Threading the film…
Threading the film…
El Camino de Costa Rica is a 280km route which spans across the country, from sea to sea! Starting at the Caribbean Ocean near Tortuguero National Park, and terminating at the Pacific Ocean in Quepos near San Antonio National Park. You follow the beaches, hike up into the mountains, pass through dense rainforests, see tons of rare birds, and experience Costa Rican culture in a way that is otherwise not possible. USEFUL CAMINO THINGS: Umbrella - https://amzn.to/4lLNrVW Quality rain Jacket - https://alnk.to/biviw44 Binoculars - https://amzn.to/4ggo39T Trekking Poles - https://amzn.to/3UOshLS Navigation App - https://alnk.to/4BIyOFj Communication - Whatsapp CAMINO GUIDE: Camping along this trail would not be simple, unless you ask a local to camp in their yard. The vast majority of the time we stayed with locals in their home. For a very small cost they will feed you a big dinner, give you a comfortable place to stay, and feed you a big breakfast! It really is the way to go, and if I did this trail again I would probably not even try to camp at all. Still bring a shelter just in case you need it, in emergencies it could be useful, or to save a few dollars. Contacting locals to stay at their home is simple with the Farout app listing all of their contact information, and where they are located. You can get it here https://alnk.to/4BIyOFj everyone uses the Whatsapp application to then communicate. It is recommended to plan weeks in advance where you will stay, and that is most respectful and you should do that! We didn't, and things were fine. Often people could not host us as they did not have advanced notice, but I would say it's not a huge problem if you cannot plan far in advance. Most people hire a tour company to do this hike, a guided trip where the company plans your entire journey, and you just follow the plan. They are professionals who do a good job at this. I would personally recommend Urritrek as I met one of their guides and he was very nice. You do not need a guide however, and we did not have one! You can do this trail on your own just fine.There are two places along this trail where you will need to hire a guide for a day, but beyond that and there are no problems doing this trail on your own. In stage 1a you will need to hire someone to drive you in a boat to be able to complete this section. We stayed with Jason at the Green Gold Lodge and LOVED it there. He lives on the ocean in the most beautiful place ever. Toucans, howler monkeys, sloths, and a super relaxing place to stay. Jason then took us in his boat through the rivers and canals the next day to begin the next section. If you don't want to do this I think you are missing something big, but otherwise you could just skip stage 1a. Don't do that if you have the option, stage 1a was in the end one of my most favorite! The Cabecar Indigenous Territory also requires a guide. It is against the law to go through their land without one. This was also fairly simple, we coordinated through Whatsapp with a guide we found on Farout, and they hiked with us 11 miles through the land. We met up in the morning, they guided us through the very rugged trails in a dense rainforest. We ate lunch in their little remote village, and then they dropped us off at the end of the property. We paid them at the end. After this section you are free to do as you please! The rest of the route is up through the high mountains of Costa Rica. It can get quite cold and you should be prepared for that when up at 7,000ft / 2,000m + elevation. At the different elevations you will see different plants and flowers and birds. I highly recommend bringing Binoculars on this trail as the birds really are fantastic and very interesting! Most people hike this trail in December, January, February, or March. I would highly recommend doing this trail then, as temperatures will be nicest, and rain won't be as frequent. We hiked in late June and it was scorching hot most of the time, then the rest of the time it was a downpour of rain. It rained on us every single day, from 1pm all the way until the next morning. This made getting miles difficult, and I was very thankful for our rain jackets and umbrellas. Hiking Essentials Shirt! http://jupiterhikes.com/product/hiking-essentials/ THE BACKPACKING GEAR I USE: http://www.jupiterhikes.com/gear/ If you would like to get access to content I create about this type of stuff I don't share anywhere else join me on my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/jupiterhikes If you'd like more info about me, my hiking, or painting: https://www.jupiterhikes.com https://www.instagram.com/jupiterhikes https://www.facebook.com/jupiterhikes Some of the links above are affiliate links, when you purchase an item through one of these I get a small percentage of the sale at zero extra cost to you. It very much so helps to support these videos, guides, and adventures. Thank you for using them!