A Costa Rica Primer
Written: Oct 21 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Adventure Value, Friendly People, Wealth of Biodiversity
Cons: Booming Tourism, Rising Costs, $26 USD Departure Tax Per Person
The Bottom Line: Costa Rica offers exceptional adventure potential with the minimal of costs, the people are great to work with, and
country is simply Central America's emerald.
|
|
|
| realadventure's Full Review: Costa Rica |
Over the course of three years, four trips, and nearly forty days in country I've traveled via light aircraft landing on impoverished runways, paddled along vibrant rivers in leaking canoes, motored along in a rental car, and taken the common Turismo bus. I was able to scuba dive off Drake Bay in Corcovado National Park, climbed Chirripó's 12,500 ft. peak (and froze), swung on a vine in Monteverde that broke, surfed in Jaco beach, gambled in San Jose and stayed on the cliffs above El Coco. I want to share my experiences with you so you can leverage off them and hopefully avoid some of the pitfalls (literally) I found myself in or witnessed happening to other people.
What I've learned is that you need a robust plan prior to visiting Costa Rica if it's going to be a fun and safe trip. (Do bring a medical kit with you, complete with an Ace bandage, Tylenol, Band-Aids large and small, duct tape, Imodium AD, and anything else you think finding in a Costa Rican jungle might be difficult.) Before you begin to plan for your trip down to Costa Rica, ask yourself (or your wife) "Self/wife, what do you really want from the country--do you want to scuba dive, hike, sight see? And how do you want to do it? In a large package tour? Renting a car and traveling on our own?"
This democratic green emerald offers vast tracts of perpetual green rainforest and travel diversity in both means and manner. It is important to identify what type of trip you want to take. Sounds simple, but not too many people write it out beforehand. I recommend the first order of business is to learn a little about the locals.
Ticos, an aptly termed aphorism for Costa Ricans, are to a man, woman, and child Central Americans and all that that represents. They have agrarian roots intermarried with European and American business ideals. I have always found a ready smile and a helping hand (some more than others.) Pick up a copy of the country's largest and most dependable English newspaper, the Tico Times, to get an up-to-date working knowledge of the country. It's invaluable, yet free online at: www.ticotimes.net. With this done, get out a piece of paper and begin to formulate your ideal trip.
Include in your planning obviously When and Where you'd like to go, What you'd like to see, but also How you'd like to see it, and How much you're willing to spend. A resource I found helpful to do this with was Lonely Planet's Costa Rica, which stands out amongst their guides as one of the best. It is full of maps, pictures, and general travel advice. I've generally budgeted $100/day per person and could stay in a nice lodge, eat three square, rent a car, and either hike or scuba dive. More thorough pricing and research data is also readily available by doing a Google search and reading specific Costa Rican destination reviews here on Epinions. What I think is missing though is the vital "street-smart" advice which generally makes or breaks a trip. I've done my best to provide that below.
With a general plan and the ideal lush, unspoiled Costa Rica glimmering in your mind let's talk reality. The Costa Rica of Jurassic Park idealism has retreated to a dwindling number of spots. With the completion of the new airport in San Jose the floodgates have opened and tourists en masse have descended upon Costa Rica soil, and the situation is much the same, if not worse due to the number of charters, at the other international airport in Liberia. (Both reachable by major carriers, obviously, including Delta Airlines, www.delta.com, and American Airlines, www.aa.com. I recommend simply going to Expedia.com or Orbitz.com to find the best value in terms of price and schedule amongst the airlines.). With this mass tourism (imagine several hundred Americans and Canadians descending down the exit ramp with various accoutrements twice daily for 365 days a year and you'll have the picture readily in mind.) Simply put, this mass consumption is breaking the barrier that once separated Costa Rica from Disneyworld.
The hedge of higher airlines prices has broken, the very culture of Costa Rica has significantly changed where turismo is now a leading, if not the leading, revenue generating industry in the country. Is all lost? Nah! In fact the advantage is yours. For one you'll have a wide, wide variety of choices in tour providers. A surge in the number of tour operators over the past couple years provides the traveler with multiple choices, and a distinct leverage that these operators won't tell you--but I will!
It is this; you don't need to pay for a reservation in full prior to receiving your service. Put another way, I STRONGLY recommend you travel a la carte despite claims from tour operators that they are busy year round, even in the green season (typically May-November, "green" because of all the rain, but really a misnomer as it typically will downpour in small bursts then be sunny again. Rates tend to be 30-40% less during this time.) Tour operators are just securing their payment at your expense. The reason for my advice is simple.
Say you want to see something else or find a better tour or whatever. Obviously you don't want to lose your money. Hard cash is king in Costa Rica. Franklin had it right when he said the three friends man has in life are a faithful wife, an old dog, and ready cash. Nowhere is this more visible in Costa Rica. Except for your airline tickets down and vouchers for any internal airfare, pay as you go. You'll feel a lot more relaxed and an ancillary little benefit is that when you do in fact pay in cash (U.S. dollars amigo!) you can easily negotiate a much better price. (i.e. I've yet to pay more than 70% of an advertised rate.)
With that said, where are the lush gardens of Eden remaining in Costa Rica? They're where the regales (word coined and popularized in "Diving The Seamount" referring to materialistic individuals owning vast assets and large disposable incomes) have trouble getting to. Generally speaking, your best bet to see pure, unspoiled rainforest is going to require you to leave San Jose or Liberia and hit the countryside. For the most part, El Coco and Jaco and a vast many of the Pacific coastal towns are condominium enclaves. The Peninsula de Osa on the other hand is simply majestic and remains a bastion of virgin rainforest as best you can imagine it.
Chirripó, the highest mountain in Central America, is virtually deserted most of the year and is probably one of the best family hikes there is in country. Bring warm clothes and a synthetic down sleeping bag; it drops to freezing at night while moisture effectively zaps the utility of down. Another gem, which continually surprises me by the fact that it merges the vast volume of people that see it with its conservation and raw beauty, is the Arenal Observatory Lodge: www.arenal-observatory.co.cr
My adventures to date have stayed within the central, southern, and pacific regions of Costa Rica which I think is quite typical. I imagine the Caribbean coast and the routes getting there to be in fact excellent examples of "old-world" Costa Rica. I base this assumption on the fact that I never hear anyone talk about having traveled there, so I suspect the few number of people that have gone are keeping it to themselves.
If on the other hand your desire is to readily enjoy Americanized versions of the country you will not be disappointed. Jaco beach is a prime example. There are American restaurants coupled with hotels on the beach offering horseback riding and surfboards by the dozen to rent. It's cheap, youthful and a great place to hit the waves for a couple days. The newly completed Marriott Los Suenos just down the road (North about 8 km) from Jaco on Playa Herradura is probably the finest beach resort I've seen in Costa Rica, bar none. Complete with multiple swimming pools, 18-hole golf course and casino. Well done ecologically as well, here you'll be able to meet some members of the "Siete Familias" (repeated denied, but true, seven families in Costa Rica are known to collectively control the country via their interests in finance, real estate, and politics.)
Another popular destination surely worthy of a trip is the Monteverde cloud forest. Putting the experience of standing hundreds of feet above a misty green carpet with leaves as big as an elephant's ear is something you have to experience to believe. Five stars, although if at all possible have someone else drive you there, the road in and out becomes questionable when the rain downpours and the mud starts slipping. Best left to professionals less you have some Monte Carlo experience.
And although frequently disparaged, San Jose itself is not an altogether miserable place. It's no Paris, but San Jose does offer a great big peak into the daily lives of the Ticos who have moved into the city from the countryside and shows the growth of their country's industrial and business roots, not to mention there are a variety of local and smaller museums.
In conclusion, I find Costa Rica to be one of the best values for a traveler looking for beauty and adventure in the world. The airfare is inexpensive from North American, the lodging, food, and transportation costs are all reasonable and if you conduct your trip with an a la carte style incorporating a robust travel plan I have no doubt you'll have a wonderful and safe trip.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
realadventure
|
|
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.