This thrilling jungle paradise is leading the way in ecotourism

On a scale of dangerous pursuits, planting a tree hardly rates a mention, unless you’re deep in the Costa Rican jungle and surrounded by poison dart frogs and a viper or two.

“We’ve also seen puma paw-prints lately,” says our host, Jaquima Elizondo-Castro, with the pride that comes from having spent the past 35 years reforesting this land.

The Arenal volcano at sunset.Credit: Getty Images

Jaquima, whose name means “person who loves nature”, is a knowledge-holder of the indigenous Maleku community in the far north of Costa Rica. With only 650 people left, the Maleku tribe is the smallest of Costa Rica’s eight surviving ethnic groups, now restricted to three communities clinging to a 3000-hectare raft of land between the famous Arenal volcano and the Nicaraguan border.

Unlike other indigenous communities, whose land was taken by the Spanish conquerors, the Maleku population was plundered by Nicaraguan rubber thieves, who invaded, seized lands and enslaved the people. Between 1880 and 1902, the Maleku population fell from 6000 to 250.

“My people have lost most of our territory and all of our primary forest,” Jaquima says, raising his voice above the cicada-like cacophony of killer frogs. “So, we set out – tree by tree – to bring it back.”

Through the forest we wade, each of us cradling a small sapling – a tamarind here, a native almond there – the hopes of a small community resting on these young sprouts, which will one day thicken into wild and generous things.

Jaquima Elizondo-Castro in the forest he has grown over the past 35 years.Credit:

As we walk, Jaquima points out medicinal plants and ones used for ceremony or to scare away bad spirits. “Nature provides everything we need,” he says. On cue, a tiny green and black poison dart frog hops across our path, its skin as glossy as wet nail polish. “Our ancestors used the toxins to coat their arrows.”

Today, the presence of these flamboyant amphibians is a sign of a thriving ecosystem. Other creatures add colour and texture. Toucans glide from tree to tree, butterflies flitter above moss-covered logs, and small-as-your-thumbnail blue jean frogs gleam like discarded gemstones.

As I drop to one knee, digging into the black soil with my bare fingers, Jaquima sings in his Maleku language – “Little tree, little tree, in this forest you shall soon grow”. Another tree is planted, and as our group learns the words, our voices join the melody of the forest, no longer outsiders but forever forged to this patch of wild earth.

Guests of Intrepid Travel participate in tree-planting sessions with the Maleku people.Credit:

It’s midway through our small group tour with Intrepid Travel when we visit the Maleku indigenous reserve of Guatuso. The opportunity to meet, support and learn from Costa Rica’s indigenous cultures is the part our group of 10 has been looking forward to the most.

Thanks to a stable and progressive government, this demilitarised nation is a world leader in ecotourism, with 25 per cent of its landmass protected by national parks, wildlife refuges and forest reserves. Add in rich biodiversity, sustainable tourism practices and an ambitious National Decarbonisation Plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and it’s easy to see why Costa Rica was named “Champion of the Earth” by the United Nations in 2019.

However, it’s not all toucans and rainbows in the forest. Despite the 1977 Indigenous Law, which set out to provide indigenous communities with the rights to ancestral lands, all eight ethnic groups (comprising 2.4 per cent of the population, spread across 24 communities) continue to struggle with self-determination and access to land. The government has been sloth-like slow in implementing the law, with many of the titled properties remaining in non-indigenous hands.

The presence of these flamboyant amphibians is a sign of a thriving ecosystem.Credit: Getty Images

In recognition of this global problem, Intrepid Travel – the world’s largest travel B Corporation and a leader in responsible tourism for 30 years – increased the number of First Nations experiences on its trips to more than 100 in 2023, with 10 new indigenous community-based experiences in Costa Rica alone.

Guided by Pedro Flores, our Costa Rican trip leader, our tour will deliver wildlife encounters beyond compare; we’ll hike across lava fields and bathe under the stars in geothermal springs heated by volcanic waters, but we’ll also gain access to unheard voices and stories. Stories of the oppressed, marginalised and misrepresented. Only by shining a light in such dark corners can we come closer to understanding the complete history of the places we visit.

In the forest with the Maleku.Credit: Lebo Lukewarm/Intrepid Travel

After the tree-planting, we join the family for a hearty lunch of rice, beans, vegetables, chicken and a small sample of fish served with plantain. “Fish would normally be a bigger part of our diet,” says Jaquima, apologising for the modest serve. “But with the loss of our land, we no longer have access to our rivers.”

Jaquima’s nephew, Antu Tijinin Elizondo-Paz, shares stories about Maleku cultural practices, which are still very much alive. He explains that from burial rituals to animal symbolism used in Maleku masks, everything is linked to the forest. “Please tell your friends about our struggle,” he says. “And know that wherever you travel, Mother Nature is with you.”

We travel south to hike through Manuel Antonia National Park, where the jungle arcs above us like a mossy cave, its vaulted ceiling lit by the iridescent feathers of keel-billed toucans and scarlet macaws. Here and there, sloths hang from branches like dirty jumpers, while howler monkeys give up their hiding spots with a guttural roar. I finish with a swim in the warm waters of Playa Manuel Antonia Beach, the sky a perfect dome of enamel blue.

A hearty lunch of rice, beans, vegetables and chickenCredit: Lebo Lukewarm/Intrepid

Today, this jewel is protected as a national park – with boardwalks, limits to daily visitor numbers and strict bans on single-use plastic – but it was the indigenous Quepos, a subset of the Boruca people, who were the original custodians of the land.

The Boruca tribe of today is estimated to have 2000 members living on an indigenous reserve in the Talamanca mountains in southern Costa Rica. Together with the neighbouring Broran people, both tribes continue to fight to preserve their identity and reforest their land. “Land is not something we own,” says Broran leader Jeffrey Villanueva. “Rather, we take care of it while we live and pass it on to our descendants.”

We’ve joined the Villanueva family for lunch and a mask-making workshop. Other Intrepid groups might enjoy a home-stay or a textile class with an alternative indigenous group. All experiences are designed to bring guests close to local culture while giving back to local communities.

The Villanuevas are the last mask-makers in the Broran community, a practice once in danger of dying out that is now making a comeback, thanks in part to a renewed interest in the annual Danza del Toro y la Mula (Dance of the Bull and Mule) festival. Due to a demand for masks – from tourists such as us and Broran alike – the family now runs workshops to help others learn the centuries-old tradition. The income received is helping the Broran to reforest their land and maintain a traditional lifestyle.

Broran masks, designed to give a voice to the animals of the forest.Credit:

As Carolyn Villanueva, who learnt to carve and paint from her mother and grandmother, applies vivid colours to the freshly carved balsa wood, she explains the festival’s true meaning. “The bull represents the negative things, such as the Spanish invaders, that can try to destroy our forest,” she says. “The mule is an instrument used to fight against the bull. It wears a mask of forest animals or elderly people.”

Carolyn explains that they make the masks – of jaguars, toucans, macaws, butterflies – to give a voice to the animals that have no voice. “Since time ever, the forest is our life,” she says. “We are tied to it like roots in the soil.”

And that’s the strength of a tour like this: it elevates indigenous culture to its rightful place, while giving a voice to those who have gone unheard for too long.

THE DETAILS

Fly
United Airlines operates flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles, with connections to San Jose in Costa Rica, via Houston. See united.com

Tour
Intrepid Travel’s 15-day “Classic Costa Rica”, starting and ending in San Jose, costs from $2644 a person, twin share. For more comfort and with greater inclusions, the nine-day “Premium Costa Rica” costs from $5558 a person, twin share. See intrepidtravel.com

More
visitcostarica.com

The writer was a guest of Intrepid Travel.