Pit Stop in Costa Rica

We'd decided to finish our time in Latin America with a stop in Costa Rica as a bit of a “vacation” from our sometimes hectic and strenuous South America backpacking. On April 21st, almost six months after arriving in Santiago Chile, we hopped on a flight from Lima Peru to San Jose Costa Rica.

We had a rental car waiting for us at the airport, and quickly headed southwest to Dominical on the Pacific coast. About 18 months earlier we had visited Dominical and purchased a small piece of property. It was just an empty lot and would be for some time, but we were looking forward to getting back and visiting what would someday be our getaway from the long Yukon winters.

Sunset over the Pacific near Dominical.

Dominical is a small town renowned for its beaches and especially the surfing. It's also the point where the mountains come closest to the Pacific coast in Costa Rica. Our lot is inland about 5 kms as the toucan flies, and at 1300’ elevation for cooler days and nights.

A cacao fruit from a tree on our lot.

We stayed at a small cabana with a kitchenette and access to a pool up in the hills above the beaches of Dominical. It was a bit of luxury after travelling by bus and staying in hostels in South America and we spent the first few days there just relaxing, visiting the lot, and catching up with some friends we'd made on our last visit.

Looking up the coast from our cabina near Dominical.

We still had one last hike to do on our trip though. About an hour drive from our lot is Mount Chirripo, the highest point in Costa Rica, and the second highest point in all of Central America. As it’s within a National Park, we got to experience the Costa Rican bureaucracy for the first time.

Advance reservations are only available by phone. We tried the number at least 30 times over several days never getting an answer or even an answering machine. The website said they no longer held back permits for last minute hikers, but we decided to take a chance and made the trip to San Gerardo de Rivas anyway. We arrived at the park office in the afternoon and after waiting in line were told that there were no permits available for the next day, but if we came back in the morning, we might get one for the following day. We showed up 45 minutes before the office opened the next morning to stand in line and eventually got a one night “pre-permit” for the next day.

It turns out that they don't accept payments at the park office, or even in San Gerardo. We had to take our pre-permit to a bank in the larger centre of San Isidro about 30 minutes away to pay our park fees. Once that task was completed, we took the bank receipt back to the park office in San Gerardo and received our permit. Next up we had to reserve our accommodations at the refugio as camping is not allowed on the route up to Chirripo. Refugio reservations of course, are made at another location, though thankfully it’s just down the road from the park office.

Our shower at the Mariposa Inn in San Gerardo de Rivas.

We stayed at a lovely and highly recommended hostel in San Gerardo called the Mariposa Inn that is only a few metres from the trailhead, and at 5:20 am the next day we were on the trail. The hike doesn't really compare to the trekking we'd done in South America, but it was difficult and interesting all the same. From the trailhead in the rain forest to the peak in the treeless alpine is about 7500’ elevation gain as we passed through 6 different ecozones.

The refugio is close to the summit about 6000’ above the trailhead and offers bunk beds and prepared meals, allowing us to hike with light daypacks. We arrived before lunch and spent a relaxing afternoon there. The next morning we were on the trail at 3:20 am and managed to climb 1500’ to reach the highest point in Costa Rica just as the sun came up. Apparently on very clear days, you can see the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea from the peak. We weren't that lucky, but did enjoy great views until the cold and wind drove us down.

Looking east from the peak of Chirripo.

A cold wind as the sun comes up.

We stopped in at the refugio for breakfast, then continued back to the hostel for a 1500’ climb and 7500’ descent all in one day. Even after all the hiking we'd done my quads were aching for a few days after that.

The rest of our three weeks in Costa Rica was mostly uneventful and relaxing. We spent a couple of nights in San Vito where we visited the wonderful botanical gardens and then the last 10 days back in Dominical where we planted at the lot, swam in the pool, did yoga on the beach and mentally prepared ourselves for our return home and eventually to work.

Our accommodations just outside San Vito.