Road Trip Costa Rica · 2021
San José · Tortuguero National Park · Braulio Carrillo National Park · La Fortuna · Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges · Vulcano Arenal · Bijagua · Playa Octocal · Liberia · Rincón de la Vieja National Park · Monteverde · Selvatura Adventure Park · San José
September 5, 2021
Stuck in Monteverde: With heavy Rain into the Boonies.
We take off in good spirits with the sun shining brightly on the four-lane InterAmerican Highway leading from the town of Liberia, in the province of Guanacaste, heading toward Monteverde.
Then slowly, but steadily, the sky darkens.
A little later we are driving in the very mountains I photographed. A heavy rain, which would have sunk Noah's ark in five minutes, erupts over us. We are told by our nav app to turn left again, and suddenly we are looking into a valley with tracks of fist-sized stones, where streams of brown rainwater are flowing down. The channels in the flatter areas lead to puddles that seem almost as big as the Great Salt Lake.
Off we go! Now buckle up for a tale of tropical deluges, the LAST drivers, the best Ticos (Costa Rican natives), the most creative tow trucks, and the strange ways of the Universe.
August 8, 2021
Zipline-Adventure, hidden Falls and the Gate Mafia.
"Oha", I think, while I hold the silver carabiner in my hand and strange straps dangle loosely around my legs. "It's time to embarrass myself again."
My boyfriend and I are on a two-week road trip through Costa Rica. Ever since he had told me about his Zipline Adventure in Ecuador that he had taken long before we met, I cannot stop thinking about how it would be to soar on a thin cable high above the jungle.
How we managed this adventure, why we hiked 10 miles through the jungle in the scorching sun with 90 million percent humidity, what the gate guard with the gun wanted, and where we found a little bit of Yellowstone feeling in the middle of the rainforest: these exploits are all found here in Part Two of my frenzied travelogue about our road trip through Costa Rica!
July 25, 2021
Tortuguero: Wild Caribbean, Toucans and Howlers at Night.
Feeling completely bananas after a 12-hour direct flight from Frankfurt, I land at the border control in San Jose, Costa Rica. Of course, there is a thunderstorm over the city during the approach, so the airline adds a no-extra-cost Freefall Tower ride including screaming passengers and profuse sweating. I already see my US-boyfriend who landed about 15 minutes after I did in Costa Rica.
We will travel two whole weeks together in Costa Rica. Going on a road trip through the country in a rental car, hiking in the jungle, exploring volcanoes, and soaring on a zipline. From the Caribbean coast to the Pacific coast. We spend the first few days not only in the limbo of the blue traffic haze of San José, but mostly in the remote Tortuguero National Park, which you can reach only after a one-hour boat ride. Where the monkeys roar at night, the toucans brighten the jungle foliage, and the lizards eat all your cake crumbles.