Costa Rica.
Nothing Is Closer To Paradise.
Eric W. Robinson - Adventure Inn Hotel

| Introduction | Costa Rica Vacation | Caribbean Coast | Pacific Coast |
| History | Everything Grows | The Ticos | Ex Patriots | Oldest Profession |
| Staying Safe | Ecotourism Vs Poverty | Government Responsibility |
| Fixable Problems | Closer to Paradise |

This series of articles are compliments of Eric W. Robinson, B.E.S.,
owner of the Adventure Inn Hotel B&B in Real Cariari, Costa Rica
just outside San Jose. His articles are a refreshing insight into
what tourists can expect when visiting Costa Rica.

AN INTRODUCTION TO COSTA RICA

Before I opened my eyes this morning I could feel the perfect spring-like temperature that I have known each morning for eight years. Considered to have one of the most ideal climates on the planet, Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, is in a large central valley, the Mesita Central. Formerly a tropical rainforest, this lush central valley is a kilometer above the Pacific and Caribbean, surrounded by green patchwork mountains on the Central American isthmus between Nicaragua and Panama. It is ten to fifteen degrees Fahrenheit cooler here than on the humid coasts.

As the sky slowly lightens, the nightly silence is replaced by a small and insignificant sampling of the million year old communications that have separated the 850 species of birds that inhabit Costa Rica, sounding in unison then breaking into a jumble. From nowhere comes a flock of small green parrots, screeching, dominating the air, rolling and twisting in high speed aerobatics, the wildest birds of all. A hole, high on the side of my house, once for a water pipe, is the annual nesting place for a pair who sits on a nearby avocado tree squawking demands at each other, babies peeking their heads out.

Each morning in the rainy season I enjoy watching the new shapes that billowy clouds form as they roll in over the mountains to the north and east, silently drifting overhead.

Today will be busy at our little downtown bed and breakfast hotel as a group of ecology students and professors from the University of Georgia studying the Costa Rica eco tourism landscape will be staying with us, a two night stop over before month long studies in the cloud forests of Monteverde, all for course credits. Many tourists prefer to take advantage of our San Jose B&B on their first and last nights here. Our inn is located in Barrio Amón, San Jose's historic quarter. Our eighty year old Spanish style building was built by a coffee baron to house his large family. Within walking distance are the National Theatre, the Jade, Gold and National Museums, shopping along the pedestrian walkway, the Central Market, an eclectic array of local and international restaurants, the "Gringo Gulch" bar scene, and even the Simon Bolivar Zoo (which badly needs upgrading). San Jose is central to many of the exotic one-day tours.

Global tourism offers a sophisticated selection of vacation choices and Costa Rican tourism has many overlapping options. The vast majority of visitors that come to Costa Rica originate from the internet, are well educated, and aware before arrival of the plethora of things to see and do. "Pedantic visitors" would often be more appropriate than just "tourists". Only as far back as 1995, we relied almost exclusively on the print media to promote our inn. By 1997, and none too soon, my seventeen year old son (el genius) built our first hotel website, we finally went on line and never looked back.

Hotels in Costa Rica come in a wide variety of options, quality and location. San Jose, Costa Rica hotels range from sleazy and somewhat dangerous flop houses near the Coca Cola Bus Station, and inexpensive pensiones throughout the city, to refurbished century old mansions converted to bed and breakfast inns near the downtown shopping area, along with a few larger city hotels with casinos, bars and the ever-present ladies of the night. There are a few nice hotels in various suburbs, and towns in the Central Mesita around San Jose, that are ideal to relax, but do not offer a convenient location to access the interesting points of San Jose or the rainforests. However, there are a group of three, four and five star San Jose Costa Rica airport hotels convenient to both the airport and San Jose, ideal for Costa Rica tours to the rainforests, white-water rafting and volcanos. These hotels are often used as a first and last nights stay in the country, without the necessity of experiencing the congestion of San Jose.

Once you are away from the more populous areas, there is a wide selection of Costa Rican hotels to choose from. You can stay at a beautiful San Jose hotel high in the mountains with breathtaking views of the city and the peaceful Pacific Ocean far in the distance. There are beautiful little Costa Rica bed and breakfast lodgings scattered throughout the country like undiscovered jewels often owned by foreigners chasing their semi-retirement dreams, without a blade of grass out of place. There are several towns on both the Pacific and Caribbean with a vast variety of Costa Rican accommodations to suit every taste and budget. Unfortunately the government is continuing to allow Costa Rica tourism to expand into pristine areas, without many environmental impact studies before project approval. Costa Rica beach hotels seem to do very well in the high season from December to May, but there is fierce competition in the off-season, and rates are often lowered to fill empty rooms. San Jose Costa Rica hotels tend to not have such wide occupancy swings.

Several of the more active Costa Rica hotels market package deals to attract tourists. There are Costa Rica car and hotel packages, Costa Rica honeymoon packages, packages on Costa Rica tours, where accommodation discounts are offered if the guest takes so many tours. Many hotels from varying locations throughout the country have formed a Costa Rica hotel association, where guests get a discount when they stay at a member Costa Rican hotel. And above all, the internet has transformed the Costa Rica travel marketing landscape well into the future.

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