"10 days in Costa rica" Costa Rica by Srechko

Two of my friends and I spent 10 days exploring Costa Rica. We rented a SUV and travelled from town to town exploring attractions along the way. We have seen bunch of animals, active volcano, beaches, smaller and larger towns. We met many Ticos, hiked through the rain forests, ridden horses, and did canopy tour and we loved it all.

Costa Rica is considered to be one of the most developed countries in Latin America and after a couple of days spent there it became obvious why. Its people are open, educated, and sophisticated. Country is very clean and tourists feel safe. We slept in various hotels with price range from $20-$80 (for 3 people) and they all were clean. We had absolutely no problems with safety or theft as some people advised us before the trip.

Along the way we passed by and visited following towns/attractions:
Grecia, Zarcero, Sarchi, Fortuna, Arenal Volcano, Tilaran, Monteverde, Puntarenas, Montezuma (Peninsula Nicoya), Jaco, Quepos, and Manuel Antonio National Park.

I especially enjoyed the thrill of driving. Driving at 60-70km/hour on a road with constant curves and avoiding deep potholes felt like playing a video game. Driving on a gravel road for 3 days, crossing rivers, avoiding cows and dogs along the way was another challenge. Seeing all kinds of animals (birds, monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, snakes, kaotis, racoons, turtles, butterflies, etc) was the the biggest highlight for me.

We wanted to enjoy the places we visited as much as possible so we left a bunch of attractions unseen - so I will have to make another trip to this pure life country.

• Pros:Slow paced life, sophisticated and naturally friendly people, natural beauties, exotic animals everywhere!
• Cons:Horrible roads (Even though I liked that too - part of authentic experience).
• In a nutshell:Peace, beauty, and challenge...