Costa Rica - Final Thoughts

Costa Rica is unlike its Central American brethren for one striking reason: it has no standing army. This means there have been no military coups, destructive civil wars, or much American meddling. Instead, it has poured its political power into the environment and the well-being of its citizens. What a novel concept.

Costa Rica is known for its vast and diverse parks, abundant wildlife and eco-tourism opportunities. Through personal experiences and conversations with locals, rangers, and visitors, I have come to the following conclusions.

     Costa Rica has done:

• An excellent job promoting eco-tourism (Everybody KNOWS about Costa Ricas parks and adventure playgrounds, even if they haven't been here).  
• An admirable job protecting these parks (While other countries were declaring war, Costa Rica was declaring new parks)
• A mediocre job in managing them (Bad communication with users, few educational/research opportunities, very expensive user fees, no maps, generally horrible trail conditions, no websites)
• A poor job in protecting the area around the parks (Complete lack of planning has led to huge hotels built right on the park borders, no buffer parks, unhealthy activities like ATV, roads, and logging). This last point is particularly poignent because many people are now claiming that "eco-tourism" is actually ruining the environment.

Overall, we really liked Costa Rica. The food was good (not great). Prices here were more expensive than anywhere else, but we still never paid more than $10 for a bus ticket or $20 for a private double room. Plus, we were able to camp more (free!) and we didn't need to hire "guides" for safety. Parks were empty (and sometimes closed) because we went in the off season. We didn't feel insecure or trapped, and people were very friendly. We could drink water from the tap and eat the fruits and veggies.

Finally, we had a fantastic time with our friend from Davis, Carlos, who hosted us in San Jose. His family made us feel at home, didn't make us feel weird when we were forced to do weird things to get rid of bed bugs, and invited us to a giant family gathering where we ate well and played games. His mom is thoroughly an excellent cook.

The question that nags us is: What exactly is eco-tourism? How do you know if the place you give your money to actually follows said practices? When does your visitation actually bring more harm than good? Please share your thoughts via Comments. Thanks!

And Now For Something Completely Different

While still in Costa Rica, we feel like we´re in a different world. We´ve made our way north to the touristy beach area of Tamarindo. It´s not just the numerous gringos, the over-abundande of surf bums, or the higher costs that make this different. We are lucky enough to have some family here too - Chris (my bro), Hillary (my sister-in-law) and Mia (my niece!) - plus we are staying at a real hotel and eating fancy foods. What has become of us?!

Of course it´s been really great time to spend time with fam. We are very honored to have our first "visitors" so soon. We spend our days eating well, reading, surfing, hiking, playing cards, and playing with Mia. It is difficult for me to see my first niece and know that it will be another 1-2 years before I see her again. Mia won´t remember these two years apart, but the rest of us "adults" will.

The week flew by too quickly and everybody was sad to depart. K. and I extended our beach stay by moving 20km north to Flamingo. My uncle Buddy put us up in his favorite hotel for two nights. My uncle Bob and aunt Julie sent us on a jungle canopy tour, whizzing through the trees on zip lines up to 1/2 km long. Thanks for the fun wedding presents!

This part of our trip was extra special because it was the closest thing to a traditional honeymoon. After we got married, we spent several days in San Francisco with K´s family. Then we took off for our 2 week roadtrip through the northwest. Eventually we embarked on this journey. All three trips have been fantastic, but none of them were exactly relaxing. We have been doing a lot of hiking, camping, cooking, and staying in cheap places. This last week was a great change of pace.

Now we return to our regular programming. Next up: Nicaragua.

Chris tried to teach us all to surf. 

I could stand on the surfboard for about 3 second. Credit to Kristin for snapping a picture in such a short time frame. 

Kristin zipping through the dense forest. 

More Hiking, More Rain

Having spent a few days on the coast of the Osa Peninsula, we took a bus to the interior mountainous region. We hiked through the undulating tapestry for two more days, enjoying many various shades of green. We also experienced the worst (you pick: closest, loudest, scariest, most exposed) thunder storm. Along the way we found three huge waterfalls, numerous smaller falls and cascades, excellent view points, and no people. The rain makes the hiking harder, but having the parks to ourselves makes it more enjoyable.

Having spent a week around Corcovado National Park, surviving the humidity and getting rid of bed bugs and trying to keep things dry, we decided it was time to head inland to the mountains. Chirripo National Park is named after Chirripo Peak, which is the highest point in Costa Rica and part of the Continental Divide, measuring in at 3820 meters (12530 ft). We found more humidity and more rain, but at least the nights were quite cold. We also found an excellent hostel, that was run by an inspirational couple who left the States 3 years ago. Within a few hours of hanging out with them, they asked us to run the hostel for a few days. They needed to cross into Panama, only to return to Costa Rica with a renewed visa valid for another 6 months. We couldn't help them out as we have to meet up with my family soon. Ah well, we may return . . .

Unfortunately, Chirripo Park, like Corcovado, was closed for the month of October. We had looked every where for info on this park - guide books, internet, the Chirripo Hotel, other park agencies, bus drivers - and nobody knew that it was closed until we physically arrived at the park offices to find a small sign alerting us to the closure. From this, we've learned that while Costa Rica has done a good job setting land aside for parks, they've done a less-than-stellar job in managing said parks. Since then, we've also learned the the country has done a horrible job managing around the parks to the point where some concerned people are arguing that "eco-tourism" is actually significantly damaging the environment.

In the case of Chirripo, there was a private nature reserve surrounding the National Park, serving as a buffer against development. Cloudbridge Reserve also offers educational nature hikes, research space and opportunities for budding scientists, and reforestation projects.

Both parks were absolutely fabulous, with Corcovado presenting us with an abundance of wildlife opportunities, and Chirripo with great views, hard hikes, and friendly people.

Corcovado National Park

A few people have mentioned this park, on the far southern Pacific tip of Costa Rica. C.G. in particular called this the "best park in Central America." That's a pretty strong statement, but it was coming from someone who spent a lot of time down here and knows what he's talking about, someone I could trust.

So, we took another long bus ride from San Jose down to a one-street town called Puerto Jiminez, which is our jumping off point into the park. It's another 2 hour truck ride from here, which only got us 32 km closer to the park. We then had to walk because the truck couldn't cross the swollen river (seven straight days of rain). We walked 10km to the beach, where we set up camp. The next day started with another 3.5 km along the beach to the park entrance. However, all this effort was well worth it as we saw more wildlife in one day than we have anywhere else (so far). It is the off season, so we nearly had this side of the park to ourselves. It was hard to take in all of the animals - too many to count. So, here's a few pictures. Will post more later, along with more details of what we're up to. Tomorrow we're heading back into the park, but via another entrance: Rio Tigre. This is more mountainous, less visited, and even rainier (is that possible)? Until then, a few photos to keep you wondering . . .

Hiking through the jungle, all to ourselves.

Making a new friend

Tons of hermit crabs. If only you could eat them . . .

Too much tree to hug!

Spider monkeys, eating and playing, just like us.

An interesting new shelter that has made me reevaluate the necessity of a tent.

Costa Rica and Rain

On my birthday, we had the distinct pleasure of waking up at 3am to catch a bus to Guatemala Airport, where we were able to sit around for 3 hours waiting for our plane. We eventually made it to San Jose, Costa Rica. Our friend from Davis, Carlos, had just moved back to Costa Rica and picked us up at the airport. We hung around for a few days, went to a bio-park/zoo for a day, ate great meals with his family, and tried desperately to get rid of bed bugs.

Finally it was time to move on, so we took a 8 hour bus ride to the most southern park in the country - Corcovado. A few people had recommended this park. Unfortunately, much of it is closed due to heavy rains. We're heading into the park tomorrow and will spend a few days in this wonderful coastal jungle area.

Costa Rica is definitely more expensive than Guatemala. On the flip side, however, is that they have a very stable government, no army, less crime, the water is safe to drink, and the fruits and veggies are easier on the stomach. Still, chocolate is not cheap so this is obviously not live-able!