Travel to Central America

National Geographic Traveler: Costa Rica (National Geographic Traveler)

Format: Paperback
Author: Christopher Baker
ReleaseDate: 01 September, 2004
Publisher: National Geographic
Rating:

Just information not a good guide book.
Frommer's is better for that. Gives you good info about Costa Rica for reading before you go but not a good guide book for what to do while there. The NG book offers more information on actual country not vacation.

Beautiful photos, good essays, and average maps
I will start the review with comments on the layout of the guide. We recently spent 8 days in Costa Rica and used this guide. Then I will give specifics regarding the content of the guide and our experiences. Then I will identify a few of the weaknesses of the guide. I will end the review with a general comment on travel in Costa Rica.

The guide is full of beautiful photographs and insightful essays. This is the strength of this book. Major landmarks are described and put into historic or geologic contexts. The book is organized by geographic region, making it easy to use.

We used the guide first when we spent 3 days in Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast. Driving from San Jose to Manuel Antonio we passed many farms and farmhouses. The average Costa Rican family does not have central heating, air conditioning, and many do not have a hot water heater. The hairpin turns between San Jose and the beach road is exciting with continual new vistas at every turn. The beach road from Jaco, to Puntarenas, to Quepos, to Manuel Antonio gradually becomes more and more primitive. Along the way you will pass many turquoise school houses. Elementary school children wear white shirts and black pants or skirts. Upon graduation to 7th grade, the children wear bright blue shirts and navy blue pants or shirts. Mothers walk young children to school and then walk them home for lunch. The children return to the school houses around 1 pm and then the school day seems to end for younger children around 2 and for older children around 3. You will see beautiful Costa Rican school children playing and walking and riding bikes in every village. We selected Manuel Antonio for the famous beach and Mauel Antonio National Park. The beach was indeed fantastic. The Pacific was refreshing but not cold and the waves were pounding but manageable. The restaurants were exceptional and reasonable. For example one night I had a dinner salad of sauted grouper over heart of palm and greens for $8. Another night we had large tuna steaks cooked to perfection with blackbeans, rice, and slaw for $8. We were advised to drink bottled water but selected to drink the local water which was perfectly safe. We spent one whole day in the Manuel Antonio Park seeing spider monkeys, sloths, iguanas, humming birds, butterflys, and the wonderful pink faced Capuchin monkeys. Go early to the park since only 600 visitors are allowed in each day. Wear your bathing suit so that you can swim in the secluded beautiful beaches within the park.

We then spent 3 days in Heredia, north of San Jose, so that we could visit the volcanoes and the Guayabo archeological site. I wish we had more detail in the book about this aspect of the trip. We visited Poas Volcanoe first which was well described in the guide. However we should have visited earlier in the day becuase the cloud cover obscured our view. We hiked in the cloud forest observing the large navy blue humming birds. We then went to La Paz waterfall, a spectacular site. We then tried to get to Barva Volcanoe through beautiful mountain dairy and coffer farms. When we were 6 kms. from the top of Barva the road ran out and the undeveloped rock road would have broken our car's axle. We could have hiked the 6 kms. to the top but we would have had to abandon our car at the trailhead which we were reluctant to do. The next day we went to Volcano Irazu which is so high it is above the cloud line. It was very impressive, however we then drove to find Guayabo. There are very few road signs in Costa Rica so this was a search through beautiful mountain towns and farms. We finally found the entrance road but the pavement ended and the road was full of deep muddy potholes. We were still 10 kms. from the site and again we feared breaking an axle and we also feared leaving our car and hiking to the site.

In terms of the weaknesses of the book; we found the maps were not detailed enough for rural exploration. We wished more details on Guayabo and Barva had been included so that we could have made better decisions about our time. For example, the trip from Heredia to Irazu to Guayabo back to Heredia took 7. 5 hours. Finally I wish the guide had told us more about car rental issues in Costa Rica. We used a travel website and selected the lowest rate, which was a Costa Rican company and not a US chain. They were $100 less expensive. However, the manditory Costa Rican liability insurance increased the rate from $150 to $400. We should have checked to see if other car rental companies included liability insurance in their quote so as to really select the best deal for a week long car rental.

The strength of Costa Rica is not only the beauty of the country but also the beauty of the people. Stunningly beautiful women and handsome men are seen walking or waiting for buses, tending cows or chickens or children, or working in small sodas (roadside stores). Everywhere we went we were treated warmly by the people. People were generous with their time and knowledge.

We found the guide to be very helpful and readable, with beautiful photographs. The maps could use some improvement so you may want to purchase a more detailed road map for your trip. .

Caters to more intellectual travelers
I wouldn't use this book if you're looking for a specific place to stay or cheap eats, but rather the historical context or anectdotal information that makes traveling more insightful. This book is much better at diving into the details and characteristics of the places and events than many of the other travel guides I considered. Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of lists, walking routes, maps and key data that will make travel easier. But National Geographic prides itself in making the leisurely travel experience much more encompassing to your senses. The photographs are incredible, and the text is in-depth. I would make this book (and the entire Series for that matter) a supplement that rounds out your vacation, alongside your "best restaurants and hotels" guide that will help find the basics.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Central America travel books.

	Waterproof Costa Rica Map
	Lonely Planet Costa Rica
	Frommer's Costa Rica 2006
	Costa Rican Wildlife: An Introduction to Familiar Species (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press)
	Costa Rica Map