Some thoughts on Costa Rica

Costa Rica | Jul 6 - Jul 22, 2022

Firstly about KimKim (and I guess by definition about Olman) - whilst in hindsight I probably COULD have organised most of the things on this trip myself - having Olman do it (and super efficiently as well it has to be said) certainly took all the hassle away, and gave me a very useful security blanket (which was called upon and deployed successfully) - so you pay more - you get more - the choice is yours.

Olman was patient with me as I changed my mind on what I thought I wanted to do and the price I was willing to pay. No rush in getting us to pay our final bill which was appreciated.........

Mixed feelings about Costa Rica have to say.

Darned expensive for family of 5 from the UK right now - exchange rate not helping for sure. We also forgot (coming from the UK) that sales tax is levied - but never included in menus or on price tickets - it always hits you as a surprise when you pay the final bill. So whenever you consider a meal out - factor in 13% sales tax, plus service charge and so on...

Not surprisingly I guess, given the reliance on the tourist dollar, Costa Rica charges you for EVERYTHING…Wonderful scenery - if you can afford to pay for the view!

Every National Park charges entry of $16 / person / per day - no family rates, no multi-day, multi-location passes (missing a trick here for us families for sure). Every wonderful waterfall you read about is fully “monetised“ (on private land always so unsurprisingly again) but $20 each for a walk to a albeit fantastic waterfall gets pretty expensive. I KNOW our wealth as tourists is substantial in comparison but when you’ve saved for eons doesn’t mean that you have loads of options to do all the things available to you. I know that tourism is CR’s lifeblood in many ways but it does make you appreciate some of the fantastic sites, and holiday possibilities closer to home. How many waterfalls are charged for in the UK for example?

Having said all that there were plenty of memorable experiences:
- Monteverde / St Helena area - chilled vibe
- a night tour in a private reserve with a great guide spotting stick insects, frogs, tarantula, toucan etc. that was pretty special (via Reserva Curi Chanca in Monteverde)
- boat tour around jungle canals with monkeys and iguana in Toruguero
- Zip lining above the forest canopy was pretty exciting with last section over a k in length - again near Monteverde (via https://selvatura.com/).
- Hotel Plaza Yara near Manuel Antonio - lovely chilled hotel
- Hiked up to the top of an old volcano - Cerro Chato on the Arenal area - really challenging up a dry stream bed conscious all the time that a storm would make it an altogether different challenge! It is apparently illegal to do this trip (so less said about this great experience the better possibly....)

Trips I was less enamoured with were
- canyoning near La Fortuna - via https://www.puretrek.com/ - they rushed us through - pretty much tied us the ropes, lowered us down, ushered us the next drop and were keen to see us through and gone. No element of the slightest danger for sure - but hey - at least let us play the rope ourselves if we choose to do some rappelling eh??
- hot springs, again in La Fortuna - at https://ecotermalesfortuna.cr/ - one pool "hot" - others pretty tepid - all very plush but misses the natural feel you'd have in Iceland for example. Meal was good though!
- Manuel Antonio National Park - crowded, not allowed to take any food in (for understandable reasons) - but then have grotty cafe with overflowing bins and wasps, no access to furthest beaches - very underwhelming for me personally
- Diving off the Catalina Islands - shit viz - but them's the breaks when you go diving

We went in the rainy season - so that meant the afternoon storms when they happened were biblical - and very impressive in their own right! Having said that - quite a few days where we had no rain and it certainly didn't spoil the trip. It pays not to be out on anything less than a really good road if you have a hire car in these conditions.

We’ve paid quite a bit for good hotels and for me personally it’s meant a certain lack of real interaction with other travellers - kids have loved the comfort though!