Costa Rica: Oh, that's what a tapir looks like...

When the four of us set off for Costa Rica, we had many ideas but no plan on how to travel around the country. Eventually, we spontaneously decided to rent a car and join our Swiss friends for a 9-day road trip, filled with numerous rounds of Jass (the Swiss national card game), exciting wildlife sightings, and deserted beaches surrounded by rainforest. Not to mention the pouring rain that would start more or less punctually at 2:00 PM every day and last until dawn (it is worth mentioning that we never experienced the supposed rainy season before Costa Rica). However, our inconvenience was minimal as we simply adjusted our sleep or wake-up schedule to the sun.

Due to some roads being impassable by car due to flooding, we sometimes had to take a boat (of the smaller kind) to reach our accommodation or the national park. The boat rides themselves were always adventurous, with rough waves and the captain taking it as a personal challenge to navigate through even the tightest rocky passages. If we were lucky, it would start raining and water would come rushing into the boat from all angles. Entry and exit in the sea, of course.

For those familiar with Costa Rica, we started in the capital city of San Jose and visited the Manuel Antonio and Corcovado National Parks. The animals presented themselves in such numbers that we almost stepped on a snake in our flip-flops...

Afterwards, we headed to the well-known surfer spot with the second longest left-breaking wave in the world, 'at the end of the road' in Pavones. There, where the road literally ended, we rented our own house perched on a steep hillside with a view of the sea. Unfortunately, the surf conditions were not great, so we spent a lot of time cooking, playing cards, chilling, or engaging in new sports like coconut boules on the beach or the challenge of 'how do I get the coconut out of the palm tree and how do I crack it open with a machete'. Productivity is a priority here!