Costa Rica The Final Stop of My Post Vax Expedition
So as a recap, I lived in Mexico City for a year, then had to go to Houston Texas to get my vax, then decided to visit El Salvador for a road trip around the country.
Finally, it was time for my last destination, Costa Rica, The Rich Coast.
Unfortunately, by this point, I was a bit burned out from such extensive traveling, whether it was in Mexico, Houston, or El Salvador.
So by the time I arrived in Costa Rica, I didn’t have the strong urge to see as much as possible of these supposedly beautifully preserved nature areas.
Furthermore, it was the rainy season (the equivalent of the snow season in Northern America).
Either way, I arrived, and within 5 days, managed to visit a few areas in Costa Rica, and make a couple of friends from hostels along the way.
What Makes Costa Rica So Interesting?
Through whispers and other conversations, I heard a lot of amazing things about adventures, beaches, mountains, and nature in Costa Rica. But interestingly enough, everyone managed to skip mentioning anything about San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.
Interestingly enough, Costa Rica managed to escape from the corrupt, genocidal violence of other central American countries and instead is considered one of the most prosperous and well-educated out of all of its neighbors. Costa Rica invests more than 6% of its total yearly earnings (GDP) into the education system.
Costa Rica also decided to abolish their military in 1948, thus preventing the incessant military overthrow of power that plagued Latin America throughout its history. Instead, Costa Rica relied on the USA, in case anything ever went the wrong way.
Thus, Costa Rica is flooded with American tourists, because it’s relatively safe, and because of this, Costa Rica adopted the U.S. dollar as their unofficial currency.
San Jose Is The Capital of Costa Rica No One Ever Talks About
On the other hand, the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose, felt like your standard sprawling grey mass of randomly spaced rectangles.
For the most part, I only managed to visit the city center, walk through the markets, along with historical monuments, and visit a museum or two.
One of the most interesting areas was a street that had several dozen drug addicts meandering about, while the city moved around them. I didn’t take any photos of this for security reasons.
The National Museum of Costa Rica
If you are an avid reader of history and culture, then I highly recommend visiting the National Museum of Costa Rica.
It was here that I learned about the abolishment of the military, and the high % of GDP invested into education.
Barrio Escalante
I stayed in a hotel located in the neighborhood of Barrio Escalante. At one point in the history of San Jose, this is where all of the wealthy elite lived, in their large mansion-like homes. Now the area is a cool place to grab food, a drink, or go out for a nice house party.
An Adventure to Carara National Park with a New Friend
While adventuring through the National Museum of Costa Rica, I made a friend from the USA.
She suggested visiting Parque Carara the following day, and I was more than up for exploring a bit more of Costa Rica.
We took an hour-long bus and headed towards Carara Park.
Almost immediately upon arriving, it started to rain heavily.
La Fortuna
I also managed to visit this sleepy little tourism destination for a single day and night of adventure. I wanted to climb the volcano, but this wasn’t allowed.
The following day I took a bus back to the city center, and just explored a bit more, before getting myself ready for getting back home to Canada.
Costa Rica Conclusion
There were many recommendations that I had received in various hostels as well, like visiting beaches, natural reserves, more beaches, and more volcanoes.
If I had more time and came during a better, non-rainy season, then I could give Costa Rica a more thorough review.
But at this point, I had seen a lot of very similar places in Mexico and El Salvador before coming here.
Furthermore, my 2-weeks post-vax requirement was coming to a close.
I could finally return back to Canada, after almost 7 months of being away from home.
Thus concluded my adventure to Costa Rica.
I also bought my dad a whiskey (or rum) from Costa Rica in the airport that he absolutely loved and wanted more of.
Until next time,
Leonidas
More Links
San Jose, Costa Rica – Wikipedia
Visit Costa Rica – Official Tourism Website
104 Beautiful El Salvador Photos
Swimming with Sharks: My Epic Adventure in the Galapagos Islands
