Costa Rica – happy ecotourist haven

I spent 4 days fabulous biking and experiencing Costa Rica in Feb 2018. Costa Ricans have good government with a free health service and education and no Army. The citizens are proud of their country and its unique flora and fauna.

We biked in from Nicaragua. Costa Rica has rolling hillsides and abundant rainforest. On 2 hours rafting on the river Tenorio we saw many birds, egrets, ospreys, kingfishers. Iguanas basked in the sunlight on the bank. Crocodiles lurked on the banks and patrolled the depths. So I was careful to remain aboard. A coyote glanced down at from the bank briefly before trotting off.

I biked 60 km around lake Arenal. We started at a coffee farm and the road wound up and down with small bridges crossing the streams. Many different trees grew along the route. We stopped in a fine cafe with a lovely mural outside and a high balcony with views over the lake. Birds pecked at fruit hanging above the forest. At the roadside we saw beautiful white nosed coatis (raccoon cousins) asking for food.

I had bikefree day in La Fortuna. I visited the cataracts Rio Fortuna, and with steps down to the big waterfalls and thick forest. A heavy tropical downpour made it humid.  Toucans hopped around the forest whilst I lunched in the cafe. I walked the orchid trail, seeing 100’s of orchids labelled and some in flower.

We had a decadent evening in bathing in Ecothermales hot springs and drinking the best pina coladas in CR. My skin felt good after the soak. 

Costa RIcan food is Caribbean style. The staple dish is casado comprising rice and beans with fish and fresh vegetables, spiced with salsa and chilli. Costa Rican coffee is the best I have tasted and their chocolates are excellent.  We enjoyed Costa Rican gold pineapple and sweet tasty watermelon on our bike rides.

I left the group early and travelled home via San Jose.  I enjoyed an interesting ride with the driver and his wife. We drove across farmland seeing many vegetables plots. We had coffee in a little cafe in the mountains with home made cheese for sale.  I talked more Spanish to this couple than I had talked in the previous 10 days.

I stayed in a boutique hotel in albujera with small individual rooms in a lovely garden and loud bird dawn Chorus. The local cafe where I enjoyed ceviche and salad was full of families having Sunday lunch.

The museums in San Jose opened up Costa Rican history to me, through jade, money, gold and art.  The jade museum is in a new huge rectangular building made of thin pieces of slate. Jade was polished in the pre Columbian era and the museum explored life and rituals with jade pieces in war, death and shamanism. Daily life, cooking, eating and weaving were explored through pots. The numismatic museum had silver coins used in leprosaria and TB Sanatorium to supposedly reduce the risk of infection. The gold museum is a gem of pre Columbian gold and captures past life. The gold artefacts were beautiful and captured the different aspects of life, decoration for status, and armadillos, frogs, jaguars, turtles and their place in the spirit life.  We experienced some existential angst in the applied art section.

My hotel in Albujera was an archetypal cheap hotel with people staying pre-departure. So I enjoyed wandering the town instead. There was a pleasant square with a museum and a cathedral. I enjoyed exploring a restored arts centre full of kids learning music, a junior orchestra, a guitar lesson and a tiny boy practised drumming.  There was a small theatre and modern outdoor sculpture. I had supper of casado pescado in a small bar opposite my hotel.

I left Costa Rica early because my friend Iain died rapidly at the start of my holiday and I wanted to attend his funeral in Amsterdam.  So I left this lovely country early. I shall definitely come back and enjoy the birdlife and trees more.

Nicaragua – volcano islands and undemocratic poverty

On a 4 day bike ride in Nicaragua I explored an island volcano and biked to the Pacific.

I had an 8 day holiday in Nicaragua and Costa Rica biking through the two countries. The holiday was organised by Exodus. There were 9 of us biking (age range 50-72). We had an excellent guide Guilermo Sanchez who was very keen for us to have a memorable central American experience. The route was well thought out and we ate at small cafes for lunch. I had an extra day in Granada before the biking started. 

Granada is a beautiful old colonial town with houses arranged around central courtyards. There is a central plaza and a huge cathedral, with large modern, unattractive frescoes. The old convent was more atmospheric. The convent museum had an extensive collection about the many local Catholic traditions, and also pieces of the pre columbian rock carvings and the local primitivist art. We explored the city and walked down to lake Nicaragua. We lunched in a cafe and explored shops, including leather shops with high quality work. We had fresh fish supper in the Garden cafe with a lovely tree filled courtyard.

We drove up to a tourist viewpoint, Mirador Catarina with fine views over the lake. The many shops sold colourful tourist tat, including pottery hens and hammocks. At night the Masaya volcano mouth has red larva glowing and smoke rising, it felt v alive with bats swooping around.

We spent a night on the isla Ometepe with its two beautiful volcanoes rising above the lake and covered in cloud. The ferry from San Jorg to the island was crowded with people and tourists and I watched Nicaraguan daytime TV. We had a hot strenuous post midday ride across the island up 5 steep slopes with a lovely fruit stop at the top of the hill, big chunks of pineapple and water melon to nibble.  We descended to Ojo de Agua resort to a fabulous outdoor swimming pool surrounded by trees and with large rocks on the bottom. I got a lift to the top of the hill and then biked down to our hotel, a lakeside resort with palm trees around the huts. I enjoyed the sunset with Geoffrey and Geena followed by an excellent supper of grilled fish and jalapeño sauce.

I started the day with yoga on a stone platform overlooking the lake, the most beautiful setting for stretching and thinking. We biked across the island to the ferry port and I enjoyed seeing the countryside. I  enjoyed the ferry trip back to San Jorge. From the top deck and appreciated the islands double volcanoes much better, though there was again mist on both of them. A brief rain squall drove me inside for the last 10 mins of the crossing. We had a lovely afternoon ride across rolling countryside. Many homes had pigs and chickens and someone resting on the verandah.  We saw a bike being carried on a horse. We climbed up and had a fruit stop at the top, We had a beautiful descent to San Juan del sur. We biked across a river and onto the beach just in time for sunset. It was a wonderful way to end the day and we had a beer there. We had supper in a beach hotel I savoured octopus with garlic sauce. I walked round the town quickly, I was tired after our exertions.

People are quite poor and still doing some harvesting by hand.  The animals are quite thin, there are crops of sugar canes.   Nicaragua is visibly poor and the gdp    (5.755) is much lower than Costa Rica gdp (48.2).  Ortega has just won his third consecutive term of office. Democracy is not as developed here as it is in Costa Rica where they have enjoyed uninterrupted democracy since 1948.

Nicaragua was wonderful to explore by bike.  The volcanoes were unforgettable.  It was interesting to then be in Costa Rica which has a much stronger democracy and social systems with free health care for all citizens.

Feb 2018