Costa Rica

Costa Rica; my very first country! I went here at the age of 16 armed with a disposable camera and little knowledge of the rest of the world. My old neighbors that I grew up with had invited and made sure I had an amazing time. This trip was truly a mind blowing experience; seeing tropical rainforests, active volcanoes, and learning about a totally different culture was surreal. My friends in Costa Rica may not have realized it, but this trip to Central America was so amazing that it’s what planted the travel bug in me.

So hopefully you can understand that this trip was in the mid 90’s, so these photos are the absolute worst on my site. These two show some of the rainforest, and on the upper right you can see a wild Tucan. I also saw several other animals in here including several poisonous snakes such as pit vipers. As Costa Rica is a special place for me, I’ll definitely have plans to return some day, and this time without a disposable camera!

In Costa Rica’s mountainous rainforests, I came across waterfalls every hour it seemed. The waterfall on the left was one I just happened to see in the distance. The waterfall on the right is a popular one called Los Chorros that is only reachable after a short but fun hike. There were a reasonable amount of people here swimming, and one guy even had a canvas set up and was painting the surrounding scenery.

One of the highlights for sure was the volcano known as Poas. As you can see it is smoking and also has a very bluish liquid in its crater. Sometimes this lake evaporates but water is usually present. The lake is acidic and hot, with its temperature usually between 40 to 50C. I had visited Poas as well as Arenal. My trip to Arenal was ruined by bad weather, but I did spend the night at a resort where they had natural hot springs fed. On the right is a picture of Costa Rica’s Turtle Island. To visit you have to take a short trip by boat. Once there you can enjoy a variety of activities such as snorkeling, swimming, kayaking and more. I did plenty of swimming and snorkeling here but at the time I didn’t have a scuba license. There will be plenty more for me to do when I return!