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Eco tour travel suggestions |
There are plenty of reasons to travel to Costa Rica than to just
visit us, but if your trip includes a visit or your are
joining us on one of our tours, there are several things
we suggest you do to prepare.
Usually we try to stay in the same place in or around
Playa Samara or Playa Carrillo, so check with
us before making reservations. In the off season, there
is a lot of flexibility in accommodations. On our last
trip many of us stayed on the finca. Keith, took one of
the beds that were made onsite and slept in the small rancho as shown below. The photo take above was from our hotel room
in Samara, Playa Samara is the closest beach.
If you miss us, be sure to
print
these directions to the finca. See:
Directions
Perhaps the best local web site for
Samara is
http://samarabeach.com/ Their Samara beach map
is worth downloading for the trip if you have not
been there.
http://samarabeach.com/map.htm
Samara has a beautiful beach but
is is a small surf town, so don't set your
expectations too high. There are several good places
to eat, a couple of little stores, clinic, tiny
pharmacy, bank, gas station with diesel, and an
internet cafes. We flip flop on Samara, sometimes it
is OK, other times not so great.
If you are planning on visiting
the property make sure you are meeting someone or
have the keys to the two gates.
Worth while web sites of the area:
http://www.nicoyapeninsula.com/samara/index.html
http://www.vacationcity.com/costa-rica/activities/samara/
http://samarabeach.com/whattodo.htm#Painting
http://www.travel-to-teach.org/costa_rica/volunteer_samara.html
http://www.costaricantrails.com/tours/samaranosara.html
http://www.samaralanguageschool.com/
http://www.costa-rica-guanacaste.com/news.html
If this is the first time to
Costa Rica and you haven't quite realized
that it is a country of endless beautiful beaches
check out this site:
http://costa.rica.typepad.com/photos/costa_rica_beaches/samarabeachjpg.html
Costa Rica /
Finca Las Brisas Tips
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Bring hiking
boots/shoes. Very important! We have had people
show up with flip flops. Costa Rica has amazing
beaches but it is not Hawaii or Florida.
-
Lightweight
hiking pants (unless you don't mind a few
scratches like some of us)
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Sunglasses
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Rain jacket (not
a heavy one). Expect rain in the afternoon if
you come between April and September.
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Photocopy of
passport (keep this in the car and put your
passport on the hotel safe. Do not give your
real passport to an officer if you are pulled
over). There will be speed traps. Honestly, some
of us would pay the $40 on the spot fee charged by
officers in the past. This practice is no highly
discouraged, so ask your rental agency what they
want you to do with a ticket, if you get one.
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There is a clinic
in Samara and the doctors speaks English, a clinic on some days at the end of
our road, and a major hospital in Nicoya 30
minutes from the finca.
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Wide brimmed hat
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Sunscreen - 15+
-
Knapsack
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Bug repellent
(not a lot of bugs but early in the morning and
at night we have seen some during the rainy
season)
-
Hiking socks (the
finca is red clay and lots of things get caught
in your socks, so bring lots of socks. You won't
be washing some out and wearing again). But if
you are staying in town, there are laundry services.
On the finca we have laundry.
-
River shoes for
the very very slippery rocks
-
Lots of t-shirts and
shorts
-
Ziplock bags for all
of your dirty laundry
-
Driving
tips...watch for potholes, narrow bridges,
aggressive drivers, cattle on roads... YIELD to
buses and trucks at all times. Wet roads can be
slippery. A lot of the bridges in our area are
only wide enough for one auto.
-
If you are coming
the finca in the rainy season, you need one of the
larger 4 wheel drive SUVs. In the dry season one of
the smaller ones will do. In Liberia, Hertz and Avis
have worked well for us, but there are cheaper
options. Do not leave anything
in your auto and leave the doors unlocked. Not at any
time of day or in any place. Do not leave valuables
in your room. Several of us have had items stolen in
some unlikely places. Costa Rica is safe, but
theft is very, very common.
Here is the deal, all the rental cars look alike and stick
out like a sore thumb. They might as well have a target
printed on the sides. One family told us that they had just
flown in, drove to Nicoya and stopped at the main market
parking right in front with lots of friendly people coming
and going. They ran into the store to make a couple of
purchases and came out to an empty car. Most of us, at one
point or another have had something stolen.
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Pack light, many of us are down to pretty much just
having t-shirts and shorts in our bags.
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If you are coming to just visit us, try to fly into
Liberia. We are about a 2.5 hour drive from that
simple and easy little airport. Your rental car
person will be there waiting for you. The airport is
much improved in San Jose and with the new highway
the drive can be made in 3.5 hours. But, heavy rains
do close the highway at times and during peak
traffic the drive can take a good five to six hours.
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Copyright 2006-2011 Arjuna
Limitada
LLC. All rights
reserved. Finca
Las Brisas (FLB) d/b/a Arjuna Limitada LLC.a Costa Rica corporation.
