Blogs from San José, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 6

Costa Rican tourism is dominated by Americans, old Americans retire here, middle aged Americans bring their kids on holiday here and young Americans backpack or volunteer here. As such the country is heavily geared toward catering to demanding tourists, the restaurants serve fast food, the tours run seamlessly with English speaking guides and everything costs many times that of the neighbouring countries, I may be being harsh but I feel like Costa Rica has lost much of its authenticity and is now more like a tropical Disney Land. My first stop over the border was the town of La Fortuna, famous for its proximity to Volcán Arenal the town is geared toward adventure tourism; having gotten used to personal guided tours for $10 many of the available activities were well out of my price range, amusingly ... read more

Twee minibusjes pikken ons op. De achterkant van de bus vermeld: “jeep-boat-jeep-experience”... Tiens. We doen een jeep-safari met een minibus. Vreemd, maar het lijkt te kloppen. We rijden met de bus, dan gaan we met de boot en dan weer de bus. Ze noemen het gewoon jeep, denk ik. Heel verwarrend, want hier rijden jeeps rond ook. Hoe zou men die dan noemen? Minibus? We geraken probleemloos in La Fortuna en dat is het opzet van het geheel. Ook hier kunnen weer aktiviteiten gepland worden voor de volgende dag. De operator die de gids aanbeveelt, is onbetaalbaar. Dus de Belgen gaan op zoek naar betere deals. Het wordt een boottocht voor 42$. De verkoper is een eersteklas klungel, maar hij geeft ons een voucher die geldt als betalingsbewijs. Da's een goed begin. Het sjaaltje dat ik ... read more

KF: After a week of Pacific Coast kayaking in Drake Bay, we drove Old Blue Volvo Northeast through the mountains of Costa Rica. We spent three days in the Savegre valley which is in Central Costa Rica, among the Talamanca Mountains. It is, apparently, a bird-watcher's paradise. Birders from all over the world come to see tanagers, hummingbirds, warblers, woodpeckers, woodrunners, flycatchers, kites, trogons, and above all, THE RESPLENDENT QUETZAL (people always say it with hushed awe, in capital letters -- and yes, that is its full name). We enjoyed long walks along the Savegre river to waterfalls, and up in the old-growth oak forest along the ridges. It was cool compared to the coast --we had to use lots of blankets at night, and it was fresh and invigorating for hiking during the day. Some ... read more

So we arrived safely on March 1st 2011. Bruno flew like a veteran flyer and after a couple of bacardi and cokes he slept the whole way :). Both flights went really smooth. The hotel was great! We spent the first few days exploring downtown San Jose. The city is fairly small and fairly difficult to get around. The drivers are a little speed crazy but guess that makes it more fun. We managed to find the biggest tourist trap in town for lunch and got ripped off a few times (thanks cabbies). We also witnessed our very first pick-pocketer (sorry Peter). All in all San Jose was fairly smooth sailing. Next stop: Samara...... read more