A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO CENTRAL AMERICA 3
- A Taste of Costa Rica in just 20 hours!

By Bruce Taylor

Costa Rica's colourful and attractive branding promises 'No Artificial Ingredients'. And that was our experience too during these brief 20 hours of intense discovery.

IBERIA HAS LANDED
.......and continues to land in San José de Costa Rica every day of the week with its daily service from Madrid.

The inaugural flight last October was welcomed personally by the youthful and dynamic Tourism Minister, Rodrigo Castro, who thanked Iberia for the confidence they had placed in his country and stressed that Europe was now a priority market for Costa Rica.

Iberia is very much a Pan-European flag carrier for Latin America with over 50% of its business on these routes coming from 35 different points across Europe, including of course Brussels.

More info on flights via Madrid
www.iberia.com

A YOUNG INDUSTRY WITH YOUNG TOURISM LEADERS
Among the welcoming committee were top representatives of the Costa Rican travel industry including Sandra Leitón and Juan Carlos Ramos. This attractive young couple is curious in that each works for a different travel company and professional association.

Sandra is Sales Manager of Coast Costa Rica and the Vice-President of ACOT*.
Juan Carlos runs Green Tropical Tours and is the Director of ACOPROT**.
There's real networking for you.

Together with Eduardo Sánchez, President of FastTravel, they gave us a short history lesson and brief introduction to this peaceful and peace-loving nation of 'Ticos', as the Costa Ricans are known. In colonial times Costa Rica was home to administrators and lawyers, and has subsequently not suffered the internal conflicts and wars which have blighted other Latin American states.

ACOT*
Costa Rican Association of Incoming Tour Operators with over 40 members
www.acot.co.cr

ACOPROT**
Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals with over 500 members
www.acoprot@racsa.co.cr

Coach Costa Rica
'Coach Costa Rica is a professional company that provides modern, air-conditioned vans, mini buses and 4WD vehicles, all of them including the service of a bilingual guide driving for you and your family at no additional cost', says their website.
www.coachcostarica.com

Green Tropical Tours
Their slogan is 'Nobody knows Costa Rica like we do'
www.greentropicaltours.com

MARRIOTT'S HEAVEN ON EARTH - WITH BREAKFASTS TO DIE FOR
After a short jet-lagged sleep, we were up with the dawn chorus and swimming at sunrise. We were in paradise, switching from pool to outside Jacuzzi and back. In the photo this beautiful colonial-style hotel looks deserted, and it was – at 5 o'clock in the morning!

Breakfast on the terrace was a gastronomic experience. First we got to choose our own mix of juices from some 8 different fresh fruits, including strawberries, pineapple and papaya (pawpaw). Next an 'omeleta' straight from the hen was prepared before our very eyes with a choice of fillings – bacon, onion, cheese, jalapeño (hot pepper) etc.

We could even see our fresh breakfast coffee growing on the mountainsides around us and then there was a choice of something for every nationality – mozzarella for the Italians, bacon for the British, cheese for the Germans & Scandinavians, pancakes for the Americans, cakes for the Spanish.............

........without forgetting the delicious local specialities – quesadillas, chilaquiles, tortillas, tamales, bananas with cheese, gallo pinto (rice with beans and spices).

And to go with all these dishes were a hundred different sauces. I discovered 'Salsa Inglesa', which was nothing like English brown sauce. It was light and made with natural spices. I still have half a bottle in my fridge, because as soon as I asked the chef about the ingredients, he brought me a bottle and insisted I take it back to Brussels with me.

Yes, Marriott is certainly 5 star luxury, but in great part that is thanks to the smiling and friendly Costa Rican staff for whom nothing ever is too much trouble – yet another natural ingredient!

The Costa Rica Marriott has 15 conference rooms of which the largest is 740m².
www.marriott.com

CLIMBING ABOVE THE CLOUDS.........
There was not even time to see the capital, San José as we headed north through the coffee plantations and started our long climb by mini-bus up to the Poás Volcano.

As we climbed and climbed we saw more and more coffee growing, and our guide recounted some interesting facts about history, coffee & life in general:

• The national hero is a 16 year old - Juan Santamaría whose bravery inspired Costa Rica to resist invasion by the American William Walker and his army of slaves in 1857.
• Since 1949 the country has no army.
• The summer dry season is from December to May, and the rainy season from June to November. Humidity is around 85%!
• Coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia. Shepherds noticed that their goats couldn't sleep after eating a strange plant with red berries. This was the discovery of caffeine.
• The coffee is picked by hand when the berries turn red and there are just 35 cups per plant!
• The best coffee comes from the highest altitudes, 1500-1800m.
• Above the coffee, strawberries grow at 2000m.
• Costa Rica has 3 volcanic mountain ranges.
• Tropical flowers are grown here, frozen and exported to Europe.

As we turned a blind corner there was a sudden shout and the mini-van came to an abrupt halt. The centre of attention was a large ball of fur lazing upside down in a tree munching on the occasional leaf. This was a 'perezoso' (a sloth) which is part of the koala family. He (or was it a she?) wasn't really bothered that ten of us got out and started taking photos. I think he quite enjoyed all the attention. Apparently they stay up in the trees for as long as 10 days before coming down to earth.

All around us was luxuriant vegetation in all different shades of green. Half way up trees, roots grew out and back into the ground. Exotic ferns and flowers were everywhere. Nature was bigger, greener and more majestic than anything we are used to in Europe.

.........TO THE INVISIBLE VOLCANO
Finally we got to the entrance to the National Park which has a good interpretation centre, a wonderful crafts shop and a café offering 20 different flavours of cappuccino – from rum to mango, brandy to banana..........

Then it was time to use our legs and walk the kilometer up the viewing platform. The Poás Volcano is at an altitude of 2574m. It is 1.3km across, 300m deep and the temperature inside is 40º.

It is larger than life, provided of course you can see it. When we arrived at the top, all we could see below us was dense cloud. But in this surprising Latin world of extremes, things can change dramatically from one moment to the next. The mist started to disintegrate and slowly we began to see the true dimensions of this massive volcano in all its scary splendour.

DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE TO A WELL-EARNED LUNCH
The journey back took us less than half the time as we hurtled down the mountain. There was a brief lunch stop for a simple meal of grilled chicken or beef, salad and beer. Next door to the restaurant was a curious museum – a small corner of Costa Rican local history and domestic life from 1800 to 1950. It told the story of coffee harvesting and all the implements used.

And in another of those extreme Latin American moments the skies blackened over, the heavens opened and the rained poured down the road in rivers.

..................AND BACK TO GUATEMALA
Don't forget to keep money back for the departure tax or to check with your airline whether it is included in the ticket price.

At least in Costa Rica they have the courtesy to explain where the tax goes – a good example which we would do well to follow in Europe

COSTA RICA 'S UNIQUE SELLING POINT FOR EUROPEANS
Pure nature & the environment comprising:

• 26 National Parks
• 8 Biological Reserves
• 63 Wildlife Refuges
• 15 Wetlands
• 31 Protected Areas

- all in a country not much bigger than Holland. Combining service, quality-for-money and plenty of scope for soft adventure, it offers an unbeatable mix, but one which does not come cheap.

However, Costa Rica is protecting its natural environment which does not come cheap either. The country has understood the difficult truth that if they don't, they won't have one or the tourism which goes with it. Here is one place on the planet at least, where the unbridled expansion of the tourism industry will not be allowed to destroy the goose which lays so many golden eggs.

SOME FACTS & FIGURES
Official figures demonstrate how vital tourism is to the economy:

• In 2004 tourism generated $1.600m of earnings from 1.43m visitors.
• This represents 22% of total exports.
• The sector is responsible for over half a million jobs
• In 2004 the number of visitors increased by 17.3%.

In recent declarations Tourism Minister, Rodrigo Castro, insists that Costa Rica should maintain its planned growth rate of 6.6% a year until it reaches 3.9m visitors in 2015. However, during this period it will need to increase its accommodation stock by 19.000 rooms. This will require an increase in average annual investment of 4.5%, but it has the potential to create over 50.000 new jobs.

MORE INFO
At ICT, the Costa Rican Tourist Board, Freddy Lizano is responsible for the promotion in Europe of meetings, events & incentives:
flizano@ict.go.cr

The official ICT tourism website is undergoing extensive reconstruction which it badly needs. It's colourful and gives a good feel for the country, but it's not easy to find your way around and get practical info quickly. It's also very US-oriented.
www.visitcostarica.com

The Costa Rica Meetings & Incentives Bureau is a non-profit association of 35 top incentive travel suppliers. They publish an excellent motivational Meetings & Incentives Guide which includes a good map showing all the major incentive destinations.
www.costarica-incentives.com

At IMEX I also met two DMCs specialising in Costa Rica:

Frenchman, Christophe Marybrasse, the boss of Cactustour 'qui fait vivre l'esprit du voyage'. He also has operations in Panama & Nicaragua. www.cactustour.com
Samira Djaadaoui, Sales Manager of Quetzal Motivo, a DMC with offices in Costa Rica & Panama. www.quetzal-motivo.com

SO HERE ENDETH MY THIRD REPORT ON CENTRAL AMERICA...........
It has been based on just 20 hours in Costa Rica; 3 days at the Central American Travel Market and 4 days seeing first-hand some of the highlights of Guatemala.
However, I also have talked to many people, collected hundreds of brochures and researched numerous websites.

I have been very impressed by what I have seen – impressed above all by the enthusiasm and the tremendous efforts these 7 Central American countries are putting into creating a viable and sustainable tourism, which will not only help their economies, but also protect their wonderful natural environments.

I have a burning desire to go back and see some of the many things I missed in both Costa Rica & Guatemala, and also to discover the other five countries which I have only been able to read about so far.
I would like to thank all those who made this first discovery possible:

• Jorge Molina, Embassy of Guatemala, Brussels
• Pilar Arango, Central American Tourism Agency, Madrid
• Jaime Pérez Guerra, International Press, Iberia Madrid
• Patrick Ryffranck, Iberia Brussels
• Maru Acevedo, INGUAT Guatemala
• Silvia Ulloa, ICT Costa Rica
  

¡Gracias, CentroAmérica!