There are lots of websites and people writing about what to do in Costa Rica, things they like, what to see, and where to go. So I’m going to write about something a little different and tell you about my experience trying to see animals up close. Animals are one of my passions and hopefully this will inspire you to go to this amazing country, as everyone should go at one point in their life.

As an animal lover, of course seeing and taking pictures of them is always at the top of my list for any trip. Costa Rica was no different, having a rain forest gave lots of opportunity to see animals not only at preserves but in the wild! When my sister was planning the trip, she asked what I wanted to do – my number one thing was to see a monkey in nature – LOL. And if we got to see even more animals – all the better. But could she deliver?

On the first full day of the trip we went to the mountains and stopped at La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park. This amazing animal sanctuary has over 100 species of animals and an environmental education center in one of the most beautiful settings I’ve even seen. It’s not the typical zoo for sure, as you walk through you are engulfed by the lush, cascading vines with some of the most green trees making it the epitome of what you imagine a rainforest looking like. With the rain the day we went creating mist and fog all around us, made it look almost ethereal. As you walk through the ups and downs of the paths, you can not only see all the animals of Costa Rica from wild cats, to sloths to monkeys, but hold Toucans, Boas, and see one of the most famous waterfalls in CR. As I was there with my family (my Mom, Sister and her family) we all jumped right in to hold the Toucan, but only a couple of us braved letting the boa wrap himself around us. My nieces and Mom loved the butterfly and hummingbird area where they fly all around you, posing for fantastic pictures. My Mom had been to Costa Rica before and this was the one place she really wanted to go back and see again.

After a fantastic day at the animal sanctuary we went deeper into the mountains by Arenal volcano. Through our two days of hiking around we were able to see poisonous snakes, termite mounds, toucans in the trees, otters in the water and a cameo by an Armadillo on the road. We had seen almost everything we wanted – but I still hadn’t spotted a monkey in the wild yet. I hadn’t given up, we still were about to go to the Tamarindo for several more days. I had heard howler monkeys localed that beach and I was convinced we would see them.

So off we went on the drive to Tamarindo. On arriving we were all excited to spend several days at the beach, swimming, soaking in the sun, and eating and drinking local fare (Volcano Brewing was a favorite). But I still knew I had to find the monkey I so wanted to see. On the first day laying at the beach and spending most of the day in the ocean, we had a group of Iguana visitors at the hotel. Now I’m not talking about a small lizard, these were practically ancestors of prehistoric dinosaurs. They were incredible, running around the grass and up the trees. They were all shades of green and brown with huge spikes from head to tail. These fearless creatures made our afternoon! But still I hadn’t seen the allusive Howler Monkey I so desperately wanted to spot. I heard they were all over, but during the rainy season they head away from the beach. After hearing that my heart dropped, thinking I would not get a chance to see them on this trip – but there’s always tomorrow.

The next day, our last full day on the trip I still had hopes that was the day we would see a monkey. As my sister and I laid on the lounge chairs to relax after a morning of swimming in the ocean, I heard my niece yell, “Aunt Judy, there’s a MONKEY!” I thought she was joking around, but as, we turned towards her, she was frantically waving at us to come over. Could there really be a monkey? Yeah right, I figured my 12-year old niece was just messing with her aunt. As I got closer, she was jumping up and down pointing at something. I looked over and there he was – our first wild Howler Monkey!

He was sitting there eating on some fruit, posing as we took tons of pictures. Next thing we know he was up in the tree and then another came out. Of course, I tried to get as near as they would let me, so I could get an up close and personal experience and pictures. They must have been used to people, as I was pretty close getting a shot of one, as I turned around the monkey reached out and touched my back. Yup you know it – I jumped so high and screamed like a girl! My family started laughing hysterically at me. In fact, my brother-in-law insisted I was going to get some weird rare disease and start turning into a monkey myself – LOL. Well that was after a few drinks at that point.

In the end my sister came through with flying colors on the one thing I had asked to do on the trip! In fact the next morning we could hear a bunch of monkeys howling in a tree. Costa Rica was filled with all kinds of amazing things to do from adventure to gorgeous beaches, friendly people to animal encounters. I would go back again and I highly recommend you take a trip there at some point. Just remember being patient pays off when it comes to spotting animals.

If you like this, stay tuned for my Close Encounters with Animals in Australia – I’m a huge animal lover and everywhere I go I like to get up close with them.