In previous blog entries, I introduced Gary and Lisa who recently chose to spend three months in Costa Rica. This blog entry is Part Three of their interview about their experiences. If you missed Part One and Two, you might enjoy going back and reading those entries first to give context to Gary and Lisa’s comments in Part Three.
7. Where did you travel in the country and what were the highlights from those trips – or things you learned or were intrigued by?
We traveled to several different cities during this trip to Costa Rica. We sat down and looked at the map and immediately decided we wanted to get to the Caribbean side if it was possible. Various people we had met told us about some interesting places and things to see around the country.
So, our first trip was to Grecia to see the big red church. Wikipedia has this to say about this unique church: “Grecia is noted for its unique church, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, made entirely of pre-fabricated steel plates painted red. The building was constructed in the 19th century to represent the practice of Catholic religion in Grecia and honor the Virgin Mary.
We did find it amusing that every time we told someone we were either going to or had visited Grecia, they asked us if we bought a car. Apparently that’s the place to go in country if you are car shopping. We did enjoy our day in Grecia. The church was beautiful, and we had a blast shopping the market and enjoying the central park.
We took an adventurous bus trip from Jaco to the Caribbean side of the country: bus from Jaco to San Jose; bus from San Jose to Cartago; bus from Cartago to Turrialba; bus from Turrialba to Siquirres; bus from Siquirres to Limon; bus from Limon to Puerto Viejo. WHEW! We met some of most interesting and wonderful people on those buses and in the bus terminals.
After leaving San Jose, our first stop was Cartago to see the National Basilica. It was beautiful and the history was enchanting.
“According to tradition, La Negrita, the Black Virgin, is a small (less than a meter tall), probably indigenous or mixed race, representation of the Virgin Mary found on 2 August 1635 by a native woman. As the story goes, when she tried to take the statuette with her, it miraculously reappeared twice back where she had found it. The townspeople then built a shrine around the statue.[2]
In 1824, the Virgin was declared Costa Rica’s patron saint. La Negrita now resides on a gold, jewel-studded platform at the main altar in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago. Each 2 August, on the anniversary of the statuette’s miraculous discovery, pilgrims from every corner of the country (and beyond) walk the 22 km from San José to the basilica. Many of the penitent complete the last few hundred meters of the pilgrimage on their knees. This basilica is equally visited by tourists and locals” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_de_los_%C3%81ngeles)
We also visited the town of Turrialba (population 30,000) up in the mountains on our way to the east coast. It was one of our favorite little towns in the heart of Costa Rica.
We ended up in Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side for a couple of nights, and were amazed at how different everything seemed in that region. It was like being in a completely different country. The people, food, and buildings were all unique to what we had experienced in the other parts of Costa Rica. We really did enjoy our time there- getting to see another unique nook of the country.
Our long bus trip was completed by retracing our same route back to Jaco.
Our last trip outside of Jaco was down the Pacific coast to Uvita. We really enjoyed our time there. We were only supposed to stay one night, but opted for an additional night so we could take in more sights.
Of all the excursions we took to different areas of the country, probably the one thing that stuck out from everything else was how affordable hotel accommodations were. Some of the places we stayed were absolutely beautiful, with pools and gardens and landscaping. The rooms were big and clean and accommodating, and most, if not all, were under $65 US. Some places we stayed would have been at least a couple hundred dollars back in the States. But, you get so much for the value of the room and a low cost for a lot of the food. That all really makes it hard to not want to travel around and see different sights.
8. Were there disappointments during your visit?
Honestly, we have to dig pretty deep to find any disappointments. We had an encounter with one of the taxi drivers at a San Jose bus station that was disappointing, and definitely not our typical experience. We had gotten off at one bus station and had already walked quite a distance to another wrong one- an unusually abrasive man insistently let us know. There were taxi drivers congregating, and one particular driver told us he would take us to the correct one for 5 dollars. While driving us (it definitely would’ve been too far to walk), he kept saying he would drive us all the way to Jaco. We were like, “No, porque el bus es mucho mas barato!” Once we arrived at the correct bus station, he said we owed him 20 dollars! We “reminded” him of what he quoted us, and he still demanded the 20 dollars. We pulled out a 20 that had a slight tear. He locked the doors and wouldn’t let us out until we produced 20 dollars in perfect bills. We learned a lot from that experience, including to always make sure the taxi driver is using the meter. Like I said, that was definitely not typical. All the other taxi drivers were courteous, helpful, and fair.
9. What tours did you take – and would you recommend them?
Our daughter had never been out of the US and decided to vacation in Costa Rica while we were there. So, during her stay, we did a few of the many tours the beautiful country has to offer. There were some that we had done in the past- Manuel Antonio National Park, Jose’s Crocodile Tour, Tortuga Island, and the Villa Vanilla Spice Tour that we repeated with her. Her favorite of those, and ours, was the Villa Vanilla Spice Tour. We have recommended that tour to several people.
There were a couple tours that we hadn’t done in the past- Chino’s Monkey Mangrove Tour, and the Ten Waterfalls Off-road Tour. We had an incredible time on both. Her favorite tour of those, and in total, was the Ten Waterfalls. Our guide, Jorge, was fantastic, it was stunningly beautiful and refreshing, and it was great exercise. We would highly recommend it to anyone in good health who is ready for a pretty steep hike- frequently pulling yourself up with a rope. We all absolutely loved it, and, once again, all the people we encountered were like family.
10. Tell us about your daily life- what did you do? How was shopping for necessities? What did you notice about prices?
While in Jaco, we were involved with as many of Horizon Church’s ministries/activities as possible (www.horizonjaco.org). We attended prayer on Monday mornings, Women’s Bible study on Tuesday evening, Men’s Bible study on Wednesday evening, and there was a small group meeting every other Friday evening. Saturday mornings were work days at Finca de Esperanza (a new drug rehabilitation center operated by Horizon Church), and then church service on Sunday. Around those things, our day-to-day routine consisted of our own morning Bible study together, then we would often walk downtown for a hair cut, shopping, groceries, etc.
We cooked most of our own meals but would occasionally walk to a nearby soda (a local typical restaurant with Costa Rican fare). We went to the local movie theater on a couple evenings for a night out together. It’s such a nice little theater, but it was very cold. They really know how to use the air conditioning! We often cooled off during the hottest part of the day at the pool. We enjoyed so many beautiful sunsets at the beach- no two are ever alike, and it just never gets old.
For groceries and other necessities, we went to various locations and almost always walked. We made frequent trips because, if we fit it all in our backpacks, we could also walk back. Occasionally, we needed to get more than we were able to walk back with, so we would grab a ride back via taxi or Uber. Both of those are very inexpensive- Uber is a little cheaper but taxis were usually a little faster.
What we noticed about prices of groceries: some grocery chains are more expensive (more American) than others. In most stores, as long as we bought things that were made or produced in Costa Rica or Central America, the prices were more than reasonable. If we were craving something that had to be imported, it could be very expensive- like peanut butter! While shopping at la feria (the local farmers market) on Thursday afternoons, we were very pleased to find a Tico who sold some of his natural peanut butter for a much better price than any of the grocery stores. We discovered lots of new items we can’t get at home that were very tasty and enjoyable. Overall, we probably ended up spending a little less than we normally would have at home.
And there you have it – three months of adventure in Costa Rica! Thank you so much, Gary and Lisa, for sharing your experiences with us. From those of us who live in Jaco, we look forward to your next visit.
For those who haven’t visited Costa Rica yet, we hope you’ll find inspiration and motivation to do so through Gary and Lisa’s experiences. Pura Vida!
Until next time,
This is Paul, a Part-Time Expat turned Full-Time
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