
"Located in the Central America isthmus, immediately north of Panamá, with ports in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and 153 highway miles between them.
Our country holds a privileged place in the world, being found in the center of the Central American Isthmus. On its east lies the Caribbean Sea and to its west, the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Nicaragua tothe North and Panama to the South.
A small tropic country, Costa Rica lies between two oceans. This, combined with its complex mountainous topography, gives rise to a extensive variety of habitants. These range from tropical dry forest and lowland rainforest to páramo, with a corresponding difference in climatic conditions. In general, temperatures vary between 14 and 22 degrees Centigrade in the high Central Valley and between 22 and 28 Centigrade in the lowlands. Temperatures remain relatively stable throughout the year, although some slight changes take place according to whether it is "Summer" (the dry season) or "Winter" (the wet season). Summer usually prevails from December to April and Winter from May to November. These seasons are clearly defined on the Pacific side of the country but are much less noticeable on the Caribbean side where the precipitation is much more evenly distributed throughout the year."
http://www.costaricamap.com/ing/aboutgeneral.html#9
I am a lucky girl. I have been able to travel to beautiful places. But I had a new opportunity- to travel to a beautiful place OUTSIDE the USA. I had not gone out of our states before. Had a passport that was lily white clean. I got it for a potential trip to Canada. Didn't make that trip. Last week I got my very first stamp in my passport. Costa Rica.
Had to look on a map to remember where the country is. It's in Central America for you geographically-challenged folks (like me). Wedged between Panama and Nicaragua, with water on both sides. The Caribbean on one side, and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Flew into San Jose, the capital, which is directly in the center of the country. This trip was planned by my boss, Red Bird, because he owns a home there, so I really did not know much about about where I was going and what I would be doing. This was the way to go. I had no stress about it and no expectations. People would ask, where are you gonna be there? I dunno, I would say.
The locals in Costa Rica are great. They are poor but they desire work and work hard when given the chance. Every one of the folks that helped us, whether they spoke much English or not, tried so hard to accomodate us and gave us smiles that were genuine. We did a river raft tour, a canopy (forest zip line) tour, and an ATV tour and each time our guides were so informative, so polite, so gracious. I have deep respect for the Costa Ricans.
On my last day there, I spoke with the van driver at 4am on our way to the airport and he told me of his common-law wife, his older daughter who is now married but still his "sweetie girl" and his two young children who are 10 and 4. We talked about our kids' favorite tv shows and video games they love and how his older daughter works a job but still needs her dad to help her when her bicycle gets a flat tire. Our ATV tour guide told us all about his travels, but how he still loves his home of Costa Rica, for its beauty and laid-back style of life. Carlos, our housekeeper/cook, was in the Columbian Army with bullet-wound scars to prove it, asked my boss for work around his house and kept telling him he wanted to cook for him, and when Red Bird finally agreed, he found out Carlos was an excellent and creative cook who gets pleasure from our clean plates.
Their stories all are rags to riches, but their riches are big happy families at home, enough food on the table, and a job to go every morning. They could be annoyed with us Americans, or their long hours, or their small pay, but they seemed to take pleasure in helping us out and teaching us about their country, and making us welcome. It was the cherry on top of an already super sweet dessert of a vacation. I appreciated it immensely and hope to visit them and their beautiful country again real soon.
There might've been one local who was glad to see us go....
Hasta Luego, Costa Rica!