We saved the best for last

Golfo Dulce

The 40 minute ride down the west coast on Nature Air brought us in at Puerto Jimenez and staff from Lapa Rios were on hand for the 10 mile journey to the lodge.
This place is a proper Eco Lodge and receives 5 leaf ratings every year for sustainability. The food is locally sourced where possible and is far more imaginative than what we have eaten elsewhere, which proves that it is possible. Thatched bungalows sit up on a ridge with primary forest in the valley to the west while the Pacific waves roll onto the beach below and from the deck there are far reaching views south to the bottom of the country and Panama beyond.
There will be more on the various animals at the end but Toucans sit on the branches nearby while pairs of Scarlet Macaws regularly fly overhead. It is a short walk to the waterfalls on a clear spring fed river. Just offshore at the entrance to the ocean fjord is the meeting point of 2 tectonic plates, the water is warm but deep and humpbacked whales come here to give birth. Deep sea fishing is excellent and dolphins are plentiful, it really is an Eden.

Howler monkeys make a hell of a din starting early so coffee is delivered outside at 6 am.
There are numerous walks, zip lining, horse riding, surfing and more but much of the time we were content just sitting on deck reading, listening and watching for the next creature to appear.

There is much to admire in Costa Rica: it is Democratic (with strong links to China), there is no military (Army abolished 1948), there are 9 active volcanoes of which we saw 5. Most importantly it is considered to be the most biodiverse country on the planet. Unfortunately the very climate that creates that diversity; heat, humidity and heavy rain make it a place where we would not want to live but visit you must.
As previously mentioned it is a popular tourist destination, more flights are being added from Europe and therein lies the problem. Mass tourism in some areas has probably already started a decline. Our advice is to check any accommodation's certification to see if it is really Eco, try to find smaller lodges which will have guided tours in small groups (6 maximum). It is not necessary to go all over the country as most of the wildlife can be found in most locations. The south is far less populated than the north and is worth the extra cost (flying) or effort (driving) to avoid the busloads of package holiday makers.
The following list of what we saw in 17 days does NOT include all the frogs, toads, lizards or insects:

Cattle & Great Egret, Barethroated Heron, Neotropic Cormorant, Ringed Kingfisher, Common Black Hawk, White Hawk, Black & Turkey Vulture, Mealy Parrot, Scarlet Macaw, Black Throated Trogon, Black Mandibled Toucan, Rufous Tailed Hummingbird, Jacamar, Blue Crowned MotMot, Short Billed Pigeon, Blue Grey Tanager, Cherrie's Tanager, Scarlet Rumped Tanager, Boat Billed Flycatcher, Grey Capped Flycatcher, Kiskadee, Mangrove Hummingbird, Bronzy Hermit Hummingbird, Boat Billed & Bare Throated Heron, Grey Chested Dove, Purple Crowned Fairy, Tropical Kingbird, Yellow Headed Caracara, Crowned Wood Nymph, White Collared Seedeater, Fiery Billed Aracari, Orange Chinned Parakeets, Red Crowned Woodpecker and many others unidentified.

Spider, White Throated Capuchin, Howler, Squirrel Monkeys, Two Toed Sloth, Tamandua, Possum, Agouti, Pygmy Squirrel, Vine Snake, Iguanas,

There is not a great deal to see in San Jose, it appears to be just a transit point for many, so on our last day in Central America we played some golf at The Cariari Club.

Are we expecting too much?

Lomas del Volcan is a collection of individual bungalows with westerly views of the Arenal Volcano, a good location and correctly advertised as 3 star. As previously mentioned there is a wide array of activities here: Kayak Safaris, Canoe & Rafting, Hikes, Night Walks, Eco Safaris: (they have certainly done Eco and Bio to death). As we already had similar things in our itinerary we opted for the Hanging Bridges Hike " a gentle 2 mile hike where we will be able to see howler, spider and capuchin monkeys, snakes, armadillos, coatis and lots of birds." The brochure's words not mine.

When we saw the size of the parking lot we became concerned. The bridges (highest at 45 meters)and trails were very well done, the guide tried his best to make it interesting but for the most part there was almost nothing there. It's not surprising, when you see the size of some of the people getting off those busses I would think any wild life would head deep into the jungle, as far away as possible and stay there. At the end the guide asked what we thought and we said we were disappointed in the lack of wildlife. His response was classic:" If you want to see more animals you need to come at 6 in the morning." To which our not unreasonable reply was " then why did you arrange to pick us up at 8?"  

The canopy over the bridges was exceptional:

The other feature of this area is the numerous baths (Ecothermales of course) which we enjoyed one evening before the short drive to Selva Verde, another collection of bungalows on stilts.
Arriving in the early afternoon we collected the keys to our river room, which was nowhere near a river. Back to reception where they explained that river means it's on the river side of the road!" Not good enough" we said so we were given the 'last room near the river'.

The Sarapiqui River

 

We spent the afternoon on the veranda waiting for the birds. After a week of going looking for them we thought that maybe we should let them come to us. Eventually some toucans arrived and the odd
wader along the riverbank. I took the night tour across the river which was mostly to see frogs, spiders, ants and small creatures, By the way the famous blue jeans frog, which is red with blue legs and is usually about 6 feet long on the side of a bus is actually about an inch, head to tail. Best sighting was the black throated trogon, which is mostly yellow.

Costa Rica will be in the top 3 global destinations this year, they have done a good marketing job but by now you may be getting the idea that we are somewhat disappointed. We certainly have not come close to seeing the 420 species of birds or many of the other animals advertised and when we have it is usually in ones and twos, except the monkeys.
The Ticos (locals) are not overly friendly (guides and front desk managers being the exception) and the food is exactly the same everywhere. The bananas, papaya and pineapple are excellent but after that it is pinto (black beans & rice) plantain, eggs and chicken and carrots, lots of carrots.
One expects to eat what is locally grown and fresh but there is no imagination at all in the cuisine
and not much enthusiasm in serving it either.
But our next location will be different we say.
Sometimes the journey to a destination can be more interesting than the final stop and the ride to Tortuguero National Park was like that. The bus journey in through vast pineapple and banana plantations was revealing, particularly the airstrip and the crop dusting planes, I hope they don't put the bio label on these bananas.
Hanging metal tracks stretch deep into the patches where the green bananas are covered in blue plastic, hooked on and pulled by hand, 25 bunches at a time back to the sorting/shipping area.

The transportation has been well organised and the transfer from coach to boat was efficient, no empty seats and little waiting time. From the dock it is almost 90 minutes along the lagoons and canals to the lodge and this was a beautiful ride, calm water, a wonderful variety of trees in every shade of green shone in the sunlight and the cooling breeze was most welcome.
In the afternoon we went in a smaller boat into some of the narrow canals again seeing a number of individual birds, most of which we have seen before. Parrots are proving to be elusive, they stay well overhead.
By now we have come to realise that our trusty little camera which has recorded everything on this blog to date, is not up to the task. We are seriously outclassed by the equipment on display by fellow travellers. One Japanese chap had a lens so big I would bet he could put his head inside it!
But even then it's not easy, many birds seem to have a way of getting a branch in front of their head or turning their tail feathers in your direction just when you think you've got them.
So most of what we saw will stay in our heads to save any embarrassment!

The lodge has a sustainability plan and all the places we stayed in urged us to: conserve water, recycle, help mother earth by turning off the lights etc. So we were pretty shocked to take the excursion across the river to Tortuguero town where we were conveniently left at the souvenir shop.
Most of these residents work in the Eco Lodges so you would think they would be somewhat 'on message' with the conservation ideal. Sadly not, the town is filthy and the people disinterested. The beach on the Caribbean side is just 100 metres from town, this is the largest nesting area for green turtles in the world. Why the turtles always return here even after many years is still a mystery but the theory is that the volcanic dust which comes out in the rivers is washed back onto the beach thereby creating a magnetic field which acts as a kind of GPS.
We have now completed the same journey in reverse, spent a night in San Jose (lots of green parrots here) and this morning we will fly south to the Osa Peninsula and the Lapa Rios rain forest reserve.

A typical Tortuguero bungalow

Pura Vida

Our entry into Costa Rica overland was reminiscent of our travels to South America in 1975. Arriving at the Nicaraguan border we exited the bus for a full security check of person and luggage. The bus then drove off, one regular traveler on the route said it was for arms and drug checks or maybe the driver went for lunch, but we stood on the tarmac for an hour. Upon return a lot more passengers got on than had originally come with us, we reloaded and drove 300 meters to Costa Rica where we got off again, took our luggage through security and immigration and got back on.
Initially there wasn't much difference as trash and plastic lined the road but as we approached Liberia one could start to see that Costa Rica has a better infrastructure and is generally more modern.

Customs Chaos

Our rental car was waiting at the first stop and we proceeded on to Playa Junquillal to visit a very old Bermuda friend who has been there for 26 years. He's well known, even has a street named after him:
Calle Perro Loco (Mad Dog Road). We stayed in a very nice condo development Villas Las Ventanas which was beautifully planted and amazingly green because the rest of Guanacaste Province has been in drought for 3 years, even major hotels have water shortages as can be seen on the golf course of Hacienda Pinilla.

This area still has dirt roads and is undeveloped, it is a beach bum, surfer hangout. Some people go there for its simplicity but it's not a place we would stay too long. It will be much better when the rains come.
From here we started the drive east to the town of Bijagua between the Miravalles and Tenorio volcanoes, all part of the Agua y Paz Biosphere Reserve. The countryside was very green, agricultural with cattle and horses.
Bird watching is a feature of Tenorio Lodge and they boast having photographed over 150 varieties on the property. Tanagers, Flycatchers and Hummingbirds were the predominant species, it was also our first sighting of Howler Monkeys.
The following day we drove 10 kilometres up the most appalling road to hike to the Celeste Waterfall  and the confluence of two clear rivers which when they meet, due to the mixing and enlarging of particles and the prism effect of the light, turns the water of the Rio Celeste blue.

We took a 'shortcut' over to Lake Arenal, as the crow flies it is the most direct but most of it is a dirt and gravel track. We're never in a hurry and this drive felt like we were really out in the country. Eventually we came to the north side of the lake, a very pleasant drive. The Arenal Volcano appears in the distance and as it gets closer you can see that it is probably the most perfect shape, or at least it conforms to the images one has of what it should be:

  
However, it is also the signal that we are approaching a very touristic area, the hand painted signs for activities, real estate brokers, cafes "voted best burger on the planet" and accommodation are too numerous to take in and there is a distinct California vibe; Love Shack 2km: Rock River Rocks:
and most bizarre of all, some Swiss chalets and a church!