Having some down time from work, I decided to visit the “happiest Country on earth” last month. By the way, that’s Costa Rica, in case you were wondering. Dubbed as the “greenest country in the world” by the New Economics Foundation in 2009, I was convinced it was an obvious destination after Hawaii, given what a great time I had in Honolulu last year.

My plane landed in San Jose in the morning and after an extremely bumpy 3-hour ride, I arrived at Monteverde. After checking in and freshening up, my first meal was a dish called “Casado”, which basically means “married”. It’s a combination of meat (or fish), rice, beans, salad, tomatoes, and fried banana. It was quite tasty!

The weather at the time of my visit was ideal, sunny in the day and breezy during the night. At about 4,662 ft. above sea level, Monteverde is known for its Cloud Forest Reserve, coffee plantations, and an abundance of exotic animals. Thanks to the friendly tour guides, I got to hike the cloud forests, search for rare birds, quietly chase after exotic animals at night, tour the coffee plantations, and witness dozens and dozens of hummingbirds zooming around.

However, nothing beats flying like Superman on the Canopy (Zip Line) tour at the Adventure Park. At about 5,217 ft., it is said to be the longest zip line in Latin America! It was impulsive, dangerous, and thrilling!

After a few days in Monteverde, I took a bus & boat tour and arrived at La Fortuna. Once there, I had to choose whether I’d like to visit Volcán Arenal or the waterfalls since I only had one full day. I chose the former, knowing full well that the chance of having lava photo ops was next to zero. Although not too exciting, the tour gave me a chance to learn about the history of the town and how it became what it is today. Instead of trying to paraphrase what the tour guide told me on that day, here’s a quick summary, courtesy of the Lonely Planet:

[pullquote cite=”The Lonely Planet”]Prior to 1968, La Fortuna was a sleepy agricultural town, 6km from the base of Cerro Arenal. However, on the morning of July 29, 1968, Arenal erupted violently after nearly 400 years of dormancy, and buried the small villages of Pueblo Nuevo, San Luís and Tabacón. Suddenly, like moths to the flame, tourists from around the world started descending on La Fortuna in search of fiery night skies and the inevitable blurry photo of creeping lava. [/pullquote]

Fascinating as it was, it was quickly overshadowed by a personal story from our tour guide. Many years after the incident, his friend, also a tour guide, was on a job and Arenal unexpectedly erupted again, killing everyone on the tour! Needless to say, I couldn’t wait for the tour to be over after hearing that.

My next stop was the Proyecto Asis: Wild Animal Rescue Center. I got a tour of the center and learned a great deal about the animals and how they became residents here. During this tour, a reminder that was constantly brought up was this: “Don’t take wild animals as pets.” This sign explained why:

The next day, on the way back to San Jose to return to the U.S., I stopped by the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and according to its website, it is “the #1 Most Visited Privately Owned Ecological Attraction in Costa Rica”. I saw a lot more animals and the waterfall was a bit underwhelming but luckily, the lunch buffet more than made up for it.

A few interesting things I learned from the locals:

• Many tour guides are local people who just want to start their own business. They will work during daytime as tour guides and during nighttime as helpers in restaurants.
• When asked by the locals where they are from, U.S. visitors often answer: “We’re from America.” The locals’s respond is almost, always: “Oh, really? We’re from America, too!”

Here are a few more photos I took on the trip. Have you been to Costa Rica? What was your experience?