The La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park in Costa Rica

Everybody who knows me knows I love showing people the world. I love to not only go exploring but also to take as many people as I can with me. All these experiences have opened my eyes to how much beauty there is to see in the world. Our first stop on the second leg of our journey was the beautiful Costa Rica, which is located in Central America. Its capital is San José and is known for its amazing national parks that offer excursions such as river rafting, canyoning, cave tubing, and zip-lining. On each leg of our trip so far, we have one country that we’ve stayed in for over a month. In Europe, it was London and for Central/South America it’s going to be Costa Rica. The incredible, scenic views here are endless. We kicked off our trip here at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park.

Costa Rica

A little history on this beautiful place. Christopher Columbus discovered Costa Rica in 1502. He gave Costa Rica its name, which means “rich coast.” In 1821, Costa Rica declared independence from Spain and in 1838, it became an independent country. As far as COVID policies go, Costa Rica requires you to have travel insurance or they will not let you enter the country. In addition to the travel insurance, they are very serious about wearing masks, and for very good reason. At this point, they don’t have an abundance of COVID cases, and they don’t want to start getting any. We were in this part of Costa Rica for about seven days. I wouldn’t recommend staying any less than that because there is so much to see and do. Costa Rica has some of the most immense biodiversity in the world. 

We got the opportunity to stay in this beautiful home, pictured above. This amazing place was half the price of a Hilton suite, which is mind-blowing because it’s so luxurious. It sits very high on a cliff with incredible panoramic views of both the ocean and the mountains. There’s also an infinity pool that leads off into the ocean. The only negative experience I had with this place was that at six in the morning all of the wild monkeys woke us up. They were screaming and running throughout the rainforest trees. However, if you’re an early riser, this would be no big deal. I would recommend this luxurious house if you plan to stay in this area of Costa Rica. 

La Paz Waterfall Gardens

This spot is for all of my nature lovers. This particular place is truly phenomenal. La Paz Waterfall Gardens is one of the most popular, privately-owned attractions in Costa Rica. This park features famous waterfalls, the largest animal sanctuary, and 3.5 kilometers of hiking trails. This attraction is on a 700-acre park in the middle of a rainforest/cloud forest. When you are at this location, you’re higher than the trees and literally walking in the clouds. There is fog surrounding you in every direction. I had heard of rain forests my whole life, but I’ve never heard of a cloud forest. It’s crazy to think we had to go through an actual cloud to get to the Nature Park. 

The La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park contains a system of five huge waterfalls and a lush, green landscape. I believe there were a total of six or seven waterfalls, and most of them were surrounded by clouds. It felt like I was in The Chronicles of Narnia! It was truly beautiful and an amazing experience. The best part about it is that it’s also an animal sanctuary for butterflies, hummingbirds, monkeys, snakes, lions, bobcats, and leopards. This sanctuary is the home for over 100 species of animals. We walked up and down the mountain using a system of over 10,000 stairs, which was very rigorous. So, be prepared for some exercise! 

It’s essentially a one-way attraction, but you have to come back up the stairs to get home. So, if you want to see the waterfalls at both the top and the bottom, you have to go down the stairs and come back up. The difficulty level is extreme because it was exhausting, and it took me two days to recover from this experience. However, this should be on everyone’s bucket list, especially anyone who loves nature. This was truly one of the most magnificent places I have ever seen. 

Should You Go?

The only challenge at this stop were the hundreds of stairs we had to climb. However, the most beautiful part of this place was the fog, for some reason it made the animals, waterfalls, and plants more beautiful and mystical. I would highly recommend this attraction to everyone of any age, shape, or size. I spent the majority of my time here being in awe of how breathtaking the scenery was. The animals were also a huge reason for how cool this spot was. It was amazing to see such exotic animals up close. We got a lot of great pictures that you wouldn’t believe are real. The crazy part is that the pictures we took don’t even do this location justice.

I would love to come back and visit Costa Rica because I’m sure there is still so much to explore. Thanks for joining me on another entry in my travel blog. It is a dream come true to share these experiences and stories with all of you. I can’t wait to keep exploring and discovering more in this beautiful country of Costa Rica. See you next time!