blog post

Costa Rica-What a Country!

Costa Rica is a beautiful country in the heart of Central America.  It is bordered by Nicaragua and Panama.  It has two contrasting shorelines.  The Caribbean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south.

Access to Costa Rica is most common by air.  The country is served by two major international airports, San Jose in the capital city and Liberia in the northwestern section.  Liberia is a closer hop off to the Guanacaste and Arenal areas seeing significant tourist activity.  San Jose is a central location and has the majority of air travel.  The airport is clean and modern by any standard.

Roads in Costa Rica are adequate, though not up to the standards seen in the US or Europe.  Travel times are impacted by the geography of the region, which in most areas is rather mountainous.  A significant problem is mudslides.  Even though the roads are well engineered for that occurrence, vertical slopes and a significant amount of rain contribute to a problem.  I traveled a major highway west of San Jose after a significant rainfall and noted that the service crews were quick to respond in clearing the roads. 

As the infrastructure of Costa Rica is still trying to keep pace with expansion, you will find that there are often lower quality dirt roads connecting the major roads to even 5-star hotels.  Traffic can often be slowed by numerous one-lane bridges on the coastal areas. I find that more time should always be allotted with respect to making transfers and connections.  Several trips which tour companies said would take three hours took four, for example, so plan accordingly. 

GENERAL:

There are five things that comprise a town in Costa Rica .  A church, soccer field, marketplace, school and a bar.  Rather than using traditional street addresses, directions are often given in distance from one of these five prominent features.  When trying to find a small hotel in downtown San Jose, the taxi driver navigated based on this method.  Even though I was told there is an effort to improve signage, the lack of it and the nature of the winding roads can make finding some destinations a bit of a challenge.

The small towns have  quaint “sodas”, which are a combination of store, bar and café.  The national drink is a Cacique, which is a clear liquor made from sugar cane.  The ox cart is symbolic of the most common form of travel from past  history.  These beautifully decorated carts have traditionally been painted in vibrant colors and reflect styles and designs of the different areas of the country.  These carts pulled by oxen down narrow roads and used to transport products such as coffee beans to the markets and ports.  The story goes that those men walking alongside the cart would often imbibe, and when taken to excess would have to crawl on the cart as the oxen would faithfully continue.  This is known locally as “being on the wagon”.

The climate is warm and tropical, with frequent rainfall.  The rainy season is eight or so months out of the year, with the driest periods in January through April.  Rains are most frequent in the afternoon, making morning excursions the most likely to remain dry.  For tourism, the “Green Season” is the fall, and has the lowest occupancy rates, hence the most cost-effective vacations.  By contrast, the highest hotel occupancies are Christmas vacation and July.

ECO TOURISM:

The ministry of Tourism and the government of Costa Rica is making a concerted effort to carefully expand.  The central focus of this effort rests with the Center for Sustained Tourism (CST).  This organization is responsible for ecologically smart tourism development.  For example, the hotels throughout the country are rated from one to five stars based on the level of compliance with the program.  Owners and developers pay more than lip service to this rating and proudly tout their accomplishments.  One resort in the Manual Antonio area, Si Como No, is one of the few that have achieved a 5-star rating.  The owner proudly told me that only one tree was removed in the construction process and that the design won an award for its lack of visibility from the nearby coast.

Water is a valuable resource for Costa Rica,  The system of aquifers contributes to a significant availability of clean water.  This is an asset for tourism, (yes the tap water is safe to drink) as well as an export commodity.  One tour guide told me of how common it was when he was younger to dig a hole a few meters deep to get fresh water right out of the ground.

Development is controlled to a certain degree.  With an eye to conservation and in keeping with creating a unique vacation location, construction is limited to either 40% or 25% of the land assigned.  This is to reduce the impact on the environment as well as producing an appealing result.

ZONES:

Costa Rica is commonly divided into eight zones, based on geography, climate and tourism.  The Atlantic Zone is home to the Caribbean beaches and is more typical of Caribbean living.  The town of Limon is prominent in this region.

The Pacific coast is divided into the North Pacific, Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Zones. Guanacaste to the Northwest, up to the Nicaraguan border is home to beautiful Pacific beaches and the resort town of Tamarindo.  The Southern Zone is home to Corcovado which,  according to National Geographic, is one of the “most biologically intense places on earth”. 

The most popular area for American tourists is the Central Pacific region.  This encompasses the resort towns of Quepos (Manual Antonio), Jaco and Herradura.

The Northern Zone borders the Caribbean and Nicaragua and is most noted for the Arenal volcano and resorts in that area.  The mountainous areas are home to volcanoes and cloud forests.  This zone is known as the Talamanca Mountain Zone.  Finally, the Central Valley is home to San Jose and much of the cultural landmarks in the country.

Jim Austin