http://www.jimmys-adventures.net/hiking-arizona-tips/
What else should I take to Costa Rica! Any tips?
I leave to Costa Rica in about a week! (June 21) We are mainly doing a lot of the back road stuff- hiking,zip lining, visiting the volcanos, seeing the waterfalls etc. We won’t be in the cities very much. I was just wondering if there was anything that I might not have thought about taking- I live in Arizona so the weather is very different here and I don’t have a lot of the things that people recommend like a rain jacket (lol it never rains here!). I will be in costa rica for 9 days.
Mainly, I know that jeans won’t be very good for what we will be doing because they dry too slowly. Rain jacket, sunblock… the basics. Any thing else I should know? Any tips?
Oh and I was also wondering about the HUMIDITY around this time of the year! how bad is it really? I hate humidity because it is so uncomfortable. I actually have a friend who just came back from costa rica and she is the same way as I am and she said it isn’t that bad? I was just wondering..
You will be doing the majority of those things in the morning, before the rain. Rain usually starts mid-day. Those tours usually start 7-8am and are doine by lunchtime, uness you do a full-day tour. I wouldn’t worry about buying/bringing a lot of rain gear. You should have a decent rain jacket/windbreaker (nothing heavy) though. And a good umbrella. If you plan on doing a lot of walking in the rain forests, bring sweatpants or jeans, shorts aren’t great because there’s bugs and stuff.
Humidity varies depending on where you do. The mid-Pacific area (like Jaco/Quepos) are more humid. The central valley area and the coasts aren’t bad.
Tips:
1. Use common sense as far as safety precautions. Don’t flash cash in public. Leave ALL jewelry at home. Don’t take open drinks from strangers. Try to stay in a group, don’t go off “exploring” by yourself.
2. Don’t walk around after dark (applies more in cities than jungle)
3. Pay in colones where prices are quoted in colones. Paying in dollars is like saying “Rip me off please” LOL
4. Exchange dollars at a bank or use ATM’s to get colones. Don’t exchange at the airport “Global currency exchange” windows, they rip you off for about 10-15%.
5. Watch your belongings, especially on buses, beach, restuarants, etc. Lots of petty theft and pickpocketing (they work in teams-one distracts). Theft is the 2nd national sport, behind soccer.
6. You can bring an unlocked GSM cell phone and buy a prepaid SIM card at the airport (in baggage claim area) to stay in touch and call the US (about 30¢ a minute to the US outgoing calls and free incoming). Buy a ¢10000 (~$19) SIM and it will last you the whole trip. The phone must work on the 1800Mhz GSM band.
7. Learn some spanish words before the trip. At least learn the salutations, and maybe the numbers so that you can effectively haggle over prices. LOL
Hiking Safety Video