A Caribbean Wildlife Adventure in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s fertile Central Valley, ringed by volcanoes and stretching in a verdant arc from San Ramon lying to the west of San Jose right round to Paraiso in the east, possesses perfect conditions for growing and producing some of the world’s best coffee. Whilst plantations line much of the valley’s floors, just to the north of San Jose the lush and gentle inclines of the Poas Volcano characterises a particularly prolific area known as the Coffee Valley. Here, you’ll be within easy reach of the capital and many varied and exciting activities from hiking to volcano crater rims and rafting the river rapids to wildlife and plantation excursions.

A dense and intricate network of rivers, lagoons, and canals crisscross 11 different habitats of rainforest, swamp and beach, to be explored by either boat or foot. If Costa Rica is one of Latin America’s prime wildlife-watching destinations, this would make Tortuguero one of the finest national parks between Mexico’s borders and Chile’s most southern tip.

Not only an important nesting site for green sea turtles, leatherbacks, hawkbills and loggerheads, Tortuguero is also a vital wetland for spoonbills, herons, parrots, toucans and cormorants to name but a few. Spider monkeys, poison dart frogs, crocodiles, sloths, butterflies and tapirs are just some of Tortuguero National Park’s incredible wildlife to look out for.

The easy-going and stylish southern Caribbean stretch of coast that forms Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica is no exception to the country’s widespread biodiversity and prime choice of nature reserves. Cahuita National Park and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge are both waiting to be explored, but there are also plenty of other things to do here. A day trip to Panama’s Bocas del Toro coral reefs is spellbinding, as are the many cultural tours, cycling routes and boat charters on offer.

The exhilarating Pacuare region invites you to discover steep gorges of churning rapids and cascading waterfalls, lined with the clamouring wilderness of its thick undergrowth. It’s a landscape regularly interchanging with quieter sections of serene banks with banana trees, coconut palms and perforated by the sounds of howler monkeys and home to the likes of river otters and blue herons. Despite its remoteness Pacuare still remains very accessible and is the perfect rainforest retreat for nature-lovers, thrill-seekers, or those just looking for a bit of wild seclusion with the natural world.