About a quarter of Costa Rica is preserved or National Park. In this episode, we visit several of the parks to do some hiking, plus spend a couple of days whitewater rafting the Pacuare River near Turialba. Who knew Costa Rica had tall mountains? In fact, Costa Rica has Central America’s highest mountain, Chirripó, located in Chirripó National Park. Chirripó is over 12,500 feet (about 3800 meters) high and makes for a beautiful hike through four unique ecosystems. On our seventeen-day trip, we drove more than I would recommend. I think it’s better to stay in an area for several days so that you really get to know it and so you spend less time traveling. The roads are much improved over my last visit in 2009!

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Listen to the podcast here:

Hiking and Whitewater Rafting Adventure Travel in Costa Rica

About a quarter of Costa Rica is preserved or National Park and in this episode we visit several of the parks to do some hiking, plus spend a couple of days whitewater rafting the Pacuare River near Turialba. Who knew Costa Rica had tall mountains? In fact, Costa Rica has Central America’s highest mountain, Chirripó located in Chirripó National Park. Chirripó is over 12,500′ (about 3800 m) high and makes for a beautiful hike through four unique ecosystems.

Whitewater Rafting the Pacuare River

In 2009, Bill and I did a one day rafting trip down the Pacuare that was so much fun, I decided to do a two day trip this time and stay overnight in an eco jungle lodge. Looking back, I should have spent two nights at the lodge so I would have time to Zip Line and hike to an indigenous village – next time! It’s best to stay in Turialba the night before so you don’t have to wake up so early for your pick up. Terry and I arrived San Jose the night before, so were picked up from our hotel well before dawn. Getting there was an adventure itself! There is no ugly in Costa Rica, so there was always something pretty to look at on the long ride to the river.

National Geographic has ranked the Pacuare River as one of the TOP 20 most beautiful whitewater rivers. And it’s action packed with loads of Class III and Class IV rapids. Be sure to use a reputable outfitter with good equipment. We used Rios Tropicales. In order to preserve the area around the river, they bought much of it up so that there wouldn’t be anymore development there. You can spend the night in their jungle lodge like we did.

Climbing Costa Rica’s Highest Mountain: Cerro Chirripó

At over 12,500′ (3800m) Cerro Chirripó is Costa Rica’s tallest mountain. The main path to the summit is a beautiful but VERY steep climb of about 12.5 miles (20 km). The elevation gain is over 7200′ (2000m)!  There’s a rest stop about half way up where you can get water and snacks, and a Base Camp about two hours before the top where you can spend the night. You need a permit to enter the park and also to spend the night (camping is not allowed). Permits to sleep go quickly and can be ordered online.

National Parks to see Animals, and for Hiking and Swimming

If Cerro Chirripó sounds too daunting or you are unable to secure a permit, there are TONS of National Parks to explore in Costa Rica. You will see tons of animals (including two and three toed sloths) in Manuel Antonio National Park. Plus be sure to bring a swimsuit to take advantage of the stunning beach coves. There are lots of trails throughout the jungle to explore. Other popular parks include Arenal and Corcovado. If you go to Corcovado, sign up for the night Bug Lady tour in Drake Bay. Fascinating!

On our 17 day trip we drove more than I would recommend. I think it’s better to stay in an area for several days so that you really get to know it and so you spend less time traveling. The roads are MUCH improved over my last visit in 2009! Here are some other photos from our adventure. You can listen to the podcast on the player above and read the complete transript below (highlights below, too).

Costa Rica Adventure Travel: Hiking, Rafting And More

“Pura vida, pura vida.†Pure life, good life. “Pura vida†might as well be the national motto of Costa Rica and that’s where we’re going. We’ll be covering my own adventure into Costa Rica. Not only will we be hiking, which you know I always do some hiking wherever I go, but also some whitewater rafting. I’ll tell you about some other adventure opportunities in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. I’m lucky enough to be visiting two countries who claim to be the happiest countries on Earth. I returned from my hiking adventure in Costa Rica and depart next to its rival, Bhutan. This trip to Costa Rica marked my third trip there and it remains one of the prettiest countries I’ve ever visited. I went once with my family as a child, then in 2009, my visit was a summer-long dog sitting gig with my late husband.

I have to say that I’m pleasantly shocked at how much improvement in the infrastructure I saw in less than a decade. The roads were abysmal in 2009. On my trip where we drove about 1,000 miles to go to multiple parks, I got to see so much of the country and I found the roads to be pretty good this time around. In 2009, it was nothing to see jeep-eating potholes all over the place. Epic potholes were a rarity on this visit. I didn’t see much poverty, but I did see a thriving middle class, at least by Central American standards. Unfortunately, the capital city of San Jose still has the same rush hour traffic snarls as the rest of the world.

Costa Rica is the most prosperous country in Central America and it shows. Costa Ricans. or Ticos as they call themselves, are uber green conscious as well. According to the World Energy Council, they rank just below Switzerland in sustainability. Much of that sustainability comes from a green attitude, but they’re also blessed with abundant geothermal energy from all the volcanoes they’ve got. The country has a goal of being carbon neutral by 2021 and they’re over 98% there. Costa Rica is serious about education and spends about 50% more than the average country on educating its young people. Most Costa Ricans can speak some English, so the language barrier is pretty much minimal there. One reason they can afford more on education is that they abolished their military 70 years ago after a civil war. Costa Rica has an excellent tourist infrastructure making it super easy to visit on your own or with a group, however you prefer.

Coffee is a big business in Costa Rica. When you visit, be sure to take a coffee plantation tour. On the historical plantation tour that I took, the beans are still being harvested by hand. While they’re cleaned and sorted mechanically, it’s fascinating to see how they dry the beans on large slabs of concrete where the beans are rotated about with rakes. After seeing all that goes into making a cup of coffee, it really makes you appreciate that cup of joe even more. Costa Rica exports the high-grade coffee and keeps the regular coffee for themselves. Costa Rica is located in Central America where it’s between Nicaragua and Panama. It’s in a tropical region but has so many ecosystems due to all its mountains. Also, because it borders both the Caribbean and the Pacific. The dry season runs December to April and the rainy season is from May to November. The rainfall is going to depend on which region you’re in, as some of the areas are significantly drier than others. Some during the rainy season have almost constant rainfall. For example, I lived in the Northwest Guanacaste region during the summer and I don’t remember rain being much of an issue.

If you like animals, birds and beautiful flowers, Costa Rica is for you. In land mass, Costa Rica makes up less than 0.03% of the world but boasts over 5% of the world’s biodiversity, and it’s working hard to maintain that. They have cut deforestation down to about zero from some of the worst rates from the ‘70s and ‘80s. However, there’s still a lot of farming and ranching done. Nonetheless, Costa Rica can brag about preserving a quarter of its country as national parks or preserves. They have over 840 different kinds of birds. When I say birds, I mean gorgeous, colorful, singing birds. Birds of all sorts of fanciful colors. It’s nothing to see massive flocks of parrots chattering in the trees before something spooks them, then they fly off in mass even in the cities. I saw toucans and might have even seen one of their resplendent quetzals, which is a shimmering iridescent green bird that measures over two feet. I didn’t get to see the red breast while it was flying so I can’t confirm my sighting, but it sure did match the description.

Costa Rica also has some dangerous critters, so it’s never wise to leave the trails. We saw a family traipsing through the jungle with an infant and two toddlers in Corcovado National Park. That night, my sister and I took a night bug tour and learned about and saw a harmless looking large toad that could kill you and a spider that’s the most venomous in the world. Gratefully, it rarely injects venom whenever it does bite. They have vipers, including the nasty fer-de-lance which you wouldn’t want to inadvertently wrestle awake from its daytime nap. Those parents foolishly put their children and themselves at risk. In the jungle, you don’t touch the barker leaves or grab a vine. You stay on the trail. Most critters camouflage themselves so well that you wouldn’t see that you’re about to touch the spider which mimics a stick. A snake might be up on the tree and grabbing a hanging vine might jostle them down on top of you.

In fact, that’s what happened when we were rafting in the Pacuare River. Our guide wanted to scout a particularly challenging rapid, so we went to the shoreline to dock while he scouted up ahead. Somebody grabbed a low hanging vine and then down popped a green snake into our raft. It was terrified and panicked, as were we, but happily no one got bit and the guide got the snake out of the raft so it could go on its way. Speaking of guides, if you’re going to go all the way down there, spend a little extra to go with a guide when you go into the national parks. In 2009, I went to Monteverde Cloud Forest and I hardly saw any animals except for the baited hummingbirds at the feeders. I thought the animals might have left the trail areas because of humans. It turns out, they’re there. They just hide in their camouflage.

If you want to see the animals, you need a guide. They know the habitat and the territory of the animals plus they bring a scope with you so you can see it up close. In addition, when the guide sees something cool, he’d text the other guides so they can show their clients. Joining a small group tour is affordable. In 2018, I paid $20 a head to get a guide in Manuel Antonio National Park, who’s a trained biologist. He grew up in that area and has taught himself to mimic the bird and mammal calls. He could trick a howler monkey into thinking another male has entered its territory, and he did the same with the bird calls. When they answered back, it enabled him to locate the animal forest. It was remarkable. There’s lots of beauty and animals to see in Costa Rica, but you don’t to just drive around the bus and look at them.

Let’s go on an adventure. In 2009, Bill and I did a one-day rafting trip down Pacuare near Turrialba. This is ranked by National Geographic as one of the top twenty best rafting trips in the world. It was so much fun that I want to return to do the same, but as a two-day trip where you spend the night in the jungle. My sister, Terry, and I headed down the river with an amazing guide, Estevan. Terry and I stayed one night in the jungle lodge and we did a little local hiking. If you can, stay an extra night in the jungle just to relax or take a longer hike to an indigenous village. You can even go ziplining. Ziplining is huge in Costa Rica. At our lodge, you could zip across the river nine times. When I ziplined in Monteverde, I was on top of the cloud forest. Virtually any tourist area you go to in Costa Rica will offer some type of ziplining experience. You’ll also find horseback riding in the rainforest, a lot of hot springs, so there’s adventures and outdoor paradise.

The Pacuare River is loaded with Class IV rapids. Rapids are ranked from one to five. I usually stick to the Class II or Class III rivers, but this river is so beautiful it was worth getting a few nervous twitches. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to develop complete confidence in our guide, Estevan. After a couple of rapids, I no longer worried about some otherwise scary-looking rapids. Frankly, just getting to the river was an adventure. Terry and I got picked up in San Jose. If possible, you want to stay in Turrialba the night before so you could spend less time getting there. When we got closer, we were transferred to a tractor cart that took us down a very steep rocky road to the river. Even though it took us several hours to finally make it to the river from San Jose, the scenery was gorgeous along the way. I didn’t have any complaints. It’s still better to start close to the river so you can get more sleep.

The Pacuare River is so beautiful, it is worth getting a few nervous twitches. Share on X

After a few instructions, Estevan checked our protective helmets and life jackets, and on to the river we went. If you’ve never whitewater rafted before, you generally drift down and then you paddle through periodic rapids. There are a lot of rapids on the Pacuare. The water levels and the ratings depend on the rainfall. There was a painted rock in the river by the jungle lodge that had three horizontal lines. These lines indicate water levels and if the level reached a certain line, it was not safe to raft. The rafting had been called off the whole week prior just for that very reason. There are certain paddling commands that you’ll get from your guide. “Left forward, right back. Right forward, left back.†“Paddle.†“Get down.†Whenever we hear that, that meant we have to sit in the boat and hold our paddles upright so we didn’t bop each other. High side left meant we had to scramble on to that side to weigh down the raft.

Whenever we would successfully navigate a challenging rapid, all seven of us would clack our paddles together in the air and shout, “Pura vida, pura vida.†Indeed, we were living the pure life, the good life out in the Pacuare River. You hear Costa Ricans, also called Ticos, use the phrase whenever things are good and sometimes as a greeting instead of hello. The guide’s job is to read the river and then figure out the best and safest way to get you downstream. On the snake in the raft rapid, almost all the rafts have tipped over on this particular fall so Estevan wanted to try and prevent us from joining that club. He ended up having us go over the fall backwards and I’m happy to say, we all managed to stay on the raft. Not just that rapid, but the entire trip. You sit on the edge of the raft and hold on to a rope when you aren’t paddling. At first you wonder, “How am I ever going to stay in this raft?†Because you wedge your feet on these inflated seat bottoms people are sitting on, you truly are pretty stable. You also get a bit of a core workout by stabilizing yourself. Plus, you get some upper body workout when you’re paddling.

To demonstrate how much faith I had in our guide, Estevan lodged us over at this big rock in the middle of the river and underneath the rock was this churning, whirling, deep whirlpool. He said, “It’s okay, climb the rock and jump in it.†I’m like, “What? I don’t know about that.†A brave paddle mate from Paris jumped in first and she didn’t die so we all followed in like lemmings behind her. I think the idea was to jump just beyond the whirlpool, but I managed to jump into the whirlpool. I went down and it felt like I was down ten or fifteen feet. I was like, “Am I ever going to bob back out?†All of a sudden, you pop up like a cork. Then there was a beach maybe 100 yards down on the left-hand side that we had to swim over to rest, chill out and relax while everybody else came to shore.

I can’t encourage you enough to get on one of the rivers and do some rafting while you’re in Costa Rica. It’s absolutely beautiful to see all the jungles, the butterflies and the beautiful river. Plus, rafting is just downright fun. The guides on a multi-day rafting trip wear many hats. Because there are no roads even getting to the lodge, everything’s got to be transported via the rafts. Food supplies, equipment, sheets, whatever it is that you need. Even the building supplies all had to be ported down via the raft. When we get to the lodge, which was beautiful like you would imagine an eco-jungle lodge would look like. The windows didn’t have glass, they just have screens. In fact, there were no bugs. I never even had to wear the spray. Basic but very pretty rooms.

They had some hiking trails, so Estevan said, “Do you want to go see a waterfall?†We said, “Sure.†We walk on this beautiful path. We get to this watering hole where this waterfall had splashed down so deeply that when we went in, you couldn’t even touch the bottom. It had carved out the rocks so deeply. We hung out there for a little bit and then he gave us a lovely botanical tour. He was telling me all about the plants and what they do, which ones are medicine and how to use the different kinds of plants. Terry and I went on our own independent hike. It was really pretty and my calves sure felt that the next day because I have very little elevation experience where I live. At night, our guides are now our chefs. They whipped up a beautiful appetizer, this double-fried, smashed plantain with some refried beans and spicy jalapeño salsa on top and some kind of a fancy drink. I’m not sure what was in there. I think they had rum and some other fruity stuff in it. For dinner, they called it jungle stew, which was what I would describe as a Costa Rican curry. It was all delicious. These guys go above and beyond not just as guides but as your cooks. They’re your den mothers and take good care of us on the trip.

The Pacuare River runs along the Talamanca mountain range through some indigenous land as well as a large chunk of land that’s being preserved by the host of our rafting guide. There are now several lodges in the jungle you can stay in if you want to make the three-day adventure out of it. While rare, you can see jaguars along the Pacuare, and it’s not uncommon to see the iridescent and shockingly blue morpho butterfly flittering over the river. You might also see monkeys, deer, toucans or parrots. One of the guys in my hiking group saw a jaguar walk under Terry’s and mine’s deck at dusk one night. I’ve personally never seen a big cat in the wild, but I sure would like to. If you go to Costa Rica, do spend at least a day in the river. If the Pacuare sounds too challenging for you, there are other milder rivers, such as the gentle Peñas Blancas river or the Class II, III rapids at the Rio Balsa near the popular Arenal. If you want another thriller river, check out the Naranjo river near Manuel Antonio with the Class III or IV rapids or even the El Chorro section with advanced rapids.

Whitewater rafting is a blast. We’ve only rafted two times so far in the Active Travel Adventures podcast. My own rafting experience near the Great Barrier reef in Australia in episode four and rafting the Colorado river in episode nine. They’re both fun episodes you should check out if you haven’t already. There’s much more than rafting for adventure in Costa Rica. There’s some great hiking in Costa Rica’s 26 National Parks. Some of the parks, like Corcovado, require that you use a local guide. While I’m sure it’s both for your safety and to make sure that you don’t do any harm to the plants and the animals, I would recommend that if one of your goals is to see the animals, even if you don’t have to take a guide with you, that you hire one anyway so that you can see the animals. In Manuel Antonio National Park, we hired a great guide and saw both two-toed and three-toed sloths which, without his scope would look like a greyish tanned blob of pine straw. We never would have seen it on our own. We saw sleeping chimps in the trees, active chimps including moms carrying their babies, plus birds and reptiles. The only thing we saw a lot of without any help from the guide were the cute coatis. They look like a relative of the raccoon family that keeps its tail upright. We had a saying in our group that you just can’t take enough of these cute coati photos.

I want to talk about bugs. I was shocked that in three weeks, I never needed to apply DEET. I hate DEET but I don’t want to get bit either. I always carry it with me, but I brought it home completely full. Even on a night jungle bug tour outside of Corcovado. I was expecting to be eaten alive, but I didn’t need to spray. To be safe, I almost always had on my long sleeve shirt and long pants, but I don’t know if that was necessary. I still like long sleeves for sun protection though and I did wear long sleeves on the rafting trip to keep that sun off, which I was glad. In almost all the hiking photos that you’ll see of me so far, I’ll be wearing that same beloved, roll up long sleeve tanned hiking shirt. It breathes so great. I was never hot even in the blazing sun. It dries almost instantly so it makes it easy to handwash at night. After this trip, I think it’s finally bitten the dust. I bought a replacement shirt from Columbia that I hope is going to work out as well as my much-loved tan one. I’m going to miss it.

Costa Rica has numerous volcanoes but make sure to check if you are allowed to go near or not. Share on X

There are a lot of volcanoes in Costa Rica. Many of them are active so you might be forbidden to get too close to active volcanoes for your protection, not just of eruptions but also of inhaling poisonous gasses. You want to be sure you check before you head down to make sure you can do the hikes that you plan on doing or have a backup plan, which is not a bad idea anyway. I took a video of the volcano Turrialba. It looks apocalyptic. It’s barren. There’s nothing but dead tree trunks that look burnt out and there’s no vegetation. There’s gas and steam coming from the ground. It looks like we just survived a nuclear war. Climbing volcanoes is cool and I like doing it, but it’s not necessarily beautiful as they look like wasteland sometimes. However, at the top, you usually are rewarded with a really cool panoramic view. Speaking of volcanoes, be sure to check episode one where we hike the active volcanoes in Nicaragua.

If you don’t want to climb volcanoes, you can climb some of the mini mountains of Costa Rica. I climbed my highest mountain ever there, Cerro Chirripo. Chirripo tops out over 12,500 feet, so it’s 50% higher than any mountain I’ve ever climbed. This is a tough mountain. In nine miles, you have an elevation gain of 7,000 feet, so that’s incredibly steep. You start out at a cute little town called San Gerardo de Rivas. It’s worth staying in this town for two or three nights on its own just to hike in the surrounding trails. It’s really a beautiful area that’s teeming with wildlife. We stayed in a quirky guesthouse about twenty yards from the trailhead. You have to get a permit to enter Chirripo National Park. If you want to stay at the base camp, you book early online. The park limits the number of visitors, so got to plan your booking in advance.

One thing I found interesting and appealing was the fact that it was almost all Ticos on the mountain and very few foreigners. We met a guy from Italy and we saw in the visitor’s log that there are some people from the Czech Republic. Other than that, we didn’t see a sign of anybody but the locals.

What’s cool about this mountain is you go through several ecosystems on your way to the top. You start off in a low-land tropical wet forest where you’re likely to see toucans and other colorful birds. You’re going to appreciate the beautiful shade of foliage because even at this elevation, it’s warm year-round. Then you’re going to enter the sub-alpine wet forest or high moorland. At the beginning of this area, you’re going to see lots of oaks and then you get to the cloud forest section with ferns and bamboos. Eventually, you’re going to be above tree line and exposed to the shrubby trees that survive there. Here it could be hot during the day and likely chilly at night. In fact, there’s ice on the ground in the early morning before we summited. Terry and I were lucky enough to see these wild pig, boar-like things they called peccaries, but we saw none of the big cats or the tapirs.

We did see and/or hear tons of the over 400 kinds of birds they have there in the forest. By birds, I don’t mean little birds. We’re talking big birds, blue birds, red birds, yellow birds, all colors of the rainbow in all sizes. The hummingbirds are even huge. They’re about the size of the sparrow, some of them. It’s absolutely incredible, and they sing. There are so many songbirds that are up in the upper story. You may not see them, but you sure can hear them. Don’t ever plan on sleeping in because the birds will wake you up with a cacophony of noise as soon as there’s a little bit of hint of light. The frogs, peepers and other jungle critters that are doing their mating calls at night, they’re also a little bit noisy. If you’re a light sleeper, you might want to bring some earplugs. I personally found it restive and helped me go to sleep, but I can see where it may not for others.

You’ll no doubt see plenty of monkeys, particularly the white-faced monkeys. You’ll hear if you don’t see the howler monkeys. When you hear their call, you think you’re going to be seeing a gorilla when actually they’re just a pint-sized monkey that can’t stand two feet tall. One thing you won’t see a whole lot of is snakes. I asked our guide at Manuel Antonio what was the hardest thing for him to find for his clients. He said it was the snakes. Hiking Chirripo is not for the faint of heart, it’s hard. In fact, this is the most difficult hike I’ve ever done. When you aren’t going up, you’re going straight up. Plus, you have to contend with the altitude. I did develop a mild headache. It could be that I wasn’t drinking enough water even though I thought I was. There’s a rest area at the mid-point in the ascend to base camp at around half-way up.

Here you can get fresh water and snacks and sit in the shade for a while. It’s quite nice and you’d wonder how they ever got it built up there. We did pass the horses that supply the base camp canteen in the rest area. You can also pay to have them transport your gears, so all you need is a day pack. I saw that many took advantage of that service. Me, I like to be prepared for everything, so I would always choose to carry my stuff. We didn’t need a sleeping bag or tent because we’re staying at a dorm that night. Just because we started up the mountain in beautiful weather, it doesn’t mean that the weather would stay so nice. Thus, I have my rain gear, thermos, and an emergency bag in case for some unforeseen reason I have to spend the night in the woods or had an accident.

Mountains can create their own weather. For me, I find it best to always be prepared for whatever kind of weather that particular mountain has ever thrown at people. The Chirripo trail is a beautiful trail with gorgeous views but once we got up there, it’s hard to catch your breath. Frankly, we weren’t moving fast enough to really get our hearts racing. To me, it was the lungs trying to get oxygen. I live at sea level and I’m unused to being up high. I seem to struggle with the altitude more than my sister who didn’t seem to have any issues whatsoever. Terry jumped at the chance to go on this adventure to Costa Rica. I was a bit worried that we wouldn’t be able to physically climb Chirripo. Fortunately, she was clueless as to how difficult this was going to be. When Roger first told me that he had secured a permit for me to climb Chirripo, I was like, “I’m not even sure I could be able to do that.†That’s a huge elevation gain for me and much higher altitude than I’m used to. I have a little bit of issue even at 8,000 feet. I was a little bit concerned and I probably pegged my odds at being able to summit at that point around 40%. I found out there was a base camp so I was like, “Maybe if I go really slowly, I’ll be able to do it.†I bumped my odds up to about 80%.

Day one, we climbed nine miles up to base camp. That nine miles took us eight and a half hours. I can normally hike a steep hill at a pace of about 1.75 miles per hour, to give that as a base of comparison. We are about half as fast as my normal rate. We arrived at the base camp in the late afternoon and that last couple of kilometers was super steep. Plus, you’re exposed because you’re above tree lines so it’s also hot. You finally go downhill a little bit to a wide flat area and that’s where they have the dorm building and the kitchen. There’re some picnic tables you can rest on and enjoy the absolutely stunning views. At this point, you can’t see the peak of Chirripo which turned out to be behind us, behind a false summit. We bought a beef stew dinner that you book in advance and they give you three choices. We also bought breakfast which we had boxed up for us because we weren’t going to be around for the literal one-hour breakfast hour. After dinner, we crashed in our bunkbeds by 7:30 because we plan to get up before 3:00, so that we could arrive at the summit for dawn.

The dorms are mixed genders and there’s a shared bath down the hall. They do not allow camping. It’s the dorms or nothing. Everything was really clean and functional. They provided blankets and pillows. We set our alarms for 2:50 AM and slept in our dirty clothes. John, who was another hiker in our group, Terry and I set out at 3:00 AM for the two-hour climb. Amazingly, there was frost on the ground. In fact, a pipe must have frozen overnight and had thawed and burst by the time we made it back down to base camp. The resulting spray cascaded over the nearby plants, creating a beautiful ice sculpture. It was cold enough for us to be wearing our thermal jackets, gloves and headgear. Who knew you could be cold in Costa Rica?

At around 5:00, we could start making out things without our headlamps. Right before the summit, there’s a huge rock scramble of about 100 yards. We decided not to risk our ankles and found rocks to sit on to watch the sun come up. It was breathtaking. On a clear day from this vantage point, you can see the Caribbean and the Pacific. Mike, another hiker from our group, did the unimaginable and hiked both up and down Chirripo in one day as he wasn’t able to get one of the overnight passes. Mike was lucky enough to have a clear view as his reward for this heroic hike. John, Terry and I were above the clouds, which at that time of the day haven’t dissipated yet. I suppose Terry and I could have hiked the summit the day before to see both oceans, but we were tired. It’s one of those things that if we had to do another five hours of hiking, we would have. Since we didn’t have to, and we had the relative comfort of base camp, we didn’t.

Looking back, I regret that. If I had to do it again, I would shoot for two nights of base camp so you could hike the base camp in day one. Day two, I’d do some minor hikes around the base camp. They have lots of trails right around the base camp. I’ll rest in the afternoon and then climb the summit to watch the sunset. This would give you the best opportunity to see the Pacific and the Caribbean. That would get you back down to base camp at around 8:00 PM, you’d go to sleep until about 2:45 in the morning. You’d get up, and then climb back up that summit to watch the sunrise. The park will allow you three nights at base camp, but I think two is sufficient.

What Terry and I chose to do was when we got back from summiting at sunrise was take a nap for a couple of hours because next up is the long slog downhill. It’s harder, at least for me, to hike downhill. We were barely moving the last two kilometers and our knees were swollen, although they weren’t injured. Terry did bruise one toenail from the constant pressure on the toes squishing on the tops of the boots going downhill. As a reminder, whenever you’re doing hiking, make sure your toenails are clipped pretty short. From the base camp, it took us a sluggish 6.5 hours to get down. We only shaved about two hours off our uphill time. It took us about five hours to get up to the summit, hang out for a little bit and then return to base camp. Our total hike time of Chirripo is about 21 hours.

Our friend, Mike, that went up and down in a day did that whole thing in sixteen hours to give you some perspective. In recognition of Mike’s accomplishment, Terry and I reworked the village people’s Macho Man song to sing to him in his honor. This is the same Mike that I interviewed in episode nine, where we whitewater rafted the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Overcoming obstacles and solving problems is one of the appeals of Adventure Travel for me, but sometimes when things go wrong, it actually makes it right. We had a very serendipitous afternoon. One day we were trying to hike towards a certain peninsula in Lake Arenal and we missed the trailhead, so we’re walking down what was basically a boring little road in the middle of the park. We realized our error, but it was too far to go back, so we decided to head up to a beach head a little further ahead. Just sitting and chilling out on that beach head, we’d packed stuff to make sandwiches so we had a little picnic lunch.

Roger, our leader, saw a guy in a boat pull up. He goes down and talks to him and negotiates taking us out to the peninsula via boat, so we do that. It’s a beautiful boat ride. We go swimming in the lake and it was a lovely afternoon. Not at all what we had planned but end up being one of our fondest memories of the trip. The tourist and infrastructure in Costa Rica is excellent. It makes it very easy for you if you choose to plan your own adventure. To do so, everybody’s got a website. There’re also some great tour companies that can make the arrangements for you. If you choose to use a guide and tour company, they make all the arrangements. If you do plan this yourself, which is certainly very easy to do in Costa Rica, I would recommend picking the places that you like to go to. Get a rough idea of how long you’d like to stay there and then book the stuff when you’re there unless it’s like Chirripo where you must get the permit in advance.

The infrastructure’s so good. There are plenty of tour companies there that’ll sell you the day package to do this or that. It’s often cheaper on-site than it is if you book it through somebody before you go. That will also give you the opportunity to check out the weather before you do an event and talk to other people to see what they’ve enjoyed and who they’ve enjoyed doing it with. Virtually every place that you stay can make the arrangements for you as well. As far as getting around, the bus system works well if you want to do it in a budget or you can rent a car. In a guided tour, they do all the pick-ups, transportation and make all the arrangements for you. If you’ve ever wanted to experiment with unplanned travel, Costa Rica would be an excellent country to do that in. The tourist infrastructure is so well set up that you literally can say, “I’d like to go to La Fortuna, the Arenal area.†You get there and there are agencies all over the place selling you whatever it is, to go to the hot springs, to climb, to horseback riding, to zipline. It makes it very easy to travel without any kind of plan.

Overcoming obstacles and solving problems are some of the appeals of adventure travel. Share on X

Sometimes in a little bit, it’s almost too set up. If you’re more adventurous, you may prefer Nicaragua because the landscape is very similar. It’s cheaper. Costa Rica’s gotten a little bit pricey, but they don’t have the tourist infrastructure in place at all yet. At Nicaragua, you’re pretty much a trailblazer. If you go to Nicaragua, I do recommend that you hire a guide to go with you the whole time just to smooth out any of the wrinkles for you. Whether you choose to go on your own or with a group, Costa Rica is a beautiful country. There’s no ugly in Costa Rica. No matter where we went, everything is beautiful. I found the people to be super warm, friendly and welcoming. If you like adventure, beautiful and animals, Costa Rica is a definite for your bucket list. The plants are amazing. I’m a plant person. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned that I used to have a wholesale plant nursery. I would re-wholesale tropical plants that I would bring up from Florida. It was cool for me to see all these plants growing natively and wild throughout the jungles.

If hiking in a jungle isn’t your cup of tea or if you just want a little change of pace, the beaches of Costa Rica are stunning. If you like to surf, there are lots of great surfing opportunities as well. One of my favorite days was, we were going down to get to Corcovado National Park which was way far south. I was especially excited to see Corcovado because of its reputation for the diversity and quantity of birds and animals that they have in the park. I also wanted to take the famous The Bug Lady night tour. We had to take a boat and do a wet landing to get to Drake Bay where the boat got us up pretty close but there’s no dock. We had to trudge through the water to make it to the beach. The place that we stayed in was cool, too. You’ll find Costa Rica is not really geared up for people that are handicapped. Our room was almost 200 steps up, and no elevator. They do have some great porters to help with your luggage. It was at that lodge that our hiking partner saw the jaguar under Terry’s and mine’s deck.

Going to the mangroves and the rivers or the bay to get to Corcovado was beautiful. You felt like you’re at a Robinson Crusoe Island or Gilligan’s Island. You also see a lot of coconut palm plantations as well en route. I want to make some comments in general about Costa Rica. Some of the key places that people like to go to is the Arenal volcano and lake area. The town that services it is La Fortuna. You have some great little day hikes, not really heavy-duty hiking in that area, but it’s still very pretty even though they’re not strenuous hikes. We don’t always have to be doing strenuous.

Corcovado is where you’ll see a lot of wildlife. It’s not as heavily visited, but that does require a guide. You can also stay in the park itself. It’s pricey, but to see the animals, the dawn and dusk are the best times so that might be a great option if you’re really into animals. If you want to see animals for sure, go to Manuel Antonio National Park. They’re all over the place. As you approach the park, there’s a booth right outside the ticket office. You can hire a guide there. That’s where we got the fabulous biologist. Very reasonable price, they’ll give you a two-hour tour. You have the scopes, you can see up close and personal, and even take photos of animals by using an iPhone on the scope. Be sure to bring your bathing suit because Manuel Antonio has some beautiful little covey beaches that you can go swimming in. There are also multiple hikes. Once your tour with the guide is over, there’s still plenty of hikes throughout the park to keep you entertained.

One place I have not been that still is on my list is Tortuguero National Park. This is where the turtles come to lay their eggs and to hatch. Generally speaking, it’s in the rainy season but I don’t care. One day I will go back there just so that I could go see all those turtle hatch. That’s up in the northeast corner. I spent most of my time in my previous trip in the northwest corner, in the Guanacaste area. That’s also a big surfing area. If you’re into surfing, that’s the area that you probably would like to go to. There are National Parks all over the place. I encourage you to go to as many National Parks as you can. They’ll have all sorts of activities for you to do, from horseback riding to zipline to hiking to soaking in hot springs. A couple of other things about Costa Rica, their plumbing system can’t take the toilet papers. You’ll see a trash can next to every single toilet. All toilet paper goes in there. Your bodily waste is all that goes down the toilet. It’s important because you don’t want to stuff up the systems. The good thing is because it’s become too touristy, most of the better restaurants will serve you filtered water. Make sure you ask, “Is it filtered?†You can drink the water in many restaurants now which is nice.

If you’re in the Arenal area, there’s a touristy La Fortuna waterfall which is certainly very pretty. It’s a ton of steps down to go see it and you’ve got to climb those back up. It’s very pretty, but it’s very crowded. If you have the opportunity and a vehicle, on route 708, there’s a Catarata del Toro, the Bull Waterfall. It’s a private waterfall that this couple bought from a farmer and it had this beautiful trail down to the base. It’s a stunning waterfall that is well worth going out of your way to go see.

This was my sister’s first Adventure Travel holiday, so I thought it’d be really cool to ask her and get some insights on what it was like to do this for the first time. Here’s my interview with her:

We all have limited time and money to travel, how come you decided to go on an adventure trip to start with?

That was why I was putting it off. I just knew that if I didn’t do it, I would go out of my mind. I had to go

You had to go on a trip or you had to try Adventure Travel?

I had to try Adventure Travel. I knew I was lacking adventure and I was waiting for something. This opportunity came up and I just knew I had to do this Adventure Travel. I needed it so much and it filled the void.

What were your hopes and fears prior to the trip? What were you thinking about? Were you anxious at all? Are you excited? Tell us what was going on in your head.

I was very excited, it kept me going. My life was a little crazy, felt a little out of control. Knowing I had signed up for this trip that I went on, it kept me going for eight months. Now, I need another travel to sign up for so I can keep going for the next eight months. I did have a little anxiety right at the last minute before I left thinking, “Seventeen days. That is a long time.†I’ve never been gone that long. Now that I’m back, I think it was perfect timing because you need time to unwind. It took me five days to unwind once I was there, to just get unplugged from work and family. The next half, it was total play and adventure. It was awesome and I want more.

Our first hike was in the pouring rain. What were you thinking that day?

I was having fun. At least I wasn’t cold, and so I didn’t care. I’d run in the rain, I don’t mind. It’s like a test, “This doesn’t bother me.†I remember repeating to my companion saying, “This is testing my mettle,†as I’m trying to negotiate traveling through muddy, gullies and not fall, but which I did. This guy didn’t fall down, it was okay. I just got a little muddy. I found it very fun. Especially after muddy wet, because everybody bonded. We all went for coffee and it was just a fun day. I look back on it fondly.

Let’s talk about Chirripo. Chirripo is the tallest mountain in Costa Rica. It stands at over 12,500 feet, which is up at 3,800 meters. That was my highest mountain ever. I’ve climbed some mountains and this was your very first real mountain. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what was going on with Chirripo and what you felt on the way up, when you got there and on your way down?

What I felt was just exhilarating. Going up wasn’t as hard for me. I didn’t really give it that much thought until the night before when I was packing my backpack, then people were starting to talk about it. I hadn’t been that high before, only in Colorado. I have no idea how high it was, but I did have some headaches. I thought, “I hope I don’t feel bad.†I felt good. Luckily, my bootcamp class prepared me for going up. It was fun to challenge, to see if I could do it and I felt good. The next day when we summited was very fun. Got no sleep, but the anticipation of hiking in the dark, that was fun. Seeing the crystal as we walked in the dark and navigated our way up. I was a little bit worried when we got to the final stretch where you had to actually heave yourself up over rocks. I wasn’t as worried about getting up, but I was starting to think, “How am I going to get down these rocks?†It was all exhilarating and we shared it with two people, maybe a couple of people who were ahead of us before dawn. Seeing the sunrise, was worth it. It was just a moment. I loved it. I could do it. I was very pleasantly surprised that I could do it. Physically, I was fortunately prepared by the exercise classes I go to.

You were one of the strongest hikers in the group by far. Now let’s go down the mountain.

People told me that’s going to be more of the challenge, you’re going to be tired. I have done a half-marathon and going downhill was always the hardest for me. It’s harder on your knees. I had borrowed, thankfully, one pole. I was watching people who use poles. I was watching this really tall guy from Italy. He has beat us by dawn, and there he was at the top. He’s standing straight up, not hunched over or looking worried. He’s very relaxed and he’s just going this rock mountain. I thought, “There must be some strategy to this.†I was looking at him and I followed you and John. I tried to keep up, then it worked. I have no idea, but it was very tiring at the end. It was just lifting up the thighs and knees, and being careful because people have warned me that, “You’re going to be tired. This is when people fall.†I try to listen to that and just be careful. I carried a very heavy pack. I had no idea how much even little ounces add up. Kind of proud of that. It was dumb, but I did it. Next time when I do it, I’ll have a lighter pack.

Looking back, did going on this adventure trip change you in any way?

In an adventure group, you need to communicate with the leader and make sure that you match yourself with the group. Share on X

Yes, it did. Reflecting upon my return, I realized how confident I was. When I went into the office after my vacation, I thought number one, from the vacation high, I can handle anything. Anything that was thrown at me. It’s a very busy office right now. It’s like, “I can deal, deal, put it on the list.†The fact that I climbed the dang mountain and summited, it has given me more self-confidence. If I can do that, I can tackle other challenges or adversity. That was the main thing, I gained confidence in myself reaching a goal. I realized I waited too long to take a vacation. I’m going to change that. I do try to play on weekends, but I think it’s not enough. You need to step away, take a break. Unplug, challenge yourself in other ways. It doesn’t mean be a blob when you take a break, but I prefer to take that physical and mental challenge. It gives me a high. That’s how I’ve changed. I’m going to make that more of a priority. I’ve always enjoyed physical challenges, but I realized that I had been lacking. I was getting very antsy over the last couple of years and I think I’ve been reaching for that.

Were there any other ways?

Definitely the physical endurance, I loved. I already went out and exercised today because it’s hard to keep that up. I can see why people do get addicted to it. I’m not an addictive type so I worry that I’ll sloth off. You get that physical challenge that you want to keep. That happens for me. The fun of it all, it was like play. I noticed, observing the group, people work hard and we all need play. Everybody got away on this trip to play. It was great. I learned that you shouldn’t wait that long to do it. It took me a while to unplug from my job, unplug from things that I was thinking about. When I did, I got even more relaxed. We all need that at a certain level. I learned I want to do more and challenge myself more, and I like the people.

I want to talk to you about the people too. In our particular group, you and I are the only girls, with seven men ranging from ages 50 to 74, I believe. All really nice people but we’re all so different that it’s unlikely that many of us would be friends in our normal day to day life. Tell us what you think about the fact that you bond with people that might not ordinally be your people.

I probably wouldn’t run into them. It’s just circles, but I was thinking about them today as I was coming back from my run. It is definitely bonding because whatever their life is about, they like adventure travel, and that is your bond. You do get dirty, and sweaty, and you’re off the beaten path, and we’re on a bus. Not like everybody’s chatting all the time, people are doing whatever they’re doing or just with their thoughts. It’s those little moments that we did have, that we shared, brought us together I think is enough. Where we all let our hair down a little bit, played, enjoyed the company of other people who want that same adventure, I grew fond of them over time. I have those memories in my head forever.

One last question. What advice would you give somebody that’s thinking of maybe trying Adventure Travel, but they’re a little bit nervous or they’re not quite sure? Any advice you could give them?

To know themselves. If you can just roll with the punches, accept people for who they are, because you might be with a group that maybe you wouldn’t necessarily hang out with. The reason why everybody’s there, is they want that adventure. They want that rush of adventure doing something different and challenging their body. Not really caring if they’re in five-star hotels, they want to rough it. Remember that, that’s your bond and have lower expectations. Have fun yourself, and that rubs off on everybody else. If you can do that, everything will be fine. If you can’t, then maybe search around for something else. You wouldn’t have fun and you’d wreck the other people’s time if you’re not mixing well with everybody.

That’s good advice when you talk about becoming part of a group, particularly since everybody’s so disparate in their backgrounds, experiences and such. What about advice for the person who’s worried physically about doing adventure travel?

Talk to the leader. In this group, there were varying levels, and it didn’t matter. Everybody hiked up the mountain at their own pace and it was all fine. Nobody expected everybody to stay together the whole time. Certain activities lend themselves better to stay together, but a lot didn’t. There was no pressure. I didn’t feel any pressure and see it put on anybody else. Everybody had been together before, and traveled with these leaders, so they all knew it. They had no problems saying, “I’m not doing that today.†Someone didn’t want to hike in the rain, someone didn’t want to go up to basecamp. They knew themselves, but they felt comfortable in sticking to that. No pressure, so I think that probably comes from the leader. You need to communicate with the leader and make sure you’re matched. Match yourself with a group that you think you’d be more successful. Just prepare and it’s okay. I’ve talked to all these people who climbed many mountains. These are very experienced hikers and they were like, “Sometimes we didn’t summit. Sometimes we didn’t do this.†That made me feel better, hearing that from experienced people.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I highly recommend it. It will change your life. If you love to be outdoors, if you love to challenge yourself physically and mentally, you’d check so many boxes. You can see a new place, learn a new culture, meet new people. Just get out of your comfort zone, you’ll have a blast.

I’m so grateful for Terry for coming on the program and also for coming with me to Costa Rica. She’s by far one of my favorite travel partners ever. You can do the Costa Rica adventure with a difficulty rating of about two to three, with a great exception of if you decide you want to hike Chirripo. That’s a definite five for sure. Costa Rica is a wonderful place to explore. It’s gorgeous. I’ve never seen an ugly part of Costa Rica. Whether you’re at the beaches or in the mountains or in the cloud forest, it’s just beautiful, and I’ve been to a good chunk of the country. I’ve not been up to the Tortuguero area and the Caribbean and I’ve spent most of the time in the Pacific, but it’s a beautiful country with very friendly people. The prices I found in Central America, but it’s still very reasonable relatively speaking, for an adventure tour. It’s a little pricey than the neighboring countries because it is so well-established tourist-wise, but it’s still a good value I believe. It’s certainly a beautiful country. I’ve spent most of the time on the Pacific side, but I’ve yet to see the ugly part of Costa Rica. It’s all just stunningly beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed this program on Costa Rica and liked meeting my sister Terry. I loved having her on the program. If I could ask you a favor, if you would give me a rating and review, I’d be grateful. If you have negative comments, I would appreciate an email at Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com and let me know what I can do to improve it. I will be back with another great adventure. Until then, adventure on.

Important Links:

• World Energy Council
• Monteverde Cloud Forest
  
• Manuel Antonio National Park
  
• Arenal
• episode one – previous episode
• episode four – previous episode
• episode nine – previous episode
• volcano Turrialba – video
• Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com

• Here’s How »

• activetraveladventures.com
• Active Travel Adventures Facebook Page
• Active Travel Adventures Facebook Group
• Active Travel Adventures Twitter
• Active Travel Adventures Instagram
• Active Travel Adventures YouTube
• Kit Parks LinkedIn

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