimming I heard someone calling "Ginaaaaaaa", it was Katharina, a swiss 🇨🇭 lady living in Madagascar 🏝️ for quite some years. I met her in a restaurant in Tortuguero some days ago - what a small world... so we hiked back together.

    Cahuita National Park is a terrestrial and marine national park in the Caribbean La Amistad Conservation Area located on the southern Caribbean coast in Limón Province, connected to the town of Cahuita.

    It protects beaches and lowlands and attracts visitors who are able to snorkel in the protected marine area which contains the coralline reefs, as well as being a nesting ground for sea turtles.

    It covers a land area of 1,106 ha and a marine area of 22,300 ha and is one of the nicest and least developed beaches in Costa Rica.

    All in all its a very Caribbean feeling here...    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Morning swim

    October 11, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    I really could get used to that: fruit and juice for breakfast and then some swimming before the day starts ❤️.

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Puerto viejo de Talamanca

    October 11, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Today I rented a bike in my hotel and first went to Puerto viejo de Talamanca to look around and eat some fish. Then I went on riding along the cost. If you are ever here: rent a bike. It's a great way to travel here and it's chep (5$ per day).

    Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is a coastal town in Limón Province, known simply as Puerto Viejo to locals. It’s more or less Jamaican style and you can smell weed all over. The town was originally called Old Harbour until the Costa Rican government institutionalized Spanish as the national language and changed the names of the towns and landmarks in the area from English to Spanish or Native American. Fields became Bri Bri. Bluff became Cahuita.

    It’s known in the surfing community for the biggest and most powerful wave in Costa Rica, known as Salsa Brava. It is also home to beautiful beaches, such as Playa Chiquita, Playa Negra and Punta Uva, which are a few of Costa Rica's most spectacular beaches which can be found between Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo.

    Today I only went until Punta Cocles but tomorrow I will rent a scooter and maybe go to the border of Panama, we will see...    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Along the Caribbean by scooter

    October 12, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today I rented a scooter 🛵 (25$ for 24h) and drove along the coast 🌊 towards Panama.

    You only get until the Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Gandoca Manzanillo, then you can only continue on foot 🥾 within the national park and there the path doesn't go all the way to the border either. The only way to get to the border is further inland.

    In any case, I toured 🛵 the whole coast and went to drink a smoothie 🥭 here and there and eat ceviche 🐟 in between. For sure I also swam 🏊 and swam 🏊 and swam 🏊 - the water 🌊 here is not refreshing at all, it's very warm.

    The most beautiful beaches are between Puero viejo and Mazanillo, I particularly liked Playa Chiquita, Playa Punta Uva and Playa Escondida.

    Then I went a little further into the countryside away from the coast to Bribri. The road to Bribri is really a beautiful, winding route through the forest. Bribri itself is an untouristy little town where you can really see how life works here.

    I was back home by sunset 🌇, but the input was really enough for today, so I have to process it first.

    Roughly speaking: really beautiful beaches here, some with reefs where you can do great snorkeling 🤿 and some with really cool waves for surfing 🏄.

    The beaches are not very busy at all, it is concentrated on a few beaches. In some cases you can only get to the coast on foot, these beaches are particularly beautiful and often without any frills.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Bye bye Caribbean Sea

    October 13, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today is a lazy day, first a delicious breakfast with a smoothie 🥭 and fruit 🍍, then a swim 🏊 in the pool and then a trip to the beach 🏖️.

    This is the beach at my bungalow, about 150m away, across the street. The beach is wide with cool waves and a small hut on stilts where lifeguards watch the beach.

    Currently the red flag is out which means you shouldn't swim, which doesn't bother the surfers. Every now and then the rescue swimmers sprint along the beach in the blazing sun to keep fit.

    So this is my last stroll at the Caribbean Sea.

    I will be picked up here in about an hour and will take the shuttle to San José. I'll take a look at the city there tomorrow and get on the plane to Paris in the evening.

    So my holidays are almost over...    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Wonderful colorful money

    October 13, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    So finally after 5 hours I arrived in San José. The hotel is like a labyrinth 😍, I will post some pictures tomorrow. But before I spend all my money tomorrow on the market I need to show it to you, since it is wonderfully colorful with a lot of animals on it 🦥🦈🦌🐒🐢🐠🦜🦀.

    The official currency of Costa Rica is the colon. You can often pay with US dollars here, but what you get back is in colones.

    The colon was introduced in 1897 and replaced the peso. It was first divided into 100 centimos, from 1917 to 1919 into 100 centavos, and then again into centimos. The currency symbol is ₡.

    It was named after Christopher Columbus, whose name in Spanish is Cristóbal Colón.

    So see yourself, the notes are really colorful and there are animals on them everywhere - I definitely love ❤️ this money...    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Hotel Aranjuez

    October 14, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    The Hotel Aranjuez is like a labyrinth. There are winding corridors everywhere, another staircase, another gallery with rooms, another atrium and when you think the hotel ends here, you turn another corner.

    The hotel is a fusion of 5 houses built in the 30s, with its architectural design still intact: high wooden ceilings, floors that mix wood and mosaic, spacious lounges, dining rooms, terraces and terraces covered with fruit trees .

    There are comfortable armchairs with bookshelves everywhere and invite you to linger. Colorful masks and pictures hang on the walls and there is a brightly painted doll in every corner.

    What a joy center - perfect!    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Feria verde - San José

    October 14, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Feria verde is a meeting point between friends, producers and consumers. You can find organic products, healthy food, crafts, design and art. It is open on Saturday from 7:00 to 12:00 and has live music at 10:00. It’s located at Aranjuez Sports Center which is directly next to Rio Torres. There you can sit next to the river under the trees and can have fantastic breakfast, brunch or lunch.Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Mercado central, San José

    October 14, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    San José Central Market is the largest market of the city of San José. Established in 1880, it occupies an entire block on Avenida Central, 250m northwest of the Parque Central.

    The market is covered by a roof entirely and contains a complex of narrow alleys with over 200 shops, stalls and sodas. For sure I went eating there 😋.

    A huge range of meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, coffees, and other products are for sale including snakeskin boots and cowboy saddles, herbal remedies, flowers, cooked meals, souvenirs and local handcrafts. Tens of thousands of people visit the market daily.

    You definitely can get lost in there 🤣.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Bye bye Costa Rica

    October 14, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    This was a really nice travel and so much so see and learn and now I'm definitely looking forward to coming home. No more 28° at night 🤪.

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Paris, Charles de Gaules

    October 15, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Here I am after 11, hours of flight and with a time shift of 8 hours into the future 🤪. In 3,5 hours I will take the plane to Hamburg. Maybe I will find a place for my hammock and hopefully there will be no bed bugs 😱, as far as I read, they found some in Charles de Gaules...Read more

  • Gina SteinerCosta Rica 2023Traveler

    Home sweet home

    October 15, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    After 21h of travel I’m finally at home - after 3 weeks - and I‘m very happy to be back - I’m so much looking forward to my sheep wool yoga mat 😍.

    My route interestingly almost worked out how I planned it, only here and there a bit more, since I „needed to shortly also have a look at…“ 🤣.

    But I will not stay long, my next workation is waiting…    Read more

    Trip end
    October 15, 2023
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