Traveling To Costa Rica

The Republic of Costa Rica is a small country in Central America. The name means "rich coast," and it's quite accurate: the country is bordered on two sides by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It became independent from Spain in the 1800s and is governed as a constitutional democracy. The capital of the country is San Jose. To the north is Nicaragua and to the south is Panama. The official language is Spanish and over 75% of the country is Roman Catholic. It is the most visited country in Central America.

Costa Rica has one of the best environmental records in the world, with nearly a quarter of the country designated as natural preserves so as to protect the vast biodiversity and micro-climates found there. Five percent of the world's biodiversity is contained in Costa Rica. The landscape encapsulates stunning mountain regions, luscious beaches and verdant plains. The three biggest agricultural exports are bananas, pineapples and coffee. One of the fastest growing industries is eco-tourism and there is a large expatriate population that now calls the country "home."

Weather-wise, the wet season is May through November and the dry season is December to April. Most people prefer to visit during the dry season as some areas of the country can get over 250 inches of rain in the wet season. The most expensive time of the year to visit is at the end of February when Carnival takes place.

All photos on this hub are © Relache/Rae Schwarz 2009 and may not be used or reproduced without express written permission.

Here are a few odds and ends of advice that I learned along the way which I think would be good for you to know before you visit Costa Rica.

Tips for the Airport - When you land at the airport in San Jose, do anything you need to do while you are still inside the airport. Once you get your bags and head for customs, you are entering a swift process that gets you outside and that's when you'll realize there are almost zero services available. Nearly all food, bathrooms, money exchanges, etc. are located inside the airport after the security gates. Once you get outside, all you'll find is a small coffee stand, lots of taxis and no way to get back through security.

Carry a small calculator - The unit of currency in Costa Rica is the colon (plural is colones) and the exchange rate is approximately 550 colones to the American dollar and closer to 800 colones to the Euro. (estimates for early 2009) To be able to keep up with the conversion, it's often nice to have a small calculator. American dollars are unofficially accepted almost everywhere, and a calculator can also a useful tool to make sure you're not being overcharged when using dollars.

Never touch any caterpillars, ever! - Costa Rica is a tropical climate, with lots of jungle. These bio-diverse environments are highly competitive and in order to survive, caterpillars have evolved to be extreme poisonous or neuro-toxic. They often have means of stinging you even if you just barely touch them. Symptoms included immediate extreme pain, numbness, burning and sometimes paralysis. When walking in the jungle, or even around trees and bushes, keep an eye out and avoid them.

Pack ear plugs - The first useful time for these is on the airplane as you fly down to Costa Rica.  Once you are in Costa Rica, ear plugs are especially  handy for two types of noise:  bugs and rain.  If you are in the jungle, the sounds of the cicadas and other insects is incredibly loud.  The denser the forest, the louder the noise.  Like something out of Spinal Tap, those little guys go to 11!  Due to Costa Rica having active volcanoes and a lot of moisture, metal roofing is very common and when it rains, it can run the gamut from loud plinking for gentle rain right on up to machine gun fire levels if it's raining very heavily.

I've been lucky enough to visit Costa Rica twice. My first visit was in January of 1992, when I took a trip there with my family. We visited the capital of San Jose, the Monteverde Reserve and Cloud Forest, and Tortuguero National Park. Highlights of that trip were the National Gold Museum (San Jose), a butterfly research station in Monteverde, seeing the famed quetzels (a type of bird) while hiking in the cloud forest, touring a banana plantation (seeing commercial production will make you go organic faster than anything!) and touring the canals of the Tortuguero area by boat.

For my February 2009 trip, I was specifically headed to a fire circle festival called Forestdance, which was held at the Amalinda Eco-Ashram. This 60-acre farm and retreat was once a horse farm and is being developed as an intentional community, incorporating sustainable farming and building practices, yoga and healing arts, and raw and organic foods. It's located along the Barucito River, near the top of the Santo Christo waterfall.  When that week-long gathering ended, I got to spend a day at Dominical, a cute surf town on the Pacific coast.  It had warm waters, burning sands, great taquerias and the obligatory wi-fi cafes.