¿Why Costa Rica?

The recent article from The Boston Globe, published on December 27th, saying that people can forget about Costa Rica, that's old news; made me start Turismo Pura Vida blog, telling the world why come to Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is a very small country (0.03% of the planet surface), has 5% of the Earth biodiversity (according to C.R. Goverment http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/informacion.asp).  We are a country free of army and near 25% of our territory is protected in somehow.  That's what people usually mention about this country.  In the following lines I will talk about my experience as a tourist in my own country and why this is a unique place that is mandatory to visit if you don't live here and if you are Costa Rican then you have to re-discover it.  Even with a hard try for being brief its surprising to me how much can be said on this matter.

Costa Rica geography is incredible interesting, is small but has Pacific and Atlantic coasts, a tourist can go in a few hours from one coast to the other, from mountain to the coast, coast to mountain and in the way go over different micro-weathers, types of forest and cities.

Costa Rica offers Tropical Rain Forest, Tropical Dry Forest, Cloudy Forest, Wilderness forest.  Frequently we talk about the white sand beaches of Costa Rica and many people can say that is something other countries have, which is right, but then let's go further.  Costa Rica has more than 160 beaches... yes, more than 160, white sand beaches, gray sand beaches, black sand and even mixed; we have some with all the services and some other with minimal facilities (ideal for adventure) and those tend to be the most beautiful ones.

We have ecological tourism, adventure tourism, medical tourism, traditional tourism, cultural tourism, rural tourism, etc... you can do anything here!

Costa Rica offers a big amount of rural towns that are beautiful, but also our cities enclose truly architectonic and cultural wonders.  For a few years now, organizations such as Chepe Cletas have been in charge of opening our eyes to watch the beauties hidden in our downtown, something that many ticos don't know.

When I have had the chance to talk to friends from other countries, generally I am asked which is the best season to go to Costa Rica, always I say that is big dilemma for me.

Truly the dry season offers easier capabilities for knowing the beautiful beaches of the North Pacific, Central Pacific, South Pacific or the Caribbean ones, but in the same way the rainy season allows some our national parks to show their best attributes.  Some of them like the majestic Poás Volcano don't have any trouble, in any season they show how beautiful they are.  Also the Christmas time is amazing: see the houses and streets full of lights, a lot of cultural events, traditions like "posadas", the popular celebrations in Zapote and Lights Parade in San José.  That makes me say that is a big dilemma to say what is the best season to come here.

The other question, is even harder, what places do I recommend to visit?  so, here is where I start with a big list... the first thing on my mind is Guanacaste "tierra preferida de mi corazón" (preferred land of my heart), and I start to enumerate beaches like El Coco, Ocotal, Junquillal, Avellanas, Brasilito, Conchal, Sámara, Pelada, Guiones, etc, etc, etc because I can't mention all the ones that I not only like but I love! but I also think about Santa Cruz, a fully folkloric and beautiful city, Nicoya, Liberia, just to mention a few... historical gems like Santa Rosa old house, Rincón de la Vieja volcano, tours for watching turtles, for snorkeling, surf classes, travel through Tilarán and start a great adventure to reach Monteverde where the cloudy forest captivates anyone specially when the Arenal Volcano shows his greatness.

I also think about Puntarenas, you have to visit it, there you have the famous Churchill (big cup full of iced syrup with ice cream, condensed milk, powdered milk, fruits, etc), cruises go there and there is something else that you can't touch or watch less express but that you feel being at the "puerto".  From there you can go to Caldera and from there continue your trip to Jacó (a totally touristic and developed beach) and there I remember about the beautiful Esterillos beaches.  If you follow the "costanera" road you will reach Parrita and can take towards Quepos, Manuel Antonio, or follow to the beautiful Dominical, Dominicalito and the amazing and with no equals Ballena Maritime National Park.  A few ago I was able to continue more to the south and reach Jiménez Port.  This is the place where I had the best experience watching Wales, one of them was doing a show for more than an hour, that was not in an aquarium, no, it was a totally free Wale, she or he just wanted to play. Near Jiménez are Drake Bay and Corcovado, other places you cannot miss.

Now that I am thinking about the south, I cannot miss the beautiful General Valley, Perez Zeledón a city that also captivates anyone visiting it and that allows you to enjoy archaeological beauties such as the unique Stone spheres but you can also go to aboriginal communities where you can learn  about their culture, activities and even participate in their celebrations.

If all this were just peanuts for you, then I can tell you about the amazing experience of traveling around the "Cerro de la Muerte" (Death Hill), in the best cases you do that after climbing the Chirripó (highest mountain in Costa Rica and something I still have in my to do's), then you go to have a meal at Chespiritos restaurant enjoying the delicious cold weather and the so different param forest.  From there you can reach Cartago and there I have another big list... Our Lady of the Angels Basilica (National Saint Patron known as "la Negrita"), Irazú Volcano, Ujarrás, Orosi, Cervantes, Capellades, go all the way to Turrialba where you can go to Turrialba Volcano, colorful small towns like Santa Cruz and La Suiza or you can do rafting in one of the many rivers apt for that activity... well I would never end here...

Then, I think about Caribbean, you can go by Turrialba or from San José going over Zurquí tunnel and the Braulio Carrillo National Park where is always a temptation to stop on the Rain Forest Aerial Tram, enjoy the towns and nature on the road, then you can to Sarapiquí, Vara Blanca, La Paz Waterfalls or go over Tortuguero, Limón Port and beaches and cities like Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, Manzanillo all the way to Sixaola (border with Panamá).

I can't miss talking about the beauty of the Northern Area of the country, even before of reaching Ciudad Quesada town we enjoy the view, first stopping by Zarcero or if you go by San Ramón also the view is amazing.  There are many beautiful areas with farms, coffee tours, etc... you can go to Río Celeste (Light blue river) where you will feel just like in heaven, but also can go to aboriginal reserves, go to small and colorful towns such as Upala and from there go back to the Capital by Alajuela or go to Guanacaste.

But apart from all of that, the tourist can come knowing that this is a political stable country, with a democracy that is an example all over the world, it was just proved in the latest elections, it was shown is not a myth but a really strong reality.  Here we don't have any dictator that in any moment could change laws or move anything according to his desires.  We don't have "maras" that get ownership of the cities, we don't have "guerrillas", we don't have to be scared that traveling to some place a bus is taken by paramilitaries and being retained for undefined time... no, this is Costa Rica, and even if there is crime and corruption like any other place, this is still a place where you can go easy, just having normal care as in every country.

Is Costa Rica expensive?

Well, certainly is not the cheapest of the area, but also the big tourism agencies make everything look more expensive than what things really cost.

Obviously whoever is looking to have vacations in all-included hotels, popular places for wealthier foreign people, is going to find all the high prices, more than in the other countries of the area; but is also true that there are a lot of small tourism businesses offering high quality services and to the lowest prices.

Tourist should have the chance to know accommodation choices that are  not the most luxury places with King size beads, marbled furniture, jacuzzy and packages including food and beverages that no one can consume unless the whole purpose of the trip is eating.

Certainly Costa Rica may have a cost of life higher than its neighbors,  but the real difference (if accommodations, food and transport choices are not the regular ones designed for high class but that are very similar to the ones offered by the neighbor countries) is not that big and it is more than justified because of the tranquility the tourist have here and that just can't get in other places.

In the future I will go deeper in some of those false ideas of what expensive is tourism here, for now I just can quote the songwriter Carlos Guzmán:

"Soy tico, porque vivo enamorado y orgulloso de la tierra que ha inspirado mi canción" (this blog)

I'm tico, because I live in love and proud of the land that has inspired this song (this blog)

"Soy tico y si eso no te dice nada, yo te mostraré mi patria, dame la oportunidad."

I'm tico and if that does not tell you anything, I will show you home, give me the chance"