Costa Rica - week 2 of 3
- Jocelyn Timmermans
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
February 14-21, 2026
The first half of this week was spent in Tortuguero in the jungle on the east coast. We all agreed this was our favorite part of the trip. Accomodations were the worst, with no hot water in our apartment and a fridge that barely worked. But the sense of community was strong, the people were friendly and the jungle with all of it's poisonous creatures and birds was riveting.
The latter part of the week was spent in the higher central part of Costa Rica.
The only way to get to Tortuguero is by boat. After driving from 8-11:30am we clambered onto this somewhat tipsy boat. Disembarking was a bit of a balancing act. Once on the other side, we secured our apartment in which we each got our own beds for once and then went to check out the little village.
And we thought it rained in BC. This was an outright deluge. But it was the only rain we had in all 3 weeks. According to some other travelers, we were quite fortunate.
Valentine's Day!
Feb. 15 -- Kayaking Tour, 3:15 hours. This was only the second time in my life a did a solo kayak excursion. It went better than I expected, although not without its challenges.
We asked our guide, Alphonzo to start a few hours later so as to avoid the rain.
Green Heron.
Northern Jacana
Things got tricky when we had to kayak into the current. Trying to stay on track took some elbow grease. I didn't feel as bad when Irene got stuck in a bush.
Little Blue Heron
These three caiman were only about a foot long.
Frigate bird Long-billed Curlew
There were no signs of sea creatures on this beach. It is dangerous to swim in this ocean because of sharks and a strong under tow.
Beach Morning Glory
Many of the structures in this village were partially covered in a black mildew.
Pagoda flower
In the afternoon we walked about 7 km on the Jaguar trail. Three of us rented gum boots.
Bare-throated Tiger Heron.
At this wall we turned right where the trail followed alongside the beach.
This Jesus Christ lizard is only about 5" long and aptly named because it walks on water for up to 15' to escape predators.
If you tip this Red Bottom Ginger plant upsidedown and squeeze it, water drips from it.
In the evening we sat infront of our apartment and watched the boys playing soccer. They were really quite good! And that with bare feet.
A water taxi took us to De Vida Silvestre Belle de Colorado National Park 9:00am -12:00pm.
This tiny Strawberry Dart frog was only the size of my thumbnail. But it has enough poison in it to kill a man. The natives used it's poison in the tip of their arrows.
The town of Fransico is close to the river's mouth where the calm waters of Tortuguero's Lagoon feed into the Caribbean Sea.
It took us only 20-minutes to get to the viewpoint on Cerro Tortuguero Mountain.
The Greater Bulldog bat or Fisherman bats. They use ecolocation to detect water ripples made by fish upon which they prey. They use the pouch between their legs to scoop up the fish.
We watched this mama Spider monkey for about 20 minutes while she was feeding and swinging around with baby on her back, not far from us. They are the largest species of monkeys.
The Golden Web spider. This spider is the size of the palm of my hand and its web is very thick and strong. Humming birds use it to build their nests.
Then we took a trail that led alongside the beach to see the end of the long narrow arm of land where it meets the ocean.
Man's best friend.
Looks like this rooster was really hen-pecked.
In the evening we did a night tour with a friendly guide we met earlier in the day while sipping on smoothies.
So tiny and far away but our guide still spotted this frog. The Wolf spider is poisonous as are all spiders without a web.
Leaf bug Green Cricket
Brown Vine snakes can grow up to 1.9m long. Toucans always stay in pairs.
Feb. 17 was a day of traveling. After a 1-hour boatride we drove till 3:00pm to our next destination for 3 nights: Almendros Eco-Villas in La Fortuna
We each got our own rooms in the quaint unit made up of two containers.
Feb. 18
Bananas.
We did a quick stop at the El Salto rope swing. Simon, Janice and Denise were brave enough to take a jump.
The Arenol Volcanoe trail took us mostly on the perimeter of the park. Stats: 6.8 km / 430m gain
The Arenol Volcano.
Then we turned right onto the Lava trail.
The Arenol Volcano is Costa Rica's youngest volcano. It's starting to show signs of another eruption that could obliterate Costa Rica and half of Nicaragua.
The last major eruption was in 1968. It killed 87 people and buried three small villages.
Barred Antshrike birds.
You weren't really supposed to feed the Coaties.
Trumpet flowers.
Great Currasaw bird.
The Twilight Mistico Hanging Bridge tour.
A small viper snake on the ground.
A Broccili tree.
Praying Mantis Motmot bird.
On a 92m high swinging bridge.
Tarantula
Fisher Spider
Feb. 19
A 2-hour hike to Rio Celeste Waterfall in Tenorio Volcano National Park
Unfortunately we could not descend all the way due to the stairs being damaged.
Feb. 20
Then we drove 8:30am-3:00pm to our next destination in Monteverde for 2 nights: La Casa de la Montana. We did an evening walk through the town.
Politician's flower
Zinnia A Poinsettia bush.
Feb. 21 -- An early start for the Cloud Forest tour: 7:30-11:00am.
The clouds rain mostly on the opposite eastern side of this mountain range. This western Pacific side is a cloud forest because it's moist but not wet. Of the 7.5% of rainforests on the planet, 4% are in Costa Rica. It's the only country where the rain forest is not decreasing. This forest was at 1500m elevation.
A hummingbird nest.
A few years after WWII, Costa Rica became a country with no military. American Quakers immigrated to this country to avoid the Korean war. They started farming in the cloud forest.
This was the first and only day on our 3-week trip that we wore pants and T-shirts.
This White-faced monkey at our apartment came up to within 5' of me.
A resident agoute.
sunset
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