This week’s photo challenge is converge: geometry in photography — shapes, diagonals, vanishing points. I’ve chosen a few shots from my 2010 visit to Costa Rica. There are many retired American ex-patriots in Costa Rica, due to the low cost of living and high “happiness index“. (click an image below to see full size, click arrow at right to see next)
Sarapiqui rain forest hotel
Safely separated by glass
Tortuguero “highway”
Very nice take on the theme.
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Thanks Gunta. I tried to find something not-city.
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Looks so tropical! CR is on my bucket list. Any recommendations?
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I have tons of recommendations! It is truly one of my favorite places. We were checking it out to see if it was a good fit for retirement, so I learned a lot about that. I first checked the packaged tours, and they were surprisingly expensive given the low cost of living there. (I wanted to avoid driving because I’ve read that roads are horrible. That’s really really true.) I found an American expat who does retiree consultations, and he arranged a custom tour for us for half of the lowest package I could find. I still have the itinerary; it was a great trip.
Costa Rica has so many micro-climates, that I suggest picking the ones of interest to you. I avoided the California-like zones that has so many American expats, because I don’t need a repeat of SoCal. I focused on the cloud forest and rain forest zones. And I added Tortuguero because it’s in the north on the Nicaragua border, and that’s a place to see ZILLIONS of migrating birds.
My favorites were the Sarapiqui rain forest and Tortuguero and the birding excursion. Do avoid the capital of San Jose. It’s a yucky big city with nothing to offer. Also there are excusion packages offered at lower cost by companies seeking to sell American expats property in CR. I avoided those also. In my own custom tour I learned that 50% of expats return within one year, and that rents are so low there’s no reason to buy. Let me know if you want to learn more.
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Thanks so much!
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Also forgot to add that the CR currency is the US dollar. Therefore no currency fluctuation issues for fixed income American retirees, and no currency conversion losses for tourists.
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Great set of pictures (glad to see something besides buildings for this challenge too ~_^). I’d love to visit there someday.
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I love the fact that Costa Rica devotes so much of its land area to nature preserves. The Wikipedia entry for it just bubbles with how environmentally conscious it is. I loved what our Tortuguero guide told us about evening excursions — he said that even the animals need rest. I would love to see YOUR pictures of Costa Rica.
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Good one. The longer I look at the picture I see that it works for the challenge in many different ways!
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Thank you Andrew. I’m so glad that you think so. I first thought of the suspended bridge, and while trying to find it, I came across others that seemed to work too. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
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Looks like a lovely place. That bridge is quite amazing. One day I will get myself to Costa Rica…
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It feels truly magical, Otto. I am convinced that the film ‘Avatar’ was inspired by the rain forests of Costa Rica.
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