Arakari Ecolodge - Deep in the rainforest of Costa Rica

Last Saturday I flew from Panama City to San José, Costa Rica. Since then, I've been staying at an ecolodge in the middle of the rainforest, about an hour and a half's drive north of the capital, on the edge of Braulio Carrillo National Park. Mariano, who runs the lodge with his wife, is fantastic! He not only speaks excellent English, which has so far saved me from having to put my rather mediocre Spanish skills to the test, but he's also incredibly helpful, warm, and full of vision. The lodge has even been supported by the Costa Rican government as an environmental project because it promotes particularly sustainable tourism.

The house sits on a roughly ten-hectare property almost entirely covered in tropical rainforest. The building has no glass windows, only green, semi-transparent mesh (insect screens). The rustic wooden structure leaves many small cracks and crevices open, perfect for all sorts of creepy-crawlies. Initially, I was skeptical whether I'd really made the right choice with this accommodation, but now I'm absolutely thrilled!

I haven't seen any large spiders so far, and the number of mosquitoes is also pleasingly low. However, I regularly have a small gecko visiting my room, and you can observe numerous birds and even monkeys in the trees around the lodge.

Since I still have to rest my foot and am therefore not very mobile, I spend a lot of time on the wraparound balcony on the first floor, observing the many exotic animals. Howler monkeys, toucans, and countless small, colorful birds, whose names I unfortunately don't know, frolic in the trees. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and colorful frogs can be found near the ground – a truly fascinating animal world!

Unfortunately, I've discovered that my camera equipment isn't suitable for wildlife photography. It's nearly impossible to adequately photograph birds in the treetops or monkeys in the canopy with a standard digital camera. You'll immediately recognize which photos weren't taken with my camera – but I wanted to at least give you an idea of what you can see here.

Tonight I've booked a short frog tour, and tomorrow I'm planning a horseback ride in the surrounding area – hopefully a less strenuous way to discover more of this impressive landscape. So there will be more pictures soon!