Beautiful Costa Rica!

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Hi Everybody!
To me, Costa Rica is a step above the other Central American countries. The government years ago realized that their greatest asset was the natural beauty of the country. Today, one fourth of the national land is in national parks and other protected areas. Throughout the country, I have observed bins for recycling plastic, glass, and aluminum. I have not seen as much litter here as in other countries. More people speak English here than in most of the places we have been. We also found English widely spoken in Belize. All Central American countries are willing to take the U.S. dollar. We have found that it is wise to have some of the local money. You are rarely offered change when you pay in U.S.
It is great to get up everyday to sunshine. Even though it warms up as the day goes on, you never have to worry about rain. The rainy season doesn't start until May.
Yesterday, I met a young American guy in his 30's stumbling on the sidewalk. At first, I thought he was drunk and then realized that he was high on drugs. He pulled a small plastic bag with white powder out of his pocket and showed it to another guy on the street. He apparently was proud to have been able to purchase some cocaine. I believe that you could buy just about anything that you wanted here. I wonder if this is the reason that some Americans choose to live here. Prostitution is also legal here. I have seen many prostitutes. One day, an American pointed out that two of the prostitutes were transvestites. I hadn't even realized it. They were about my height with much better figures. One had long blonde hair. You have heard the expression, when in another country, do as the natives do. It is sometimes hard to change your ways even when you are on vacation. In Central America, time revolves around the concept of ahorita-in a little while. We have had to sit around and wait for employees to show up for work. Just because a sign says that an office or shop will open at 9, in reality it is going to open when the employee or owner decides to show up.
We are continuing to take our malaria pills. We use insect repellant daily to avoid mosquito bites. Dengue fever remains a problem along the Pacific Coast. There is no preventative medicine for it. Yellow fever is still prevalent in Panama. The vaccine that we took a number of years ago is still in effect.
Because we are in a coastal city, seafood is plentiful. Prices are very reasonable for food. The most popular entree is a sish called casados- big plates of rice, black beans, fried plantains, marinated cabbage salad, salsa, and meat (fish, chicken, pork, or beef.) Onions, garlic, salt, red bell peppers, and cilantro are used to season many dishes.
Today, we are headed for San Jose, Costa Rica. We have about 7 days of travel left. We are still flying by the seat of our pants, just taking it one day at a time. We are going to try to rent a car in Panama.
I hope all is well with you,
Everette

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Comments

[Brian]

Great story
Everette, I'm really enjoying your travel reports. I printed them to take for Bernice this weekend. See if you can get Pop to write a few words! Happy Easter.

[Robin]

Costa Rica
My Ark. cousins go every year to CR and love it there. It is a well kept secret they say. Missing you and hope to see you soon. My grandson was the cutest Easter baby at church! Big crowd and lots of special music.