FAQ's

costaricainfotravel.comfar beyond tourism

1- What things should I bring with me on the trip for comfort and safety?
You should bring:

2- Should I get a vaccine of any kind before traveling to Costa Rica?  
There is no need of taking any vaccine, there is no risk of malaria or similar, even though such illness is present, the probabilities of getting it are remote, even for ticos, statistics show this very well.

3- Is water potable in Costa Rica?
Water in Costa Rica is potable almost every where in the country, otherwise your guide will let you know.

4- Is there any religious fact I should consider while staying in Costa Rica?
Majority of Costa Ricans are Catholics, nothing really different from protestant majority countries. Besides this constitution warrantees freedom for any believe.

5- What kind of things a traveler usually need, are expensive in Costa Rica and should be better to bring with me?
Definitely film is expensive in Costa Rica, batteries of any kind, and generally any electronic devise.

6- Are mosquitoes a big deal in Costa Rica?
In some places in certain periods of time during the year, mosquitoes may be abundant, but you may get a surprise finding out there are none in places you expected a lot, the best is to always carry insect repellent with you, but use it only if need.

7- Is there poison Ivy in Costa Rica?
There is no poison ivy in Costa Rica, we do have a tree close related with similar toxic properties, but it is happily very rare. In the forest trails there are several plants and trees from where you have to beware from. The best is to not touch plants or wrap a tree trunk while walking, unless your guide gives it to you, in such case, he has already checked it before.

8- Am I going to see monkeys?
There is an stereotype idea of all of what you can get from a one day experience in a rain forest, and this is due to several facts, one of this facts is that we are used to observe discovery channel and national geographic documentaries where you observe, in fifteen minutes, what took a film maker 6 month to film.
You may see or you may not see, it depends on luck, silence, perseverance and being in the forest at very early morning, the earlier the better, its at that time where activity in the rain forest has its peak.
If you get a naturalist guide at least during a portion of your trip, the quality of experience enhances over a hundred percent, this includes spotting wildlife. They know how to see, how to look, how to find.

9- Are there deadly poisonous snakes in Costa Rica?
There over a hundred species of snakes in Costa Rica, at leas 25 of them are poisonous, but is rare and difficult to spot one, so probabilities of having an accident are remote, but is possible, the best is to never walk in front of your guide during the trail walk, if you get into the forest without a guide, the best is to carry a stick and be constantly touching the forest floor in front of you, like a blind person, this will disturb any snake in advance before you step on top of one.