costa rica travel – katherine stanley obando

Ahh, February: the perfect month to run straight up a mountain

Posted on February 20, 2020February 19, 2020 by stanleyobando

I’ve recently discovered a new favorite genre: documentaries about people performing wince-inducing physical feats. In that vein, I’d like someone to make a feature-length film about the race that unites batshit-crazy badass superheroes every February in Costa Rica. That’s right. It’s the Carrera Internacional Ecológica Cerro Chirripó.

To put this in perspective, I may need to italicize, and possibly hit the caps lock button. You see, people in fairly good shape often train to make sure they’ll be successful when they walk up Chirripó, Costa Rica’s highest peak, over multiple days. The competitors in this race run up – and then down – a total of 34 kilometers, ascending and then descending 2,050 meters along the way. Yes, caps lock required. That’s running up the Empire State Building MORE THAN FIVE TIMES OVER, and then descending that same knee-jarring distance, except on uneven terrain and at high altitudes. All in a little over three hours, if you’re in the lead.

I would tell you more about the way the race links runners to local communities, homegrown food and regional traditions, but just writing about it has worn me out. I’ll be over on the couch, hoping that a documentarian is interviewing Saturday’s racers as we speak and preparing to strap cameras to their singlets so we can see just how they manage this extraordinary feat. Best of luck, you superhumans. May the road rise to meet you. I have a funny feeling it will.

A Who’s Who of allies: Costa Rica’s ‘diverse Directory’

Posted on February 13, 2020February 13, 2020 by stanleyobando

Throughout this month focused on LGBTQ+ rights and marriage equality, I’ll probably mention Costa Rica’s Diverse Chamber of Commerce more than once. After all, the entity is one of the leading voices in the ongoing push to make Costa Rica a safer and more accepting place for all sexual orientations. But today, on this Travel Thursday, I want to point out a great resource on their website: the Diverse Directory.

While the site doesn’t appear to be translated (hey folks, want some help? Call me. For real), the directory is easy enough to sift through regardless, checking out the names of businesses that have committed to the principles of inclusion and respect that the Cámara de Comercio Diverso represents.

With marriage equality on the horizon, efforts like this are sure to grow exponentially. In countries around the world, the good business sense of, you know, treating people equally has made a huge difference in progress towards human rights. In Costa Rica, the growth projections for the LGBTQ+ tourism market are being bandied around with delight; a recent study, for example, estimated that the country has been losing up to 1 percent of GDP because of discrimination based on sexual orientation. I can’t wait to see what the near future holds in store for the Cámara Diversa and its kindred organizations around the country.

Head for the highlands

Posted on January 30, 2020January 29, 2020 by stanleyobando

Another place to visit while the sun is shining: Zarcero and the mountain roads that wind through its surroundings. A drive from San José (or coming the other way, from La Fortuna and the Zona Norte) to this highland region is spectacularly beautiful, and it’s nice to do it when you’re less likely to battle torrential roads next to a cliff face.

Zarcero is famous for its topiary garden, a great place for kids to explore and stretch their legs after sitting in the car. For eats, my family loves El Rancho de Ceci, about 10 minutes after the gardens when you’re driving from San José.

Do you love this region? Where do you like to stop, eat or stay?

The joys of Orosi

Posted on January 23, 2020January 28, 2020 by stanleyobando

Here’s a summer travel tip: visit the Orosi Valley, about an hour east of San José. There are many places in Costa Rica that I actually prefer in the rainy season, but Orosi is a dry-season delight because it’s so nice to wend your way around the valley and visit multiple spots without rain getting in the way. Whether you go counter-clockwise (starting in the town of Orosi with its lovely colonial church and circling around to the dam at Cachí and the gorgeous ruins of Ujarrás) or clockwise, it’s a perfect day trip from San José with multiple spots to stop, stroll, explore, hike, river-watch, and more.

Come to think of it, I need to get an Orosi visit on my calendar before the rain sets in a few months from now. Do you love this area? What are your top spots in the Orosi Valley?

A terrific resource for your 2020 Costa Rican adventures

Posted on January 9, 2020January 28, 2020 by stanleyobando

Today my boost is for all those planning Costa Rica trips this year: Mytanfeet.com.

To be honest, they had me at the name, but I like the site for a number of other reasons. One is that the creators, Yeison and Samantha, are a bicultural couple (she’s from Washington State, he’s from Costa Rica) who can anticipate foreign tourists’ questions while also reflecting a Costa Rican perspective. Another is the multiple ways they’ve organized their information: you can browse articles on a nationwide map, check out in-depth city guide ebooks, or look up itineraries for different interests and traveler types.

You can find a very solid packing list, recommended travel resources and driving tips, plus reports on their travels around the country. I particularly like their “driving to and from” guides including videos where you can get a feel for what it will be like to drive to a particular place; here’s an example about La Fortuna. Those would have been very handy before my first adventures behind the wheel in Costa Rica, years ago, since they can help avoid those “Is this seriously the route?” moments of doubt. (By the way, the answer is almost always yes. Yes it is.)

In other words, if you’re planning a trip or just fantasizing about travel during your coffee break and want a resource that’s quite a bit more manageable than the vastness of TripAdvisor, check out Mytanfeet! Have you used the site? What other resources are essential for you when you travel in CR? Let me know…

Where will the Roaring Twenties take you?

Posted on January 2, 2020January 28, 2020 by stanleyobando

I don’t know about you, but planning travel in the coming year can feel overwhelming. At 40, I’ve learned to some degree how quickly a year can slip by, and how firmly the tasks and pleasures of daily life can hold on to us. That’s why, as we face not just a new year but a new decade, I’m letting myself dream a little bigger and think about the places I might not get to in 2020, but do hope to see by 2030.

Where do you hope to travel in the Twenties? (And how long do you think it will take you to stop envisioning flappers every time you hear that word?)

Do you hope to visit Costa Rica for the first time? Are there new corners of Costa Rica you hope to explore – cities and towns whose parks you yearn to sit in to watch the world go by, or national parks you need to tick off your list, or hidden beaches you hope to discover? Or is this the decade you hope to set foot on a new continent, to hop into a sailboat, to expand your bird list or chase Michelin stars?

By 2030, my daughter will be 16 (gulp). I would love to reach that milestone having taken her to every national park and every canton in her country. However, I think it will be even more important for her to have gotten to know her own city, really know it – many facets of it, many walks of life.

I hope to take her to the country where I was born, and, while there, to take my tennis-loving husband to a match in the town where I was born: Wimbledon.

I hope we have taken a road trip in the country where I grew up, because the US does a road trip like noplace else. Any road will do.

I hope we have eaten our way through Spain.

Where are you going?

Day 64: Some Costa Rica travel resources I love

Posted on December 12, 2019 by stanleyobando

On this Travel Thursday, I know some readers are planning trips to Costa Rica in the upcoming high season. Here are a few resources that are not only handy for trip planners, but that I like to follow just for a splash of color in my Facebook or Instagram feed, along with travel inspiration for the future.

Costa Rica Traveler brings you amazing photographs by co-creator Andrés Madrigal along with useful links and articles from around the web. I kind of want their Instagram feed to be the wallpaper in my house; it’s a thing of beauty. The featured image on this post was taken by Andrés at Playa Negra on the Caribbean coast – see what I mean? You can follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

GOPlaya is “the beach engine of Costa Rica” – a site, feed and app that helps you figure out which beach to visit. The award-winning platform allows you to search more than 200 beaches and find useful info including access routes, photographs and videos. (If you’ve never been to Costa Rica, I can assure you that “Hmm, which of the 200 beaches should we visit?” is indeed actually a question that befuddles the tourist. There are so many, and often the best ones are down unpromising-looking dirt roads, and you wouldn’t find them unless you had a helpful platform on your phone. The struggle is real.) Check them out on Facebook or Instagram.

If you’re in the Central Valley and looking for things to do, I highly recommend GAM Cultural, a massive and searchable online directory of events. It’s only available in Spanish, but honestly, the information is so well organized that you can get the gist (name, place, time) and then consult your host or hotel. As a mom I miss 99.9% of the events they share, but I like to follow them on Facebook just to keep tabs on everything that’s going on in the city.

What’s your favorite Costa Rican (or international) travel resource? I want to keep sharing useful info and giving a shout out to people doing great work. Let me know what you love to follow or rely on!

Day 44: Please pack this when you come to Costa Rica

Posted on November 14, 2019 by stanleyobando

Every single visitor to Costa Rica must bring a water bottle.

(Or they should be handed one when they go through Immigration. “Welcome! Here’s your bottle and anti-plastic phrasebook. Don’t use plastic. Have a great stay!” I know, I know. I’m working on it.)

If you know someone who is visiting Costa Rica for the first time, please help me spread the word: this country has, among its many assets, potable water just about everywhere. It is also a country in the throes of a battle against single-use plastics, and that struggle needs every tourist to be its ally. If you bring your water bottle and use it every day, you will be joining the good fight. I never understood this until I stepped onto a beach at Corcovado National Park years ago and was handed a garbage bag by my guide so I could pick up the plastic bottles and other debris that had traveled down by river from cities upstream, like mine.

You will be offered plastic bottles of water. Sometimes you might even be handed one without asking. Say no. When you ask for water in a restaurant, ask specifically for “agua del tubo” (tap water) – you’ll save money and your bottle won’t end up on your favorite beach once it makes its way down a river. Say no to straws, too. “Sin pajilla, por favor.” Bring one of those tiny packable shopping bags and stick that in your daypack, too – this is one I still fail to remember when I travel within the country, even after all these years, but you almost always end up needing one.

If you notice plastics being thrown about at a restaurant or hotel, consider letting the management know that an absence of single-use plastics is actually something you look for when you make your choices. It doesn’t need to be a big scene or a negative thing – in fact, I think that works against us – just a smiling comment. That part is up to you, and the situation, but comments from the people who are holding the tourist dollars help move the needle. If you see things being done right, tell them that, too. I so often forget to do that. “You know, I came back for breakfast today because you’re the only place in town that’s not serving plastic straws.”

It’s a movement here that’s gaining momentum, and your advocacy can help that transition happen faster. This really, really matters. Ask the people who are cleaning up the beaches of their hometowns day after day after day.

What else do you do to prep to avoid single use plastics? If you live here, what else do you wish tourists knew? If you’re visiting or have visited, what else do you recommend? I’d love to hear.

Day 29: Is there a park calling your name?

Posted on October 24, 2019October 23, 2019 by stanleyobando

Can you name the Costa Rican park where I took this photo? Do you have a favorite – national, city, private? Dog park (man, I know a nice one in Eastport, Maine)? Random-corner-that-isn’t-technically-a-park-but-makes-you-happy? I’ve been collecting parks in Costa Rica for 15 years, and there are few habits that have done more for my mental health than those escapes, no matter how short.

If you can, wherever you are today, drop by a park and take a break. Because sometimes, #travelthursday is just that simple.

Day 24: Heaven is October in Limón

Posted on October 17, 2019October 17, 2019 by stanleyobando

Ahhhhhh. Will you look at that?

Come October in San José, everyone’s thoughts turn to the Costa Rican Caribbean. Or they should. As rain soaks the rest of the country, the province of Limón often experiences lovely weather. And because it’s the off season, you’ll often find empty beaches.

It’s impossible to overstate the beauty of this province, especially the nooks and crannies of its coast. If you aren’t there today, then get your boost through the music of Walter Ferguson, the revered Calypso king from Cahuita on the southern Caribbean coast (you can find plenty to sample on YouTube, Spotify and other spots on the web). His gentle voice brings a smile to your face even as he skewers social wrongs. If you’re stuck in an office, on a clogged highway or inside your head today, take a listen.

Photo by Simon Dannhauer via Shutterstock.