Costa Rica Alive

479 Pages·2003·4.74 MB·English

by  Bruce Morris

COSTA
RICA
Bruce Morris
HUNTER
HUNTERPUBLISHING,INC.
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©2003HunterPublishing,Inc.
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andherebydisclaim,liabilityforanylossordamagecausedby
errors, omissions, misleading information or potential travel
problemscausedbythisguide,evenifsucherrorsoromissions
resultfromnegligence,accidentoranyothercause.
Coverphoto:BuddyMays/TravelStockPhotography
Allotherimages©BruceMorris
MapsbyKimFoleyMacKinnon&KimAndré,
©2002HunterPublishing,Inc.
IndexbyNancyWolff
1 2 3 4
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ALIVE!
Top-selling guides in our series include: St.
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nica & St. Lucia; Miami & the Florida Keys and
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destinationscoveredinthisseries.
Active travelers should be sure to check out our Ad-
venture Guides, a series aimed at the independent
traveler with a focus on outdoor activities. Adven-
tures can be as mild as beachcombing on a deserted
shore or hiking a rugged hill, or as wild as
parasailing,hot-airballooningordivingamongship-
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travel information, including where to stay and eat,
transportation,sightseeing,attractions,culture,his-
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Log on to www.hunterpublishing.com to learn about
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tic Weekends, Nelles Guidebooks and Travel Packs
andmore.
About the Alive Guides
The ALIVE! series was started by Arnold and Harriet
Greenberg, who also serve as series editors. The
Greenbergs founded the world-famous bookstore, The
CompleteTraveller,inNewYorkCity.
Arnold has co-authored South America on $40 A Day,
as well as Alive! guides to St. Martin & St. Barts;
Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao and Buenos Aires & the
BestofArgentina.
Harriethasco-authoredAlive!guidestotheUSVirgin
IslandsandSt.Martin&St.Barts.
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tions.Pleasecontactusat:
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About the Author
Bruce Morris has traveled and lived in the US, Eu-
rope, Asia and Central America sampling the food,
fishing,divingmusicandgoodlife.HereceivedaB.A.
inJournalismfromCollegeofthePotomac,wherehe
worked as photographer and designer at the rock
magazineThirdEar.Hehaswrittenforawidevari-
ety of magazines and newspapers and wrote HTML
in Action published in 1996 by Microsoft Press. He
founded The Web Developer’s Journal, started and
managedtheInternetdepartmentatcomputerman-
ufacturer Gateway 2000, served as Director of Tech-
nology at Carlton Online in London and COO of
Europe Online. He is an avid diver and angler. He
lives with his wife, cats, dogs, horses, ducks, several
guitarsandothercreaturesattheirfarminEastTen-
nessee.
Acknowledgements
No author can do his job without the support of family
and friends. I could not have written Costa Rica Alive!
withouttheenormoustoleranceofmywifeandtheedit-
ingskillsofmymother.Dr.PaulKanciruktriedtokeep
mefromcommittingscientificandeditorialfauxpas.At
Hunter, Kim André and Kim Foley MacKinnon have
beenmuchmorepatientthantheyshouldhavebeen.In
Costa Rica, I want to thank Felix for his tremendous
help.AlfonsoMartinoatHotelMartinoResort&Spaal-
lowedmetousehiswonderfulhotelasabaseformySan
Joséactivities,taughtmenewthingsaboutcookingand
eating,andentertainedmelongintothenightoverItal-
ian wine. Shawn Feliciano and all the staff at Silver
King Lodge provided some of the most exciting fishing
I’veeverdoneandfedmewellattheendofthedaywith
byfarthebestfoodI’vehadinCostaRica.NatalieEw-
ing and Michael Kaye at Costa Rica Expeditions pro-
videdmewithvitaltourinformation,hospitalityandan
Internetconnection(nosmallthing,this).BraddJohn-
son and Pedro Garro made sure I experienced the
beautyoftheseaandforestaroundDrakeBay.TheBug
LadyandCarlosopenedmyeyestowhatcanbeseenin
theforestatnightifyouknowhowtolook.Laurenand
Toby Cleaver welcomed me into their warm home and
tolerated my rusty guitar playing. Captain Mike in
Matapalo,DianaandMiltonLieberman,GlennJampol,
CaptainTominHerradura,JudyHeidt,MarcoMontoyo
inparticularandmany,manyothersgavemehospital-
ityandfriendship.Thankstoyouall.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
(cid:2) ABriefHistory .........................2
(cid:2) CostaRicaToday........................7
TicoCulture............................7
Religion ...............................9
Education.............................10
Government&Economy.................10
Attitudes .............................12
Retirees ..............................13
Music ................................15
Art ..................................15
Language.............................16
Food .................................16
Wine,Beer&LocalDrinks...............19
(cid:2) TheLand .............................20
Volcanoes.............................20
(cid:2) Flora.................................23
(cid:2) Fauna................................24
Bird-WatchingBonanza.................24
Cats .................................25
Insects ...............................27
Monkeys..............................30
(cid:2) LifeintheSea.........................31
CoralReefs............................31
Crocodiles.............................31
Dolphins..............................32
Manatees.............................32
Turtles...............................33
Whales...............................36
(cid:2) Climate ..............................37
(cid:2) Top10Attractions......................38
PLANNINGYOURTRIP
(cid:2) GettingReady .........................39
p
viii Contents
WhentoVisit/WhattoWear..............39
Telephones............................41
Holidays&Festivals....................41
Passports,Visas&Customs..............42
LearningSpanish ......................43
(cid:2) GettingHere ..........................45
ByAir................................45
ByCar ...............................45
ByShip...............................46
(cid:2) WheretoStay .........................48
Hotels,Lodges&B&Bs .................48
Spas .................................49
ExtendedVacations ....................50
(cid:2) Where&WhattoEat...................51
(cid:2) OrganizedExcursions...................53
Tours&TourOperators.................53
ScubaDivingTrips .....................58
WHATTOEXPECT
(cid:2) GettingAround........................61
FromtheAirport.......................62
Taxis.................................62
CarRental............................63
Buses ................................66
Ferries ...............................67
InternalFlights........................67
(cid:2) TheBasics ............................68
Communications.......................68
Telephones ..........................68
PhoneCards .........................69
Faxes...............................69
InternetAccess.......................69
MoneyMatters ........................70
Currency ............................70
Media................................74
PostalService .........................75
Electricity ............................75
Laundry..............................76
p
Contents ix
TheMetricSystem .....................76
Heath&Safety ........................78
(cid:2) ActivitiesonLand......................80
Bird-Watching.........................80
Golf..................................82
Tennis ...............................82
(cid:2) ActivitiesonWater.....................83
Fishing...............................83
Windsurfing...........................84
Surfing...............................85
WhitewaterRafting.....................86
(cid:2) Shopping .............................89
WheretoGo&WhattoBuy..............90
Duty-FreeInformation.................92
(cid:2) Photography ..........................93
TipsforShutterbugs....................93
SANJOSÉ
(cid:2) Overview .............................95
(cid:2) GettingHere ..........................96
(cid:2) GettingAround........................96
GettingYourBearings ..................98
RentalCars ..........................100
(cid:2) SunuptoSundown ....................102
Seven-DayItinerary ...................102
Bullfights............................106
Fútbol(soccer)........................107
Golf.................................107
Tennis ..............................108
(cid:2) Day-Trips&Tours ....................108
ButterflyFarms.......................110
CanopyTours ........................110
CityTour ............................111
CoffeeTours..........................111
Sarchí...............................113
TortugueroNationalPark ..............114
Volcanoes............................114
VolcánPoásNationalPark..............114
p
x Contents
WhitewaterRafting....................116
ZooAve..............................118
(cid:2) ShopTillYouDrop ....................118
Antiques.............................119
Art .................................119
Books ...............................121
Coffee...............................122
HandmadeGuitars....................122
Markets .............................122
(cid:2) AfterDark...........................123
LiveMusic...........................123
Bars,Discos&Nightclubs ..............125
Casinos..............................127
Shows...............................128
Lowlife..............................128
(cid:2) BestPlacestoStay ....................129
CentralSanJosé......................129
SuburbsofSanJosé ...................133
(cid:2) BestPlacestoEat.....................144
CentralSanJosé......................144
SuburbsofSanJosé ...................148
(cid:2) AtoZ ...............................154
THENORTHWEST
(cid:2) Overview ............................157
Arenal ..............................157
Monteverde ..........................158
(cid:2) GettingHere .........................161
(cid:2) GettingAround.......................162
(cid:2) SunuptoSundown ....................163
Seven-DayItinerary ...................163
Attractions&Tours ...................165
(cid:2) ShopTillYouDrop ....................170
(cid:2) AfterDark...........................173
LiveMusic...........................173
(cid:2) BestPlacestoStay ....................173
Arenal ..............................174
Monteverde ..........................178