Costa Rica – A Report.

We spent the last few weeks traveling around Costa Rica. Whenever something occurred to me or caught my attention, I wrote it down. I’d like to share these thought fragments (and a few pictures) with you:

You can’t actually see stars here. (Because it’s always cloudy.)

Everything is damp because of the humidity. Unbelievable. Books curl just from reading them, chips are no longer crispy after just 1 hour, and clothes take 2 days to dry. But you get used to it, even stepping into damp clothes.

Everything is blooming. Incredibly green and fertile. If you just spat anywhere, something would grow. Constantly this warm “green” smell. Like decay. But pleasant. Especially in the cloud forest. That’s a type of rainforest with lots of fog. There the plants are an absurd level more green, since they don’t get as much light and therefore produce more chlorophyll.

Impressive large American trucks drive around here. Like in movies from the 90s.

When refueling, you just stay seated here. Payment is made contactless to the gas station attendant through the car window.

The food isn’t very heavily seasoned. The dishes are very Mexican/Spanish in style and appearance, but taste significantly milder than you’d expect. That they put bean paste on everything doesn’t make it better.

You only pay VAT when it can be digitally traced (with a card). The further you are from the capital, the more creative the bookkeeping becomes. The advertising approach doesn’t hide this either.

They have many rules – but they usually use them with common sense. Mask mandate: basically yes. But only until you’re out of the crowds. And they love bureaucracy. Some park entries were more time-consuming than airport passport control.

Cola tastes different here. Because it’s American Cola. Delicious!

They don’t want to disappoint anyone and therefore remain deliberately vague. For example, something is promised for Saturday without saying which Saturday exactly is meant. This gives enough flexibility to meet expectations. If I don’t come today, I’ll come tomorrow – but without disappointing in terms of performance.

Tranquillo Now a word about perhaps the most important aspect. The mentality. I’ve been struggling with a mental disconnect since my arrival: everywhere you read that Costa Rica is so developed: No military, high education system level, ecological and sustainable tourism, etc. Yet you also read about drug trafficking, gang crime, politician corruption, etc. I couldn’t reconcile this. Is Costa Rica developed or not?

But slowly an insight is settling in me: Just because a country is considered (relatively) “developed” (compared to neighboring countries), you shouldn’t expect everything to be exactly like it is with us, i.e., in terms of infrastructure, etc. Because other countries have different prerequisites: temperature, mentality, etc. But also different needs: Not every country needs solid roads and houses with massive walls everywhere (like us).

But you can’t describe Costa Rica’s “development” without explaining the “Tranquillo” mentality: Here everything goes a bit slower and more relaxed. But you shouldn’t understand this in a sense of “bad” or inferior quality. No one here is indifferent to things. I’ve already had some considerate experiences here that wouldn’t have made anyone in other countries I’ve traveled to even bat an eye. Or immediately held out their hand.

They do everything here thoughtfully, let themselves be guided by their values, and try to do the right thing – with the means available to them. Always driving by sight, very pragmatic. And thus “Tranquillo” is actually quite agile, in our Western sense. And when you then evaluate the country in relation to the starting situation in this part of the world (colonialism, etc.), you can definitely conclude: Yes, the country is developed. And they can be proud of what they have already achieved.

Anecdotes in this regard:

We were able to take an excursion without clarifying beforehand how we would pay for it. Quote: “You can’t leave here anyway” (from the peninsula).
A boat wanted to turn around once when two guests didn’t have masks with them (Julia could at least provide one of them).
The taxi coordinator at the airport organized our shuttle to the car rental – even though it wasn’t his job.

Pictures ¶

Shot with an iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Key Data ¶

24.07.2021 – 25.07.2021: San José 25.07.2021 – 29.07.2021: Drake Bay 29.07.2021 – 02.08.2021: Uvita 02.08.2021 – 04.08.2021: Monteverde 05.08.2021 – 07.08.2021: La Fortuna