Discover The Rain-forests, Wildlife Diversity, and Unspoiled Beauty Of Costa Rica!
Written: Jan 17 '08 (Updated Jan 18 '08)
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Pros: Costa Rica is abundant with diverse wildlife, vegetation and unspoiled beauty.
Cons: The port was a little simple, with limited shopping opportunity. No dinosaurs. hehe.
The Bottom Line: Costa Rica is very recommendable for its abundant diversification of wildlife, vegetation and incredible rain-forests. A true joy to be discovered before population growth and industry erodes it further.
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| TimSingleton's Full Review: Costa Rica |
Costa Rica was at the top of the list for my last Caribbean vacation. long known for its diversity of animal and plant life, fruit production, and exotic jungles, this country has always interested me.
Literally named Costa Rica by Christopher Columbus, which translates to "Rich Coast" in English. Costa Rica had everything I hoped to see and more. It is funny that many people today may think of "Jurassic Park" when first hearing the name Costa Rica. Understandably so, since this rich, green, fertile tropic destination would be the perfect spot for it. No, the dinosaur delights of Michael Crichton's imagination do not dwell here; perhaps that is a good thing, given the havoc the creatures waged when they escaped their pens.
Costa Rica is a delightful land of Spanish and English speaking friendly people which still maintains a good deal of undeveloped tropics and diverse wildlife. Even so, this beautiful country which lies next to Panama and very near South America, is also industrializing. There is more development than ever before. Costa Rica has long been a processing and packaging locale for Bananas and other fruits for the likes of Del Monte and Dole. Now it is home to many other companies.
In fact, our tour guide informed us that, while the countries number one business used to be the growing and exporting of fruit, that title now goes to technology, such as the production of computer chips. This was a surprise to many of the tourists. Tourism is actually second and the third largest business is the growth and distribution of fruit.
Nonetheless, fruit production is still very important and a banana plantation was to the first big stop on our bus, train and boat tour. We left Limon, Costa Rica aboard a bus, which took us on a ride through town. The people here seemed very friendly and lived simply. like many of the countries here most of the homes in Costa Rica are small single-floor three to five room dwellings. One will see doors and windows opened on most houses to allow the breeze to blow through. Most folks do not have air-conditioning but, by the same token, they do not have to spend money on heat either. Clothes hang out on a line in the yards of many homes and one can see coconuts growing in almost every yard.
"Most of the people use coconut frequently in their cooking," our guide said, "and when they need it they just go out in their own yard and pick it."
As with Panama, our guide explained that although the people here are mostly poor, you can not tell them that. He said that they were, for the most part, very happy. And, when one interacts with the locals in this beautiful land, it is hard to dispute him.
We stopped at a couple of small local markets and saw that many items are much cheaper than in America. Sodas were thirty-five to fifty cents a can and alcohol was very inexpensive. We bought rum and cola in a can for only eighty-five cents and it was quite stout. A charming little hotel in back of one of the stores had closed some time ago but was still used as public restrooms for tourists who came through.
For the rest of this bus ride the only evidence of the world I am accustomed to was the occasional Shell station or other chain store that would pop up and remind me of America.
We arrived at a large banana plantation very far out in the middle of nowhere, so far out in fact that homes were actually built right beside the plantation and are used for free by plantation employees. This is a great benefit for both employee and employer. The employee saves money and the company does not have to worry about the workers having transportation to work.
The plants themselves grow in many rows and are about five to eight feet high. When the bananas begin to develop workers put a plastic bag around them (usually blue) which helps protect them from vermin. A specific color of band is put on them, according to their current development, so that workers will know when they are ready to be picked. Each large "cluster" of bananas produces many of the much small clusters we see in stores and the workers must undertake the back-breaking chore of carrying them to the production line. Workers are paid by the cluster. Workers must carry a minimum number of clusters each day and the "paid by the cluster" system is incentive to carry more.
The plants are hung from a conveyor and are slowly delivered to workers who are ready to inspect, cut, wash and package them. Bananas must meet a certain size and shape standard to be sent into crates for display in stores. Smaller and less attractive ones are used in baby foods and other products in which attractiveness is unimportant. As a rule, men do the cutting and carrying from the fields and much of the inspecting, while women washed the product and performed packaging. But this was not a rule set in stone.
The next leg of our journey was to be aboard a very attractive, nicely restored old train. The train had been restored in recent years through income derived from tourism and the people were very happy to see it return. The train provides transportation to some locals and is a great way for tourists to travel through the jungle.
The jungle here is very lush and thick, and is often very, very wet. According to our guides in both Costa Rica and Panama, this area is the wettest in the Western world, with an average rainfall of 15 feet or a whopping 180 inches of rainfall!
Here and there one finds small homes and our guide explained that the area used to be a home to poor people and now that the wealthy have found out it is very nice, the poor are being bought out. "They are making a mistake selling their land," the guide said.
At some points the train ride approached the beach and we saw the sporadic dotting of little homes on the landscape. the guide told us these could still be had very inexpensively and the appeal was instantly apparent. Twenty-five to forty grand for some land near the beach with a small house? It seems a steal to this reviewer! Our guide explained that many people are coming here and to other local countries from more expensive western countries so that they can retire much more cheaply.
Our train stopped along side a winding muddy river where we all loaded up into a catamaran. The guide explained that the river was muddy because of the constant rainfall that forever washes soil into the water.
The wildlife here is abundant and beautiful. While the land in this area makes up three percent or less of the world's land, it represents over thirty percent of the bio-diversification of Earth. There are many forms of birds, bats, fish and tree-life that many of us had never seen. Birds were plentiful and colorful, many of them wading in or around the river around us.
High in the trees, barely visible among the foliage were two and three-toed sloths. These furry creatures look vaguely monkey-like but are quite different. These beautiful, slow creatures live most of their lives in the trees, coming down to the ground once a week to relieve themselves and bury their stool before climbing back up. While these weekly trips down do leave sloths vulnerable to predators, this is their preferred way to go to the bathroom.
The Cayman, which is a large alligator-like lizard, inhabits these waters as well, but alligators and crocodiles are not found here.
The only negative to this portion of the trip was the difficulty sometimes in viewing the wildlife. Sloths were so high in the trees that they were little more than blurs. It is advisable to take along binoculars on such a trip.
As the guide informed us very sadly that population growth and industrialization were slowly destroying the natural rain-forests to make way for more development, I was amazed, because I had already suspected that the wild lands here had shrunken. I wondered as I floated down the river and rode along on the train whether the forestation here had once been much larger and housed even more wildlife.
Efforts are being made to preserve land here and in other countries so that future generations will have wildlife and rain-forest, but this will be an ongoing struggle.
Costa Rica is a rich and beautiful land with much to see. The port of Limon is a bit plain compared to some other ports, but the excursions into the wilds are very nice. There are also up-scale hotels, such as the Four Seasons along the ports so that one can sleep here in comfort after voyaging into the rain-forest.
Costa Rica delivered everything I had hoped for, even with the thoughts that kept returning that industrial development encroaches every day into this unspoiled land. It makes one wonder what the future holds for our diminishing rain-forests and wildlife.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb
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Epinions.com ID:
TimSingleton
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Member: Tim Singleton
Location: Kentucky
Reviews written: 77
Trusted by: 28 members
About Me:
I am a Journalism graduate who freelances mostly for pleasure and a little money occasionally.
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