Part Two - Pura Vida!

I left many of you wondering if we were genuinely held captive on a Costa Rican beach and the truth is, yes, I fully consider it a captive tourist trap. When I traveled to Costa Rica in 2000 as an exchange student, seeing a sea turtle was something special. These fellers can live to be over 100 years old and seem to be the wise men of the sea. Everyone could learn a thing or two from sea turtles, except the fact that they leave their newborn babies on the beach to fend for themselves against birds and hungry Costa Rican. 

I am so sad to say that we have no pictures from this excursion, but as I had eluded in my last post, we were utterly unprepared for what turned into four hours sitting on rotting wood until benches somewhere in the Las Baulas National Marine Park until all hours of the night. The other eight people with us must have paid extra to be informed about the lengthy stay we’d be on that beach as they came prepared wearing long pants, toting their iPads and bug spray. I could’ve lived without our spoiled entertainment technology. Heck, I was fine it shorts, but we when I say we were eaten alive, I kid you not. Costa Rica mosquitoes are what one would consider a typical Central American pest. They’re big, they’re hungry and took no mercy on my poor legs. Add in some creepy, little hermit crabs crawling over your feet, you’ve got a recipe for an itchy, awful experience that I continued to compare to a prison.

For the duration of our captivity – again, FOUR hours – we sat in silence because apparently you can’t talk while you’re waiting for the sea turtles to come on the beach to lay eggs. You also can’t take pictures because that too will scare the marine giants away. Not one of those damn turtles came onto the beach. I was sleeping on Kyle’s leg when the “scouts” came back to our prison bench to inform us that “no tortugas los noches”. I was so pissed. I wanted to see a turtle so bad, but it wasn’t in the works that night.

As sad as I was, the time before and the remaining part of our trip was spectacular. Having traveled in Costa Rica before, I felt like an experienced traveler and knew the ropes and hot spots to visit. Over ten years ago, I traveled on a dime. Today, Costa Rica is an incredibly expensive place to travel. Those Ticos have it figured out. Their eco-tourism theme of travel has boosted their economy significantly over the past decade. Those of us from the United States find great relief escaping the guilt of our frivolous consumption of non-renewable resources by staying in rainforest tree houses with composting toilets. Travelers have the chance to lead alternative lifestyles basking in healing mud pools or zip lining over incredible rainforest canopies. Anything extreme you can imagine, they offer it in Costa Rica.

Cost is always an issue on vacation, no matter how hard you try to let loose. Breaking it down, I found a lot of mixed reviews about what things cost. We traveled in Guanacaste which is home to some elite beaches of the country including Playa Flamingo and Playa Conchal. I traveled on hotel Groupons (do it!) so paying full price for other vacation luxuries was a bit of a shocker. To help demystify the Costa Rican travel budget, here’s a breakdown of what you can expect and tips that will help you stretch your dollar, or Colón – the Costa Rican currency – a long way.

Airfare

No easy way to put this other than it will run you about $900 a person to get to Costa Rica from the Midwest. However, if you fly United, you are allowed a free bag for your international flight and if you have a Chase credit card, you can get 5% cash back during certain times of the year on airfare. Chase also is current partner of United airlines and offers special discounts for in flight Direct-TV and drinks. I love Chase.

Food

Costa Rican’s have staple diet of beans, rice and for protein, usually chicken. This is called Typical Food and I love it. Depending on how brave you are with local eateries, you can score a sizeable plate for $4 USD. Ceviche, a white fish acid-cooked in citrus, is also common and isn’t too expensive.  If you’re looking for something a little more upscale, prepare to spend over $25 a plate. I was surprised with the amount of non-local fresh fish offered at the restaurants. But, nonetheless, it was delicious when we had the opportunity to eat at some of these restaurants.

Activities & Attractions

I found this to be the biggest surprise expense of all, but worth every penny (except for the sea turtle excursion) Budget yourself for these activities:

-  Snorkeling: $50/person. Also keep in mind that snorkeling the Pacific is not like snorkeling the calm turquoise waters of the Caribbean. It’s fun, but should the wave ben white capping, you’ll still be snorkeling scary-close to rocks. My advice? Ask for a water noodle!

-   Surfing: $50/person. I took my lesson from a Roxy certified instructor and that was a good decision. He made me practice paddling so hard, I’d never had a workout quite like it. Compared to the couple next to me who were taking lessons from a local kid with dreads who were being tossed in the waves like a dead seal, I was thankful for my boot camp instructor. Also, don’t try to be cool on short board if you’ve never done it. Cash in your pride for a long, soft board and actually enjoy your time in the ocean.

-   Zip Line: $70/person. Canopy zip line tours are the ultimate Costa Rican experience. There are countless zip line tours set up along the major tourist destination, but do yourself a favor and experience the grand supreme of all zip lines at Monte Verde. The road to Monte Verde is intense, full of pot holes, narrow, did I mention dirt? We thought we were on the wrong road for awhile, but our GPS was determined.  Remember our car, Winston? He took it like a champ and we were rewarded with a safe, credible and awesome tour through some of the most amazing scenery in Costa Rica.

-   Deep Sea Fishing: $250-$1,500. We were lucky to score a private boat from an obscure vendor sitting in a make-shift tent in Tamarindo. However, if you have eight people on your trip, you may want to rent a bigger boat that travels further to where those enormous fish with the spears on their face live (Kyle tells me, “those are marlins, Mindy.”)

Departure Tax: $28/person. Upon exiting the country, you must hand over $28 USD to leave the country. It’s actually pretty clever, they make money on you until the minute you depart.

Gratuity: Most restaurants already include a gratuity so if you’re feeling generous, you can tip a little extra, but most of the time, your sever is covered with this built-in tip.

I love this country, but alas I close the Costa Rica chapter of our blog.. So, to sum things up, Mindy’s three most important things to remember when traveling in Costa Rica:

1. Bring bug spray and wear pants on a night time turtle tour
2. Travel with your Chase card and get free money!
3. Indulge in the flavors of Costa Rica and plan a sufficient budget for activities

Next up on Peeps in the Woods, learn how my wonderful mother sells vintage jock straps on Ebay! Goodnight everyone!

Costa Rica - Pura Vida Part One

Pura Vida, sure that's what tourists consider Costa Rica's claim to fame. Little do most people know, this catchy phrase is a way of life and I even caught a few of our tour guides use it as a salutation. . "Ticos" are so friendly and everywhere you go, there is a tourist trap awaiting to pull in your hard earned dollar for a ride down a zip line, a cruise out to catch a marlin or surfing. Ugh, so much surfing!

Our trip started at the end of last October where Kyle took his first plane ride out of our country. Passports and Dramamine equipped, I struggled through the first two plane rides, but Kyle was a champ. We didn't get to sit next to each other for the last 3 hours and unfortunately for many Cardinal fans on our flight, Direct TV had not been installed in our brand new plane so the highlights of the last game in the World Series were given to us by the pilot every so often. That is, or course, until we hit a nasty thunderstorm and he found it more important to navigate us through the storm than to call the game for some reason :). Kyle made the mistake of asking the stressed captain after touchdown who won the game and he politely, yet sternly replied, 'No, I'm sorry, I had to fly the plane through some bad weather.' I also had the misfortune of asking a flight attendant for some Pringles on the way home...but more on that later.

So, after 10 hours of traveling, we touched down in San Jose, Costa Rica ready to start our adventure. We rented the cheapest possible car that we could find whom we endeared as "Winston - the disposable car". I feel inclined to tell future Costa Rica travelers that unless you plan to drive through swamps or up steep game trails, it is completely unnecessary to rent a giant 4x4 SUV. You'll save four times the amount of money on gas and costs by renting a mini. Our little Winston made it up one of the most horrible roads on the way to Monte Verde. My Subaru couldn't have even made it.

Luckily, the rental agent informed us of the speed trap cameras all over the major highways. Even more luckily, we rented a GPS. This was under the careful advise of my husband. Usually it's the other way around with a man, but Kyle is a sensible man and likely saved us a few hundred dollar in speeding tickets because the GPS and knows and tells you when you're approaching these cameras. The average speed on major highways is 55 KPH. That's only 34 MPH! It gave us time to look at the beautiful scenery on the way out to the coast, but my lead foot got us into trouble outside of Flamingo Beach, which brings us to our top moments of our honeymoon.

Mindy gets pulled over in a foreign country

One would think that the act of pulling someone over is universal. There's a cop, and the offender, in this case myself. Sometimes there is a cop car, or even a motorcycle. Oh no, not in Costa Rica. Costa Rica has no active military, so instead they have a police force that in ways also acts as their military. So, the fact that we came upon a roadside roadblock isn't as unusual as I had originally thought.

Long story short, a cop literally steps out in the highway and hold out his hand to stop. No lights, no car, just a polite gesture to stop. I was hesitant because all he was wearing was black pants and white shirt, nothing like our decked out police officers in the US. I stop, remove my passport and drivers license and nearly dropped to floor when he showed me the radar gun. Neither of us spoke each others language, so I did what any girl would do in the situation - I started crying.

For the record, I was not going 100 KPH as this cop pointed out on his radar gun. I was going 71 in a 65, yet the kind gentleman who passed me at an outrageous speed prior to our "crime", was indeed going well over 100 KPH. My blubbering Broadway performance paid off, he let us off with a warning. Or, I hope he let us off with a warning. I couldn't read the ticket that he never gave me. There have been documentaries made in Costa Rica about some dirty cops that like to play rip-off-the-tourist, but I will say these cops were clean as whistles. They were kind and didn't give me a ticket, even though I didn't deserve one in the first place. But nonetheless, our vacation budget would've been blown had he not taken mercy on me. Here are some tips should you ever find yourselves in one of these situations with el polica de Costa Rica.

Unfortunately, I was unable to secure a photo during the incident (I don't think the cop would've liked that much), but here is a picture of our trusty Winston as he safely took us through Costa Rica.

Kyle Catches the Smaller Fish

Kyle, bless his heart, put up with many of my ideas of a good time including beach going, sun bathing and zip lining. But let's face it, this man loves to fish no matter where we are. On our last day at the coast, we rented a private boat that looked like it might sink, but what the hell, it was deep sea fishing. The weather had really been up and down most of the trip, but God brought the sunshine out during our sea voyage and I have never had some much fun fishing. My original plan was to sun tan while Kyle caught the fish, but the captain and his first mate had other plans for me. 

The fish were biting like crazy. We caught several Black Tuna, Jack Crevalle and Mackerel. Not the best eating, but we gave the fish to our guides because it appeared they could make better use of it than we could. It's hard work to reel those big guys in, I'm used to catching like 5 inch brown trout and freaking out because I caught a fish instead of a bush behind me. My Jack Crevalle was bigger than Kyle's and I am pretty sure he was jealous, even though he tried to act cool. It was a little traumatic when the captain speared mine, but he seemed unfazed by the blood dripping into our boat.

My by far most awesome moment of Costa Rica were the dolphins that swam up to our boat and started playing. Anyone who says they don't love dolphins are full of crap. Dolphins are happy, they smile, they squeak, they're just terrific. I stopped fishing after I saw the dolphins because I'm an easily distracted human. If you go to the ocean, eat the extra expense and go deep sea fishing. It's worth every penny, and I didn't even get sea sick!

We are held captive on a beach

Although I can't tell you the specifics about this just yet, I will say that should you ever find yourself on a turtle watching tour in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, be sure you are fully equiped with an iPad, pants and bug spray, at least two bottles.

 

To Be Continued...