Pura Vida in Costa Rica
The name might mean Rich coast’, but Costa Rica has far more to offer than just warm beaches. In fact, most of my fondest memories of the country are of the people, wildlife, and cuisine. The general attitude of most ticos (the nickname for residents of the country) can be summed up in the country’s motto: Pura Vida,’ which literally means pure life.’ The meaning is closer to that of hakuna matata,’ though, minus the singing warthog and meerkat (or perhaps replaced by an anteater and an agouti). It’s a refreshing and welcome change of pace from the hustle and bustle of American city life, and the perfect setting for an idyllic vacation.
I also found that the relaxing tone of the populous allowed me to better concentrate on the two things I’d come to Costa Rica for: to see all the animals I’d read about in books since I was a child, and to expand my palette. I wasn’t disappointed on either front, although some of my animal encounters of the six and eight-legged variety were a little too close for comfort! By far, my favorite area for wildlife viewing was Tortuguero, on the northern Caribbean coast. I’ve never seen so many different species of animals in one place! I truly felt like I was in a nature documentary when I was there. Between all of the sea birds, lizards, monkeys, bats, and other exotic creatures, I was in heaven. Seeing a toucan that wasn’t on a cereal box and standing close enough to a wild caiman that I could count its teeth were two things I never thought I’d get to do in my life.
For some reason tico cuisine gets a bad rep, but I think the people who complain had probably eaten in the wrong places. Although I’m a vegetarian, I still have a see-food’ diet, as in, when I see food (that’s not meat) I eat it. I relish any opportunity to try local specialties that I can’t find here in Portland. My favorite culinary discovery in Costa Rica was maracuyá, or passionfruit. I’d order a maracuyá agua fresca, a fresh juice drink, everywhere I could. I also came to love all of the comida típica (typical food), but especially gallo pinto, a beans and rice dish eaten for breakfast.
All this talk of Costa Rica and comida típica is making me hungry for dinner and adventure! Although I’ve been to the country twice, I hope to go back again to visit all of my amigos, to bask in the beauty of nature at its wildest, and of course to eat the delicious food.
Rainforest, Volcano & Beach from $1,149 per person
Combining three of our most popular destinations in Costa Rica: Tortuguero National Park, Arenal Volcano and Guanacaste beach area. One of our more well rounded and popular Costa Rican vacations.
Extended Green Season Rates-Up to 35% off
Some of the newest and best hotels in Central America have significant and extended green season savings this year. Be sure to visit our Latin America specials page often to stay up to date on our current specials.
A Bit of Eco-Tourism
Here at the Independent Traveler we are reading more and more about eco-tourism in the news and hearing it more in conversations. There’s an ever-increasing amount of information available on what constitutes eco-tourism and what exactly it means. Sometimes it’s referred to as sustainable tourism or green tourism or even responsible tourism. Whichever term you want to use, many travelers are interested in reducing their impact on the land, supporting the local communities they are visiting and almost everyone seems to be responding to that demand.
So what’s an eco-tourist to do? Just pack their bags and head off to Costa Rica? That’s an option, certainly. With over 25% of its land dedicated to national parks and protecting 6% of the world’s biodiversity, there’s plenty for the eco-tourist to experience in Costa Rica. You’ve already read a bit about Tortuguero National Park with its turtles, manatees, and other wildlife. Another great feature is the majority of the day tours happen on the water, reducing the impact of tourism on land.
There’s also Monteverde Cloud Forest. The variety of birds and orchids alone make this a pretty spectacular place to visit. One of the impressive things about Monteverde is that it’s privately held by a non-profit organization and is not as susceptible to the flux in funding available for protection and conservation as the National Parks are. Much like the Nature Conservancy here in the US, its controlled by a non-profit who safeguards the land and the ecology.
Perhaps Costa Rica’s already been done and you are looking for something a bit more adventurous. We’ve got one word for you: Manu. It’s in Peru, so it would be simple to add this on to a trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu.
The Manu National Park contains 1,000 species of birds, or one out of every nine on Earth. Approximately 550 bird species occur within a few square miles of lowland forest. But it’s not just the birds that are amazing; this densely populated area is home to some of the greatest biodiversity on the planet, including 10 species of monkeys along with some pretty awe-inspiring tree ferns and other plant life. All in all, this is probably the most adventurous type of eco-tourism for most travelers.
As we all move ahead, the landscape of traveling is changing, and eco-travel and responsible tourism options for travelers and vacationers will only grow. Hopefully, we all believe it’s good to see more people thinking about how and where they travel.
Friends Travel LLP 90048
JESS Kalinowsky Professional Travel Consultant
EMAIL: FriendsTravel@earthlink.net 24/7/365 for your travel reservations to Costa Rica.
