Adventure Awaits in Sarapiqui

Next to its breath-taking natural beauty and ecological biodiversity, Costa Rica is simply the perfect destination for adventure travel. No matter if you desire to explore dense jungles, climb mountains or participate in active activities which trigger your adrenaline, Costa Rica has it all.

Last weekend I went to Sarapiqui, which is about a 1 1/2 drive away from San Jose, together with a friend. The area is referred to as an off-the-beaten-path destination and known for its exuberant rainforest with its distinctive wildlife and the Sarapiqui River.

Nearby the towns of Puerto Viejo and La Virgen, you can find various companies offering activities for active holidays that need to be on everyone´s bucket list when travelling to Costa Rica.

There are so many options to choose from so luckily Il Viaggio Travel, a local tour company based in San Jose, helped me organise my weekend in Sarapiqui. I knew they would select a suitable company as they only work with businesses that operate in a sustainable manner which is personally a decisive factor for me. I was sent to Pozo Azul, an adventure resort that lies in the heart of Sarapiqui´s rainforest right by the famous ´Rio Sarapiqui´, offering accommodation in form of glamping tents and activities that will let the heart of every outdoor enthusiast beat faster.

Going there, you will have no choice but to experience the famous Costa Rican ´pura vida´ lifestyle to the fullest.

We started with the canopy tour, a zip-line tour where you find yourself completely immersed in the jungle and literally fly from one tree top to the next. I can recommend wearing light sportswear as it´s most likely going to be very warm and humid out there. I actually kept on my sandals, though trainers or solid hiking shoes might be the best option. The tour consists of six zip-lines some of which are rather short (especially the first which serves a practice run) and others really long. The longest is over 300 meters and goes right across the river so you will get to experience the incredible feeling of flying high in the air just like one of Costa Rica´s beautifully coloured birds.

You can continuously pick up speed and don´t have to worry about slowing down as the instructors stop you at the end of the longer zip-lines. This means you don´t have to focus on braking yourself are able to solely enjoy the feeling of being wild and free.

In between some of the zip-lines you will walk on small trails right in the middle of the jungle. It´s a great opportunity to spot various species of wildlife such as iguanas, birds, frogs and possibly even snakes. About the latter, the instructors actually urge the group to only walk behind them as snakes are often barely visible.

The ultimate jungle adventure, isn´t it? 

After the canopy tour, we went white whater rafting. Apart from the rafting Pozo Azul also offers a so-called floating safari which is a great option for those who like it a bit calmer but still want to experience the river. However, if you are looking for adrenaline, white-water rafting is the perfect option. It´s actually worth to mention that locals name Sarapiqui as one of the best places in Central America for rafting as you can choose between classes II & III and IV which basically determine the degree of difficulty.

If you love adventure but have some concerns as you have never done this before, there is no need to worry as the classes II and III are perfect for beginners that still want to experience a wild ride. Definitely make sure to wear closed shoes, light clothing and swimwear as getting soaked in water is guaranteed. 

White-water rafting generally involves the participants paddling and guiding a raft through white-water or a river´s rapids. Teamwork is often proved to be important as whenever the guide 

screams ´Forward´ everyone has to react quickly and paddle simultaneously. If someone makes a mistake, the raft might tip over and the group suddenly finds itself in the water.

It was such a memorable and experience that involved plenty of laughter and screams whenever the raft was pulled and sometimes even spun through the white-water. The river does have some calmer sections where the raft was only floating which allowed for great wildlife watching and a few swims in the cool, refreshing water. We saw many different types of birds and for the first time in my life, I even got to see a few toucans.

Just as it usually happens when you´re having too much fun, time flew by and suddenly the two hours of rafting were already over.

We finished off this amazing experience with a delicious lunch at Pozo Azul with a view on the river before heading back to San Jose.

All I can say is that it was definitely not the last time that I went zip-lining and rafting here in Costa Rica and I can only encourage you to try it out yourself!

 

 

Welcome to Sarapiqui!

Sarapiqui, the ideal Costa Rican rainforest to immerse into the adventure, get amazed by impressive natural landscapes and practise ecotourism while having quality time as a family.  Do you already have prepared your closed shoes, repellent and rain jacket? Then you are ready for this experience as a family!


Day 1 If you are a family that enjoy the outdoors, Sarapiquí offers plenty of activities that will be in line with your travel expectations. We got the opportunity to stay at the Ara Ambigua Lodge and explore its three hectares of forest where we could spot different beautiful and captivating types of birds, turtles and caimans and hike thought the lodge’s trails surrounded by exotic vegetation and fauna such as, the blue jeans frog which tends to amuse children due to the blue colour of their legs that simulate jeans. Ara Ambigua gave as the opportunity to enjoy the tranquillity of its atmosphere and facilities such as the family pool. However, the adventure did not finish here. From 7 pm, when the sun went done, we got the opportunity to impress the children by discovering one of the secrets hidden in the Ara Ambigua garden which can be accessed by the restaurant. The beauty and diversity of the night frogs that appeared around the garden while we were waiting for our delicious dinner.

Day 2 In our second day, we headed to visit the private reserve of the Tirimbina lodge that ended up being a spectacular experience. Inside the Tirimbina’s property we collected one of the most incredible memorabilia from our trip to Costa Rica when crossing the largest hanging bridge over the Sarapiquí river. Besides, if you are lucky enough, you can spot different type of birds like Toucans or observe how several adventurers go under your feet when practising rafting.  On our way back to the car, we could observe a butterfly sanctuary where you can see the transformation process from worm to the final colourful butterfly and, a group that was taken to a traditional chocolate plantation where they had the privilege to taste the cacao bean at its different stages in the process of making chocolate, which according to us was fun, tasty and an interesting cultural activity to do with your most dearest ones. 

Arenal, home of mother nature!

Heading to the northern side of the country you and your family will discover Arenal, a place that hides beauties such as, an imposing active volcano, a marvellous waterfall and a vibrant town that will make you feel welcome…

Are you curious enough? Stay here and transfer yourself to my experience while reading the following lines:

 

Our trip to Arenal brought us nothing else than incredible surprises. Our adventure started on a cloudy and rainy day in Arenal where we could barely appreciate the famous volcano that can be spotted from different parts of the area. However, the tropical weather did not stop us from fully enjoying the lively streets where the Pura Vida essence could be felt. We spent hours and hours strolling around the centre full of local restaurants, ice-cream stores offering a great variety of delicious flavours and appealing souvenir stores where we could buy our Pura Vida t-shirt to keep in our memory this meaningful message.

On our second day, we put our swimsuits, sneakers and prepared our backpack filled with a bottle of water, snacks, sunscreen, towels, extra change and most importantly, our enthusiasm to visit one of the must-see in the Arenal region, La Fortuna waterfall. After few minutes driving, surrounded by an incredible landscape and a marvellous view of the Arenal volcano, we arrived at La Fortuna waterfall. When passing the main entrance, we found ourselves on a hanging bridge surrounded by different species of enchanting exotic flora and fauna. The lookout point of the area, where you could spot the waterfall, made us feel like giants and feed our desire to get there and see it with our own eyes.

 On our second day, we put our swimsuits, sneakers and prepared our backpack filled with a bottle of water, snacks, sunscreen, towels, extra change and most importantly, our enthusiasm to visit one of the must-see in the Arenal region, La Fortuna waterfall. After few minutes driving, surrounded by an incredible landscape and a marvellous view of the Arenal volcano, we arrived at La Fortuna waterfall. When passing the main entrance, we found ourselves on a hanging bridge surrounded by different species of enchanting exotic flora and fauna. The lookout point of the area, where you could spot the waterfall, made us feel like giants and feed our desire to get there and see it with our own eyes. We walked to the stairs that facilitate the access to the waterfall and once we were there, we realized that our adventure was about to begin. Hundreds of stairs were waiting for us!  As you know, travelling with children does not go always as planned so we needed to find the way to distract them and make them enjoy the way down. Now you will think…How did we do that? We heard by a local that when going down you are able to see a particular figure. Therefore, we got the great idea of taking out our camera and record our way down to see who will find it first. 

Getting down to the waterfall took us few minutes that where filled with laughs and great memories but once we got there, the view was simply breath-taking. There we were, under the immense La Fortuna waterfall located in a magical scenery in harmony with the sound of the water and singing birds, the different shades of green, huge black rocks and small natural pools suitable for kids. We swam, we enjoyed the relaxing sound of the water and singing birds and we took some of the most incredible pictures of our trip to Costa Rica. Our complete relaxation in this almost indescribable paradise made our way up a bit harder than the way down. Nevertheless, every few stairs we sat on the rest benches and breathe the fresh air while admiring the great nature.  Once we made it to the top, we sat at the open restaurant drinking a refreshing smoothie and luckily, we ended up crossing out one of our bucket list in Costa Rica which was seeing a white faced monkey. 

Conservation Project OSA - south pacific of Costa Rica

“If you are a sea turtle the odds are against you!”  I read somewhere.  This could not be truer. Only 1 in 1000 sea turtle eggs become adults old enough to reproduce. Only 1 of every 10 eggs hatch in nature. This is because crabs, dogs, racoons and coatis eat the eggs in the nest and after hatching, birds eat them on their first trip to the ocean. That is if humans don’t steal the whole nest before. In some places 90% of the nests are lost as a result of human poaching. 

The few hatchlings that make it to the ocean are eaten by fish and other predators. Those that survive can then face numerous human threats like fishing nets and plastic pollution that prevent them from getting to a reproductive age.

Our sea turtle conservation project in Osa (and others all over the country and the world) remove many of these threats by relocating the eggs to a nursery, where they are protected 24/7 and then released to the ocean as soon as they are born.  (Don’t miss our video. It’s amazing to see them rushing to the water).



By removing all the threats until the hatchlings make it to the sea, we are giving them a better chance to make it to adulthood and reproduce, which is key to the survival of the species. By doing this, experts think that their odds improve from 1 in a 1000 to 1 in a 100. So that is what we are doing here!  We are trying to make give sea turtles a better odd of survival.

Currently there are seven species of sea turtles in our oceans, and all of them are in danger of extinction. Rincon Beach receives 3 of these species: Olive Ridley (vulnerable), Green Turtle (endanger) and Hawksbill (critically endanger). During this semester we relocated 82 nests and we have freed 2833 hatchlings so far, we are still waiting on some of those nests to hatch. Our team will be watching over those nests during the holidays and past the new year to make sure these guys make it to the sea. Those are 28 more seaturtles that will make it to adulthood rather than 2.

Whale Watching

May is an interesting month for the tourism industry in Costa Rica. Is the first month of what we call the green season so tour companies like ours have more time to do stuff, like marketing strategies, sites inspections, and having the chance not to worry about our VIP clients every day. But is also the month of Emilio´s birthday. So normally we as a family take a one week work and travel trip with the kids to a new destination every year. We chose Bahia Ballena because is an emerging destination, and the variety of hotel options has increased considerably in the past 2 years. From cozy eco-lodges to fancy boutique hotels. The idea is to

visit as much properties as possible but making sure kids are still having a fun time and rich experience.

 Bahia Ballena is the area that surrounds the Marino Ballena National Park. But for a practical (Waze and Google Maps) understanding, is everything located between the towns of Dominical and Ojochal, including Dominicalito, Ventanas and Uvita. The area has lots to offer its visitors, including surfing lessons, nature hikes, visit to waterfalls, horseback riding, but the two most representative activities are the visit to the Tail of the Whale at Marino Ballena and the boat tour for Whales and Dolphins observation during season which is from June to November.
Another very important theme is the holistic, organic, healthy vibe you can sense. There are a good number of yoga retreats and surf camps that combine all those elements.

But for our work and travel purposes, we have decided to stay at Villas Tekoa. This a community located at a hill right in front of Playa Dominicalito. Simply the best views of the ocean, surrounded by nature and with top of the line amenities. There are homes starting at 2 bedrooms and all the way until 10 bedrooms. Host is very informative and willing to help when necessary.

I could extend my article talking about the great family time we had at Villas Tekoa, but I am sure you will find more interesting and useful our final report of the area. So here it goes.
Bahia Ballena is great for adults, specially if you like to do Surf and Yoga. There is great nightlife in Dominical. And very active tours that involves a decent physical condition. For example Savegre River rafting and the hike to Nauyaca Waterfall. But it can be very family friendly too. Specially if they are teenagers and young adults. There are many activities they could do including, boat tours for whale watching, surfing lessons, zip lining, horseback riding, sea kayaking and snorkeling. If you travel with little kids like we do (under 8) options are a little limited. But you can still do stuff. And they will still have a good time doing things like a mild walk at Hacienda Baru for wildlife observation, build sand castles at any of the beaches of the area, and spend some time at the swimming pool of your hotel or vacation rental.

 
And accommodations are great too.
Here is what we have seen and recommend: Hotel Cristal Ballena, Kura Design, Villas Tekoa, Cuna del Angel, Villas Rio Mar.
If you are planning to include Bahia Ballena in your future travel plans try to combine it with the Manuel Antonio area first and Osa Peninsula afterwards. This combination will give you an interesting perspective of the different elements Costa Rica has to offer to all visitors looking for the perfect Beach and Nature Experience.

By the way, the best local tour operator is called Bahia Aventuras.