-
Budget-Friendly Tips for Traveling in Costa Rica
Photo © Christopher P. Baker.
With its diverse climate, awe-inspiring beaches, and wide array of seldom-seen wildlife, it’s no surprise that more than two million visitors headed to Costa Rica in 2010. This number is expected to rise this year, as an ever-increasing number of travel deals to this
-
Costa Rica Giveaway Winners Announced
-
Costa Rica’s Fearsome Fer-de-Lance—This Snake Deserves Respect!
A juvenile fer de lance in Corcovado National Park. Photo © Christopher P. Baker.
Want a good laugh? Then watch me hike the rainforest trails of Costa Rica alone. I look like a blind man tapping his way forward with a long stick in front of me, probing the leaf litter for venomous snakes.
Specific
-
Costa Rica’s Indigenous Boruca People Make Magnificent Masks
Photo © Christopher P. Baker.
When I first began researching my Moon Costa Rica handbook two decades ago, I don’t ever recall having seen Boruca masks.
Today, these distinctive cultural icons are ubiquitous throughout Costa Rica, where they’re sold in virtually any souvenir store worth its salt.
O
-
Costa Rica Now a Popular Spring Break Destination
Surfers on Playa Tamarindo at sunset. Photo © Christopher P. Baker.
To stay up to date about happenings and developments in Costa Rica, I subscribe to various newsfeeds, including Google Alerts. Over the past few months, I noticed an uptick in news reports about school and college student groups v
-
Kurà, Costa Rica’s Newest, Most Sensational Hotel
Photo © Christopher P. Baker.
Every time I explore Costa Rica tip to toe while researching each new edition of Moon Costa Rica, I expect to discover one or two new boutique hotels that make me exclaim “Wow!” Usually there’s a stand-out newcomer that raises the bar a few inches. Well, last week I s
-
Costa Rica retires old money for new – spend now!
The colorful new banknotes issued in Costa Rica.
If you’re planning on traveling to Costa Rica any time soon and you intend bringing the notes left over from your last trip, be aware that the old 1,000 and 2,000 colones (¢) bills issued prior to mid-2011 are no longer legal tender and that after D
-
Peñas Blancas: Crossing the Costa Rica Boarder
Peñas Blancas is the official border crossing into Costa Rica. A major effort is underway, with financing from the United States, to make this border crossing a bottleneck and entrapment point for drug traffickers headed north. Many of the buildings you see in the compound are inspection points fo
-
Gender and Family Values in Costa Rica
In May 2010, Laura Chinchilla became Costa Rica’s first female president and Latin America’s fifth female president in the last two decades. Photo © ITU, licensed Creative Commons attribution.
Officially speaking, women and men in Costa Rica enjoy absolute equality. The 1949 constitution says as m
-
Costa Rica Hot Springs in Zona Norte
The swim-up bar at Tabacón Hot Springs. Photo © Graeme Churchard, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
Costa Rica is a land of seismic shenanigans, and the Arenal region, a few hours north of San José, is an excellent place to get in on the action. Hot springs burble up from cracks in the earth&
-
Costa Rica: Cultural Customs and Etiquette
A mural in San Jose, Costa Rica. Photo © Dave Brenner, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
More than one observer has noted the similarities between Asian and Latin American cultures: Both emphasize social harmony and saving face. To North Americans, who often value honesty above harmony, the C
-
Building a House in Costa Rica
House in Costa Rica. Photo © Zanzabar Photography, licensed Creative Commons Attribution No-Derivatives.
If you build your own home in Costa Rica, you won’t have to adjust to Tico housing styles, which may include low ceilings, no lawns, and odd ideas about finish work. In your own place, you can
-
10 Days in Costa Rica for Hopeful Expats
Take some time during your tour to relax in popular destinations like Puerto Viejo. Photo © Ryan Kozie, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
If you’re looking to move to Costa Rica, this whirlwind sampler of expat hot spots casts a wide net, allowing you to see as much as possible in less
-
Why Move to Costa Rica
Stunning view of Mount Arenal on a rare, perfectly clear day. Photo © Arden, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
More and more North Americans are looking for a place to start a new life—whether it’s for retirement, a career change, or plying one’s current profession in a new market. Millions a
-
A Brief History of Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast
The Caribbean Coast
In 1502, Columbus became the first European to set foot on this coast when he anchored at Isla Uvita on his fourth and last voyage to the New World. Twenty-two years later, Hernán Cortés mapped the coast. The records left by early Spaniards tell of contact with indigenous peopl
-
Visiting Golfo Dulce and the Osa Peninsula
At the shore in Costa Rica’s Parque Nacional Corcovado. Photo © Miguel Vieira, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
The Osa PeninsulaCosta Rica’s southwesternmost region is a distinct oblong landmass, framed on its east side by the Fila Costeña mountain chain and indented in the cente
-
Take a Day Cruise to Isla Tortuga off the Nicoya Peninsula
Stunning beaches, warm turquoise waters, and plenty of water sports await passengers on day cruises to this gorgeous little isle. Photo © three sad tigers, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
This stunningly beautiful 320-hectare (790-acre) island lies three kilometers (2 miles) offshore o
-
Essential Information for Booking a Flight to Costa Rica
Once you get to Costa Rica, domestic flights like the ones offered by privately-owned Nature Air make it easy to get around. Photo © Sean Hobson, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
About 20 international airlines provide regular service to Costa Rica. Most flights land at Juan Santamaría
-
The Osa Peninsula's Parque Nacional Corcovado
A tapir in Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park. Photo © Miguel Vieira, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
The Osa PeninsulaParque Nacional Corcovado is the largest stronghold of Pacific coastline primary rainforest, which has been all but destroyed from Mexico to South America. Its
-
Visiting Guaitíl on the Nicoya Peninsula
Guaitíl pottery is synonymous with Costa Rica’s indigenous crafts. Photo © Bryan Guzman, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
Guaitíl, 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) east of Santa Cruz (the turnoff from the main highway is two kilometers (1.2 miles) east of Santa Cruz), is a tranquil littl
Total
334 -travel
FirstPage PreviousPage NextPage LastPage CurrentPage:
13/17 20-travel/Page Goto:
