We just came back from an amazing trip to Costa Rica. I have so much to share about our adventures. Yes, we saw many beautiful places, and plenty of interesting critters, and we met wonderful people. Pretty much a given when you travel to an exotic paradise, don’t you think?
Therefore, instead of sharing all our beautiful pictures of the amazing landscapes and critters we saw, I’ve decided to share some interesting things that aren’t normally shared. Don’t worry, I’ll still share those incredible things that filled our adventure to Costa Rica in other blogs. But for now…
- Mosquitoes – Most people equate rainforest with mosquitoes. It tends to be a good environment for breeding those nasty pests. Yes, there were mosquitoes but no more than we getting during a summer evening on the porch in western New York. Throughout most of our travels, we never saw any of those blood-sucking beasts. We only came across them when we were in Cahuita, which is located on the southern Caribbean coast. Our cottage was next to the National Park and beach. Malaria is not a problem in Costa Rica but dengue is and is increasing every year, both diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes. There were at least 14,000 cases of dengue in 2013. Therefore, mosquito repellent is absolutely necessary. We bathed with lemongrass soap and used a repellent I made from yarrow tincture and citronella. It worked fairly well but wore off quickly. I think if I had added catnip tincture to it, it would have been more effective. Catnip is ten times more powerful than DEET. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about this until we were already on our way to Costa Rica. Even though, Cahuita has it’s share of mosquitoes, our cottage (which the owner lived in when it was not being rented) only had screens on windows in the living room and kitchen, all other windows were unscreened but had shutters. We left the shutters open during the day but shut them after dark when some mosquitoes and other bugs came out. However, we did not ever see that many mosquitoes and certain no more than we would have on a summer’s night back home. The ceiling fans made it comfortable to sleep even with the shuttered windows.
- Potable water – Crazy at it seems we could drink water just about everywhere we went. In fact, the hostel we stayed in El Castillo, bragged about having the purest mountain spring water in all of Costa Rica. The only place we bought bottled water was in Cahuita. The water that came into our cottage was purified but stored in a black plastic cistern, which didn’t sound so great. We could have drank the water with no problems, but we didn’t imagine it tasting very good.
- Wifi – We were able to get it everywhere we went. In fact, it was free and easy to get connected. This was very handy as most lodgings and transportation were booked over the internet.
- Indoor plumbing – There were toilets everywhere we needed them, except in the middle of the rainforest, which is totally understandable. Their septic systems cannot handle large quantities of paper, so most places requested that used toilet paper to be thrown in a wastebasket and not in the toilet. It’s a task that I needed to get used to and forgot once in a while.
- Money – Unless you are in a super rural area or buying from a street vendor, you can use US dollars. Keep in mind, your change will be in Costa Rican colones. We took US dollars, had a debit card and a credit card (remember to alert your bank to your travel plans) to use. The best exchange was using US dollars for purchases. There were additional charges when withdrawing money from an ATM – foreign bank and ATM fees. There was a foreign exchange charge when using a credit card. When we got back, I found that when we used the debit card to purchase items, there were minimal extra charges applied. Too bad we did not know that before we left on our trip. Next time, we will only use US dollars or the ATM card to reduce extra fees associated with purchases.
- Electricity – Same as the USA we never had a problem
Speckled Owl we saw during a night hike
- Seeing critters – If you are looking, there is a good chance you will see something. However, if you are going into the cloud forest to see critters, hire a guide. Of course, luck always plays into it but they have walkie-talkies and alert each other to where the critters are in the park. We went on a night hike near Monteverde and saw a Mexican Porcupine, 2-toed Sloth, Headlight Click Beetle, Orange Kneed Tarantula, Guanacaste Walking Stick (which is HUGE), the endangered Kinkajou, Green Viper, another green snake, Falcon, Speckled Owl, and Toucan. It actually felt like a night “run” through the forest as opposed to a hike, but it was awesome nonetheless. The next day we went on a day hike and saw twice a many critters. Yes, you have to be lucky, but these guides know what they are doing and worth the extra cash – at least the first time through.
One of the Resplendent Quetzals we saw in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
- Fruit – Since fruit is a huge industry in Costa Rica, you would think there would be fruit everywhere. Nope, just like in the USA, you need to seek it out. We are huge mango lovers and we were very excited to eat and drink mango juice. We even stayed in Alajuela, which means “City of Mangoes.” Unfortunately, it was the wrong season and the mango trees were just beginning to flower. Everywhere we went fruit juices were blended with water or milk, which tasted good but was not what we expected. It was impossible to buy fruit juice without sugar in the grocery stores, even orange juice had sugar added.
- Cost – For a Central American country, Costa Rica is not cheap. Except for transportation, things cost more like they do in the USA than in typical Central America country like Guatemala. You have to work extra hard to travel inexpensively. We met a couple from London traveling from Mexico through Central and South America and they couldn’t believe how expensive Costa Rica was. Just keep that in mind when you are budgeting for your trip.
Well, I think that’s all the interesting tidbits most people don’t seem to share about traveling through Costa Rica. I hope it helps you on your next trip to Costa Rica.
