Costa Rica – Page 2 – Backpacking around the World

San Jose to La Fortuna

On our first official day we planed to climb up Volcano Poas, but due to the clouds there we decided to skip it and go straight to La Fortuna, a village north of San Jose. The streets in Costa Rica, even the main roads are in very bad conditions and when we where on the road to La Fortuna people started to wave at us. When we stopped and asked what was going on we where told that the street was washed away and that we had to use another way.

On the way back we found a little dirty street sign that said “Canopy Tour and horseback-riding”. We drove down the unpaved road and stopped at a little restaurant for lunch. It turned out that the restaurant owners where also running the canopy tour. So our first adventure was already underway! The Canopy tour was very funny, it did not look very save at all, but after all, its “No risk no fun!

For those who don’t know “Canopy”, platforms up in the trees are connected by steel ropes, you then slide from one platform to the other, its very fast, so you don’t really get to see the wildlife, its more a adrenalin-kick then exploring.

After the Canopy we went horseback-riding for about an hour or so. In the beginning my horse didn’t like me at all, and stopped on several occasions, but we made a pretty good team in the end.

After we finished the tour we went all the way to La Fortuna. We kept looking for the Volcano, but the picture in the Lonely Planet was older and the Vulcano had changed its shape and height over the past years so we didn’t figure out where it was until we reached La Fortuna. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast, which offered an excellent view of the Volcano. The owner also offered us tours that we could book there, and we opted for the visit of “Vernado” caves in the morning and a hike around the volcano in the afternoon, combined with a visit of the hot springs.

Costa Rica Backpacker, San Jose

My original airline was Iberia, but due to the changes in Miami, I had to board an American Airline plane in Miami. There I got to meet Craig, a guy from Florida, who was planning to rent a car and invited me to team up. We had kind of the same plans, which meant no plans at all. So not having to spend a lot of my valuable time on the bus and instead travel and explore the country more independently I agreed immediately.

We picked up the car and headed towards to the city. Our first stop was “Costa Rica Backpackers” but it did take some time till got there. Street signs are rare in San José and streets can change from normal street to one-way within one intersection.

The “Costa Rica Backpackers” was a very comfortable place and provided free internet access, a swimming pool and a large TV screen with international channels etc.

Austria to Costa Rica via Miami

One of my major “life-goals” was to visit six continents before I turn 25 , which in my case meant 13th of December 2003. Till 2002 I had traveled four continents, so there where still two left. I visited South Africa in May/June 2003, but I wasn’t sure if I would make it to South America the same year, but things worked out for me, and after heavy searching on the Internet, my original task was Brazil or Chile, I got a very cheap flight to Costa Rica only a week prior to my targeted departure. So I once again packed my backpack and left good old Europe, with a stop-over in Madrid and Miami. Fortunately my flight from Miami to San Jose was cancelled and I got a free night at a Crown Plaza in Miami, which was much better then arriving in San Jose at 2 am in the morning, without pre-arranged accommodation. I’m getting more and more un-organized.