Oh man. Where to begin. Costa Rica has so many cool things to see and do! I’ll start with one of my favorite elements: the wildlife. I’m not generally a “OMG SLOTHS” or “I love reptiles” sort of person, but the flora and fauna here is so unique. (I do love dogs.) I’ll start with a few fun facts that we’ve picked up along the way.
- Sloths sleep an incredible 16-20 hours per day. “Peresozo” is the Spanish word for sloth, which also translates directly to “lazy” in English.
- Howler monkeys don’t just howl, but make a deafening “roooaaaaaarrrrrr” noise. It is so loud that I thought it was a couple of big jungle cats fighting.
- Figs are pollinated by wasps that drill holes into the hard husk and access the flowers inside. All of the male wasps die doing it. You might find hollow figs without fruit inside them because only a few are pollinated in this arduous process.
- Different species of frogs make unique noises, and you can actually call to them in their noise and they’ll respond. For instance, the frog with my favorite name called the Dink frog makes a noise that sounds like a smoke detector that’s out of battery. That shrill, high pitched DINK that makes you want to pull off your ears is exactly how the frog sounds.
- Sloths also only come down from the treetops once a week to relieve themselves, and that’s it. They hardly eat anything (and thus have less to get rid of) because they burn so few calories sleeping all day.
- Toucans have a big bill because it acts like a heat sink. Toucans don’t like to get too hot, and when they do, their beak collects the heat for them so that their bodies can stay cool.
- If you find a hole where a tarantula lives, just take a stick and scratch around on the dirt outside it. It might think that it’s food and come out to see it. Lucky you!
- The sweetest pineapples in the world come from Costa Rica. Rumor has it that a company worked for 10 years to perfect it. Now pineapples are their number one export.
…and many more tidbits were gleaned, but you should go to Costa Rica and learn them for yourself! We picked these up during a few outdoor adventures during our first few days in the rainforest. One was a hanging bridges tour, which was really beautiful. It was here that I first realized that I am not very good at picking out monkeys up in the canopy or spotting anoles that camouflage themselves with the leaves. The expertise of our tour guide Carlos was astounding. He had some sort of radar that could detect animals nearby.
The sloth craze here is real. We were lucky enough to see four (!) sloths in the jungle, including a baby hanging off the back of a mama sloth. Those two were discovered by someone driving a golf cart at our hotel on the path, who pointed them out to a nearby twenty-something gal. Her immediate hyperventilating alerted us to their presence. I mean, she was OBSESSED. Between breaths she declared that she would be sobbing about seeing these sloths as soon as she went back to her room. They’re cool and interesting, but are they really that cute? Idk. I know that Kristen Bell would disagree with me (look up her sloth obsession on YouTube – it is hilarious).
We started our first day in the jungle with a zip lining tour that was super fun. It included a trip on the Tarzan swing, which was intense. The zip lines were an exhilarating way to get up close with the rainforest.
Our other favorite sight was the volcano, Arenal. It erupted in 1968 after being dormant for 300 years, to everyone’s huge surprise. There was no technology then to know what was going on inside the volcano, and apparently people chose to ignore the warning signs such as the rivers heating up and the gas puffs coming out of the top. Hmm. Unfortunately 100 people died and three towns were wiped out by the explosion. But, since then, the area has become famous for its thermal hot springs and this gorgeous volcano. The town of La Fortuna also sprang up and they really treat tourists well. Here are a few photos of our hotel in Nayara Gardens. We wander around and stumble across hidden jacuzzis, hiking loops, and yes, sloths.
Our hiking trip also took us a mile up the Arenal volcano, which wasn’t far enough in our opinions, but I guess it makes sense from a safety perspective. It’s illegal to climb the volcano to the top, but we talked to several locals who did it during COVID when they were bored and the world seemed like it was ending anyway.
A dip in the La Fortuna waterfall was also memorable! The current from the waterfall was pretty strong, and it was colder water than most places in Costa Rica. I swear every pool is like 90 degrees or higher, even when they call them “cold pools”. It was so pretty and something for the bucket list.
Details on places we’d recommend:
- Rainforest Explorers tours (hanging bridges at Mistico, La Fortuna waterfall, Arenal hike)
- Ecoglide zip lining and Tarzan swing (they use 2 connections at all times!)
- Nayara Gardens & Nayara Springs hotel – go for your honeymoon (fake or real)
- Chifa La Familia Feliz for the best Peruvian food outside of Peru (located in La Fortuna)
