www.CostaRicaTicas.com

After reading through some of the posts in the different sections of this board and watching the original post get perverted into something else, this post is for all.
Read viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48954 before reading this post and maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from. Sorry if the my grammar and punctuation don't meet with your approval.

After recently reading through many of the posts and rebuttals to said posts I decided to write this little primer about Costa Rica.
A quick disclaimer, in this context “primer” is defined as “A short informative piece of writing”. Not the other definitions available.

Many people seem to post about Costa Rica with a rather dim view of the country. Personally I can’t see this as the case. I have spent a lot of time in the gulch but have also spent time in other parts of the Country. Granted Costa Rica has its’ faults but name me other countries that do not have faults of their own. Whether it be crime, poverty, race relations, laws that seem, to us, unreasonable or ridiculous, or any other reason you may be able to think of.

We travel to these countries to broaden our knowledge of the rest of the world and experience different cultures. Whether that be the food, the architecture, their way of life or even their method of transportation. In many of these countries prostitution is legal but pimping is not. So be it.
But I digress from the original subject.

How many people who post on this board can honestly say they have done any of the following:
Viewed the Stone Spheres at Palma Sur?
Visited the Mayan ruins at Guayabo?
Experienced the waterfalls in La Fortuna, Montezuma or La Paz?
Experienced the volcanos of Orosi, Irazu, Poas or even Arenal?
Wind surfed the waters of Lake Arenal and then enjoyed a hot spring soak at Baldi, Eco Thermales or the tourist trap of Tabacon?
Have you ever enjoyed a sunset cruise on a sail boat in the southern waters off Guanacaste province?
Perhaps taken an extended jet skiing tour of the Papagayo peninsula?
Swam in the ocean of Drake bay and then spent the night listening to the sounds of the jungle in a nearby rain forest?
Enjoyed the pilgrimage or actually taken part in the pilgrimage in July or August to the Cathedral/Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago like so many devout Catholic Costa Ricans do?
Enjoyed the lights of the San Jose valley from the restaurant Mirador Ram Luna or from a balcony at the old “White House”?
Have you visited the numismatic museum or the Museo de Oro or Museo De N*no or even the Jade museum which used to be in the INS building but has moved to Avenida Central opposite the Max por Menos?
Possibly strolled up Paseo Colon to the Museo de Cultra; you know the old fort with the bullet holes in the walls?
Have you ever played golf at Playa Conchal or Los Seunos or even Cariari?
Done an ATV tour through the mountains and valleys in and around Jaco or Flamingo?
Picked mango from the tree in Jaco? Seen a Teak plantation ?
Zip lined through the mountains and flown like a bird on those zip lines? Experienced one of the many coffee plantation tours ?
You’ve probably gone deep sea fishing or have pictures saying that’s what you did. Did you share your catch with the locals ?

There are so many other things to do in Costa Rica besides the gulch.

If you go to Costa Rica for the gulch and the gulch only so be it, enjoy your time there.

Until you have experienced more of the country and its’ people than the gulch you have no right to bad mouth the country, its laws, its people, its traffic or anything else. I know of only a few people that can claim to have “experienced” Costa Rica. I’m not one of them because my Spanish is still very bad ( like my writing or English). Some of these people are “perpetual tourists”, others are actual residents, others just visit. A few are expat residents.

If your impression of Costa Rica is based solely on your experiences in the gulch you have missed out on the warmth, the cordiality, the willingness to help and the best parts of the people of Costa Rica. They are some of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in any of the 15 or more countries I've been to.

Just one man’s opinion.

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Patriot: Ice Road Trucking through the Bearing Sea to recovery

Excellent post Patriot. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I tend to get into a rut during my "rutting season" in CR.

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" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."

Great post. I've hit well over half of these things and can add hundreds of others. One of the simplest is to watch the sunset from the lounge chairs behind the Cocal. Spend some time around Jaco and if you get up early or move around enough you will see the scarlet macaws, one of the most incredibly beautiful birds to be seen anywhere on earth, that feed on the almond trees there. Go out at night at Tortugara National Park and see the 3 hundred pound green sea turtles crawl up on the beach to nest. Visit Barra de Colorado where the only access is by plane or boat and enjoy life in a community that is poor but exceptionally happy. When everything has to be transported over 80 miles from the closest city you learn to take care of what you have and appreciate the simple things. It doesn't take much there to find an excuse to have a party.
Costa Rica has it's share of problems. I've noticed that the USA seems to be having a few problems too. I live here. I love the United States but it is not the country of my youth. The direction that it has taken I cannot change and I find it depressing to have to deal with. The one reason I live here is that I feel more freedom here than in the states. In the states I feel that everything I do is now being monitored by the government and not for my good. I feel that government has grown completely out of control and exists to perpetuate itself and control the people. I don't need the constant aggravation
.

I'm at 38%, but like Pops, I'd add a couple of things:

1. watch the sunrise from the radio masts on top of Irazu
2. paddleboard with the whale pods when they migrate
3. have sex on the beach (and not the drink) ... preferably on both coasts.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Great post! I am a noob coming down in July and while I will probably partake in some of the "adult" activities I will also be taking in some of the natural scenery that Costa Rica has to offer such as the Paos Volcano and zip lining through the rainforest. Thanks again for some great suggestions!!


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One thing I forgot to mention and is a fun day trip:
Take a local bus ride out to Sarchi and look at the furniture they make there. My understanding is it is all "one of a kind". Not the mass produced stuff we get.
It's also inexpensive and the quality is excellent. Best of all they do export it.

Special thanks to Pops for doing this with me a few years ago.

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Patriot: Ice Road Trucking through the Bearing Sea to recovery

Thanks for the tourist info but your post is slighty condescending.

I've been to CR over a dozen times and can't remember saying anything bad about it. Except maybe the holes in the sidewalk are scary.

It's a beautiful country and the people are mostly very nice. But there are plenty of beautiful places to travel to.

The gulch has changed a lot in the past few years and isn't as appealing as it once was IMO.

What does seeing more tourist places have to do with one's right to give their opinion? Everybody has the right to give an opinion about anything at anytime. What value you place on that opinion is your choice, but that doesn't take away anybody's right to have one. And if somebody has a negative opinion about any place, that doesn't mean they should stop visiting the place, something that has been suggested here numerous times.

Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. The problem is that many people are not content just having one and choose to behave like one. Expressing your opinion is a great thing. It gives us warning as to whether you have one or are one.

The OP is addressing the people that like to talk shyt about a country and it's people based upon their knowledge of 1 square kilometer of area, full of hookers, sharlatans and thugs. You are not one of those people, and in fact you say nice things about your experiences.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Who returns to restaurants that they have negative opinions of? Who buys clothes from stores that they feel is inferior quality?

There is a difference between ignorance and experience. Opinion without merit is noise, and serves only to spread disinformation. That is one of the takeaways of this thread.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Exactly what are you saying? If a person post an opinion which you agree with and have you no objection to the tone of their post then they are not an a-hole, but if they post an opinion that you either disagree with or in a tone you object to than they are a-holes? Whose to decide what is objectionable?

With respect to Patriot's post to start this thread. I read parts of thread he referenced as I was an integral part of that thread. While I do not disagree with his overall point , that there are a lot of things to see and do in CR, I also found the post sort of arrogant or condescending. Why would you preface your questions "how may of you can honestly say..." with the "honesty say" in enlarged bold letters then what do you mean? Is this a litmus test or something? If you haven't done those things, on Patriot list, or rarely leave the gulch then what? They can't express an opinion?

Anytime you express an opinion you give incite as to who you are and how you think. Anyone reading what you write or listening to what you say is free to decide if they think you go through life having an asshole, which everyone has, or being an asshole, which some people choose to be. That is what is great about people giving their opinions. From what they have to say we get to evaluate if we agree with them, respect them, or have no respect for them. Until people open their mouths they are pretty much all the same. Someone you don't know.

When I go to Costa Rica I take many different tours . I like that . Sometime I sit in a restaurant on central ave. and see the real people there. That to me is the real people of Costa Rica.

A few of my own:
- the coconut juice they sell in front of Ins Bldg weekday mornings. Or OJ. Both fresh and less than a dollar.
- the cappucino served by the red head with the great cleavage at hdr in the morning. Hope she is still there.
- the mornings in SJ themselves, not just Sunday mornings on Calle 6 or 8.