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Postcard: Costa Rica

Costa Rica. When you think of the place, perhaps you think of lush rain forests, or acres of coffee plantations. Maybe you think about pristine beaches on both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, but what you should really think about are… iguanas. Costa Rica has A LOT of iguanas, and I don’t mean a lot in that you can spot one every now and then, but Costa Rica has iguanas the way New York has pigeons, and they perform about the same function.

I say all this slightly in jest, but now after two visits to Costa Rica, I can certainly say that when I think of Costa Rica, I think of a place teeming with both animal and plant life. Perhaps that is why the slogan for Costa Rica is “Pura Vida” which directly translates to “pure life”; but means more literally “full of life” and that defines Costa Rica exactly.

Costa Rica is a relatively small country but is packed with more living things per square foot than probably any other place on the planet (with perhaps the exception of the Amazon rain forest). You can find everything from white-faced monkeys, to iguanas, to anteaters, to howler monkeys, to two-toed sloths, three-toed sloths, and the dreaded five-toed sloth that can be primarily found poolside consuming vast quantities of fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them.

All of this animal life is framed against a backdrop of flora that boggles the mind with its huge palette of colors. Photographers in other parts of the world have to do special tricks or use special film to really saturate the colors in their photos but in Costa Rica, the colors are already set on high. I think I could hear my camera whimper when I tried to take a picture of an impossibly purple flower. It knew there was no way it could come close to capturing the intensity of color that was being thrown at it.

Now Costa Rica may not be the perfect vacation spot for a lot of travelers. If your idea of a great vacation is fantastic shopping, a bouncing nightlife, or having dinner and seeing a show, you are going to be disappointed in Costa Rica. Now, if you want to roam around what could be considered the largest free-roaming zoo/botanical garden, or do outdoor adventure things like whitewater rafting and zip-line tours through the rain forest canopy, or even just lie out by the pool and watch the monkeys swing past, this place is definitely for you.

One thing to remember, for all its beauty, Costa Rica is a third-world country. While you might not need to bring a plug adaptor to charge up your iPod, you will have to make adjustments to get by. If you plan on driving in Costa Rica, be prepared for some of the worst roads you have ever seen (they make Michigan’s roads look pristine by comparison), especially if you plan on going to some of the really exotic tourist spots. Some of the “roads” are more like trails, and you will need a 4×4 to get by and even then you might get in trouble.

While at the car rental store, a couple was relating a story to their travel companion about their last trip to Costa Rica on how while trying to cross a river in their 4x4s, they got swept away and had to bail out and swim for shore! They laughed and said their lawyer is still fighting the rental company to see who is going to pay for the two lost Land Rovers.

If this does not sound like your idea of fun, you can take a puddle-jumper plane to one of the numerous small airstrips (read: flat patch of jungle that has been cleared and a possibly air conditioned shack as a terminal) that are by the major resort areas. Being a former Air Force officer myself, I’m not known for being scared of flying but I was glad my wife and I had chosen the rental car option over the puddle-jumper after we saw them at the airport in San Jose. The best quote I heard from someone who had just taken the plane was, “I wish he had kept his hands on the steering wheel a little more.”

Still, everyone made it to the resort just fine (we were there for a wedding) and some of the passengers even said it was kind of enjoyable because you get such a great aerial tour of the area. The biggest drawback to these planes is the severe weight restriction on luggage which is typically 25 pounds. My camera gear weighs almost that much, so I wouldn’t have had a lot of room for anything else. Granted, if your plane is not full they will allow a bit more, but you never know about that until you are ready to get on the plane.

Also, while the people of Costa Rica are incredibly nice and well educated (Costa Rica boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the world), most are still not as well off as the tourists that come to their country. This was highlighted by the half hour briefing by the rental car manager on all the security features on the car to include a deadbolt for the gear shift and how to best keep it from being broken in to and/or stolen.

Costa Rica really has developed its economy to take care of American tourists. Their money is pegged to ours so even if the dollar drops, you won’t get stung with outrageous prices for things like in Europe. Many Costa Ricans are well versed in English, though not as much as the travel guides would lead you to believe, so it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your Spanish before you go. You don’t have to worry about drinking the water at the resorts because it is as good as you get here at home, and the food in many of the restaurants is second to none and quite reasonably priced.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country that deserves your consideration if you are looking into an exotic vacation destination. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’m going to let some of the photos I took in Costa Rica speak for me and perhaps entice you into grabbing a little “Pura Vida” yourself.