Costa Rica: the budget backpacker’s worst nightmare. (Although if you saw some of my recent spendings, you’d hardly think I was on a budget at all). It is so expensive here and not just expensive for Central American standards but expensive for anywhere. Extensive research (a 30 second google) tells me that its due to the taxes on imported goods. In total I spent 5 enjoyable nights here over 2 places but any longer and I’d be back on a plane home.
Monteverde: Getting to Monterverde from San Juan Del Sur was a little more difficult than in previous locations in Central America. The more expensive and convenient way to get around is usually tourist shuttles that depart from the hostel and go direct to the next location. Its the method I have used for about 70% of my trip, the other 30% public buses when the route was fairly straight forward and short. There were no shuttles available to Costa Rica from San Juan Del Sur, presumably because its not much of an in demand route so the longer and more stressful, but considerably cheaper option was the only way.
I travelled with another Australian that I had been with for a couple weeks and we first -poorly again- negotiated with a taxi to take us the 45 minute journey to the border. The border was a mess and after getting stamped through we put our bags through the scanner which was patrolled by an eagle-eyed worker, who was clearly on a mission to scruitinize every last thing:
With no direct buses to Monteverde we eventually found a bus that would take us to La Irma, a place about 45 minutes away. We got dropped off by the side of a road that had nothing except for a petrol station and a small restaurant. A quick dash across the road while we waited for the next bus which came after an hour of waiting, and it is here where we got our first taste of Costa Rican pricing. What would cost 50c in Nicaragua or Guatemala for a 45 minute public bus was $11 USD.
We arrived into our hostel and set out for an affordable dinner: tap water and rice. Monteverde is quite high up so the change in temperature was very welcomed as it was a lot cooler.
The next day was an early start as we went off to the Monteverde Extremo Park to do some bungee diving. Having already paraglided and skydived, the bungee jump was the next on the list to tick off. I enquired about a small loan to pay for the jump and before I knew it we were getting the harnesses on. In a word the bungee jumping was terrifying, definitely scarier than skydiving and paragliding. Unlike in some bungee places where you jump from the main building, here you go on a little platform to go right into the middle of the forrest down below. Being on that thing was arguably scarier than the jump as it shaked and tilted in the wind. After checking the credentials of the instructors and ensuring I was actually attached to the bungee cord it was my turn to make the 143m descend. All my nerves dissipated once I jumped and as you can see I was cool, calm and collected:
In the afternoon we participated in an activity at ground level – a trip to the Monteverde Cloud Forrest. Having being spoilt to some amazing scenery over the last couple months I didn’t feel it was anything too special but was still glad to go. A few hostels beers and dinner ended a very busy and fun day.
La Fortuna: A bus and ferry ride the next day and we were in La Fortuna. We checked in and went to the El Salto Rope Swing which is FREE to go to which is basically a swimming area with some small waterfalls. After lunch we hitchhiked to the La Fortuna Waterfall which unfortunately wasn’t free but was amazing to see. You could swim right up to it and it was massive.
The next day we visited some hot springs which were also nice and also free. A girl we met had rented a car so it made getting around the area so much easier. We had a fairly relaxed afternoon at the hostel playing volleyball and some games.
Not much to report on the last full day in La Fortuna. We walked around the area and enjoyed some food and just chilled out! The next day I was off to Panama which marked a brief but enjoyable time in Costa Rica.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jk1EukQP9oeR9VJm8