Tourists of Costa Rica

In 2007 around 1.9 million tourists visited Costa Rica raising the the number of tourists from 2006 by around 12%.

What draws people to Costa Rica? The beauty of the country is probably the main attraction. There are many varieties of landscape in the country and many activities to partake in no matter where in the country a person is visiting. The rainforest and the beaches are the main attractions but there are also other varieties of forests such as cloud forests, volcanoes, lakes, swamps, rolling hills, mountains, and the list continues as you might imagine from one of the most ecologically diverse countries on the planet. The virtually endless activities include but are definitely not limited to hiking, camping, boating, snorkeling, horseback riding, sightseeing, bird watching, touring the forests, laying on the beach, white water rafting, and the list continue. It is hard to believe that such a small country has tourism as its main revenue generator.

As a personal note to anyone who is planning on visiting Costa Rica I would suggest that they spend as little time in San Jose as possible. It is interesting for a day or maybe a week but after that it is just another city which has people waiting to take advantage of tourists whether it be the cops trying to make a quick buck, or a robber looking to do the same. My roommate Nestor has been robbed multiple times in his short time here, and the other night Matt, Nestor, and I had to stand around with the cops for about an hour because they wanted a bribe but we were lucky enough to talk our way out of the situation. Once outside the city, I am convinced that Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Once tourists get used to the rain, this country is amazing.

The typical Costa Rican meal consists of rice, beans, salad, and either fish, chicken, or carne (beef usually but sometimes steak). For some people the food takes some getting used to and some people like it right away. Luckily I am of the latter variety plus my meals do vary due to my host family trying to accommodate the students that they provide housing for. Before coming to Costa Rica I was a picky eater but I find myself eating anything that is put in front of me. i.e. I ate fish for pretty much the first time in my life tonight and it was not too bad. One thing that is hard to get used to is the lack of water. This seems like a paradox since it rains daily even in the dry season, but meals are rarely served with water unless you ask for it, there are no water fountains anywhere, and in certain places outside of the city it is really hard to obtain water at all.

Another thing tourists should be prepared for is the poor transportation. First off, especially in the city, there is always an abundance of traffic. Traffic jams are not uncommon all day as I have found out through personal experience. The drivers here is Costa Rica are terrible especially the cab drivers. The roads are in horrible condition and often times outside of the city there is not even blacktop, just dirt or gravel (on our last trip we traveled on a ¨highway¨ that was worse than any dirt road you would find in the U.S.). Some bridges are nonexistent, and the ones that are still up are in terrible condition and usually one lane. There is nothing worse than looking out of the bus window and seeing loose wooden planks and the tires of the bus sticking off the edge by an inch on both sides. There are no addresses so taxis can’t even take you where you need to go sometimes. There are some taxis that are not properly licensed so tourists should always look for the red cabs with yellow triangles on them. There is lots of pollution due to cars, especially in San Jose. The drivers do not yield to pedestrians which is very hard to get used too. People can park pretty much anywhere no matter which way their car is pointing or if they feel like parking on the sidewalk. I have yet to see a traffic cop doing anything but standing around.

One final thing that tourists should be ready for is Tico Time. Everything in Costa Rica is laid back and nothing is ever done efficiently and for that matter things are rarely done on time. Meal service is slow, and don’t tip because 23% is included in the bill, tourists should never expect transportation to be timely, tourists should never expect to arrive anywhere on time because of the traffic, and many more things of this nature. This is a really chill country. One of the most surreal moments of the trip and maybe my life came to me this past weekend when I was sitting in a lodge in the middle of the rainforest at night sipping a drink with two people that I consider very good friends of mine that I met about two weeks ago. This trip to Costa Rica is one of the best experiences of my life hands down and I attribute that to the relaxed atmosphere everywhere on top of the beauty of the country and the activities we have been doing.

Despite some minor problems with crime in the cities, daily rain fall, and terrible roads, Costa Rica is absolutely the coolest, most fun, and most beautiful country I have ever been to. I hope to come back again at some point in my life after this trip is over. I do miss some things in the United States and I will be happy to be home but I feel that after about three days in the U.S. I will be wishing I were back in Costa Rica.

As a final personal thought about entrepreneurship in Costa Rica, it seems that tourism would be the only place to cash in. The local markets are pretty much run by the locals and I dont see how anyone could come in and open a small business unless they had help getting the word out about their business (this is part of what Cinde, a company we visited, did), but with the rising level of tourism, there are many opportunities. People need places to stay and there is lots of land available. People need things to do because there are limitations on how many tourists each company can accomodate. It seems like it would be easy to start a business for tourists whether is be a hotel or a company specializing in a tourist attraction. Take Dave, a man from Miami Florida that we met at the lodge this past week, he came down to Costa Rica to start a small business 5 years ago and now he owns a sushi bar, a tattoo parlor, and a atv touring company. He seems to be doing pretty well for coming down here with vertually nothing...although I get the feeling he also had some elicit business going on too. I guess my point is tourism is huge in Costa Rica and is only going to continue to grow...just something to think about.