The 16 this month I’m headed to costa rica, and this will be my first time there. I, with my boyfriend, we plan on visit the San Jose and near areas, but have not a plan yet.
I enjoy a lot outdoor trips by myself but the tropic scare me lol, I’m just a mediterranean chilean guy who is not usually surrounded by poison frogs. Sure we’ll have a lot of fun, but I want to make sure I know the basic terms of safety, and also the must to visit places. Will be 12 days there, and I’m wondering is anyone there, it would be fun to do some trekking on the volcanos near San Jose, or the pacific, even the atlantic! just hit me up!
Money is a limitant, and nights at jungle as fancy tours are not possible, as my patner is pretty lazy and not adveturous as me, but we plan on soft trekking routes, probably snorkelling and them some tour with scuba, but no plans at the moments.
We speak english and spanish btw
Any advice or otherwise appreciated!
I’ve been to the San Jose area before for a week or so. I would definitely recommend going to the Irazu Volcano, I think that’s the closest volcano to San Jose. I saw a quetzal on my way up the mountain but you will surely see other highland endemic birds and many plants. There’s also CATIE if you’re into plants and wouldn’t mind driving a little east of San Jose. Tapanti National Park is also a little aways from San Jose but was a really cool cloud forest with some trails for a nice day trip.
Where in the Pacific coast will you be staying? If you are near Quepos definitely stop at Manuel Antonio National Park, sloths and monkeys will be a guarantee and there is not a lot of hiking, there are poisonous frogs there though! You must also book a reservation before to be able to get into the park. The beach in Quepos was also very nice. Hope you and your boyfriend have fun :)
There is no need at all to worry about the poisonous frogs. They will either sit still or hop away. Just don’t pick them up and you will be fine. (If you do pick one up, wash your hands and you will be fine.)
I’ve only been to Costa Rica once, and only really stayed around one spot the whole time, but if my experiences hold up for everywhere in Costa Rica, then I highly recommend snake guards. We had a couple eyelash vipers hanging around right next to the trail, and one of the professors on the trip stepped right over a terciopelo. It was between his feet. None of the snakes ever tried to strike anyone, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
