Costa Rica

[Cataboo]

Um. I saw people riding their bikes (kids, whatever ) and walking at all hours of the night. I didn't notice anywhere that I would have considered unsafe.

I didn't spend much time in San Juan, but I went walking that evening without being worried.

The only thing we were repeatedly warned about was not to leave anything visible in the rental car because it would probably get stolen. There were times when we had no choice but to leave all our stuff (luggage) in the rental car - and we didn't have anything stolen.

[itself]

We are looking at staying in Manuel Antonio. I also have a friend that is moving there who lives centrally in Bejuco.

Where did you take those pictures? And thanks for the info all of you!

[itself]

Well, my friends moved there and have been in CR for four months now. There is definitely a problem with thievery, they have had to make sure that there is a good wall around their house. Also, green mold all over their furniture. They have figured out a system to attack it, but they need humidifiers in every room. They love the fact that they are eating all unprocessed foods. They both have lost weight.

All the locals go nuts over their mountain bikes. I've suggested that they chain them in their garage so they won't get stolen.

Funny, they have gone to vacation in CR for 7 years. Now having moved their, there is a lot of "discovery" as far as how life really is. I think I'll stay stateside.

[RubyTuesday]

I went to Guanacaste area in Costa Rica last year. The main roads were not bad, but the smaller roads were not for road bikes. I did see a few bike riders, but most were on mountain bikes or just bits and pieces bikes. During the rainy season, forget riding the roads are flooded and the off roads are running mud and puddles.

[mandymeinst]

Costa Rica isn’t my favorite country in the world. I was biased against it before I arrived the only other time I have been there. In the rest of Central America, the locals tend to refer to Costa Rica as Gringolandia, not only because it is the most popular expat country in that part of the world, but also because it has far more North American tourists than the rest of that part of the world (for admittedly good reasons — the tourist infrastructure is more established there than the rest of Central America and it has a long history of political stability, in comparison with its neighbors).