1/18: post-trip reflections
Some final thoughts and some suggestions for those who are thinking of visiting Costa Rica during the North American winter.
Politics and Economics
CR is a political oasis in Central America. I am a typical ignorant American: I know little about the history of politics in other countries (the same could probably be said about my knowledge of American politics!), so it is fascinating to me that Costa Rica has been able to be a stable representative democracy in the midst of the bloody civil warfare within my lifetime in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, even Mexico even though a lot of it is the product of US foreign policy. And I know even less about South America where Annie and Lara have been the past six months (Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia). I said to the girls that I would love to learn enough Spanish to be able to talk to the locals about their level of awareness concerning domestic politics and their standing in the international community. Are they more knowledgeable than Americans? Do most CRs even care?
Perhaps the issue is irrelevant as long as the standard of living is comfortable? I was told that the standard of living in CR is the highest in the Americas outside of Canada and the US and people seem quite comfortable. The cities are pretty tired-looking and most of the housing in the countryside is only a couple of steps above what you might see on the Onondaga reservation with an occasional residence that looks like it would fit in quite nicely at a gated community in Arizona.
In the countryside where there are activities designed for tourists, they charge tourist prices. That said, I think it is fine that things are more expensive for tourists. (Eco-)Tourism is CR's biggest industry and I don't see any reason why they shouldn't charge what the market will bear and what western tourists can afford. While it was a little difficult to figure exact costs because the conversion rate is about 560+ colones per dollar, my sense is that if you ate a nice restaurant, the prices were equivalent to what you would pay in the US. If you're looking for bargains, you not only have to go off the beaten track, but you forgo the view and the food presentation. One place we ate at had food pre-prepared in warming trays, buffet-style. But this is no different than in the US where you can go to Golden Corral.
I honestly don't know how much this vacation will cost because Annie and Lara wanted to put things on their REI card to get the points. I guess there are also no foreign transaction fees. It felt a little like I was getting treated all week. (I will get a bill in a few days!)
Weather
Costa Rica is a country with two climates: the mountains and its microclimates and the coast.
Mountains
At one point early in the trip, I thought that CR might be a nice retirement destination and I am sure that there are a number of Americans who think the same. All of the places that we stayed at assumed we would not need blankets at night. It was cool in the days (70s) and only slightly cooler (60s) at night.
But it is a country with a tropical weather pattern. January is the "dry" season. In the mountains, it rained every day. And when it rained, it poured. The boys and I had researched doing a bike trip here, and VBT used to have a trip with hybrids but they have discontinued it. While there were many cyclists on the road, they all road off-road bikes. I think I saw one guy on a road bike. With all the rain here, a road bike would be pretty impractical at best and dangerous at worst.
If you are thinking of going to CR and visiting the interior in January, bring sturdy hiking boots and good rain gear. A throw-away poncho would be good for emergencies but it would be better to have a good rain jacket. Reserve cotton for indoor and sleepwear. Anything you wear outside should either be water-resistant/repellent or synthetic that will dry quickly. Even so, it probably won't dry. If you have a sleep app that plays the sound of falling rain, no need to run it at night.
The other reason quality gear is important is because the weather in the mountains is governed by micro-climates. Much in the way lake-effect snow patterns mean that it can be white-out conditions in one place and sunny a few miles away, the same is true for weather in the mountains. In fact, my memory of the weather in the mountains is brilliant sunshine and rain at the same time. It makes for some nice rainbows.
If you plan to spend all of your time on the beach, you can ignore this and move on to the next section.
Coast
We spent the second half of our trip on the coast. The weather was sunny, warm (80+), and humid. It was good beach weather but a little hot for strenuous activities, but that might just be me. When we down by the coast, we didn't see a sign of rain.
The weather on the coast would be good for cycling, but see below.
Geography and time
Since most of my international travel has been east-west, the major concern is jet lag from time-zone changes. Since this trip was north-south, there was no huge time zone challenge (CR is on CST), but since it is further south, the change in daylight was different. Since Syracuse is further north, during the winter, there are only about 8 hours of daylight (8:30-4:30). In the summer, there are almost 15 hours (6:00-9:00), almost double the amount of daylight. While I have no idea how much daylight there is in CR during the summer, there were almost 12 hours while we were here in January (6:00-6:00). Lara says the difference in daylight in equatorial countries is negligible: maybe a 15-minute change between summer and winter. Interesting.
Travel
Since there were four of us, it made sense to rent a car. We had a small Toyota SUV, something similar to a RAV4 and it was adequate even if quite underpowered. It had on-demand four-wheel drive. If you go anywhere besides mainline tourist destinations, you need it.
Lara and Annie are staying in CR for two more weeks at a work-away. They will be traveling with backpacks on public transportation. If you want to know more about the bus service in CR, you will have to ask them.
Food Safety
You can drink the water. You don't have to do anything differently from what you might do at home: wash your hands a lot, be careful with raw fruits and vegetables and probably avoid food from hawker stands, etc.
Restaurants ranged from cheap to moderate. (We never went to expensive places.) The food ranged from authentic regional to universal (like the Chinese restaurant that could have been anyplace). My favorite comida tipica was casado vegetariano, a combination plate.
Like just about anywhere, the menus are geared toward omnivores, so if you want vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or anything else, you can usually get the restaurant to provide it or you can look for restaurants that specialize in that. Thanks to the girls for finding Almendra yesterday even though that meant that everyone had to eat something plant-based. I don't think anyone went hungry.
Currency
You can get by on plastic and US currency but it will cost more and you will be limited in how you can interact. In tourist areas, you will be fine. If you venture off the beaten path, you will want colones. If they take US dollars, not only will you end up paying more but it is also, in my opinion, disrespectful.
Language
Anyone who has traveled with me knows that I try to learn some basics. So I have learned enough Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian, and Italian to get myself in trouble. I know more French so I am able to get into even more trouble in French-speaking countries.
English is more universally spoken in CR than any other non-English speaking country I have visited. The guidelines for currency are roughly parallel for English. In cities and tourist areas, everyone speaks at least functional English to transact business. If you need to get a tire repaired (as we did), it was much easier if you have at least one Spanish speaker in the group. I suppose you could get by with gestures but you would have to be pretty willing to ditch your self-esteem to do it that way.
Cycling
VBT used to have a trip to CR but they discontinued it. It was not hard to see why. There might be some good off-road riding, but as far as road riding goes, the roads are either narrow and full of traffic, too rough even for gravel or mountain bike tires, or high-speed roads where cyclists are either not allowed or shouldn't be. 99% of the people on bikes were functional riders. The recreational riders were either on the road with mountain bikes or off-road. (I saw quite a few cars with bikes on trunk racks so I presume they were riding someplace and I just never saw them so they must have been off-road.) I think I saw one guy during the entire week on a road bike and kit.
Besides the problem with roads and traffic, CR, except right by the coast, is really hilly! Like 15-20% grade hilly. On a number of occasions, Annie had to downshift, often into first. Granted, the little Toyota SUV was underpowered, but the point remains.
The girls tried to find a cycle tour for us to do and the only one they could find was out of business even though their website was still up.
I wasn't expecting to ride on this trip although it would have been a nice bonus.
Crime
I never felt in danger but then again, I am male.
We received multiple warnings about leaving things in our car and in sight. Since our rental did not have a cover for the luggage area, we always brought anything we thought might be attractive to thieves, including backpacks even if they were empty. This meant working on logistics, i.e., leaving our luggage wherever we were staying before going anywhere to sight see.
Miscellany
None of the places we stayed were accessible. This is to be expected with airbnbs but the commercial places also had no elevators or ramps. (Actually, the Hotel Aeropuerto has a ramp, but it goes two steps up to a landing, and then you have to haul your stuff up the stairs.)
If there are things I haven't addressed, please add a comment or message me privately.
Conclusion
One bucket list item checked off.
CR is a lovely place. The mountains are interesting - far more interesting to me than the coast. But most people probably go to CR for the warm weather, beaches, and water sports. None of these interests me but if they interest you, it is a snowbird's dream destination.
The bottom line here is that this trip raised questions that I will probably want to research further when I get home. It is definitely a place I would go back to but as far as spending longer periods of time, first I would want my Spanish to be better.
Politics and Economics
CR is a political oasis in Central America. I am a typical ignorant American: I know little about the history of politics in other countries (the same could probably be said about my knowledge of American politics!), so it is fascinating to me that Costa Rica has been able to be a stable representative democracy in the midst of the bloody civil warfare within my lifetime in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, even Mexico even though a lot of it is the product of US foreign policy. And I know even less about South America where Annie and Lara have been the past six months (Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia). I said to the girls that I would love to learn enough Spanish to be able to talk to the locals about their level of awareness concerning domestic politics and their standing in the international community. Are they more knowledgeable than Americans? Do most CRs even care?
Perhaps the issue is irrelevant as long as the standard of living is comfortable? I was told that the standard of living in CR is the highest in the Americas outside of Canada and the US and people seem quite comfortable. The cities are pretty tired-looking and most of the housing in the countryside is only a couple of steps above what you might see on the Onondaga reservation with an occasional residence that looks like it would fit in quite nicely at a gated community in Arizona.
In the countryside where there are activities designed for tourists, they charge tourist prices. That said, I think it is fine that things are more expensive for tourists. (Eco-)Tourism is CR's biggest industry and I don't see any reason why they shouldn't charge what the market will bear and what western tourists can afford. While it was a little difficult to figure exact costs because the conversion rate is about 560+ colones per dollar, my sense is that if you ate a nice restaurant, the prices were equivalent to what you would pay in the US. If you're looking for bargains, you not only have to go off the beaten track, but you forgo the view and the food presentation. One place we ate at had food pre-prepared in warming trays, buffet-style. But this is no different than in the US where you can go to Golden Corral.
I honestly don't know how much this vacation will cost because Annie and Lara wanted to put things on their REI card to get the points. I guess there are also no foreign transaction fees. It felt a little like I was getting treated all week. (I will get a bill in a few days!)
Weather
Costa Rica is a country with two climates: the mountains and its microclimates and the coast.
Mountains
At one point early in the trip, I thought that CR might be a nice retirement destination and I am sure that there are a number of Americans who think the same. All of the places that we stayed at assumed we would not need blankets at night. It was cool in the days (70s) and only slightly cooler (60s) at night.
But it is a country with a tropical weather pattern. January is the "dry" season. In the mountains, it rained every day. And when it rained, it poured. The boys and I had researched doing a bike trip here, and VBT used to have a trip with hybrids but they have discontinued it. While there were many cyclists on the road, they all road off-road bikes. I think I saw one guy on a road bike. With all the rain here, a road bike would be pretty impractical at best and dangerous at worst.
If you are thinking of going to CR and visiting the interior in January, bring sturdy hiking boots and good rain gear. A throw-away poncho would be good for emergencies but it would be better to have a good rain jacket. Reserve cotton for indoor and sleepwear. Anything you wear outside should either be water-resistant/repellent or synthetic that will dry quickly. Even so, it probably won't dry. If you have a sleep app that plays the sound of falling rain, no need to run it at night.
The other reason quality gear is important is because the weather in the mountains is governed by micro-climates. Much in the way lake-effect snow patterns mean that it can be white-out conditions in one place and sunny a few miles away, the same is true for weather in the mountains. In fact, my memory of the weather in the mountains is brilliant sunshine and rain at the same time. It makes for some nice rainbows.
If you plan to spend all of your time on the beach, you can ignore this and move on to the next section.
Coast
We spent the second half of our trip on the coast. The weather was sunny, warm (80+), and humid. It was good beach weather but a little hot for strenuous activities, but that might just be me. When we down by the coast, we didn't see a sign of rain.
The weather on the coast would be good for cycling, but see below.
Geography and time
Since most of my international travel has been east-west, the major concern is jet lag from time-zone changes. Since this trip was north-south, there was no huge time zone challenge (CR is on CST), but since it is further south, the change in daylight was different. Since Syracuse is further north, during the winter, there are only about 8 hours of daylight (8:30-4:30). In the summer, there are almost 15 hours (6:00-9:00), almost double the amount of daylight. While I have no idea how much daylight there is in CR during the summer, there were almost 12 hours while we were here in January (6:00-6:00). Lara says the difference in daylight in equatorial countries is negligible: maybe a 15-minute change between summer and winter. Interesting.
Travel
Since there were four of us, it made sense to rent a car. We had a small Toyota SUV, something similar to a RAV4 and it was adequate even if quite underpowered. It had on-demand four-wheel drive. If you go anywhere besides mainline tourist destinations, you need it.
Lara and Annie are staying in CR for two more weeks at a work-away. They will be traveling with backpacks on public transportation. If you want to know more about the bus service in CR, you will have to ask them.
Food Safety
You can drink the water. You don't have to do anything differently from what you might do at home: wash your hands a lot, be careful with raw fruits and vegetables and probably avoid food from hawker stands, etc.
Restaurants ranged from cheap to moderate. (We never went to expensive places.) The food ranged from authentic regional to universal (like the Chinese restaurant that could have been anyplace). My favorite comida tipica was casado vegetariano, a combination plate.
Like just about anywhere, the menus are geared toward omnivores, so if you want vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or anything else, you can usually get the restaurant to provide it or you can look for restaurants that specialize in that. Thanks to the girls for finding Almendra yesterday even though that meant that everyone had to eat something plant-based. I don't think anyone went hungry.
Currency
You can get by on plastic and US currency but it will cost more and you will be limited in how you can interact. In tourist areas, you will be fine. If you venture off the beaten path, you will want colones. If they take US dollars, not only will you end up paying more but it is also, in my opinion, disrespectful.
Language
Anyone who has traveled with me knows that I try to learn some basics. So I have learned enough Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian, and Italian to get myself in trouble. I know more French so I am able to get into even more trouble in French-speaking countries.
English is more universally spoken in CR than any other non-English speaking country I have visited. The guidelines for currency are roughly parallel for English. In cities and tourist areas, everyone speaks at least functional English to transact business. If you need to get a tire repaired (as we did), it was much easier if you have at least one Spanish speaker in the group. I suppose you could get by with gestures but you would have to be pretty willing to ditch your self-esteem to do it that way.
Cycling
VBT used to have a trip to CR but they discontinued it. It was not hard to see why. There might be some good off-road riding, but as far as road riding goes, the roads are either narrow and full of traffic, too rough even for gravel or mountain bike tires, or high-speed roads where cyclists are either not allowed or shouldn't be. 99% of the people on bikes were functional riders. The recreational riders were either on the road with mountain bikes or off-road. (I saw quite a few cars with bikes on trunk racks so I presume they were riding someplace and I just never saw them so they must have been off-road.) I think I saw one guy during the entire week on a road bike and kit.
Besides the problem with roads and traffic, CR, except right by the coast, is really hilly! Like 15-20% grade hilly. On a number of occasions, Annie had to downshift, often into first. Granted, the little Toyota SUV was underpowered, but the point remains.
The girls tried to find a cycle tour for us to do and the only one they could find was out of business even though their website was still up.
I wasn't expecting to ride on this trip although it would have been a nice bonus.
Crime
I never felt in danger but then again, I am male.
We received multiple warnings about leaving things in our car and in sight. Since our rental did not have a cover for the luggage area, we always brought anything we thought might be attractive to thieves, including backpacks even if they were empty. This meant working on logistics, i.e., leaving our luggage wherever we were staying before going anywhere to sight see.
Miscellany
None of the places we stayed were accessible. This is to be expected with airbnbs but the commercial places also had no elevators or ramps. (Actually, the Hotel Aeropuerto has a ramp, but it goes two steps up to a landing, and then you have to haul your stuff up the stairs.)
If there are things I haven't addressed, please add a comment or message me privately.
Conclusion
One bucket list item checked off.
CR is a lovely place. The mountains are interesting - far more interesting to me than the coast. But most people probably go to CR for the warm weather, beaches, and water sports. None of these interests me but if they interest you, it is a snowbird's dream destination.
The bottom line here is that this trip raised questions that I will probably want to research further when I get home. It is definitely a place I would go back to but as far as spending longer periods of time, first I would want my Spanish to be better.
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