I was getting ready to leave Guayabo Lodge near the small town of Santa Cruz - about a 30 minute drive from the city of Turrialba - to Orosi Valley, my next destination in Costa Rica. When I discussed the driving route with Rosanna the co-proprietor of the Lodge, she suggested that instead of going through the city of Turrialba - the conventional route - that I take the more scenic route through Pacayas and Ujarras. From Pacayas, she said, “There is a winding road that takes you down into the valley. Make sure that you make a left at the sign Bocadito del Cielo – that is the turnoff”.

As the signage can be somewhat tricky in COSTA RICA, I asked Rosanna what landmark should I look for to indicate that the turnoff is close by. She said “About 20-25 minutes away from our lodge you’ll see a small, pale blue colored old house with yellow cream trim perched on top of the hill on the left hand side of the road; the house has a lovely flower garden. People in the area call it “The Dollhouse”. You can’t miss it. If you have a chance, you should stop and take some pictures”.

I proceeded to leave Guayabo Lodge, bidding farewell to Don Pedro and his wife Rosanna taking the scenic route to Orosi Valley as she suggested. Keeping a lookout for the dollhouse, I glanced at my watch seeing that 20 minutes had passed by since my journey had started. I must be getting near I said to myself. Another 7 minutes passed by and still no dollhouse in sight. Needless to say, I was getting a bit nervous figuring I had taken the wrong road or gone astray. About 5 minutes later (over 30 minutes had expired since my journey started), I saw the house that Rosanna had described on the left side of the road about ½ mile further up the road. Seeing the dollhouse up ahead, I was overcome with joy as it meant that I hadn’t got lost. With a big sigh of relief, I proclaimed Hallelujah!

As Rosanna had suggested, I stopped at the house to take some pictures. Perched on a hill overlooking the valley below, the dollhouse with its unique candy cane lily garden was just as beautiful as she described it. Now I have the pleasure of sharing some pictures with you. PURA VIDA!

On my most recent trip to Costa Rica, I asked my tour operator, Costa Rican Trails to book me a room for my final 2 nights before returning to the USA, at what they felt was the best budget hotel in downtown San Jose . My objective was to sample some budget accommodations for prospective frugal minded customers who have limited funds. Keep in mind that I usually stay at Hotel Bougainvillea, a moderate lowrise property located just outside the city in the province of Heredia. The Bougainvillea is not a luxury hotel by any standards but it is very comfortable and proper with some very beautiful gardens. My rating - 3.5 stars.

The Hotel they selected for me was Palm House Inn. The pictures on the website looked pretty good but I know from experience not to put much credence on pictures in hotel websites or in travel brochures, because they are always way too flattering. I would have to reserve judgment until I actually stayed at the hotel.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I checked into the Palm House Inn, but after staying there for 2 nights, I have to say that it exceeded my expectations. Located on the edge of the downtown area in a quiet neighborhood, this small cheerful hotel of only 12 rooms or so is walking distance of Plaza de La Cultura, the National Theatre, museums and other attractions. Across the street is a community playhouse that features comedies and theatrical productions and nearby is a theatre which was currently featuring a Gay Musical.

The rooms, while a little on the small side are immaculately clean, simply decorated and are equipped with Cable TV, safe deposit box and phone. The only negative - the bathrooms are very petite and somewhat cramped. The people at the front desk seem to be University Students (or recently graduated from school) – they are very friendly, helpful and speak pretty good English. The hotel is very secure and safe; in order to get in you have to ring the bell at the security gate outside. This no real hindrance, as there is always somebody at the front desk 24 hours to buzz you in. Downstairs there is free WIFI and small eating area for breakfast. Rates are very affordable $45 single/$55 double with breakfast included. I give Palm House Inn a big thumbs up (highly recommended) and I plan to use this hotel for in my Costa Rica Program for travelers on a budget!

Dining expenses for tourists in COSTA RICA shouldn’t be that costly so long as you avoid the overly commercialized tourist restaurants, which can be a little on the expensive side. If you really want to spend as little money as possible, I suggest you eat at the local sodas (cafés), places where the working class Tico dines. You could spend as little as $10 per day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To get some idea on what the average tourist might spend on meals, I was pouring through my receipts on my recent 17-day/16-night trip to Costa Rica. The results are very illuminating:

DINNER – I had dinner 13 of the 16 nights I was in Costa Rica (I abstained the remaining 3 nights). The total expense was $155USD, so it averaged out to approximately $12.00 per dinner. Of the 13 dinners, 8 were partaken at my hotels and 5 at restaurants which cater to tourists or well-heeled locals. The most expensive dinner I had was at Luna Azul in Ostional (Nosara) for $22.50, where I had an exquisite gnocchi pasta dish and a very tasty green salad. The least expensive dinner I had was at a tourist restaurant in Turrialba where I spent $5.80USD.

BREAKFAST - My sample size is very small, because breakfast was included in my room rate for the duration of my stay (excluding my first 3 nights in San Jose at Hotel Bougainvillea). On my first morning there, I had the breakfast buffet thinking it was included in my room rate - but I was mistaken. The cost was $13 - kind of expensive but in line with what other first class hotels in San Jose charge for a buffet breakfast. Keep in mind that breakfast is included in the room rate at most hotels in Costa Rica.

The two days that I paid out of pocket for breakfast, the cost was less than $4.00 per breakfast including coffee. Of the breakfasts provided by the hotels, I thought that Luna Azul in Ostional had the best overall – in terms of presentation and selection. Kudos to Rolf for preparing egg white omelets for me everyday.

LUNCH - my sample size is even smaller as I had lunch on only two days – once was at a dedicated vegetarian restaurant, Comida Sentir near the University of Costa Rica, total damage was $6.85 for the plate of the day, tea and a pastry; my 2nd lunch was at El Mapache, a small Middle Eastern roadside cafe near Playa Negra, where I had delicious falafel sandwich for about $4.00.

In summary, for the average tourist in COSTA RICA, dining out is not really cheap, but not expensive either if one avoids the crass tourist venues. On the other had, If you dine at local places exclusively, breakfast will cost you as little as $2.50-3.00, lunch $3.00-4.00 and dinner for as little as $5.00-6.00 and up! MUY BARATO!

Note: All prices are in USD (converted from the local currency which is colones, where 570 colones = $1.00SD

I had just arrived in Nosara, a popular beach resort community located in Costa Rica’s Nicoya peninsula. After picking up my car at Toyota Car rental’s office in downtown Play Guiones, I decided to grab a bite to eat and some coffee at the “hippish” Zen Café before driving further up the coast to my hotel just north of Ostional.

During my conversation with the young Floridian Expats who owned Zen café, I inquired if they could recommend a good vegetarian restaurant near my hotel, Luna Azul. One of the guys who lived in the nearby village of Playa San Juanillo highly recommended a small seaside restaurant called La Bahia located about 5-6KM from my hotel. He boasted that La Bahia had the best pizza in all of Costa Rica. Now, I have had pizza a number of times in Costa Rica and it was average at best! As a pizza enthusiast, La Bahia sounded very promising. Finishing my large cup of organic coffee, which was very delicious by the way, I headed up to my hotel - a good 40 minutes drive from downtown Playa Guiones.

Needless to say, I took the advice of the young guy from Zen as I ended up having dinner at La Bahia two of the four nights that I was in Nosara. Driving to the restaurant at night was quite an adventure though as the 800 meter dirt track from the “main (dirt) highway” was in terrible shape, making it a very bumpy ride. It didn’t help matters any that the signage from the “main highway” was improper and relatively obscure – on at least two occasions I passed the turnoff and had to backtrack to find the sign/exit. But you know what? The young guy at ZEN was right! Not only was the Pizza outstanding - better than 95% of pizzas that that I have had in the USA - but the vegetarian pasta dish and Mediterranean Salad that I had on my 2nd visit was even better. The pasta was freshly made and was accompanied by some very tangy tomato sauce spiced with herbs and some choice green vegetables. And the Salad? It was absolute perfection - a salad to die for.

Now I’m not one who hands out praise too easily especially when it come to restaurants, but I am going on record to say that La Bahia, even though menu is somewhat limited, has to be the best restaurant that I have been to in COSTA RICA! The two guys who man the kitchen are both from Italy and have worked for many years as chefs in both their native Italy and in Spain. No wonder, the food was so delicious!

FYI – For a medium vegetarian pizza, the cost was approximately $10USD, and for the pasta dish, large salad and a Bavaria Negra (the best beer in Costa Rica, by the way) the cost was $21.00USD. Not cheap, not expensive!

Most people don’t particularly care for San Jose, the much maligned capital city of Costa Rica. Despite its magnificent location in the Central Valley at an altitude of about 3800 feet above sea level, San Jose itself is relatively drab and unsophisticated compared to other capital cities in Latin America. The city lacks the gleaming skyscrapers and sophisticated architecture of Mexico City and Panama City, and the beautiful ornate colonial architecture of cities like Quito, Bogota or Cusco. In a nutshell, San Jose feels like a working class-blue collar town, just very down to earth.

After so many visits to San Jose, personally I have come to appreciate the city’s unpretentious and humble personality. San Jose feels very comfortable like an old pair of shoes. I enjoy walking around the historic neighborhoods of Barrio Amon and Barrio Otoya located on the northern edge of the downtown area where there are many small boutiquish cafes as well as restored mansions of coffee barons from the late 19th century. Many of these mansions have been converted into small hotels. In addition, there are many small parks - little oases of greenery – scattered around the city. My Verdict on San Jose - PURA VIDA!

I was having a leisurely breakfast my first day in San José, Costa Rica at the Bougainvillea Hotel. The breakfast buffet was good but nothing special – I had my usual ½ plate of fresh fruit accompanied by gallo pinto, some toast, a Costa Rican tortilla all drowned by some hot black Costa Rican coffee. The coffee was so good that I had three cups! After finishing breakfast, the waiter came over to the table and asked me to sign for the bill, 7200 colones ($13USD). Somewhat startled by the bill, I told the waiter that I thought my breakfast was included in my room rate – this is relatively standard with hotels in Costa Rica. He said one moment, senor, let me check with the front desk. About 5 minutes later, he returned to the table and advised me that the breakfast was extra monies and not part of my room rate. No problem, I said and signed the bill. If I had known in advance that the hotel was charging me for breakfast, I definitely would not have had their breakfast buffet for $13USD! No way!

Later on when I questioned the front desk manager about this, she apologized for the misunderstanding and said “Since we are giving you a 5% discount on the room rate for being travel industry professional, we have to charge you for the breakfast.” I didn’t complain, and I told her I would appreciate any break she could give me. Smiling, she told me before leaving that she would give me a 10% discount on my room and all my meals. I thanked her for her graciousness.

What is the lesson from this incident? In Costa Rica, if you’re eating meals at your hotel or at any upscale restaurant or café that caters to tourists, be prepared to pay about the same amount of monies as you would at a similar establishment in the USA. If you’d like to cut down on your dining expenses, I suggest that you go to either a local cafe or to one whose clientele is not geared exclusively to tourists.

In my case, paying $13 for a breakfast buffet at a first class hotel in the USA would be considered average but most people would agree $13 for the same buffet in Costa Rica is somewhat expensive. Keep in mind though, that in most instances breakfast is usually included in the room rate! If you’re wondering, how much a decent breakfast would cost at local café/restaurant in Costa Rica - I would say from $3.00 - $7.00USD.
And I have the receipts to prove it!

Due to its increasing popularity as a vacation destination, Costa Rica cannot be considered cheap anymore. However if you’re a budget traveler or a backpacker, do not let this deter you from traveling to Costa Rica - it is still a wonderful place. To make your funds last longer (and to stay within your budget), I suggest that you become more like a Tico (a Costa Rican) – avoid the most popular and most Americanized beach resorts and tourist traps – Manuel Antonio, Tamarindo, Flamingo Beach, Arenal and the like – and by all means patronize some of the local sodas and cafes when dining. You will save a lot of monies.

Manuel Antonio, while being the most beautiful and most scenic of the many beach resorts in Costa Rica, it is also the priciest with budget accommodations costing in the neighborhood of $80/90USD. If you still insist on going to Manuel Antonio, you will find cheaper accommodations in the nearby town of Quepos, about 5KM from the beginning of the resort area. What beach resorts do I recommend for the budget traveler? Well, on the Pacific Coast, I would try Playa del Coco, Playa Negra, Playa Potrero or Brasilito. These places are all very popular with TICOS – which means they are more affordable. Even though I haven’t been to Cahuita and Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean Coast in many years, I believe you’ll still find relatively affordable accommodations there as well.

Most travelers will spend at least 1-2 nights or more in San Jose, Costa Rica’s Capital City because it is the transportation hub and the primary transit point in the country. For instance, if you’re traveling from the Caribbean Coast to the Pacific Coast, most likely you will have to overnight in San Jose, before continuing your journey. In San Jose, there are many secure low cost hostels and places that cater to backpackers. While walking through San Jose’s popular Barrio Amon district (not far from the downtown area) on my most recent trip to Costa Rica, I came across two fairly respectable hostels – Tranquilo Backpackers and Kabata Hostel. Both places offered a choice of a bed in a dormitory or a private bedroom with shared bathroom facilities as well as providing a variety of other amenities such as free WIFI (in the lobby), free luggage storage and laundry service. While I didn’t have a chance to inspect the rooms, I did get the room rates:

For a bed in the dorm, Backpackers.. $10 Kabata .. $12
For a private room (with shared bathroom), Backpackers.. $24-28 Kabata.. $32

Note: All prices in USD

Next up - Dining on a budget in Costa Rica!

PURA VIDA!

La Plaza de la Cultura (Culture Plaza) in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital city is one of the most popular venues for locals and tourists alike. Located in the heart of San Jose’s busy downtown area, the park is flanked on one side by the Gran Hotel, at one time the most prestigious hotel in San Jose, with the National Theater looming in the background. On any given day, you’ll see a variety of street performers – mimes, clowns, jugglers, Andean folk musicians and the like - as well as local artisans displaying the wares.

People watching and feeding the pigeons are the most popular pastimes at the Plaza de La Cultura; these birds are out in force during lunchtime and after 5:00PM as well as holidays and weekends. Sort of reminds of the days, when as a little boy I used to visit Union Square, a famous landmark in downtown San Francisco and at one time, the most popular pigeon-feeding venue in the city. Of course, feeding the many pigeons that congregate at the park, can only lead one thing – a lot of bird shit and some rather unsanitary conditions. Oh well, the Ticos and their children love these foul birds…

On my latest visit to Costa Rica, I strolled to The Plaza sometime late afternoon on Ash Wednesday, the official start of the five day Semana de Santa (the Easter Holidays) in Costa Rica. While the rest of San Jose was relatively dead, the Plaza was jamming with activity. There were many working class Ticos at the park enjoying the start of the holidays. Mixed in with the many families (mostly parents with their small children) was a rather motley group of punk rockers. Of course, the pigeons were out in force. I observed a number of old ladies doing a rather a brisk trade selling pigeon food - small packets of corn – to the many parents, and the young children were having a field day feeding and chasing the birds. There were also several entrepreneurs making some monies by taking pictures of people, printing the photos on the spot with a portable photo printer. Some of the Ticos even had their picture taken with pigeons eating corn on the top of their head. Watching this, I shook my head, thinking why would anybody want to pay for a picture of a pigeon shitting on his head?!?!

Besides a trio of clowns selling toy balloons shaped like phallus symbols, entertaining a small group of locals were a pair of mimes. The mimes were painted in white - the man was dressed up as a cowboy, while the lady looked like a modern version of Raggedy Ann, a famous fictional character that appeared in a popular illustrated book series written for children. The Mime duo was quite talented and experienced - as they went thru their poses, they looked like a pair of ceramic statutes. There was a real photo taking frenzy going on as most of the onlookers were busy taking pictures of the mimes with either their cell phone or pocket camera. The mimes had a decent payday as many people rewarded the performing duo by placing a small donation into their collection hat. Just another day at the park…

Driving through San Jose, you’ll notice that there are very few cars parked on the street. There’s a reason for that! Due to the high incidence of car theft, most people park in their car in a licensed parking lot (El Parqueo). If for some reason, you feel brave and leave your car parked or unattended on the street, I liken it to leaving a big sign on your car dashboard advertising “Please take my car, I don’t need it anymore.”

In smaller towns, you’ll notice some men with an official traffic vest on – orange with two broad vertical yellow stripes - hanging around the town square or city park. These guys are unofficial security guards. If you park you car there, upon your return, these guys will usually approach you with their hands outstretched expecting some monies for watching your car - it is customary to tip them 100 colones or so. In the cramped parking lots of small shopping plazas, along roadside cafes and at beach parking lots, you will also find guys with the same orange traffic vest on. In these instances, they will provide you with a little more service than just watching your car - typically, they will assist with finding a parking space and when leaving the sometimes-cramped parking space, they will aid you with hand signals. Again it is customary, to give these guys a minimum of 100 colones for their services.

Please note: The guys who watch your car on the street or who are stationed in the small shopping plaza, roadside cafes or at the beach parking are all self employed and are independent entrepreneurs.

By all means, when parking your car outside the city, always park in well-lit areas or in hotel parking lots. Do not leave any valuables in your car and by all means do not tempt anybody by leaving anything in sight. Common Sense prevails!

San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital city is usually full of life – in the busy downtown area, you’ll see people from all walks of life, street vendors at every corner selling a hodgepodge of goods and the automobile traffic can sometimes be very hectic. The scene was quite different however upon my return to San Jose from the Pacific Coast on the Wednesday before Easter Sunday. Automobile traffic was relatively light from the International Airport to San Jose and the streets, which were normally full of people and cars, were relatively deserted. San Jose was somewhat like a Ghost Town.

While being transferred from the airport to my hotel in San Jose, I had a long conversation with my driver Johnny about the celebration of Easter holidays in Costa Rica. Johnny said that in those countries where the Catholic Church is very strong – includes Costa Rica as well as most Latin American countries - the Easter Holidays officially starts on Ash Wednesday, which is the first Wednesday before Easter Sunday. Many local businesses, shops, bars and restaurants close down either on Ash Wednesday (or Thursday) and do not reopen until the day after Easter. Continuing, he told me that many working class people in San Jose take advantage of their time off from work for the Semana de Santa (Easter Week) by heading to the beach, not to return until Sunday evening.

Apparently most of the vacationing Ticos left early Wednesday morning and the highways to the beaches were very congested with automobile traffic. When I asked which beach towns were the most popular among Ticos for Semana de Santa, Johnny said – “On the Pacific Coast it is Jaco beach and Playa Hermosa and on the Caribbean side, it’s Cahuita and Puerto Viejo.”

Taking a stroll through the downtown area, about the only place that had any life or activity was the Plaza de La Cultura (Culture Plaza), where I observed many adults with young children feeding the many pigeons, a trio of clowns selling toy balloons and a pair of performing mimes who attracted quite a crowd. Thursday was even deader yet in San Jose, as there were even fewer automobiles and people on the streets. My two preferred restaurants for dinner were also closed. Oh well… To coin a phrase from the infamous Mad Sad Alice, it was like a Dead-end Sunday in San Jose.