Costa Rica arrived on the horizon of my trips as a pure and unexpected coincidence. We know that, sometime, opportunities has to be taken immediately without thinking too much about it.
It doesn’t matter that much if your expectations will be respected or not. The important think is to prepare the bag and take the challenge! The coincidences that brought me there will be kept into the garden of my memories while, now, I’m going to open this window on a Country that, till some time ago, I knew only for its localization on our Globe.
Costa Rica more than being in Central America, we could say that is the Central America as it is placed on the thin strip of land that connects the two continents.
In this Country nature reign without any contrast. An alive, beating, harsh, colored and wild nature! Forget the comfort of big cities and the quietness of the old good Europe. Here the earth is alive and it will make you feel it trembling here and there. You don’t have to be that surprised about it, in the end you have, not one, but four tectonics plates clashing between themself below your feet. That’s why volcanic eruptions are not that rare. Along your trip, seven active volcanoes will be close to you and you could see one of them puffing away or more romantically you could lay down in a pot of warm thermal water.
Costa Rica is also biodiversity. It is estimated that 5% of the animal species on our globe can be found here and, frankly, as far as I have seen, I’m not making a big effort to believe it.
You should expect an invasive nature, omnipresent, everywhere you go you will feel observed because there is always an animal close to you. A nature that will not create that much troubles despite all the common places about some big animals, but, anyway you must observe some basic rules. This is the main condition to avoid problems otherwise things could get really wrong!
Sharks, crocodiles, caimans, jaguars, vultures and… of course snakes such as the lethal terciopelos (also named as fer de lance, or barba amarilla) and coral, they are all living here, and apart from the jaguars that are pretty shy, you can be sure that all the others will be seen without that big effort. You shall be conscious that you are in their kingdom, not yours, so remember that before seeing them, you’ll be already in their field of vision. During daylight you can wonder around without problems but I would suggest to avoid the night because is the hunter kingdom.
A silliness could be lethal as it happened to that wretch of a boy from Nicaragua that, under his drunkenness, decided to plunge into the Rio Tarcoles. A river with a brown, slimy and slow water infested by a big family of crocodiles. For him there was no hope. The sad reports where on every local national mass media.
Animals are not the only peril in which you could run into. Nature keeps a lot of surprises and, if you don’t want to pay them at a high price, you shall know and recognize them. Sea has very dangerous currents that in a short time could wear you out and make you drown.
I’m not writing all this stuffs to suggest you to go in a quite tourist village but only to make you think about the fact that this outstanding melting pot of life has to be treated with respect and that a bit of attention has to be constant, possibly listening also to local people’s advices.
Following this few rules, you could enjoy the maximum of this incredible nature. Parrots are all around on the trees of the cities, in the rainforest hummingbirds and quetzals show their beauties and colors alike as aras and toucans. Hummingbirds will astonish you with their small dimension and their incredible speed. I challenge you to shot some photos to them without a lot of tries.
Natural parks are really well kept. Costa Rica was able to make the most of its nature transforming it in a tourist resource and making it a national flag to be proud of. While walking in the parks, don’t get out of the path (even if you would be discouraged even thinking about it). The Jungle is terribly humid, thick, warm and, if seeing a snake on the path is quite easy, within the bushes it will be impossible and the terciopelo does not have the habit of getting away from the human path.
Costa Rica will amaze you also with the courtesy of Ticos, the people that live there, always smiling and full of folklore in their parties around the Country made of traditional music. This Country has a really particular culture and a strong tradition as a coffee producer. To make the Ticos angry is quite an hard job as they have a really quite temper that has made the joy for life a national motto: pura vida!
Probably the landing point will be San José and I suggest you to take one or two days to walk down the streets of this city. Go to visit the National Theatre to drink a good coffee in its old fashioned bar. Don’t miss the colonial style district, the museums, the parks and churches. You could be amazed by the gold of the pre Colombian treasures. Don’t miss a short visit to the big University Campus that has sloths in its trees. Rely on the official tourist offices, they are really efficient and they’ll give you any useful information you need.
Moving around is quite easy but it takes long time. Even if the Country is small there are no proper highways and the orography is simply terrifying. Mountains and valleys are following one another unceasingly. The climate itself changes really fast passing from the harsh desert climate of Guanacaste region to the extreme tropical humid of the Caribbean Cost passing trough foggy forests and the dry climate of the central plateau where there is San José.
The entire country is connected by bus, quite cheap ones, with which you can tranquilly travel around. Remember to take a picture of yourself if you’re going on the mythical Pan American Highway that, apart from a short part of jungle, starts from the extreme North America till to the Southern part of the other continent. Renting an off road vehicle could give you unique feeling as long as you know how to use the low ratio gearing. You could visit the key points in one week but if I were you I would plan at least three weeks. You shall try the fun of driving that roads without bridges so that you must find the ford of each river. Just remember that in the river you may find crocodiles.
Don’t expect to find a cheap Country. At least it depends a lot of what you want to do. To sleep you could be satisfied with the huge number of hostels here and there around the country where you can sleep for few dollars. Travelling by bus is cheap too as also eating the classical dishes. Each service, typically tourist, will be very expensive, at least at the same prices of what you could expect to pay in United States. Canopy tours and private guides are expensive. Diving twice in a day can cost from 100 to 200 $. Going to Coco Island, the diver’s paradise, is even prohibitive.
Is Costa Rica a safe place?
This Country is one of the safest in Center/South America. Anyway I would recommend the basic rules that are valid quite every where. Not showing big cameras, jewelers, money etc. During daylight I haven’t perceived any risk. During night is different. At least in a big city such as San José where you have areas where it is better not to cross such as the “Coca Cola” zone. I heard about some people stolen wandering around by night so If you wish to enjoy darkness you shall pay attention, take information and moving by official cabs.
At this point you may ask to yourself “Costa Rica is what I’m looking for?”
It depends. In Costa Rica you can really see Robinson Crusoe beaches, you can climb volcanoes, you could feel like in Jurassic Park when walking alone in a forest you ear the frightening screams of the screaming monkeys.
In the end it really depends on what you want. You can pass from a low budget trip till the luxury ones. You can walk with your back pack or flying on a small airplane here and there. You can relax yourself laying on a tropical beach as you could walk two days into the forest to visit the indigenous huts.
Here everything is possible, there is space to every budget, it’s only up to you and believe me, if adventure is what you’re looking for.. here you will find the Eldorado.
When to go to Costa Rica? Find out more with Bookmundi at this post “best time to visit Costa Rica”.
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