Costa Rica Van Tour

Original Trip Description: (February 8-16, 1992)
Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus which separates North and South America. Bordered by troubled neighbors Nicaragua and Panama, Costa Rica has a strong democratic tradition, a vibrant market economy, and no army - it was abolished in 1949. Ticos, as Costa Ricans are called; are a polite, peaceful people.
Their country is a developed one where visitors are surprised to find they can drink water straight from a tap in the large cities. Literacy rates are a respectable 90 percent. Within sixty miles of the capital of San Jose are cloud forests, dense jungles, sandy beaches, tropical savannahs, and piney highlands with rushing rivers and white waterfalls. Costa Rica is a small country, slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia. Elevations vary from sea level to 12,529 feet; temperatures are moderate. It is known around the world for a National Park System which protects about 12 percent of the available land.
It has more species of mammals and birds than the continental United States and Canada combined. Birds from humdrum sparrow to exotic macaw, beasts from deer to jaguar to monkey. Some 112 volcanic craters mark the landscape of Costa Rica. These craters range from extinct to dormant to extremely active.
Our whirlwind eight day tour will visit many of these attractions. The trip is rated leisurely to moderate (L/M).
Originates @ San Jose, Costa Rica.

Garden Sculpture

Sunday Carwash

Trip Report:

Our return flight from San Jose, Costa Rica was a fabulous conclusion to a wonderful month of travel. On a clear day with a smattering of puffy clouds, our Dallas bound plane was within minutes flying over the top of Arenal Volcano. We were able to look directly into the caldera from a height of 20,000 feet. Recent black lava flows could be seen inching down the flanks of the volcano towards a palapa restaurant where we had watched the display late one evening. Our memories of those late evening fireworks and the next day's jungle hike to the lava flows flooded back. We flew onward over Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico. Entranced, we watched these countries swiftly pass below us and resolved to soon return to Central America.

Our group of 18 participants was a large one and everyone interacted well. The first thing we discovered about Costa Rica was that nobody goes anywhere very fast. When we scouted the entire trip route in four exhausting days we realized that driving in Costa Rica was going to be quite an experience. It wasn't as dangerous as it sometimes can be in Mexico and other Latin American countries, but it was extremely slow. Other than the autopistas, their roads are horrible: narrow, no pavement, frequent potholes, traffic cops with radar guns sitting at the speed change signs. We averaged 25 miles per hour and after traveling on their high speed buses, we've observed that they can't do much better.

Costa Rica has it all. Out trip description was right on target; it can be a unique experience in an extremely friendly country. We hiked in swirling fog around a volcano caldera at Irazu, slept under a palapa while Arenal erupted all night, saw the elusive Quetzal while hiking in the rain forests of Monte Verde, were attacked by monkey pickpockets at Manuel Antonio Beach, saw a sloth in a downtown Limon public park, saw exotic birds in a number of jungle and highland settings, saw more species of orchids than we knew existed, and even watched the filming of the movie "Columbus" on Herrudura Beach. The only disappointing omission was the Jungle Train. Apparently the track between San Jose and Turrialba has been out of commission for several years and last year's earthquake destroyed the remaining portion from Turrialba to Siquerrres. This earthquake was so intense that it permanently raised the eastern coast near Limon a meter and a half, exposing huge coral beds in the process.

The two of us arrived in San Jose a week early to scout the route, find campsites, and organize the food and transportation. Our initial plans had to change considerably when we found travel times were so long. Fortunately, good food is plentiful in Costa Rica and readily available in restaurants at reasonable prices. Sanitation is not a problem there either, so we opted for eating most of our dinners out. This simplified camping life considerably and we were able to use the extra time to cover kilometers and see more of the sights. During the scouting phase of our visit we determined that it was always wet at night at the Monte Verde Cloud Forest, so we arranged indoor accommodations which included meals.

While Costa Rica has many acres of National Parks, they are poorly staffed, they have a paucity of information available for their tourist visitors, and they have marginal to nonexistent facilities. The only National Park that we found with good campsites was Cauhita, south of Limon, and that wasn't on our group trip itinerary. During the scouting phase we were concerned about the viability of camping in Costa Rica but thanks to our extensive travel experiences in Guatemala and Mexico, we were able to eventually work out acceptable locations. We had showers every night, something difficult to find while camping in Mexico.

Camping is absolutely the best way for the cost conscious traveler to see Costa Rica. A recent article in the Tico Times stated Costa Rica's tourist visitation is still about 50,000 per year but they were expecting a 30% growth in tourism this year. It will probably happen, but the tourist accommodations needed to satisfy these numbers of people during the high season don't exist yet. Hotel accommodations are a notoriously bad value in Costa Rica. Accommodations priced above $50.00 per day frequently don't have hot water and are more dumpy than a Motel 6 would be in the United States. Budget or low cost accommodations can best be described as quaint. Good accommodations start in the over $75.00 a day range. There are a few good values but you have to know where to look and they are frequently booked and paid for well in advance.

Theft is reputedly a large problem in Costa Rica. In the capital, San Jose, all tourist vehicles are routinely robbed. Unfortunately, these tourist vehicles are marked with the letters TUR and the rental agency's logos. The Tico Times and others are trying to eliminate the tourist branding problem. The only solutions are to park your car in a guarded parking lot or travel in a large enough group that thieves can't keep track of when you leave and when you'll be back. Our group had no problems except for the loss of three large beach towels at our Manuel Antonio beach camp. Supposedly, in San Jose there are roving gangs who break into the cars but any problem in the rest of the country may be the reaction of a less wealthy citizenry to some tourist's conspicuous affluence. Gold chains, rolex watches, fancy clothes, and wads of money can cause you problems while traveling anywhere in Central America. We went to Costa Rica to camp. We took old clothes and tried to fit in as much as gringos who speak only combat Spanish can. It's also true that thieves anywhere prey on the elderly and unfit since they are least likely to offer physical resistance. Given our size and fitness, perhaps neither of us appears to be a desirable robbery target.

We had a great time and are already making plans to return to Costa Rica. We hope that some of you will be able to join us.