My Costa Rican travels did not slow down in 2012. Here’s a summary of the places I visited the past 5 months:
Palmares
Palmares is a city about an hour and a half from San Jose, but a huge week-long festival that happens every year in January. It’s a combination of a county fair, concert, club and artisanal market. I went the last two weekends of it and it proved to be unforgettable. The local flavors, fun artists, and local events like folkloric dances and the famous bullfights show why this is THE event to attend no matter where in Costa Rica you otherwise planned to be. Plus, it’s a rowdy time with people of all ages enjoying what is usually beautiful summer weather!
Playa Hermosa/Playa del Coco
I came here to this often visited tourist destination located in the Nicoya Peninsula with my Canadian volunteers in February. It’s about a 4-hour drive from San Jose on the Pacific Coast of the country. Both beaches were a good mix of quiet, lazy beach vibes perfect for enjoying the scenery and tourist streets filled with quaint shops, art galleries and restaurants. Not one of the top places I’ve been to, and I probably wouldn’t go back.
Monteverde
WOW. What a different and exciting place. The best of Costa Rican hospitality as well as its biodiversity exists in this amazing rainforest. Here I got the chance to experience countless microclimates from arid and dry to cold, to wet and windy all within in a 5-mile area. I visited the Bosque de Eterno de los Niños, Bosque Santa Elena, and the famous Cloud Forrest. Want to know why it’s called that? Because the condensation from the Pacific Coast and the Caribbean Coast meet at the top of the forest and cause fog making it seem like it’s permanently cloudy. It’s a mystic place. I explored a bunch here but my favorite activities were by far the night hike (our guide was super knowledgeable and went out there to find dangerous animals like this) and the coffee tour. 4 days is plenty to experience everything, after accounting for the 5-hour travel time from San Jose, but you leave this place renewed and with a newfound respect and reverence for Mother Earth.
Tabacon
Tabacon is the most luxurious hot spring in the country and is also a 5 star resort. It’s located 5 hours from SJO. I knew I would not leave the country without experiencing this! Although everyone has their hot spring of choice, I must say that this was extraordinarily beautiful and an A+ experience. The lush greenery is breathtaking and really makes you feel like you’re in a zen otherworldly place. The pros: it’s run by locals, it’s located right inside the mountains so the hot spring is all natural streaming directly from the volcano, it’s impeccably clean and well managed with awesome staff.
The cons: It’s overpriced at about $60 a day ($60 for 2 days in low season!), the food options inside are bad and extremely expensive, and you no option but to eat there because outside food not allowed (we were sneaky and smuggled in the goods), and there’s nothing else around it so you have to have your own transportation to not pay an arm and a leg in taxi fees to get there from the center of La Fortuna.
All in all, the hot springs of Tabacon were absolutely breathtaking and you truly feel like you are a part of some unearthly natural paradise from which you never want to leave…HINT: Go with a significant other, you won’t regret it! 😉
Puerto Viejo
What a town. Puerto Viejo has an enchantment that I’ve never felt before. The vibe is as if you were instantly covered with a warm blanket of feel good vibes. It was such an eclectic little place! Yet if you don’t have the advantage of hanging with a local and their hookups, I can totally understand why it would be written off as a hippie grunge town with little to offer. But it’s so much more! Beautiful beaches for surf or just to chill, delicious food from Italian (best seafood pasta I’ve ever eaten) to typical Caribbean staples like spicy beef patty’s, to organic and vegan artsy and quality bistros and nooks that offer delectable and fancy meals. There’s nightlife for any crowd, late night food spots, fruit vendors, people on bikes or just strolling around. I really loved this place! Maybe I’ll even own a home there one day…
Bocas del Toro
Bocas del Toro, Panama is only 2 hours away from Puerto Viejo, so why not take a day trip?! That’s exactly what we did! Besides packing 10 people in a 5-person car to get there, and fearing for our life as we crossed the border
the minute we stepped on the main island I was sure we were in store for a unique day. The place is storming with gringo surfer types, local merchants, and lost tourists like us. The ambiance felt like an old colonial movie, with locals sitting in the plaza on a lazy summer day, chatting and people watching, as if time didn’t exist. It was an intriguing atmosphere. We took a motorboat to a local restaurant that was perfect, absolutely perfect! A locally owned wooden restaurant on stilts in the water serving the best Caribbean food I’ve ever had. Next it was time to explore the beaches, which had strong currents, but were still beautiful. Before returning to Costa Rica, we did a bit of snorkeling. Don’t regret a minute of this trip!
Sarapiqui
Lush and Beautiful. That’s pretty much all you need to know. It’s a rural part of Costa Rica, home of intense biodiversity and many family owned fincas and farms. It’s mountainous, fairly untouched, and an amazing place to do any of the typical Costa Rican attractions like horseback riding and zip lining, or to just stay in a nature-filled cabin getaway. What a pristine and refreshing place. The trip was all the more special because I visited my friend Victor’s family home, and the heart and soul of the Costa Rican people were so beautifully present in this family that the true value of the experience goes beyond the beauty of the place.
Panama City
The Miami of Central America. Going there felt like being home. SO hot, so unbelievably hot. But what a fun city! I took a bus from San Jose (about a 16 hour journey) and got to visit the most popular destinations in the city. I toured the Causeway, a quaint boulevard on the water where locals and foreigners go to wine and dine. I went to Las Terrazas, a more posh place to eat and be entertained in the ritzy Mutiplaza Mall. I strolled through Panama Viejo, the 600 year old ruins that are still conserved in the city and which is the oldest European settlement in the Pacific Coast. And of course, I went to the Panama Canal. It was impressive to see, I expected it to be gargantuan, but it is simply a small port where only a couple of boats can pass through. PTY is an interesting mix of local flavor, and Miami high-rises, local foods and shops, and top of the line entertainment and luxury shopping. Again, it’s Miami…but hotter. I loved the city, and know that having family there won’t be my only excuse to return!
Costa Rica Craft Brewery
If you love beer as much as I do then this small little place is so worth it! Firstly, it’s the only artisanal craft brewery in Central America. It’s about a 40-minute drive from San Jose in the city of Cartago. They produce high quality hand crafted beers from ales to lagers to seasonal brews. The best part, the tour is FREE and so are the samples of all the beers! The brewmasters and employees are exceptionally nice, are eager to chat, and happy to answer any questions and show you around the brewery. I recommend this activity 100%! We were lucky enough to be able to take home a special brew not sold to customers: an experimental pumpkin spice beer!
Festival Imperial
Did I mention I love beer? Festival Imperial is the biggest music festival in the country sponsored by the biggest beer company in the country: Imperial. This event is worth mentioning because so much expectation leads up to this 2 day event, simply because it doesn’t happen annually, so when it does come around, it causes quite a frenzy! The festival featured acts such as Skrillex, Cypress Hill, TV on the Radio, Major Laser, Madeon, The Flaming Lips, Moby, Bjork, LMFAO, and the necessary pop headliners: Maroon 5. It was a really cool music festival complete with the usual overpriced food, smelly port a potties, and merchandise. But the music was varied and performances were good. A respectable music festival that is a MUST if ever in Costa Rica in March…and if you’re lucky to be around when the event is hosted.
I left the country without seeing it all. The Osa Peninsula, Montezuma, other beaches on the Nicoya Peninsula, and climbing the famous Chirripo are on my to-do lists for future trips to Costa Rica.
There’s so much to see, that even 10 months were not enough…
Much love,
Liz
Pura Vida! 
