St. Clown
Liberal Rebel Scum, apparently
I’ve been in Costa Rica since Thursday evening. We’re staying on the Pacific Coast side of the country, not very far from the Nicaragua border. Notes thus far (starting negative to go positive):
1) weather: It’s the dry season and it’s hot. The lowest daily high has been 90F. The locals are saying this is roughly average for the time of year, but even they find it oppressive many days. The siesta is real.
2) Driving anywhere takes a lot of time because they don’t have a highway structure like the US has, and the roads are mostly maintained as badly as an Indiana tollway. Type into your maps app any destination more than one mile away, it will be a 10+ minute drive. The roads are narrow and shared between vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. I’d walk that if I were on my own, but I’m not and if you’re not on a main road in town, there are no sidewalks. Locals drive crazy, and motorcycles can go wherever they damn well please. The airport is about 15 miles away, connected by the local main highway, and can be reached in roughly 40 minutes, assuming perfect traffic. It’s usually closer to 105 minutes when we check.
3) Everything is very expensive.
The good:
4) The people are great
5) The natural beauty is gorgeous despite nearing the end of the dry season. The landscape is mostly aspiring mountains and the rare volcano. The waterfalls I’ve seen are both beautiful and they’re dramatic, even if they’re not Niagara in size.
6) The beaches are well kept, and all coastal beaches have public access, required by law. Most beaches are a mix of light and black sands. The black sand has a finer, softer feel than the lighter sands. Oddly enough (perhaps), the black sand is magnetic.
7) The people have been wonderful.
I’d come back, but likely for a shorter stint and especially if it were just me and my wife. We came here because her parents wanted to go somewhere warm this winter, and they’re both in their late 70s with hearing and mobility issues. This country, or at least this part of it, is not well suited for people in their situation.
1) weather: It’s the dry season and it’s hot. The lowest daily high has been 90F. The locals are saying this is roughly average for the time of year, but even they find it oppressive many days. The siesta is real.
2) Driving anywhere takes a lot of time because they don’t have a highway structure like the US has, and the roads are mostly maintained as badly as an Indiana tollway. Type into your maps app any destination more than one mile away, it will be a 10+ minute drive. The roads are narrow and shared between vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. I’d walk that if I were on my own, but I’m not and if you’re not on a main road in town, there are no sidewalks. Locals drive crazy, and motorcycles can go wherever they damn well please. The airport is about 15 miles away, connected by the local main highway, and can be reached in roughly 40 minutes, assuming perfect traffic. It’s usually closer to 105 minutes when we check.
3) Everything is very expensive.
The good:
4) The people are great
5) The natural beauty is gorgeous despite nearing the end of the dry season. The landscape is mostly aspiring mountains and the rare volcano. The waterfalls I’ve seen are both beautiful and they’re dramatic, even if they’re not Niagara in size.
6) The beaches are well kept, and all coastal beaches have public access, required by law. Most beaches are a mix of light and black sands. The black sand has a finer, softer feel than the lighter sands. Oddly enough (perhaps), the black sand is magnetic.
7) The people have been wonderful.
I’d come back, but likely for a shorter stint and especially if it were just me and my wife. We came here because her parents wanted to go somewhere warm this winter, and they’re both in their late 70s with hearing and mobility issues. This country, or at least this part of it, is not well suited for people in their situation.
