Costa Rica
What I love most about traveling are the differences that I find. Everyday differences in logistics, culture, food – whatever it may be. Many times, they can be inconvenient and even unwelcome when travel stress is high, but these little pecadillos are always what I remember most about trips.
In Costa Rica, it was driving. We decided to fly into San Jose and rent a car. There were buses and taxis that went to most destinations from the capital city, but we wanted to be able to wander through the country even though we had been warned about the difficulties of driving there ourselves. After resting for a night in San Jose, we woke up the next morning ready to drive to the Pacific Ocean before heading to the Monteverde cloud forest.
We were traveling on the cheap so we didn’t have data roaming for our phones turned on nor did we opt for a navigation system in the rental car since the insurance we paid at pick-up was higher than we expected, so we had to rely on the paper map that we brought with us. The thing we quickly discovered about Costa Rican highways is that there aren’t signs along the way to tell you how to get to your destination. You have to know the last city on the road that you need to take and keep going in that direction because that is usually the only information the road signs will have. Once you get off on the side roads, you might as well throw the paper map out the window and hope for the best.
We stopped at a little beach area on the Pacific side where we found a sweet, older lady selling snow cones out of a mobile cart. She had a large block of ice that she hand-shaved with a metal scraper, put the shaved ice in a paper cup, then layered it with sweetened condensed milk, “chicle” (bubble gum) flavored syrup, and another fruit syrup. I don’t even like bubble gum flavor, but it’s still the best snow cone that I’ve ever eaten. We didn’t have much time to spend there since we wanted to get to Monteverde before dark but we took an hour to enjoy the deep blue waters of the Pacific, which were beautifully dotted with brightly painted, local fishing boats.
As we drove further north and inland, we found the road that would take us up to Monteverde. It was a typical two-lane paved road reaching up the side of the mountain with guardrails. Toby was driving while I was reading and translating the road signs. It was about half-way up the mountain that we saw the sign that you never want to see in this situation: fin de pavimento – end of pavement. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst news. It was also the end of guardrails. The road narrowed from a two-lane road to little more than a one-lane dirt road. It was too late to turn around because the road wasn’t even wide enough to do so without falling off the edge of a very steep cliff, so we continued on. I avoided looking out the window on my side because I couldn’t see any road when I looked down, just a huge drop off with no jungle floor in sight. Toby carefully navigated up the precarious road riddled with loose gravel while trying to dodge service trucks barreling down the other side, who were completely oblivious to the danger of skidding off the road and falling hundreds of feet to their death. Toby finally told me to lay down because I was stressing him out. As we were getting back onto a paved road after about 30 agonizing minutes of being unsure if we’d make it to the top alive, we saw this little truck with the country’s motto “Pura Vida” (Pure Life) painted on the back of it. It was the most welcome sight for this passenger who has a major fear of heights. We had made it!
We stayed at a mountain lodge on the edge of the town of Santa Elena. It was quaint and reminded me of a hostel. We woke up to a small Costa Rican breakfast of mango and papaya fruit, bread, eggs, orange juice, and coffee that was grown on the nearby mountainside. Outside was a new litter of kittens who were just starting to stray a little from their mother. That’s one of the many endearing parts of Costa Rica – there are animals everywhere!
The cloud forest with narrow paths and numerous suspended bridges was breathtaking. We didn’t see much wildlife the day we were there, but the lush scenery was completely worth the trip. Our favorite part of the trip to Monteverde though was visiting the Don Juan coffee plantation. We were able to tour the farm and see how they grew, harvested, processed, and roasted their coffee beans as well as cacao and sugar cane. While picking some coffee beans, we had the treat of meeting Don Juan himself.
After picking a different and much safer route down the mountain, we headed toward the Caribbean side of the country where mountainous terrain was replaced with miles of low-lying banana plantations and sloth filled jungles. We were a little worried after speaking with a Costa Rican native while waiting in line to board the flight to San Jose who had a very adverse reaction to us choosing that coast for the majority of our stay since, according to her, it was crime-ridden and not very nice. Thankfully we experienced neither of those things. After getting lost (yet again!) and circling back to the port city of Limón roughly an hour after we had gone through the first time, we finally arrived after dark in the beach town of Cocles, situated about 15 miles north of the Panamanian border. It was dark and the streets were filled with people and stray animals, mostly dogs.
We rented a beach bungalow that shared a property with a larger house and was within walking distance from the town center. At night, we would walk to the local restaurants for dinner. If I could choose just one word to sum up Costa Rican cuisine, it would be fresh. It was one of the few vacations that I’ve taken where I have returned home feeling healthier and lighter than when I left. Most meals consisted of grilled fish or meat, salad, tomatoes, plantains, and black beans and rice. Toby fell in culinary love with a street vendor who cooked marinated pork on a stick using a makeshift grill. He swears to this day that it is one of the best meals of his life.
For breakfast, we searched out the famed Sodas – small restaurants, usually open air and roadside, that serve traditional Tico (Costa Rican) cuisine. A typical Soda breakfast includes eggs, corn tortillas, plaintains, cheese, fresh papaya or other fruit, and gallo pinto. Translated into “spotted rooster”, this National dish is comprised of rice, black beans, onion, pepper, seasoning and herbs.
Another Soda staple is the batido or fruit smoothie that is served in a variety of flavors including guayaba, pineapple, maracuyá (passion fruit), banana, cas (sour guava) and coconut. Costa Rica is known for its biodiversity, which creates a bounty of tropical fruits. One of our favorite things to do was visit roadside stands and get fresh fruit and other produce (some of which we couldn’t even identify) and freshly tapped coconut for drinking.
Aside from the fresh and delicious food, we loved the wildlife of Costa Rica. Around every corner was a surprise, whether it be a horse scaring us in a dark alley while walking back to our bungalow or a sloth crossing the road at night. We hiked through Cahuita National Park just north of Cocles where we saw lots of monkeys and other animals. We even had the opportunity to go to a rescue center where Toby was able to hold a monkey they were nursing back to health – which, besides the street pork, was the highlight of his trip.
The Caribbean beaches were absolutely breathtaking. The kind of palm tree studded paradise you’d see on a postcard with the greeting “Wish you were here!” We spent a day in Punta Uva, just south of Cocles, swimming in the crystal clear, blue waters that were enclosed by jungle cliffs, which we hiked that afternoon. There was a little restaurant on the beach that served food and drinks, where we relaxed and drank some caipirinhas. This version was made with Cacique brand guaro, the National liquor of Costa Rica that is made from sugar cane.
After a week of experiencing paradise, we headed back to San Jose for our flight home (without getting lost I might add) with full bellies, a renewed spirit, and a sense of the pure life that defines Costa Rica. Even with the driving obstacles, it was by far the most relaxing vacation that I’ve ever experienced. I can’t wait to return to explore other parts of this richly diverse country.
Gallo Pinto
Gallo Pinto, which means “spotted rooster” in Spanish, is a breakfast dish that is commonly served in Costa Rica. Though it is a vegetarian dish, it is named Gallo Pinto because of the speckled, multi-color appearance of the finished product. It is an easy dish to make and can be paired with eggs for breakfast or other proteins for lunch and dinner. It is pictured here on a traditional wood cutting board with mosaic tiles that we found on our trip.
- 1 cup long grain white rice, uncooked (or 2 cups cooked rice)
- 3 cups water, divided
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/2 medium red pepper, small dice
- 1/2 medium white or yellow onion, small dice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup cooked black beans (15.25 oz can, rinsed and drained)
- 1/3 cup salsa lizano
- 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (about 1/2 a bunch)
- salt & pepper, to taste
- Bring 2 cups water and 1 Tbsp of olive oil to a boil in a sauce pan. Add rice and stir. Bring back to a boil, stirring occasionally so the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom. Once it reaches a boil, turn on low and cover with a lid. Rice will finish cooking with the steam, so try to uncover only once or twice to stir. Set rice aside. Note: Anytime you are cooking rice, a good ratio to use is 2:1 liquid to rice. For this recipe, day old cooked rice is great.
- Saute red pepper and white onion in 2 Tbsp olive oil for about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Note: I like to start it off in a cold pan to release more of the flavor of the peppers and onion, but this is a preference.
- Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
- Add black beans, salsa lizano, and 1 cup water. Cook for 3-4 minutes to meld flavors together. Note: Salsa Lizano is similar to Worcestershire sauce, but smokier and sweeter. You can usually find Salsa Lizano in a local Hispanic supermarket, but can use 1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce as a substitution, even though it won’t have exactly the same flavor profile.
- Add rice and cilantro and cook for 2-3 minutes longer until all the ingredients are are mixed together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!