The Truth About Costa Rica

I f you are thinking of            grown Californian and Mexico       travelling to Costa Rica,       melons sold back in the States.    reading about my                Rice and beans were served at      experiences may help you decide       almost every meal, however there   what to see and do while you are      was always a variety of spiced     there. My husband and I went          meat stews and also spicy          there at Christmas on a 10 day        vegetarian dishes. I'm not         group tour with the Caravan           vegetarian, but I love             company, a travel tour provider       vegetables, so I was really        which also has guided tours of        pleased by the menu, and it was    Mexico, Guatemala, Copper Canyon      one of the highlights of the       and the Canadian Rockies.             trip. Bad food and noisy                                                 accommodations can really detract  The tour started in San Jose, the     from a tour even if the scenery    capital of Costa Rica. The hotel      is great.                          was modern and quiet, with a                                             great buffet of (fairly)              On my last tour with Caravan, we   authentic food. Due to the            went to Mexico, and chicken was    tropical climate, local produce       on the menu so often that to this  of excellent quality is available     day my husband won't eat any more  year-round, obviously grown on        of it. "All pollo'ed out," is how  small farms, not the giant            he puts it. But that wasn't the    factory farms common in North         case this time; so obviously,      America. The local watermelons        even with the same tour company,   were the most delicious I'd ever      each tour is different, since the  eaten, small (less than a foot in     details are largely arranged by    diameter), with bright red,           local agents.                      extremely sweet flesh; completely                                        different from the pale,              We didn't spend much time in San   tasteless, huge commercially          Jose itself, just drove through    it on the way to local                                                   attractions. But I noticed barred     Costa Rica is a volcanic area,     windows and spirals of razor wire     and the tour group went to see     surrounding just about every          two volcanoes, the Poas Volcano    house and building, and two armed     and the Arenal Volcano. The Poas   guards at the exits of an             Volcano was at a high altitude,    appliance store, of all places.       covered with a cloud forest full   In front of a bank, I could           of streaming, eerie mist unlike    understand it, but at a store         anything I've seen elsewhere. The  selling washing machines? The         crater, which contains a bright    tour guide said that the local        green, highly acidic lake, was     crime rate is extremely high. In      poorly visible due to the misty    Mexico, I saw some barred             conditions, but the just the walk  windows, but little barbed wire.      through the forest was worthwhile  I am told that theft is a problem     by itself.itself.                  all through Latin America, and an                                        acquaintance who has travelled        The second volcano we visited was  widely around the continent told      the Arenal, and I highly           me not to take anything valuable      recommend that any travellers to   along on my trip. However, even       Costa Rica set aside a day to      with this warning, the sight was      visit the hot springs on the side  really jarring. I'm not used to       of the mountain. I've never seen   that at all in Canada and the         a water park like this one!        States, and even the Caribbean        Admission is a hefty $25.00 US,    doesn't have such obvious             probably priced out of range for   problems. Despite the fact that       most of the locals, but it's       Costa Rica is a trendy retirement     worth every penny. The hot spring  location for a lot of Gringos,        has about a dozen huge pools each  this would really make me think       about 30 feet across, two with     twice about moving there.             bars in the center. Each pool is   a different temperature, from         floor is full of biting ants,      lukewarm to scalding. All the         both leaf cutter ants and army     pools are surrounded by tropical      ants, which have huge nests        foliage and winding paths. It's       several yards across. These        entirely possible to spend an         poisonous ants really bite, and I  entire day at these heavenly          found this out the hard way as I   springs without getting bored.        and several other people on the                                          tour were wearing sandals, and we  Our group took a ride on the          found ourselves doing a skittish   Aerial Tram, which runs amongst       dance to stop the insects from     the canopy of the rain forest.        crawling over our feet and biting  Every now and then, a giant blue      us. Still, I came away with a      Morphos butterfly would flutter       swollen ankle due to one ant       around the tram, so bright and        which had managed to latch on. I   iridescent it appeared to be lit      wonder how the local Indians who   by a spotlight. We saw many birds     once lived in the rainforest       and butterflies, but no colorful      dealt with this, as they went      snakes, unfortunately, though         barefoot all the time.             there are supposed to be many                                            varieties of them in the              We also spent two days in the      rainforest. Also no jaguars, as       Tortuguero wildlife preserve,      they are rare and very shy.           heaven for birdwatchers. There                                           were all kinds of exotic birds     If you plan to hike into the rain     including Toucans. We also saw     forest, even on groomed trails,       some small caimans, iguanas, and   be sure to wear hiking boots, not     several species of monkeys.        sandals, and also long pants that     Surprisingly, given the humid      can be tucked into those boots.       rain forest, there were very few   I'm not kidding when I make this      mosquitoes.                        recommendation : the rain forest                                         The most impressive crocodiles,       the animal and hold its tail. The  about 15 feet long, were not in       crocodile did not seem at all      the park but in a river outside       upset by this treatment and made   the game preserve. About a dozen      no attempt to bite; I suppose it   of them could be seen from the        knows when the tour is coming by   top of bridge, basking in the         and expects to be fed.             water below and sunning                                                  themselves on sandbars. The guide     We also spent a day at Jaco Beach  told us that locals had               in the Manuel Antonio National     previously been entertaining          Park. If you go there, come in     themselves by buying whole            the early morning, because the     chicken carcasses and dangling        park only allows a limited number  them from ropes over the bridge       of visitors at one time, and once  just above the reptiles' noses to     the park is full, those who        tease them. However, there was        arrive later have to wait in a     now a policeman stationed at one      line outside the gate. The beach   end of the bridge to prevent this     was beautiful, clean with warm,    practice, as it as lot like           tropical water.                    feeding bears, very unadvisable                                          as it causes the animals to           All in all, it was a very          become pests.                         interesting trip, entirely                                               different from Mexico, the only    We also went on a tour led by a       other Latin American country I     naturalist who fed fish to an         have visited. It was a unique      8-foot wild crocodile by hand,        experience, well worth the money.  even going so far as to handle         About the Author: J Schipper loves to travel China Egypt Life of Luxury Read more articles by: J Schipper This article is distributed by: www.iSnare.com