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Costa Rica: No artificial ingredients
and no stress on the budget
Page 3 of 3
In general, hotels across Costa
Rica remain affordable. The CTS
website allows you to search for
certified hotels, and
Visitcostarica.com
has an extensive general listing
of properties and price ranges
sortable by interests and
activities.
Affordable activities
The resort offered a host of
activities, most of which were
free, such as hiking trails in
the rainforest (to do with or
without a naturalist guide), a
butterfly farm (the only free
one in the country, according to
my guide), and several beautiful
beaches. Because of the
location's dense vegetation, the
opportunities to spot wildlife
were first-rate. At breakfast
one morning, I found a
white-faced monkey sucking on
its thumb and dangling from a
tree by its prehensile tail.
While hiking deep in the forest
and even just by walking around
the grounds, I encountered
coatimundi, a native mammal with
a long tail and snout; a
three-foot long iguana; and many
varieties of butterflies, birds,
and lizards.
I also partook in several
organized resort activities like
yoga (though quite watered-down)
and nightly entertainment (which
featured sizzling Latin dancers
and a Costa Rican band).
Snorkeling for a half day cost
me only $5 for the rental
equipment.
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For a little extra, depending on budget, the resort also
offered 45-minute massages (often lasting an hour) for
$25, about one third the price of a typical U.S. city
massage. And for thrill seekers, zip line tours through
the rainforest canopy—an essential must-do for most
tourists—cost $35.
Although I don't include food in my $500 budget, I'd
like to mention just how cheap it is to eat in Costa
Rica. For example, a full lunch of arroz con pollo
(chicken and rice) with fries came to $3. Bar drinks
cost less than $2 each, shocking compared to my usual $8
Boston cocktail. Breakfasts ($8) and dinners ($9) were
relatively more, but they are often all-you-can-eat
buffets.
Out of all the Escapes Under $500 I have done, Costa
Rica is the easiest to duplicate, with the strategy I've
outlined above or others. For example, when I tested
air-hotel vacation packages on Travelocity and go-today.com
for my travel dates, I got about a dozen results for
under $500. I also tested other U.S. departure cities
and found similar prices. Several months later, the
results remained consistent across the board.
While I've proven than anyone can have an enjoyable
Costa Rican escape for under $500, keep in mind that to
really see the country in its entirety, you'll need more
than a couple of days. For just a few hundred dollars
more, you can double your vacation time. For me, that
would have meant a chance to leave the resort for a day
or so and explore some of the nearby national parks and
nature reserves. Considering the beauty of this country,
and the extra relaxation you'll receive, that option is
well worth considering. You might even see an extra
monkey or two.
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For more information on this and other tours in
Costa Rica, please write our travel desk at:
traveldesk@insidecostarica.com
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