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Sorry I don’t know about Little Summer this year, but I just got from a couple weeks in Costa Rica and felt extremely safe (i was not in san jose though). I had a blast practicing my spanish on the very forgiving locals, made some great new Tico friends, and did not ever feel under threat. One night someone tried to sell me weed in the driveway of my hotel and I scolded him and he got a really sad look on his face, I felt so bad! I think my semi-hippy look made him think I would be happy to see him. Anyway, if you go with your guy instincts and don’t do anything you wouldn’t do at home, you should be fine. You wouldn’t leave a camera on the front seat of your unlocked car at home, you wouldn’t want to flash a lot of cash (or leg) late at night in a yucky neighborhood…. Just use common sense and enjoy!
Are you referring to the North American style of clogging or the Latin American technique which I believe is called “zapateado” where rythmic foot dances are incorporated into certain folk-songs (I have only seen this in Mexico, but I don’t doubt it exists in other places)?
I recently stayed at Cerro Chato Eco Lodge. It’s simple (no pool or bar scene) but clean, hot water, and the Tico owners are delightful and arranged everything I wanted to do. Miguel the owner personally picked me up at SJO! His wife cooks a wicked good tipico breakfast and the grounds are beautiful with all kinds of birds hanging out right there. We walked to La Fortuna waterfall from the lodge (about 45 minutes) and it’s about 2km walk into downtown La Fortuna. It was no more than 30 minutes drive to any of the attractions including the Volcano Park, hot springs, etc…. You can see the volcano and Cerro Chato (an old volcano with its head blown off) from the lodge. It seemed very close to me and I swore I could hear it rumbling at night.
I have no association or business with them besides being a very happy customer (my sister and my friend stayed with me too and loved it). I think the double room was $40/night and a single room was $30.
Is it just me or did anyone else notice there are no mosquitos up there?
By the way, the heladeria in La Fortuna has the cutest little old lady behind the counter and the caramelo icecream is the best. We ate that in the park every evening.
I think Spanish is one of the world’s easiest languages to learn. It’s all phonetic, so spelling and speaking are the same. Yay! If you read a lot, listen to Rock en Espanol, and take some formal classes, and of course practice WITHOUT FEAR on every Spanish speaker you encounter, it should be no problem. Central Americans are very forgiving of your mistakes and you’ll soon start to hear the irregular verbs used so regularly you’ll just pick those up by repetition and osmosis (don’t stress about memorization). If you can learn English with all of the exceptions and mishmash of different language bases, you can learn Spanish. If you or your wife are really shy with trying out the language, try learning in a bar environment. A few cervezas can really go a long way in helping you let the words just flow without being afraid. The worst that can happen is you’ll laugh a lot. Also, people who are more involved in the community learn languages a lot faster than those who stay at home, so get your wife out there volunteering, taking dance lessons, or even just shopping.
Hi everyone! THis is my first post, and I would like to offer my completely unexperienced and dreamy commmentary to the young couple who has a dream. I first visited CR 15 years ago and fell in love with the country. I have traveled to many places since then and fell in love with lots of those places as well. I recently just visited CR again and fell in love all over again (so bad I want to move too! I’m a young one too at 32). I saw the comment about being the “last one on the truck” and was thinking how all the retirees who moved there 15 years ago are now getting old and dying. I see lots of older businesses and hotels for sale. Don’t you think there is still some opportunity for a young couple with a dream to get on the bus and maybe even get a decent seat? Or is my head completely in the clouds?
One a side note to the young couple, I recently visited Honduras and had a fantastic time. There is as much (or more?) beautiful nature and beaches as CR, but infinitely fewer tourists and expats. I say shop around before you decide you must live in one place.
Ultimately, you should go with your heart, but have a back-up plan in case things don’t work out as planned.
By the way, my name is Darcy. I might be lurking around here for a while. 🙂
