I was told to expect to eat rice and beans when I traveled to Costa Rica. Little did I know, I was going to crave it when I came home. Rice and beans in Montana is a side dish. But in Costa Rica, they are the stars of the dish. Every time I ate them, they were different, but always boldly flavored and extremely delicious. Who knew white rice could …

My coworker from Costa Rica told me the history behind the roads that connect each town. The government doesn’t have a lot of money, so when they were constructing roads, they built them over the ones already worn. Farmers would deliver their plantains from the coast to San Jose with horse drawn carriages. It only makes sense to build on a …

The adventure of Selva Bananito began when my Mom and I set foot in Salon Delia. This quaint little bar had a soccer game on the two TVs and a couple of local men enjoying the Imperial beer while yelling out a cheer after each exciting pass of the ball. It didn’t take long for our ride to arrive. The bumpy half hour drive took us deeper into …

A two-toed sloth (and my first sloth – thanks Jonathan, our driver- for spotting it!) waved us goodbye and we were off to the coast. We switched places with the others on Interbus headed to Selva Bananito and we drove only about an hour to reach Shawanda. Entering back into society was a bit of a shock. That quickly melted away the next …

My Mom and I were lucky to have a couple of days to explore San Jose and the surrounding area. The day we arrived, our friends and coworkers met us to show us the city. We drove through downtown and to an outlying city called Cartago. We explored a place called Magmatica. This company had set up a linear presentation of Costa Rica’s …

Costa Rica is full of wildlife and INSECTS. My immersion into this rich environment began on our way to the jungle. I saw a huge centipede the size and length of my pinky finger. As we engaged with our jungle environment at the lodge, butterflies and birds surrounded us. Many other creatures were present that we couldn’t see but could …

Mom and I stayed in two different hotels in San Jose. Our first night was at Rincon de Valle. As soon as we arrived, disheveled from a long plane ride with close to zero sleep, they greeted us with pasties, coffee, and fresh juice. Rincon is a lovely hotel in the middle of San Jose close to a huge park. It had a beautiful layout with parts of the …

The most common question I get for any destination is “What is the weather like?” This is an impossible question as weather is so unpredictable everywhere. But, I can tell you what I experienced during my time in Costa Rica. Traveling in late September, I expected it to rain every day, all day. When I looked at the weather forecast, I …