Costa Rica

C

Captains Cat

New member
Been here in CR for almost two weeks now, heading home on a 6am bird in the morning if I manage to get Sally up at 330 AM! :roll:

Stayed in the central Valle about 30 miles from San Jose the whole time, touring a day and resting by the pool the next at at about 2800' elevation at a resort hotel www.vistadelvalle.com very nice and relatively inexpensive in our own bungalow, the T-House. 80 during the day and cool enough at night for a light blanket. We had been headed for a beach for the second week until my bride found it was 90-95 most of the time and 80+ at night! She doesn't do HOT very well!

Great birds, critters, etc. will try to post a link to pix once I get them up. Ready to see our boat again though and our critters and family!

271 unread posts once I looked an hour ago :shock:

Charlie
 
Was deployed onboard a cutter back in 1992 and we stopped in CR for a few days. Wonderful people and we had a great time. Sounds like you did, too.

Rick
 
Charlie, That looks like a real nice resort. How did you feel about the general sense of personal security in Costa Rica? We were in Honduras and Belize last month, and never felt very safe going off on our own in the cities, or in the country side.
 
Charlie -
Looking forward to your pics. We have had some great trips to Costa Rica -- birdwatching, shore walks, and once a night on the shoulders of the volcano Arenal when it was erupting - great chunks of hot lava blasted high into the sky (we could hear them when they fell into the forest above us) -- the sky red from the hot lava streaming down the volcano flanks. Ah memories of a fine country - met wonderful people, and fine food. Your pics will kindle recollections. Sure glad you had a fine trip and our best to you two. Cheers.
 
Hi Charlie,

Sounds like a good time. Sorry you didn't get onto the beach, but I agree, That's too hot. BTW, that's close to my regular wake up time. Do you want a Wake up call :?: :lol:

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
I visited Costa Rica last spring and had a wonderful time. We spent most of the trip in Samara, a small town on the Pacific side of the Nicoya Peninsula. Super safe, fun restaurants and bars, walkable, wonderful beach....

Discovery, I was in Belize (Ambergris Caye mostly) for New Years and I felt slightly safer in Costa Rica, although I didn't feel unsafe in either country. Perhaps it was just where I was in both countries. And the beaches in Costa Rica were far cleaner and better for swimming than the beaches (that we visited) in Belize. But, the snorkeling/diving in Belize was better, and the Mayan ruins in Belize and Guatemala are spectacular.
 
We have spent a fair amount of time--in the past--in all of Central America. Costa Rica generally we considered the safest. However, it can change rapidly and get better or worse. Petty theft is an issue but serious crime is rare.

Probably the most dangerous was Guatemala, if out of the established cities--and we, as well as the guides when we hired them, were armed--only place I have been to, where you checked your weapon at the door as you went into the bank. An Interesting comment from the Port Captain in one port when I declared my weapons, was that "you are better armed than our soldiers are--use them if necessary" But again--it varied from place to place and time to time. Generally the Islands in Belize are safe-but we were aware of several murders in Honduras Islands....All places--including America--require situational awareness.
 
Our 10 year old grandaughter Lizzie and her mom spent two weeks in Jabilos, Alajuela, Costa Rica over this past Christmas vacation. They lived with a family during the week and helped out at a zoo. Lizzie does speak fluent Spanish. It was a great cultural immersion experience ("La vida pura") and they made some hopefully lifelong friends.
 
Marty -
As career teachers, both El and I believe some of the best education comes from travel. Great to read about your grand-daughter's experience in CR. We're sponsoring an Outdoor Leadership School experience for a grandkid in Norway this summer. For grandparents wondering about a birthday or Christmas gift for a grandkid, we think one of the best gifts is a trip -- lifelong educational experience for many.
 
Never had any worries about security but did see a lot of secured properties, fences topped with razor wire, etc. Spent a day in downtown San Jose and went on tours every other day by ourselves with a driver from the resort hotel we were at. The hotel, far into the countryside at 2800' of elevation had it's own secured gate with a 24 hour guard (didn't see any weapons in sight but there may have been some) We arrived at 2300 one night and left at 0330 last Friday and didn't have to wake him up!

We have also been to Guatemala, no comparison but that was in the early 80's, Sally was there for 4 months as a consultant working with the natives trying to teach them to dye their weaving materials so they were color fast. She was working for the Inter American Development Bank for a lady named Ruth Dyan (Moshe's ex wife), a very interesting lady! I went down for two weeks at the end of her stay to pry her loose, she'd have stayed if she had a choice. The kids and I had other ideas though.

I'll try to put a bunch of representative photos on one photo hosting service or another and post a link. Glad to be back and to see that our Congress has fixed all the problems while were gone... :evil:

Charlie
 
One more thought, we didn't realize when we went that Costa Rica has NO military, not even a Coast Guard (they do have Marine Police). Not advocating that for anyone else but what a difference it must make to how much it takes to run the country. This has been so since their Civil War in 1948. Not sure if they get Foreign Aid from the US, or even need it. If they did need it, after Sally's visit to the shops, they could cancel it! :roll: :mrgreen:

Charlie
 
Although there is no army or Navy, Costa Rica does have the Fuerza Pública and a Special Forces unit.

Charlie, I have to disagree with you about a Coast Guard. They do have one and we have interacted with it in the past. It is stronger now. They have some modern vessels and some cast off US vessels. A lot of their mission is drug interdiction, as well as coastal enforcement.

Concealed carry permits are fairly easy to get for residents, and that is probably why you would not see a weapon. We had a good friend who lived there for many years. He had a "security" guy--who had many other jobs. Generally the country is very safe. If I was to choose a Central American country to live in, it would be Costa Rica. We traveled extensively along the coast and the major issues was petty theft from boats--and that was fairly common. In fact we avoided several harbors on our last trip, because of the numbers of dinghies being stolen--even when pulled aboard the boat. One of our friends had their outboard stoled out of the cockpit at night. The dinghy was rolled up on the cabin top, and was cut off its mount and also taken.

We found that our two labs aboard were excellent security.
 
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