Yesterday, after crossing the border, we headed to the place where we wanted to camp for a night. While in Costa Rica, we quickly realized that this country is not as beautiful as most foreigners think. Apart from the main tourist centers, everything looks the same here as in any other country in this region, very poor. The low living standards reflected are in the appearance of the villages we passed through. Besides, it was raining constantly that evening and all night long. The place where we were supposed to stay, turned out to be a sea of mud surrounded by shanties. We came here because other overlanders were here before. For us, however, the stay there did not promise anything pleasant. The alternative was to drive to the second place on our list, two hours away. In the third world countries you cannot camp wherever you want. You need to be sure that this is a proven safe place.

This morning we woke up at a campsite overlooking the cone-shaped Arenal Volcano. The blue sky was so beautiful and relaxing, contrasting with the grey-muddy rain last night. We had very slow progress on local roads. Costa Rica is a country focused on tourism, but all side roads are plagued by countless holes filled with rain water and invisible in dark.

In the nearby town of La Fortuna, we noticed many tourists. They mainly travel in guided groups and do not experience the other and less visited side of the country. Unfortunately, we took the route of the organized tours and visited one of the suspension bridges facilities. Mistico Hanging Bridges Park was the closest. The truth is, treetop bridges offer a different view perspective, but walking the concrete paths between them feel more like a theme park rather than a unique rainforest ecosystem. The bottom line is that we wanted to experience it in order to have our own opinion. However, the visit to this place did not arouse any emotions.

To get to Monteverde we drove around the Lake Arenal. On the way, we stopped to see the Viento Fresco Waterfalls managed by a local community. The visit there turned out to be a nice experience. Walking down the steep paths in the woods, we had all the waterfalls to ourselves. We encountered no one. The natural habitat experiences were much more authentic than the suspension bridges. Thanks to this walk, the day was not wasted. Out of the four waterfalls in this area, we managed to see three. It started to rain and it was getting too dark for the last one. The rain accompanied us on our way back to the car. It did not stop raining until the next morning.