28th August – 2nd September, 2023
After my couple of days in San José, I moved on to the Puriscal, a region within the mountains to the south of the capital.
This will be where I will base myself for the rest of my time in this country. I am very lucky to have a friend from here – Juan, who I met during my time in Colombia – and his offer to host me was one of the reasons that I decided to add both Costa Rica and Nicaragua to my itinerary. Costa Rica is the most expensive country in Central America and would usually be way beyond my budget, but having somewhere to stay made it much more affordable.
The Puriscal region isn’t spoken of much in the travel guides. Many gringos pass through here on their way to Turtle Island or Manual Antonio National Park, but there aren’t many hotels or other such tourist trappings. It is campesino territory; a place where generations of rural families have dwelled for generations, and life moves slowly. The climate is temperate, with warm days and cool nights, and the frequent rains mean that the mountains are covered in lush vegetation.
These next two weeks will feel more like a holiday than backpacking, and to be honest, it is a welcome respite after being on the road for several months. This is not to mean that I have been doing nothing. I spent my first few days exploring around the hills close to Juan’s home – as there are plenty of rewarding trails in his village. Most of the trails are dirt track roads that snake between the farms, lined with fruit trees and coffee plantations.
And I also soon realised that this area is a haven for birdlife. Not only can plenty be spotted whilst out on walks but also from simply watching from Juan’s balcony.
On my fourth day, the two of us went on a road trip to the Pacific coast. There are lots of little seafood restaurants at the little coves here, and we stopped at one of them for a couple of beers before having a walk along a quiet beach dotted with fishing boats and pelicans perched on the rocks.
We also passed by some of the beaches in the area around Jaco, which is a famous resort town. With it being low-season, it was somewhat quieter than usual.
And just outside of town we also stopped at a little mirador close to some trees where we saw yet more birds, including a group of scarlet macaws.
And then, at the end of the day, a place called Peñón de Guacalillo, where one can watch the waves crashing against the cliffs. Videos of this can be seen by looking at my Google album. It was the perfect end to the day.
Another day trip we made was to the area around a village called Mastatal, where there are several attractions. We started by going for a walk around La Cangreja National Park which has a trail that follows the Rio Negro through lush rainforest.
There are lots of little waterfalls there, and we also saw plenty of birds, frogs and snakes.
In the afternoon we went to Las Gemelas, which are a pair of large waterfalls within a valley.
This is also technically within the La Cangreja National Park (around twenty-five percent of Costa Rica is protected land), but access to this part of it is controlled by a campesino family. As many of you know, I am not a big fan of natural features being privatised, but in this case, it has been done benevolently. The family who own it have looked after their land well and have a respect for nature and conservation. They have turned it into an enjoyable place for visitors by making a series of trails and extra features, such as miradors overlooking the valley.
And they also offer discounted access if you pay for both entry and have lunch there, which was a nice way to finish off the afternoon. This is the view that we enjoyed from their restaurant area.
Besides these two-day trips and some local hiking, the rest of my first week in this area has been spent relaxing and enjoying the scenery. It is the rainy season, so come in the late afternoons and evenings. Watching them play out from Juan’s balcony has often been a magical experience, especially when the mist comes and clouds up everything.
As well as some sublime sunsets.
I have another week to go here and during it, we are planning to make some trips that go a bit further afield. These I will cover in my next blog.
For more photos from my time in the Puriscal region, click here.
Tej Turner 