Costa Rica

Introduction:

Although explored by the Spanish early in the 16th century, initial attempts at colonizing Costa Rica proved unsuccessful due to a combination of factors, including: disease from mosquito-infested swamps, brutal heat, resistance by natives, and pirate raids. It was not until 1563 that a permanent settlement of Cartago was established in the cooler, fertile central highlands. The area remained a colony for some two and a half centuries. In 1821, Costa Rica became one of several Central American provinces that jointly declared their independence from Spain. Two years later it joined the United Provinces of Central America, but this federation disintegrated in 1838, at which time Costa Rica proclaimed its sovereignty and independence. Since the late 19th century, only two brief periods of violence have marred the country's democratic development. Although it still maintains a large agricultural sector, Costa Rica has expanded its economy to include strong technology and tourism industries. The standard of living is relatively high. Land ownership is widespread.

Costa Rica:

Hi... My name is Tim, and I have lived in Costa Rica (near San José) for many years.

I love just about everything about this country, but for sure, it is not for everyone... at least not without some preparation!

What I do not like is the incredible amount of wrong information about this country. I don't like how hard it is to find a single and accurate source of information about Costa Rica. While there are other web sites that claim to give you this information... they don't. In fact, several are owned and maintained by people who don't even live here. I am not sure how you can tell anyone about a place you only visit once a year. Many try to sell you on Costa Rica. I do not. I give you the real information you need.

In fact, I just heard recently that someone is now selling a DVD with maybe ten interviews with people living here and just loving it. THEN I found out that EIGHT of those interviews are actually with real estate agents! I can just imagine how accurate THOSE interviews would be.

I have heard things like:

"Don't drink the water in Costa Rica.",
"You need to take typhoid shots or malaria pills to avoid getting sick.",
"Malaria is rampant!"
"Stay off the streets, the crime is awful!",
"Costa Rican food sucks!",
"It's easy to drive anywhere in Costa Rica, the roads are great!"
on and on ad nauseam! An incredible amount of this stuff is simply nonsense. Some is not!

Therefore, I decided to build this web site to clarify just exactly what is The Real Costa Rica. Here you will find the accurate answers to hundreds of questions about Costa Rica. The nice thing is that there are even answers to the questions you did not know to ask! It contains articles, statistics, photographs, movie clips, tables and charts, and above all, correct information about Costa Rica. Many hundreds of hours have gone into developing this web site, and I (modestly) believe you will find no other complete source for 100% accurate information on Costa Rica.