Zipcording through Jungle Canopy
The Caribbean coast
costa rica
° San Jose ° Limón ° Monteverde ° Tortuguero
° Arenal ° Urasca, Cartago ° Expat Anyone?
° UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Costa Rica, perhaps more than any place we have been, is magic.
With my then-15-year-old daughter, I had the wonderful pleasure of travelling on a press junket to Costa Rica with five extraordinary people, including Salon, our tour guide (who was born in Costa Rica); Michael Rosenthal, a writer for KRON TV's "Backroads;" Rick Tegeler of Photodive International, a noted photojournalist, underwater diver/photographer; and John Springer, a ropes course expert (owner of Four Winds Ropes Course in Sonoma County, California). They have all returned repeatedly.
Terrible photo (upper left), but an AMAZING day in a series of amazing days. A tour to Sarapiqui includes climbing a rope ladder into the jungle canopy, hooking on a line, zipping across to another platform in the rainforest. Absolutely thrilling. This day starts with a naturalist guide picking you up at your hotel early in the morning to journey to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, passing through one of the most famous national parks in Costa Rica. And it includes a two hours boat ride through the magnificant rainforest. Look out for forest inhabitants such as toucans, monkeys, sloths, crocodiles and creatures that blend so well in their environment you will be excited when you discover that what you think is bark on a tree is actually a type of bat!
Every single hour of every single day was amazing. There is nowhere on the planet like Costa Rica. The government commitment to keeping their environment healthy is one of the most involved commitments in the world.
No matter where you visit, you will be surrounded by natural beauty and wildlife. They do not randomly kill their animals, even those that are potentially dangerous such as the Fleur de Lys, which is one of the most dangerous snakes in the world. When our guide spotted a Fleur de Lys on a hillside along the path we were on, he quietly stopped us, pointed out the snake, and gave us time to photograph it before it snaked away.
You will dine on fine food in outdoor plazas with chattering monkeys and parrots in the surrounding jungle canopy. You will see giant river iguanas (about six feet long from tip to tail) resting on a bank alongside one of the restaurants and, if you are quiet, you can get within 10-20 feet to take photographs.
Arenal
Arenal, the volano, is alive, active and is a spectacular sight. We visited during a full moon and were amazed at the pyrotechnics from the volcano once the sun was down. Arenal has been active since 1968, and to this day continues to produce a daily mixture of glowing red lava and explosions. Be sure to allow time to relax and rejuvenate in the mineral pools and hot springs created by the volcano. Lodging choices were excellent and at all price ranges, including the Hotel Royal Corin, Fortuna or Volcano Lodge & Gardens. Both Lake Arenal and Arenal Volcano (La Fortuna) areas are well worth tourists spending time at. The road between La Fortuna and Arenal now has a fresh layer of smooth pavement and is now better than the road between Tilaran and Arenal. Include Arneal Volcano and Hot Springs in your trip to Costa Rica.
Limón
Limón, (the name of the province and also the capital city) was a company town managed by United Fruit who controlled the port, built railroads and bridges, looked after the colonial buildings and was the major employer. When the company pulled out of town in the 1960s, Limón was forgotten and it was quiet when we last visited. However, a new free-trade zone in Bufalo will house 12 companies, each of which must invest a minimum of $100,000 to operate in the capital city. More, in August 2011, the Costa Rican government signed a $1 billion concession with Dutch company to build a new port terminal in Moin. It’s the biggest concession contract in the history of Costa Rica. Construction will start in 2013, will increase the port’s capacity and will bring an estimated 2,000 jobs to the area. Visit Limón now, while it is still a quiet little town on the Caribbean with bright plantation houses and colonial buildings in various states of repair line sleepy streets.
Tortuguero National Park
Yet another amazing journey in Costa Rica is to Tortugero National Park. It starts in San Jose and travels though the Braulio Carrillo National jPark and through banana plantations. A board then takes you to Tortuguero National Park; if you are lucky -- as we were -- you will see the huge green turtles coming ashore to lay eggs.
Sea Turtles at Midnight
Our group visited a sea turtle birthground at midnight and were deeply moved to watch the process of a giant sea turtle lumber to a spot above the high-tide line, dig with her flippers, lay her eggs, and make her way slowly back into the sea. 
She is at risk from many predators, not the least of which is human, and her babies, once hatched, have to make their way into the sea with an equal amount of predators. That was a few years ago, and I still feel my eyes burn with tears as I think of what the turtles go through for life. On the way back to our lodging, my daughter hooked her arm through mine, tears in her eyes also, and said, "Mom, this is education. Sitting in a classroom doesn't teach anywhere near as much."
And she's correct. Which is why we travel so much. One of the world's great thinkers said something like, "Don't tell me how many years of education you have; tell me where you have been."
During that same trip, I spotted a vibrant wine-red insect on an equally vibrant yellow-green leaf and asked "What's that?" Only to be told "it's a locust." Well, all of the locusts I'm familar with are the color of wheat in a field.
During our lunch break, a mother sloth and baby very slowly begin to move from one tree to the other. (On one of the return visits by one of this crew, we were told Ms. Sloth made it to the next tree with her baby.)
Because we had only one week on this trip, we missed things like Surf Camp by Quicksilver and Roxy headquarterd south of the Tamarindo Airport on the Pacific side of Costa Rica.
We were fortunate to have a personal guide for Costa Rica (a friend who was born there). If you don't have someone like that, consider taking a tour so you don't miss anything. By going with a guide, we saw more in seven days than most people see in 10-14 days (and that includes my brother, who is an international traveller and who has been to Costa Rica several times -- he couldn't believe how much ground we covered!): Active Adventure Travel Home Page
If you time is limited, consider a Full Day Guided Tour from San Jose. Actually, anytime you have only one day to "see it all," no matter where you are, consider the one-day tours. They pack in the highlights which gives you ideas on what to take time to view on return trips. Expat Anyone?
Our savings aren't stretching far any longer, so whenever we travel we are also thinking "Is is time to leave the U.S.? Is this the place to go?" Costa Rica has been on top of our minds if we make such a move. All of the people with us on that tour have returned to Costa Rica and my brother has visited the country several times. After her first trip, a friend bought a condo on the Pacific Coast of the country, quit her job at the San Francisco Chronicle and lives there year-round.
A recent Gallup World Poll of 136,000 people in 132 countries were asked how they would rate their lives, using the usual 1 (worst) to 10 (best) scale. Costa Rica was voted the happiest country in the Americas.
In Costa Rica, where social networks are tight, individuals are happy with their lot, regardless of financial success. “It’s probably things systemic to the society that make people over time develop better relationships, and put more value on relationships. Daily positive feelings rank really high there,” says Gallup researcher, Jim Harter.
If you're thinking of moving to Costa Rica -- or anywhere for that matter -- rent for several months in an area that interests you before buying. Take time to check out climate, neighbors, conveniences, growth rate, etc. Costa Rica still has reasonable real estate values, but, of course, they're not the bargains they were 10-15 years ago (but what is!). However, real estate deals abound as soon as you get out of the States (especially our State, which is California with its insane real estate prices and crumbling infrastructure). Costa Rica is stunning with a range of choices whether you want beaches (Caribbean and Pacific), jungles replete with the sounds of monkeys and exotic bird calls, lush valleys, mountains or lake districts.
Urasca, Cartago
Urasca is a small town in the province of Cartago, about 3,000 feet above sea level. Costa Rica is located within the 8 and 11 degree latitude lines, which places it automatically in the tropics. When people from the Northern Hemisphere hear the word "tropics" they tend to think in only two adjectives: hot and humid. However, there are twelve climatic zones in Costa Rica, and frost and even snow exist in the coolest regions.
Urasca is in a region where people can sleep with their windows open at night, and neighbors drop by. The air is fresh. The town is surrounded by exquisite mountain views, a vast variety of butterflies and many birds. It's a town where you can catch your own fish and bring them to a local restaurant to prepare (this is also possible at Saylors Restaurant and Bar in Sausalito, California -- not tilipai, but anything you can pull from San Francisco Bay).
Deep sleep is possible in small towns with minimal ambient noise; Urasca is one of those towns. Costa Ricans say pura vida (pure life) to one another. Like many small rural towns around the world, time has stopped. Property is available on Urasca's mountains for about $30,000 to $35,000 per lot.
Building Supply Chain Excellence in Emerging Economies
Editors: Hau L. Lee and Chung-Yee Lee
The rapidly developing new economies in China, India, Hungary, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, etc., are at the crossroads of almost all major supply chains. These emerging economies are growing faster than the established industrial economies of the world. However, given the physical, social and cultural characteristics of emerging economies, managing supply chains is challenging. The book considers: How can we manage supply chains well, coordinate information flows with multiple partners, diversify risks and increase flexibilities, be efficient AND at the same time contribute to the social and environmental developments of these economies, by using supply chain concepts and practices to improve the economic welfare of these countries, such as basic infrastructure developments and disaster relief?
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Costa Rica
- Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park (1983, 1990)
- Cocos Island National Park (1997, 2002)
- Area de Conservación Guanacaste (1999, 2004)
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude