Corcovado National Park

The Corcovado National Park is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Naturally rich with the most biodiversity in the world. This is the reason why we came to Costa Rica. Our plan: trek into the depths of the jungle to explore the flora and fauna of this region, and it was an amazing experience.

Let me start with getting there, as it was a little confusing. We flew from Cancún, Mexico to San Jose, Costa Rica. We had booked a hotel already near the bus station to make it easier. It was a very long and expensive cab ride from the airport to the hotel, but we made it with only a little grumpiness at the cost. The cab driver told us the bus leaves at 6am. This was helpful because most of our research was inconclusive as far as departure time. Either 6am or 7am or 8am. I would like to note that the bus lines do not post information on the internet, so most of what we read were traveler reviews.

The next morning we arrived, bright and early, to an empty bus station in the "red light" district. It was quite seedy and a little disconcerting. To our dismay, we discovered that the bus doesn't leave until 9am. Thankfully, there was an individual who was nice enough to inform us of an alternative route to Puerto Jiménez via a bus to Golfito. He offered to take us to the other bus station, for a price of course. The Tracopa station was far more occupied and we were able to hop on the bus within a short time. Seven hours later we made it to our destination. We were a bit confused as to which town was Golfito, as we arrived more or less on a random street corner and not a bus station. From there it was a half hour by water taxi to Puerto Jiménez. The town of Puerto Jiménez is quaint with dirt roads that only stretch for about 5 blocks. After wandering the tiny town for a while, we found our hostel.

Our host is the friendliest person I have ever met. He went above and beyond what any other host would do. For example: he waited for us at the bus station, drove us to dinner, set up the trek although it was short notice, took us to feed crocodiles, and even took us to the bus station. It is a small, yet cozy hostel where we met a few other travelers like ourselves. We had a lovely stay at the Lunas Hostel.

The trek into the rainforest was definitely the highlight of this part of our journey. It is 40 km aka 25 miles round trip. You hike along the beach to Sirena Station where you stay the night, and return the same way in the morning. It was a grueling hike not because of distance or difficulty, but because of the heat. It is roughly 90° with high humidity and very little breeze the entire way. Between Ian and I, we went through 6 litres of water each day. Needless to say, we were sweltering, and on the brink of melting. That said, we saw so many animals we never expected to see in the wild, including: tapir, coati, macaws, monkeys, peccaries, anteaters, and more. There were lines of ants carrying pieces of leaves across the forest floor, and waves of hermit crabs scuttling across the beach. It was incredible! Our guide was very nice and informative about all of the creatures we saw. He even went meandering into the bush to see if he could spot a puma for us.

Most of the animals were seen on the first day, not to say that the second day was uneventful. Waking up at 4am in our crowded shelter at Sirena Station, we started our return hike in the dark. Within 20 minutes, you must cross a river. We did it barefoot because it was knee deep. Not long after, while putting our shoes back on, we spotted a crocodile in the river exactly where we crossed. It was crazy how close it was and a bit exciting. Another interesting part, was a parade of 15 or so coati walking through the trees, adorable babies and all.

After 6 hours of hiking in the heat, our guide took us to a wonderful cold pool of water where we were able to cool off before the last bit of our journey. It was the most amazing thing ever, or at least felt that way at the time. After 8 hours of hiking, just as good, was the celebratory cold Coca-Cola while we waited for transportation back to town. The whole thing was exhausting, but entirely worth it.

Our next stop is a few days in La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano. From there, Arequipa in Peru.

San Jose, Costa Rica
Hotels:
Hotel Le Bergerac: $55/night
Aranjuez Hotel: $48/night

Restaurants:

Transportation:
Plane to San Jose
On foot

Activities:


Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Hotels:
Lunas Hostel: $25/night

Restaurants:

Transportation:
Bus to Golfito: 14,000 colones
Water Taxi to Puerto Jimenez: 6,000 colones

Activities:
Corcovado National Park trek: $182/ea