- The money in Costa Rica is called the Colones and when we went the exchange was about 500 Colones for $1 US
- We found Costa Rica to be equally expensive as the US and at times even more so. Be prepared to drop at least $40 for a mediocre meal for 2.
- Research, research, research your rental car deals- oh and research some more. The fees are super hidden and everyone we talked to agreed that it was super expensive and quite the ordeal.
- I suggest that unless staying in just one area like a resort on the beach that you do rent a car and it be a 4X4. We saw so many cars with flat tires and we very grateful we had four wheel drive...this is mainly for the rain forest part of our vacation but either way it doesn't hurt. You never know where or what you'll end up in in Costa Rica. There are so many things to see and close enough you can take short day trips but a taxi would get expensive and in some places taxis aren't around.
- You will also need a GPS. We would have died or killed each other without ours because literally sometimes the GPS would just say turn right on road...no name no number. We would have never made it otherwise and the GPS never led us astray.
- Although some people know English we knew very little Spanish and it was difficult. I suggest getting a small book with phrases in it to communicate. The beach and tourist areas were easier but in the rain forest we found it hard to communicate. Luckily we did know key words which got us to the right place along with our American sign language LOL
- We learned early on that we should have flown into the other major airport in Costa Rica, Liberia, instead of San Jose because it was way closer to our 2 destinations. I had known this previously but I couldn't find any direct flight that were on the same day. They were all 2 day flights so I decided to make our vacation even more adventurous so we drove the extra miles or should I say kilometers. If you do take a trip to Costa Rica with a similar itinerary then flying into Liberia would be best.
Overall I couldn’t have asked
for a better vacation. As far as Costa Rica
goes- it was amazing. We got to see the
majority of what the country has to offer, got to see how the people are self
sufficient and super laid back, not to mention friendly and helpful. All around the rain forest towns, the little
cottage type houses have a cow or two, gardens, and fruit trees. We even saw a cute little village where there
was a nice community garden. They love
their flowers and take good care of what they have even if it isn’t a lot in
our eyes.
As far as Hendrik and I
go- I do admit that I was a bit weary going into this because the past 2
vacations I’ve been on with a significant other ended in my breaking up because
there was just things I couldn’t ignore any longer. No matter how much you know about a person when
you aren’t at home some things just become more obvious because you don’t have
your normal day to day distractions and these can be good or bad things. When you go on an 8 day trip with someone you
really know if you are going to stand the test of long term or not and with Hendrik
there were just good things reinforcing that this is the man of my dreams and
the man I am meant to spend the rest of my life with. We were not apart a minute of those 8 days
and I came home happier, more in love, and secure in our relationship than when
I left. I knew we would get along great because
we do know each other so well but we just had a great time, we never ran out of
things to talk about or laugh about. We
were adventurous and were both willing to do things that were out of the
ordinary. We experienced the culture of
Costa Rica and came away from the country feeling like we grew as people from
being there. I feel like we grew as a couple
and had time that was just ours to relax and learn about each other. without life's little quirks getting in the way. There were times on this trip where I just
felt so overjoyed and a flow of love that the only thing that could half way
convey it was a kiss and an I love you! I
knew this was the right path for me but now I’m even more sure of it. I can’t wait for the many more adventures that
I know we will experience together.
Links to the hotels we stayed in:
All our accommodations were just what I thought they were and we would definitely stay in all three again.
HAPPY TRAVELING
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