COSTA RICA - Pura Vida

How are you? How are you?

I'm going to get straight to the point because I really want to tell you about my trip to one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. As always, it all starts with a call from Gonzalo. And also as always, I know something's up, and what's worse, it's up now. It's December 30th, and Gonzalo wants to be in Costa Rica in a week. Many calls later (to change schedules, holidays, meetings, and various other jobs), we all manage to be available for those dates. It's decided: on January 9th, 2021, we're leaving for Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a Central American country with tropical forests and coasts on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. It's known for its beaches, volcanoes, and rich biodiversity, but, most importantly, Costa Rica is our winter escape...

And how eager I am to get there!

January 9, 11:00 a.m.

We arrive at the airport; the Madrid runways are supposedly closed, but we have to go through there before continuing to the Costa Rican capital, San José.

What's happening makes no sense. No one knows what to do, and everything at the airport is chaotic. We arrive at the counter and are told it's impossible to fly and that we probably won't be able to fly for a few days. The worst part isn't not being able to leave on the day we had planned, it's all the planning that was already confirmed: all the flights, insurance, cars, accommodations, PCR tests, etc. Everything we've done has been useless, and we have to change everything.

January 11, 8:30 a.m.
Second attempt. Second slap in the face. Our flight is canceled again.

 

January 13, 9:30 a.m.
Finally. Finally, they're letting us fly. We're off, PURA VIDA!

Núria, Gon, Axel, and I left Barcelona and arrived in Madrid to meet up with Nacho, Juan, and Pascal. After the reunion, we got ready to take an 11.5-hour flight to San José. When we arrived, we went through all the checks: health, passport, insurance... It's midnight and we're inside. We still have to rent cars and drive to Arenal, the volcano that will be our first location for the shoot and is three hours away.

Before I get started with the actual Adventure Journal, I'd like to introduce you to the people who were lucky enough to travel with me.

First off, Núria, my great friend and travel companion, who I can always count on both in front of and behind the camera. She'll blow you away either way. Besides delighting us with her presence every morning, she never says no to anything, is quite cuddly, and occasionally goes crazy, which is the most fun part.

Gonzalo, you already know him and how indispensable he is for every trip. Dictator, thinker, organizer, photographer, and surfer. He's got it all, even a cute dog! But he never wants to make beers on trips. Nobody's perfect.

Axel, the most recognizable face in all of Blue Banana and possibly the image of some of your wildest dreams and worst nightmares. Driver, photographer, blogger, etc., a jack-of-all-trades, but he's still definitely part of the family for all the laughs he makes us have.

Pascal, our new discovery of the trip. A German who can easily make a video of you doing parkour or backflips. Organized, cheerful, patient, and energetic 24/7. Just don't let him go hungry. You've been warned.

Juan, one of the founders of Blue Banana. He's crazy enough to challenge you to anything, even if he's never tried it before. A clear example of self-confidence. Plus, he's the kind of person who doesn't need to make any effort to be funny; even when he's serious, he makes you laugh.

Nacho, the most patient person I know, basically because he puts up with me the longest on trips and vice versa, eh... but he's the boss, so you have to put up with him. He's the last to go to sleep and the first to offer me a beer. As an Operations Manager, he's pretty bad, but as the founder of Blue Banana, he's not bad at all. After all, we're going to Costa Rica, right?

DAY 1. NOTHING GOES WELL FOR US

We started, and we started badly. We arrived at the hotel at 3:30 in the morning.

Along the way, the police stopped us because there was a curfew in Costa Rica at the time, and it was clearly very late. We showed them the flights, and they let us through, but not before warning us to be careful depending on which area of ​​Costa Rica we were visiting.

At 5:30 a.m. we're all ready and heading out to Arenal, a volcano that scientists consider still active and one of the most iconic in existence. Our plan is to go paddleboarding with the volcano's reflection in a lake just below.

Upon arrival, we're told we have a half-hour descent ahead of us to reach the waterfall. The path is made up of rocks that are a perfect half-meter long. A spectacular workout for the butt. When we reach the bottom, we realize the trip has been totally worth it, and after shooting, we decide to go for a swim.

Now it's time to go back, and the climb, ugh, isn't as fun, but we're pumped and can't stop. We return to the early morning spot and find a rope swing next to the lake. We still can't see the reflection because of the fog, but it's no longer raining, so we can jump in and do a little paddleboarding with some boards we rented there.

By the way, it's already 9 a.m., and we've done so much. We continued our journey to the Río Celeste to watch the sunset there. We'd seen photos and the day had cleared up, so we all imagined something spectacular.

Legend has it that when God finished painting the sky, he cleaned his brushes in the river, and that's why it has this color. Later, scientists interrupted us and told us it was an optical illusion caused by the composition of the water. The thing is, the water in this river has a very strong and distinctive turquoise color that—beware!—none of us ever saw. Why? Because Nacho failed as Operations Manager. We arrived at 5:00 PM, and the park closed at 2:00 PM.

Something I'd like to highlight is the friendliness and good vibes of all the locals.

Our intention is to do everything possible to avoid injury, but we're not at all sure that something won't happen. Luckily, we all know exactly what we're doing, and the shooting turns out great. On the way back, we stop for lunch at a small house. We arrive at Camaronal Beach, which is very close to Samara. Axel, Juan, and Nacho are going to return the quad and motorcycle; the rest of us stay on the beach and rent a couple of boards to do a little surfing.

Once again, a 1-kilometer beach, completely empty, with perfect waves breaking. We spent a fantastic afternoon, and before nightfall, we decided to return to Samara to watch the sunset there.

We're exhausted, it's 6:00 PM, and we've been up and down since 5:00 AM. We can't take any more photos, so we're going to have some beers and dinner. We've earned it.

We had dinner at a restaurant in Samara next to our hotel. Juan, Pascal, Gon, and Axel headed back to the hotel to start transferring all the material to the computer and planning tomorrow's day. Núria, Nacho, and I stayed a little longer at the bar, and when we left, Nacho swore he knew how to get back to the hotel; it was right next door and there was no need to use Google Maps. He said he knew Samara like the back of his hand, and we trusted him.

After walking for 25 minutes in single file along an unlit road with three flashing phones, we started to realize we were lost. We all knew it, but we'd been walking for so long that no one said anything so as not to discourage the others. We had no internet, so we couldn't check. In the distance, we saw two figures standing on a bridge and decided to ask them, but before we could get there, a motorcycle passed by and stopped. He asked us if we were lost, and it turned out to be the waiter from the restaurant where we had dinner, who had recognized us by our sweatshirts.

We basically walked 25 minutes in the opposite direction and arrived at Torito, an area not recommended for nightlife, especially for three lost tourists with flashlights in hand. Daniel lets us use his phone to send the location to Axel, and luckily, he's the only one who isn't asleep yet. It takes him two minutes to come and get us, and after thanking the waiter for his help and giving him a few sweatshirts, we make it back to the hotel. Conclusion: Nacho is not to be trusted.

DAY 3: WE SURF HUGE WAVES, SEE TURTLES HATCHING, AND MAKE IT TO MONTEVERDE NATIONAL PARK

We woke up at 5:30 and headed to the Camaronal National Wildlife Refuge. The sunrise was beautiful from there. But every good thing comes with a bad side: we got a flat tire.

You know, our luck.

The waves are huge.

Gonzalo goes into the water, but it's impossible. We only have an hour to create all the content we need for that spot. When we're done, we leave some wet T-shirts on the beach in the hopes that some local surfer would pick them up and decide to represent Blue Banana in the tropics.

Before leaving the beach, we see the lifeguard enter a shelter. He explains that he has to free some newly hatched turtles and asks if we want to join him.

*They keep the turtles protected from beach tourists, but as soon as they hatch they release them into the water.

She gives us a bucket so we don't touch them with our hands, as they could be contaminated with anything and the turtles could be harmed. It's beautiful to release a newborn turtle and think that its life begins at that moment.

After a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we return to reality. Time to fix the flat tire and stop to buy something for breakfast, because we still have a three-hour drive ahead of us until we reach Monteverde National Park.

When we arrive it starts to rain, but it doesn't matter, because we can't waste time or the spot, it's incredible!

Hanging bridges in the middle of a jungle that's 90% virgin forest. After an hour exploring the park, we headed to the hummingbird shelter to see if we could capture one on video. It's incredible how beautiful they are and how fast they move.

When we get there, we head back to the road and stop along the way to take a few shots with the drone, because the views are beautiful. Once the drone is in the air, we wait and wait, but it doesn't return. This is crazy, and given our history with drones, we're giving up.

We managed to land it and ended up having to drive around for a while to locate it, but we got it back, except, as always, we were running late and still had to find a restaurant with an open kitchen. Luckily, we found one with a foosball table. Needless to say, Núria and I crushed it; we're just too good.

DAY 4: WE GOT A GAMBLE TO GET TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACH IN THE WORLD, WE HAD THE BIGGEST FAILURE OF THE TRIP AND SLEPT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

Today we're going to Punta Uvita, a beach shaped like a whale's tail in the Pacific. We arrived and the entrance was closed, but we needed to take photos in the light of dawn, so we took a chance and jumped over the fence. We crossed the stretch of jungle before reaching the beach, and when we arrived, we saw that the tide was still too high and we had to cross a very deep creek created by the tide (all of this with our backpacks on our heads, of course). This is always scary because of all the gear we carried, which clearly couldn't get wet. We made it without any casualties.

Without a doubt, my favorite spot in Costa Rica. Beautiful light, a beach surrounded by lush, pristine vegetation. The reflections left by the waves on the beach don't seem real.

It's getting late, the light is too harsh for photos, and people are starting to appear. As we leave, we realize that during normal hours, admission is charged, but we didn't know that, so we're spared. We're lucky to be the first to arrive.

Our next destination is Manuel Antonio Park, where we'll be looking for monkeys, sloths, and all kinds of animals. There are supposedly tons of them, and we hope to see them all. Manuel Antonio Park is one of the most important parks in Costa Rica, so we know it'll be a very touristy place, which we're not entirely happy about because, as you know, we always seek the most natural and pure adventure. Anyway, when you visit countries you've never been to, you have to do everything, including the touristy stuff. The visit, at least in our case, turns out to be the biggest failure of the trip. Besides having to pay for absolutely everything, we don't see any monkeys or sloths, just iguanas and the occasional ant. We decide to continue the trip and head to Sierpe. Always with a smile.

We descend super fast toward a river where we have to take a raft, board the car, and cross it to reach our hotel. As always, we're short on time, and the bad thing this time is that if we miss the raft, the return trip to get to the hotel will be too long. Thanks to our driving skills, we manage to arrive on time.

Tonight we stayed at an eco-hotel in the middle of nowhere. It's run by a family with a beautiful story: an American guy who came to Costa Rica, fell in love with a Tica (as Costa Ricans like to call themselves) and never left. This is his home now. The service is great, the dinner is delicious, and we go to bed happy, having been awake since 4:30 and having to get up early again tomorrow.

DAY 5: WE SEE CROCODILES, BUILD A CABIN AND EXPERIENCE ONE OF THE BEST SUNSETS OF THE TRIP

We woke up very early to watch the sunrise while sailing through the Sierpe Mangroves. Sierpe is the gateway to the largest pristine mangrove forest in Central America, a refuge for countless species of birds and other wildlife. We went with the intention of seeing crocodiles, sloths, monkeys, and every kind of wildlife we ​​could find.

As we travel through the canals, the captain explains that food is plentiful and therefore, if someone falls off the boat, the crocodiles will not attack them directly. *The hidden crocodiles that can be found are about 4-5 meters long compared to those near the town that are around 2-3 meters long.

When we're done, we treat ourselves to a few beers while watching one of the best sunsets we've ever seen. Cheers.

DAY 6: A FAMILY OF DOLPHINS VISITS US AND WE END THE DAY WITH A BONFIRE AND NIGHT BATHING

We woke up leisurely and allowed ourselves to rest a little. The hostel owner joined us for breakfast, and after explaining all our travels, he told us about a friend of his who owns a boat and could take us to see dolphins, turtles, manta rays, and, with a bit of luck, even a humpback whale. They took us to Golfo Dulce, one of the world's three tropical fjords, where humpback whales from Antarctica and Alaska come at different times of the year. Without a doubt, this is the best place to observe pods of dolphins traveling in numbers of hundreds of individuals.

When we finish, we get back in the car to continue our route, but along the way we get diverted due to roadworks and end up on the beach.

We took the opportunity to take some shots of the cars on the sand while Pascal drove the FPV. The cars ended up looking white from the dust and sand. *Something we always experience is embarrassment when returning rental cars because people never understand how they end up like this. We managed to see thousands of dolphins playing around the boat. Every time they came close, one of us jumped in to swim with them, but it was impossible; they were too fast.

After a bit of a mess there, we arrived at Pavones beach and watched the sunset.

It's a beautiful beach where we end up building a bonfire and drinking beers we bought at a nearby beach bar. Before leaving, we go for a night swim.

DAY 7: 8 HOURS BY CAR TO REACH A SPOT THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE DUE TO RAIN

We woke up early to continue the trip. This time we headed to the Caribbean, towards Bajos del Toro, but first we stopped at some waterfalls. We had an eight-hour drive, but we're so used to it now that no one complained. We took turns eating, sleeping, and singing. We made a pit stop along the way, and by pure chance, we saw the first sloth of the trip! FINALLY. The second stop was the Tárcoles River Bridge to see crocodiles. It's a very famous bridge and, therefore, also popular with tourists, because you can always see crocodiles basking in the sun below. There are many, and some are gigantic.

We leave the Pacific Ocean behind and head back to the Poas Volcano National Park. We've come to see the San Fernando Waterfall, which we've heard wonderful things about. It's raining when we arrive, and we decide to stop for lunch while we wait for it to subside, but it doesn't seem like it's going to. We try to go down because it's only supposed to be for half an hour, but it's raining so hard that it's impossible for shooting.

Although we're really looking forward to seeing the waterfall because it looks impressive from the top, our cameras and clothes are getting wet, and the ground is too slippery with such a steep slope. We're soaked from the rain, so we decide it's best to head back to the hostel and think that tomorrow will be the day we reach the Caribbean. Our home for the night is a pair of beautiful wooden cabins in the middle of nowhere, in Bajos del Toro. When we arrive, we all grab a beer. Well, everyone except Pascal, who starts a full workout while making the rest of us feel terrible. When he's done, he joins in, of course. In true German style.

DAY 8: WE VISIT AN ACID WATERFALL, CROSS A FAST-FLOWING RIVER, AND GET A PCR TEST FROM THE CAR

When we wake up, it's raining.

*Rain is a very common phenomenon in areas near the Costa Rican jungle, unlike in coastal areas. You have to see everything, not just stay on the beaches, but don't forget the rain .

Luckily, while we're having breakfast, the sun rises, and with it, we head out to some waterfalls that someone recommended to us. They're spectacular and very wild.

*The Toro Waterfall is located in an ancient volcano that hasn't erupted in years and is about 100 meters high. Another interesting fact is that the water that flows out is acidic, so swimming is prohibited for your own survival. It stings our eyes just from being near it.

From there we went to the twin waterfalls, which, as their name suggests, are two identical waterfalls. They're not as high as the one we saw this morning, but access is much more difficult. You have to walk for a while and cross a rather complicated river with a very strong current. Of course, it's raining. Although some people almost died along the way, we managed to cross. *Special mention to the guide who accompanied us and who crossed the river as if he were walking through his own home.

After our adventures, we have to return to the real world and head to the capital, San José, to get the PCR test that will allow us to return to Spain. The PCR test is done from the car; we just have to open the window. When we get out, we have lunch next to the hospital and continue on our way. We still have five hours until we reach the Caribbean region.

It's 5:30 p.m. and we're heading to Cahuita National Park. We don't want to arrive too late so we have time to rest a little.

DAY 9: THE LAST DAY OF THE TRIP ALWAYS INVOLVES WHIMS

Last day of the trip. We're in Cahuita, a town on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. This place is a perfect combination of paradisiacal white-sand beaches and turquoise waters, beautiful coral reefs, and a tropical rainforest teeming with life. We got up early to catch the sunrise, but it's very cloudy. Although that doesn't mean we have to stop, we have to take photos no matter what.

We're on one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. It's the only day we haven't had any luck with the lights on the beach, so we can't complain.

Everything important has been taken. We just need a few photos for the website, and we'll be done. When we're done, we look for a restaurant where we can have pancakes for breakfast, a treat to say goodbye to the trip.

Afterward, we head to another beach in the center of town to finish filming a couple of team stories, and then all that's left to do is enjoy and relax for the afternoon. We buy a couple of smoothies and relax on the beach.

Unfortunately, tomorrow we'll be back and the trip will be over.

DAY 10: CHAOS.

We wake up and the last day is always chaotic. A mix between a ring and a flea market, where we all fight over which clothes we want to keep and how to fit everything into our luggage.

The flight is at 5 p.m., but we still have to cross all of Costa Rica (about 6 or 7 hours by car) and return the cars. We don't have the PCR results yet, so we're crossing our fingers and hoping everything goes well so we can return. All the results were negative. We managed to arrive on time and catch our flights.

We spent the flight sleeping and catching up on sleep. Upon arriving in Madrid, we parted ways. Nacho, Juan, and Pascal stayed behind, while the rest of us continued on to Barcelona. When booking the flights, I had a problem with mine, so I had to spend three more hours alone at the Madrid airport, which allowed me time to reflect on everything that had happened.

Everyone tells us how lucky we are. And we know it. But these trips aren't easy. They require a lot of physical effort and a lot of patience to put up with everyone traveling with you. You have to be motivated at all times to endure and bring out the best in yourself, both personally and professionally. But we all know that anyone would give anything to be able to experience them.

I love traveling, and I love traveling alone because it allows me to experience places more personally. In this case, having been so intense, having explored so many parts of Costa Rica (literally from north to south and east to west), I think we all fell in love with this place, and some even considered leaving everything behind and staying.

It's impossible for Costa Rica to leave you indifferent. It has a magic that captivates and fascinates you. Now I fully understand all those people we've met along the way who told us they'd found their place in that land.

Upon arriving in Barcelona, ​​a friend gave me the book Pura Vida by José María Mendiluce, which says about Costa Rica:

"There, life fails to conform to rules, nor are rules able to control lives."

And I wonder, isn't this the same philosophy of Blue Banana?

If I ever disappear,
You know where to look for me,

Anna