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In March 2024, we vis­it­ed the Amer­i­c­as - this was a first time for me. This time, our des­ti­na­tion was Cos­ta Rica in Cen­tral Amer­i­ca, and we were again joined by our friends Andrea and Har­ry. We planned a round trip with our own 4x4 vehi­cle from the Caribbean via the moun­tain­ous cen­ter to the Pacif­ic coast. In total, we drove a good 1,800 km through the coun­try. Our friends had already planned and booked the entire trip (thanks Andrea!) and then asked us if we want­ed to come along. Which we glad­ly did.

Cos­ta Rica, locat­ed between the Atlantic and Pacif­ic Oceans, is often referred to as the “Switzer­land of Cen­tral Amer­i­ca”. This descrip­tion is based on the country’s polit­i­cal sta­bil­i­ty, high stan­dard of liv­ing and well-devel­oped infrastructure.

It was a very beau­ti­ful, var­ied and inter­est­ing trip. Cos­ta Rica is an excep­tion­al­ly diverse trav­el des­ti­na­tion. When can you expe­ri­ence both the coasts of the Pacif­ic and Atlantic and the high moun­tains in one vacation?

The Ticos, as the Cos­ta Ricans call them­selves, are very friend­ly and open-mind­ed peo­ple. The planned trip worked out won­der­ful­ly, the hotels and lodges were excel­lent and are all worth recommending.

For all those who want to find out more about Cos­ta Rica: After pro­cess­ing the more than 9,000 pho­tos that I took dur­ing this fan­tas­tic trip, I have cre­at­ed a gallery of my best pho­tos and a detailed trav­el report here on my website.

In March 2023, we vis­it­ed the Amer­i­c­as - the first time for me. Once again we were trav­el­ing with our friends Andrea and Har­ry, this time to Cos­ta Rica in Cen­tral Amer­i­ca. They had already booked the trip through Natür­lich Reisen and asked us whether we want­ed to come along - well, you can see the result here 😉

Costa Rica

Cos­ta Rica, locat­ed between the Atlantic and Pacif­ic Oceans, is often referred to as the “Switzer­land of Cen­tral Amer­i­ca”. This descrip­tion is based on the country’s polit­i­cal sta­bil­i­ty, high stan­dard of liv­ing and well-devel­oped infrastructure.

Cos­ta Rica cov­ers an area of only around 51,100 square kilo­me­ters and is com­pa­ra­ble in size to the Ger­man state of Low­er Sax­ony. Nev­er­the­less, it is home to many dif­fer­ent land­scapes and biotopes. In addi­tion to the Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacif­ic coasts, there are also high moun­tains (up to more than 3000m) most­ly of vol­canic origin.

Cos­ta Rica is known for its impres­sive bio­di­ver­si­ty and, despite its small size, is home to around 5% of the world’s bio­di­ver­si­ty. Notable ani­mal species in Cos­ta Rica include numer­ous bird species such as macaws, jaguars, pumas, sloths and sev­er­al mon­key species. The coasts are an impor­tant habi­tat for sea turtles.

Cos­ta Rica’s veg­e­ta­tion is just as diverse as its wildlife. The dense, humid rain­forests in the south pro­vide a habi­tat for numer­ous exot­ic plants and ani­mals. The north­west is dom­i­nat­ed by dry trop­i­cal forests, while the coasts are lined with man­groves. The high­er regions of the coun­try are home to mys­ti­cal cloud forests known for their rich flo­ra, includ­ing many orchid species.

Such eco­log­i­cal diver­si­ty made us curi­ous. We planned a round trip with a 4x4 car from the Caribbean via the cen­tral moun­tains to the Pacif­ic coast. In total, we drove a good 1,800 km through the coun­try ourselves.

Im März 2023 besucht­en wir - für mich erst­ma­lig - den Amerikanis­chen Kon­ti­nent. Wieder gemein­sam mit unseren Fre­un­den Andrea und Har­ry war dies­mal Cos­ta Rica in Mit­te­lameri­ka unser Ziel. Die bei­den hat­ten bere­its die Reise über Natür­lich Reisen gebucht und uns gefragt, ob wir mitkom­men woll­ten - nun ja, das Ergeb­nis ist hier zu sehen. 😉

Costa Rica

Cos­ta Rica, gele­gen zwis­chen dem Atlantik und dem Paz­i­fik, wird oft als die “Schweiz von Mit­te­lameri­ka” beze­ich­net. Diese Beze­ich­nung beruht auf der poli­tis­chen Sta­bil­ität, dem hohen Lebens­stan­dard und der gut aus­ge­baut­en Infra­struk­tur des Landes. 

Cos­ta Rica hat eine Fläche von nur etwa 51.100 Quadratk­ilo­me­tern und ist von der Größe ver­gle­ich­bar mit dem Bun­des­land Nieder­sach­sen. Den­noch beherbergt es viele unter­schiedliche Land­schaften und Biotope. Neben des Küsten am Atlantik (Karibik) und Paz­i­fik find­en sich im Inland hohe Bergzüge (bis über 3000m), meist vulka­nis­chen Ursprungs.

Cos­ta Rica ist bekan­nt für seine beein­druck­ende Bio­di­ver­sität und beherbergt trotz sein­er gerin­gen Größe etwa 5% der weltweit­en Arten­vielfalt. Zu den bemerkenswerten Tier­arten in Cos­ta Rica zählen zahlre­iche Voge­larten wie z.B. Aras, Jaguare, Pumas, Fault­iere und mehrere Affen­spezies. Die Küsten sind ein wichtiger Leben­sraum für Meeresschildkröten.

Die Veg­e­ta­tion Cos­ta Ric­as ist eben­so vielfältig wie seine Tier­welt. Die dicht­en, feucht­en Regen­wälder im Süden bieten Leben­sraum für zahlre­iche exo­tis­che Pflanzen und Tiere. Im Nord­west­en dominieren trock­ene Tropen­wälder, während die Küsten von Man­groven gesäumt sind. In den höher gele­ge­nen Regio­nen des Lan­des find­et man mys­tis­che Nebel­wälder, die für ihre reiche Flo­ra, ein­schließlich viel­er Orchideenarten, bekan­nt sind.

Diese ökol­o­gis­che Vielfalt machte uns neugierig. Wir planten eine Run­dreise mit eigen­em 4x4 Fahrzeug von der Karibik über das bergige Zen­trum bis zur Paz­i­fikküste. Ins­ge­samt fuhren wir selb­st gut 1.800km durch das Land.