Experience a la Tica

Tag: Costa Rica

10 money saving tips for traveling in Costa Rica

“Costa Rica is so expensive”. That’s the reaction of many travelers who come to the Switzerland of Central America. And it’s true that it may be more expensive than other Latin American countries. But it is such a gorgeous, varied travel destination you surely won’t regret!

Also, how often are you in Costa Rica? Do you really want to skip a rafting tour because it costs 70$ and thereby miss a one-time experience? Keep in mind that saving money sometimes means cutting on fun! Here are some helpful tips on how you can save money when traveling around or on the weekends during your Spanish study.

Accommodation

Stay in hostels! You can find many nice, cheap hostels in Costa Rica (from 7$ per night). If you book them through pages like booking.com, look for their daily specials.

Apart from this, why not use private offers from locals? On pages like HomeAway, VRBO and Airbnb, locals offer a stay for little money. And on Couchsurfing, you even find a free stay and get in touch with some ticos!

Activities

Always compare tour prices. The same tour could be more expensive in the tourist information center than on the front desk of your hostel. If you want to go hiking in a forest, think about the need of a guide. Observing animals is easier with them and they will explain a lot of interesting things about the nature. But after a few trips, you could also do it on your own and save the guide fee for another tour.

Eating

Eat like a local! This is where you might save the most and usually one of the main “expensive” claims. Choose the sodas which offer affordable local food (3-6$) instead of expensive restaurants (about 10-20$). Bakeries or street vendors are also good. Look for the places that you see packed of ticos at lunch and not the tour buses.

Furthermore, many hostels have a little kitchen area that you can use. By sometimes cooking your own food, you can save a lot of money. Another money-saving idea is the water. Apart from the port cities of Limón and Puntarenas and a couple of other places, water just off the tap is potable. However, remember that you may need some time to adjust to the type of water. At school, you can fill your bottles with the filtering water machine, so bring your reusable bottle and use it often!

Pack a good sandwich when traveling or when going on a tour and bring a snack. This will save on lunch money in touristic places that might be expensive.

Know the currency

Economically, it’s best to pay in cash in colones. However, in most places and situations, US dollars are accepted, too. The change will be in colones. Usually, Costa Ricans are honest people, but there are always exceptions. So keep the currency in mind to be able to check the accuracy of the change to avoid getting ripped off.

Although we love the convenience of credit cards, you can get discounts in many places when paying cash (always ask!), specially when unfolding considerable amounts.

Take the public bus

Getting around in Costa Rica might be more convenient and faster in a private bus. But it will cost you many times more! You can travel around (virtually everywhere) by taking the convenient and punctual public buses for little money (a private bus can cost 45$ whereas the same route only costs 6$ in a public one). Ask at the school desk for bus information, although many routes now have their own websites with updated info.

Take taxis smartly

When taking a taxi, negotiate the price in advance or be sure the taximeter is on. If not, you can just ask the driver to please “ponga la María”. Before starting the drive, check the taximeter: it should either say “día”, “sedan” or “Nr. 1”. If another number or “noche” appear, you’ll pay a multiple of the regular price!

Some apps may help you with your calculations too: Taxiando, SayTaxi, but always use some common sense for traveling by taxi, specially if you already know the routes. And remember, rush hour in Costa Rica is the same as everywhere else!

Cosmetics

Buy the cosmetics before getting to Costa Rica! Especially cosmetics like after-sun lotion, sunscreen and insect repellent are quite expensive here.

Traveling intensively vs. traveling much

Costa Rica offers many gorgeous places, which could easily tempt you to want to see as many as possible. But why not restrict to a few different, beautiful places and do them intensively? Thereby you can get in touch with locals better and experience their culture. Furthermore, it’s less stressful and you can invest the saved additional transport costs (and time!) for another activity.

Travel in the “green season”

If you have the choice, travel in the so called “rainy” or “green season” (May to November). Many tourists are scared off by the rain. But there are so many advantages this season offers:

Many accommodations drop their prices significantly, parks are not overcrowded, the forest comes alive, and you will be able to experience a tropical rain in a rainforest! Rainy season means it rains more, not necessarily all the time.

Bring your student card

If you have one: bring it! Always ask if there are any student discounts, many parks and other activities (canopy, museums, theatres, cinemas…) offer significant discounts for students. The school will also provide a card stating you’re an Academia Tica student.

Read it in Spanish!

¿Cuántas veces vas a estar en Costa Rica? ¿De verdad vas a omitir un tour de rafting porque cuesta $70 y así renunciar a una experiencia única? ¡Ten en cuenta que ahorrar dinero a veces significa acortar la diversión! Aquí hay unos consejos de cómo ahorrar dinero mientras viajas por Costa Rica durante tu estadía de estudio.

Hospedaje

¡Pasa las noches en hostales! Puedes encontrar un montón de hostales bonitos y baratos en Costa Rica (desde 7$ por noche). Si los reservas usando páginas como booking.com, busca las ofertas especiales del día. Además, ¿por qué no aprovechar las ofertas de personas privadas? En páginas como HomeAway, VRBO y Airbnb los locales ofrecen hospedajes por poco dinero. ¡Y en Couchsurfing, vas a encontrar incluso hospedajes gratis y puedes conocer a ticos!

Actividades

¡Siempre compara los precios de las excursiones! El mismo tour podría ser ofrecido por el centro de información turístico más caro que en la recepción en tu hostal. Si quieres hacer una caminata por algún bosque, piensa si de verdad necesitas un guía. Observar animales es más fácil con ellos y te van a explicar mucho sobre la naturaleza. Pero después de unas caminatas, podrías hacerlas sin guía y ahorrar estos costos para otras aventuras.

Alimentación

Come como los locales. Con este punto podrías ahorrar mucho y es generalmente una de las quejas por las que se dice que Costa Rica “es caro”. Escoje las sodas que ofrecen comida típica y económica (3-6$) en lugar de los restaurantes caros (10-20$). Las panaderías y los vendedores en las calles también son buenos. Busca lugares que ves llenos de ticos durante el almuerzo y no donde están los buses de turismo.

Además, en muchos hostales hay cocinas que puedes usar. Una posibilidad adicional para ahorrar dinero es el agua. Aparte de las ciudades portuarias y otro par de lugares, el agua del tubo (grifo) es potable en Costa Rica. Recuerda que puede llevar un tiempo ajustarte al tipo de agua. En la escuela puedes usar las máquinas de agua filtrada, así que trae tu botella reusable y utilízala frecuentemente.

Llévate un buen sandwich (emparedado) a las excursiones o cuando viajas y también una merienda. Así podrás ahorrar en almuerzos que pueden ser bastante caros en los lugares turísticos.

Conoce el tipo de cambio

Económicamente, lo mejor es pagar en efectivo en colones. No obstante, en la mayoría de los lugares y situaciones puedes también pagar con dólares estadounidenses (USD). El cambio será en colones. Por eso, ten presente el tipo de cambio para evitar ser estafado.

Aunque nos encante la conveniencia de las tarjetas de crédito, muchas veces puedes obtener descuentos si pagas en efectivo (pregunta siempre), especialmente si vas a desembolsar un monto considerable.

Toma el bus público

Viajar en Costa Rica podría ser más conveniente y rápido en los buses privados. Pero estos también costarán múltiples veces más. Puedes viajar tomando los buses públicos, que también son puntuales y convenientes y más baratos (un viaje que cuesta 45$ en un bus privado puede costar solo 6$ en un bus público).

Usa los taxis inteligentemente

Cuando tomas un taxi, deberías negociar el precio por adelantado o asegúrarte que el taxímetro está funcionando. Si no, pídele al taxista que “ponga la María“. Antes de iniciar el viaje, observa el taxímetro: debería decir “día“, “sedán” o “Nr. 1“. Si aparece otro numero o dice “noche“, pagarás más del precio real.

Algunas aplicaciones para tu celular te pueden ayudar con los cálculos: Taxiando, SayTaxi, pero siempre usa un poco de sentido común al viajar con taxis, especialmente si ya conoces las rutas. Y recuerda, la hora pico en Costa Rica es igual a la hora pico en cualquier otro lugar.

Cosméticos

¡Compra las cosméticos antes de llegar a Costa Rica! Sobre todo cosméticos como productos hidratantes para después de tomar sol, crema de protección contra el sol (bloqueador) y repelentes de insectos son bastante caros aquí.

Viaja intensamente vs. viaja mucho

Costa Rica ofrece un montón de lugares maravillosos que podrían hacerte querer ver lo más posible. ¿Pero por qué no limitarte a algunos lugares bonitos y diferentes y hacerlo intensivamente? Así es más fácil conocer a gente local y experimentar su cultura. Además es menos estresante y puedes invertir los costos de los transportes (¡y tiempo!) para actividades adicionales.

Viaja en la “temporada verde”

Si puedes elegir, viaja en la época de las lluvias/verde (de mayo a noviembre). Muchos turistas se intimidan por la lluvia. Pero hay tantas ventajas que esta época ofrece: muchos hospedajes bajan el precio significativamente, los parques no están llenos, el bosque se pone vivo y ¡podrás experimentar la lluvia tropical en un bosque lluvioso! La temporada lluviosa significa que llueve más, no que llueve todo el tiempo.

Lleva tu tarjeta estudiantil

Si la tienes: ¡tráela! Siempre pregunta si hay algún descuento para estudiantes, muchos parques y otras actividades (canopy, museos, teatros, cines…) ofrecen descuentos significativos para estudiantes. Además, Academia Tica proveerá un carnet que te identifica como su estudiante.

October 23, 2015
The Best of Both Worlds

Academia Tica has two campuses. Both are situated in classic, well-maintained houses, surrounded by beautiful gardens and staffed by teachers trained in Instituto Cervantes methodology. But beyond the school walls, Jacó and Coronado as are different from each other as the beach is from the mountains.

Coronado

Coronado refers to a canton or county, half a dozen neighborhoods and villages that climb up the hills outside of Costa Rica’s capital city. It is literally in the middle of the country, equal distance from the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, from Panama and Nicaragua. Eons ago these temperate highlands were formed by volcanic eruptions. Today part of the forests have been cut into pasture, producing food and dairy products for the valley below, a metropolitan area of 1.8 million people, nearly half the country’s total population.

The church is at the heart of Coronado, a short walk from the school.

With a geography that relates as much to cloud forests as urban plazas, and a cultural identity linked to cattle ranching, Coronado is a mixing point. Parts of it look like country scenes: herds grazing emerald seas, grandmas selling cheese off front porches, families with backyard trout ponds serving up the freshest fish imaginable.

Yet, there are unmistakable signs that for thousands of commuters, city life begins here. Walled modern homes abut cow pastures. People brunch and work on their laptops at a gourmet bakery and coffee bar. A family-run soda sells typical “casado” plates: heaps of rice, beans, sweet plantains and salad for about $2.50 USD; while the menu and prices at nearby Papa John’s Pizza chain could be anywhere in the world. In the town’s busy center, life revolves around an impressive neo-Gothic-style Catholic Church.

Hand painted sign for a fresh fruit and vegetable super near the Coronado school.

The National Theatre is one of many cultural meccas close to Coronado.

The bus costs about 60 U.S. cents. It can take you in two general directions: up or downhill. Up heads towards Las Nubes, a village appropriately named The Clouds, known for cool climate, incredible views and agriculture. Here you can go horseback riding, catch your own lunch or visit a pristine cloud forest. Further up is Cascajal and Monserrat, the latter immersed in the dense cloudforests that limit with Braulio Carrillo National Park. Down leads to central San José, epicenter of urban culture and government, where dozens of theaters, busy markets and museums await.

Because Coronado is relatively unchanged by foreign tourism, ordinary stuff like buying food, going out for coffee, getting a haircut and practicing common courtesy are all part of everyday life and your Spanish language education. Buy fresh fruits and veggies every week at a farmer’s market that brings producers from all over the region, or pick up your goods at a small shop down the street with a charming hand-painted sign.

Jacó Beach

Jacó is the nearest popular beach to San José and an easy morning drive from Coronado. The 2.5 mile long sandy beach break offers consistent swell year round, with bigger waves to the North and smaller, beginner-friendly waves to the South. Tethered to this famous beach are innumerable restaurants, hotels and bars, along with hospitals, major stores and most any amenity one could look for. Many students customize their schedule with Academia Tica to include stays at both Coronado and Jacó Beach.

A few generations ago, Jacó was home to a few dozen families, rice fields and roving cattle herds. People tumbled in and out by rock road, taking a ferry across the crocodile-infested Rio Grande de Tárcoles to access distant hospitals or go to the movies in bigger towns to the Northeast. By the mid-20th century people here began to rent palm-roofed cabañas to visitors from the Central Valley and abroad. Today Jacó is book-ended by luxury resorts, a smooth highway delivering visitors from all over the world. People come for the beach, the party scene and the wild places still a stone’s throw from this rapidly developed hub for Pacific Coast tourism.

Enjoying the warm water and friendly waves in Jacó Beach.

One of many colorful characters in Jacó.

Just 25km/15 miles North of Jacó you’ll find Carara National Park, a protected tropical rainforest, which has one of the biggest wild populations of colorful scarlet macaws. It is not just a heaven for bird lovers. The park is home to some of the country’s largest American crocodiles, sloths relaxing high up in the trees, different monkeys, frogs and birds.

One of the country’s most famous (and smallest) parks, Manuel Antonio, is located about 65 km/40 miles South of Playa Jacó. Exploring the lush green rainforest and remote beaches on the many trails, you will easily spot mammals like lazy sloths and cute squirrel monkeys as well as frogs, iguanas and many kinds of birds.

Jacó Beach has consistent waves for all levels year-round.

Jacó Beach is not only surf. Close to the town (and the school) you can go zip-lining, take a dip in watefall ponds, enjoy the nightlife, go rafting or just sit back, relax and enjoy a cold drink in the tropical setting.

Academia Tica recommends that you try a bit of both locations and experience all the differences in culture, people, nature and just the general town dynamic. This will defninetively help you get a more integral view of what Costa Rica is, always with the same quality of Spanish tuition!

November 18, 2014
A trip to Mercado Central

The Central Market of San José is a feast for the senses, filled with fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, medicinal plants, clothes, souvenirs, seafood, pets, handicrafts, you name it! Before devling into these bustling aisles during a recent class excursion, Prof Mireya gave a spiel about the capital’s commerical heart:

“The Mercado Central is located between Avenidas 0 and 1 and Calles 6 and 8. It was established in 1880 and declared national patrimony in 1995. Part of the building dates to the end of the 1800s and part was built in the 1940s. The market’s narrow aisles are always full of life, with their own manifestations of popular culture, from typical food and handicrafts, to herbs and ways of speaking.”

“Està ubicado entre las avenidas 0 y 1 y las calles 6 y 8. Fue establecido en 1880 y declarado patrimonio nacional en 1995. Una parte de su edificio data, precisamente, de finales del siglo XIX y otra fue construida en los años 40 del siglo pasado. Sus angostos pasillos siempre están llenos de vida, con manifestaciones propias de la cultura popular costarricense como la gastronomía, la artesanìa, la herbolaria, y también las formas de hablar.”

Just a few of the souvenirs at the Mercado Central in San Jose, Costa Rica.

November 4, 2014
Horsing around

The hand-painted sign showing two bridled horses does not point towards a fancy place. Turning down this stone driveway off the main road through Las Nubes will not deliver you to a state-of-the-art equine training facility. Nor are these lush pastures described in any Lonely Planet guidebooks. Yet, the animals grazing these hills speak volumes about the culture of Costa Rica’s Central Valley, where horses are not just historical throwbacks but remain essential for work, getting around and showing off in distinctly Tico style.

About 5 km from the school “Coronado a Caballo” offers informal, very affordable “cabalgatas” ( trail rides), based out of a modest stable with 50 or so well-cared-for horses, frequented by Ticos much more than foreign tourists. The Costa Rican saddle horses raised here are colloquially known as “criollos,” descended from Spanish and Peruvian breeds. Some are trained to make impressive, dance-like movements, with dramatic knees and dropped noses, like someone who sees a spider in every step. The trail horses are less flashy, with smooth sure-footed gaits even in rough terrain.

The hills and farms east of our Coronado campus certainly qualify. While only a short distance from the most densely populated and urbanized cities in the country, much of the highlands are still only accessibly by horse, motorbike or 4×4 vehicle. The road to Las Nubes disintegrates into skeins of rock and mud about 10 km from the school as it passes near the edge of Braulio Carrillo National Park.

Horseback riding provides unique panoramic views of the Central Valley below, the Cordillera Central mountains and cloud forests above. Plus that sense of freedom and possibility that for whatever reason, only seems to come when you’re a meter off the ground on the back of a trusty horse.

The light and the land in Coronado, San Jose, Costa Rica.

-Emily Jo Cureton

October 13, 2014
Where to begin? Advice for starting your studies…

A few of Academia Tica’s most experienced instructors offered advice on how to begin the rewarding process of learning Spanish. With 65 years of teaching experience between them, we thought it worthwhile to share these kernels of wisdom with the world. Enjoy!

“The number one must for new students is simply wanting to study. Step two is actually studying, then studying, studying and studying some more. Finally, don’t just practice in the classroom, practice anytime you can with whomever you can, at the supermarket, with friends, colleagues or your host family.” -Elizabeth Gamboa

“If you want to learn you have to have an open mind, be willing to be surprised and not rationalize everything according to what you are already know. Really open your mind and admire what you are learning. Feel the language, feel the rhythm and let it flow.” – Santiago González

“It is very important to practice after class. You don’t even need another person to do this. Use a mirror and talk to yourself if you need to. Practice the structure and the grammar. It is not enough to only practice in class because you will forget things.” – Mireya Mora

The experts agree: hard work, openness and a good attitude are at the heart of learning anything new. But immersion might be the closest thing to a magic bullet for learning a language, along with committed teachers who actually care about your progress.

October 10, 2014