Costa Rica

[Dargo]

I just returned from several days in Costa Rica and thought I'd share my thoughts on the location. At first I was a bit hesitant to go because all during my college years I constantly heard about Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala etc. in the news; and it wasn't good news. Fortunately, I can report that I didn't feel in danger and Costa Rica is a thousand times safer for a tourist than Jamaica. I'd read that Costa Rica has not had a military since 1948 so I really wondered how much of the assurance of safety was just talk.

When walking through some of their "tourist" towns (other than San Jose) I have to say that I saw several armed police officers at all times. As opposed to most of the Virgin Islands, Costa Rica does not have any good shopping places and the towns are extremely rural in feel with very poor roads and most buildings consisting of tin huts. There is evidentally a problem with utilities there as well since there were power outages nearly every day we were there. Only the large hotels (we stayed at the Four Seasons in Papagayo) like where we stayed and certain other larger places have their own generators. Still, the people were very friendly and seemed to always be cleaning up the roadsides and sweeping the dirt in front of their huts. I can see Costa Rica being a very hot spot in a few years. The landscape and ocean views are breathtaking.

One of the 'required' things to do in Costa Rica is zip-lining through the forest canopy. We did that and it was a blast. Some lines were very long and went across some deep valleys and past beautiful waterfalls. There were howler monkeys and white face monkeys watching us most of the time. One other 'tourist' thing we did (besides deep sea fishing) was to rent ATVs and take the ATV tour. We got to see parts of Costa Rica that you'd not normally see. And, yes, those areas were litter free and had much natural beauty. One odd thing; there were no 'waivers' to sign before going on the ATV ride (about 3 hours of riding) and halfway through the ATV tour we stopped at a bar for drinks!

Anyway, if you want a vacation where you enjoy the beauty of the land and don't want to visit crowded shopping areas or crowded night clubs, Costa Rica is for you. If you're into the night scene and want to go 'clubbing', Costa Rica won't be your cup of tea. Included here are just a few pictures of our suite and of the zip line tour and ATV tour.

 

[rback33]

Wow. That looks like a LOT of fun. I have a friend that goes there often. I hope to make a trip with him and his wife sometime.

 

[Doc]

Thanks for sharing Brent. Looks like a great place for a vacation. No shopping spots is a huge plus in my mind.
The zip line tour sure looks intriguing. I bet it wears you out. Kinda tough to take pics while you are maneuvering on the line I'd guess. How long did the zip line tour take?

I was golfing in Hocking Hills earlier this year and the Windy Hills golf course has added zip line tours of the hills. Looked like a lot of fun for sure.

 

[RNE228]

My wife and I chaperoned a small group of 8th graders a year ago for an Eco tour of Costa Rica. Yes, there were area's of poor road, and tin shacks, but overall, it was pretty nice. And the people in the tin shacks were pretty nice.

We were all over the country, west coast and east coast. Spent time at a Turtle preserve, cruising the beach at midnight looking for Giant Turtles; if they were laying egss the idea was to take those eggs to an incubator/hatchery where more had a chance of hatching.

Zip lined, did some class-3 whitewater, cave exploring, jungle horseback ride, sloth preserve, hummingbird preserve, cheese/ice cream factory, sitting on beach, eating lots of rice/beans/chicken, rice/beans/ beef, rice/beans/pork... Food was really good. Imperial beer was decent, albeit lite.

Visited a professor who had a "green" ranch. All the methane for kitchen stove etc, cam from a digester that used cow poop. He also grows sugarcane, and made is own hooch. While the kids helped make a dinner, he introcued us, and the other adult leaders to Costa Rican white lightening As a Boy Scout leader here in the Us, and having gone on some stuff with my sons school field trips, you'd get hung for that here! However, he did really have a cool, sustainable ranch.

It is interesting, except in the cities, we saw ATV's everywhere.

I would enjoy going again, even if it was chaperoning kids. We'd really like to try for Ecuador though, and go dive the Gallopagos...