"balieyes's new Costa Rica Page" a Costa Rica Travel Page by balieyes

Costa Rica is definitely one of the more well to do countries I have visited
on my trip. One thing that caught my attention was the cleanness of even
the smaller villages, roads are swept, signs are displayed asking people to
use trashcans instead of throwing everything on the ground. Houses are well
kept, many surrounded by neat gardens and lawns.Though a small country it
is rich in flora and fauna. With 27 % of the land protected in one form or
another one is made aware of the country's approach to conservation. With
the introduction of coffee and bananas in the mid 19th century the country
now has a large source of export income and together with tourism (the
country's biggest industry) economy and the standard of living is constantly
improving. The local people (called Ticos) are generally warm, friendly and
very helpful.

The smooth trip from one capital city to the other lasted an hour, the
subsequent bus trip to the centre of town (a distance of 17 kms) took 1.5
hours - somehow this doesn't seem to make sense. There was so much traffic as well as a marathon that was being run on the highway that movement was
slowed down to snail pace - my patience was sorely tested.Leaving Panamá I was hoping to escape from the rain but this wasn't so. On
the day after my arrival, looking out of the window, I encountered a
relatively blue sky, thus made use of the good weather to visit Volcán Irazú
- 3'432 metres. A major eruption in March 1963 covered San José with
several centimetres of volcanic ash but since then the volcanic activity has
been limited to gently smoking fumaroles. On the way up to the volcano the
bus broke down so instead of 2 hours it took 4 hours to get there and as we
approached clouds and fog accumulated so that the crater was completely
hidden behind the mist.

During the next two hours the curtain lifted for
only a few minutes but at least sufficient time to get a glimpse of the
crater with its turquoise coloured lake.
Although all areas in Costa Rica can be reached by bus, the network isn't
very efficient. Most buses depart from San José which makes it almost
impossible to do a round-trip; one is almost forced to return to the capital
from every site visited. One good example was getting to Playa Tamarindo,
80 kms north of Playa Sámara with a connecting road. However, I had to
travel 35 kms northeast to Nicoya, get another bus heading 21 kms north to
Santa Cruz and again change bus to drive 30 kms west to Tamarindo. The
distance wasn't much further than on the direct route but due to the poor
bus connections it took me 7.5 hours to get there - mad!!

Did somebody say he wanted to become a beach bum? Well, here's a good tip -
Sámara Beach on the west coast of Costa Rica - an endless stretch of white
sand and palm trees with hardly a soul in sight. The quiet, relaxed
atmosphere of the little village with only 3 restaurants, a supermarket,
fruit stall, police station and post office add to the magic of this corner
of the world. I needed nothing more to persuade myself to stay here longer
than originally intended, simply spending the days walking barefoot along
the water's edge, letting the sand massage my feet as I move along,
breathing in the moist, salty sea air with the sun rays warming my body -
absolute bliss!!