Costa Rioca advice ?

[srtiwari]

I'm going to be in Costa Rica next month for a week. Have traveled a lot elsewhere in the world (including Central America), but this is my first trip to CR. I expect to spend plenty of time looking around and taking pictures.
Any advice on -

1. Is it wise to carry Leica body and lenses (in a worn bag, of course), or any other 'nice' gear, or is that too flashy/enticing ? Should I just stick with small, unobtrusive, cheap & old looking fixed- lens Rangefinders ?
2. What are the 'not-to-be-missed' photo locations ?
3. I am traveling alone, am a medium built man in my late 50's, and speak little Spanish (as yet). I Don't expect to do anything too outrageous or stupid. How much do I need to worry about street crime ?
4. Any problem with getting film, or should I carry it ?
5. Any shops that will give me serious GAS ?

Look forward to any advice.
Subhash

 

[steamer]

My info is pretty dated since I spent the summer of 1976 in Costa Rica, but back then the crime was pretty much opportunistic, pick pockets, if you left a bag unattended some one would go through it. But on the whole no mugging or violent crime. The Ticos are a pretty friendly bunch and the Ticas were very nice as well and not afraid to look you straight in the eye. I went there to surf and such was my interest in photography, that I carried a little Kodak 110 camera. There was plenty of film for it, but I wouldn't count on that now.

It is a country of incredible natural beauty, and I just hitchhiked and took local buses all over the place and had the time of my life. Hope someone has been there more recently to report.

 

[Olsen]

Over here in Norway re reckon most of both Central America and great parts of Latin America to be totally destroyed as tourist destinations due to 'crime & hand guns'. Just 'everybody' who bothered go there that I know (my boss, neighbour, nephew etc. etc.) were robbed, mugged or stolen from.

I will give you one advice; stay out of there. Carry a Leica around? You must be joking! Arm yourself!

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Olsen, I really don't envy you. You must be convinced that the world is a very bad place...

Srtiwari, recently I came back from a month-long stay in Costa Rica, so let me go over your questions one by one.

1. Is it wise to carry Leica body and lenses (in a worn bag, of course), or any other 'nice' gear, or is that too flashy/enticing ? Should I just stick with small, unobtrusive, cheap & old looking fixed- lens Rangefinders ?

Yes, I had my Leicas around my neck in the Plaza de la Cultura (a nice place to photograph people) and around the Avenida Central and Calle Central. However, don't keep them out for long. Grab-and-run thieves operate shamelessly, so use it and pack it. BTW, Leicas are almost unknown in Costa Rica, so nobody will drool over your Leica gear out of interest. Thieves steal to sell, and they don't usually care about brands, but objects.

2. What are the 'not-to-be-missed' photo locations ?

Depending on your interests... down town San José is fine, but risky. Look for the weekly "ferias", which are basically farmers markets and occur in the neighborhoods mostly. I was told not to approach the Mercado Central with the cameras in hand the last time I went, but if you go in the middle of the morning (cameras out of sight) to the Mercado Central, you can photograph people in there (ask for permission; don't be pushy either). Try Plaza de la Cultura and the Crafts Market in Plaza de la Democracia too. Again, on your way or between these places, just store your cameras in a bag, so as not to look too touristy.

3. I am traveling alone, am a medium built man in my late 50's, and speak little Spanish (as yet). I Don't expect to do anything too outrageous or stupid. How much do I need to worry about street crime ?

Just don't do anything you wouldn't do at home, don't go out alone at nights and don't worry about looking odd. Costa Rica is a fairly popular tourist destination, so there will be a lot of guys like you.

4. Any problem with getting film, or should I carry it ?

Not really... unless you shoot slide film. Kodak no longer sells Ektachrome, so Fuji and Agfa are the only game in town left for E-6 shooters. If you use negative film, you're fine: there's plenty of Fuji and Kodak around, and Konica is introducing its film as well. It's about $5.00 for a 36-exposure roll of Kodak ISO 400. Agfa is a bit less, and Fuji Superia runs for a bit more than that.

5. Any shops that will give me serious GAS ?

Only Fot Tec, run by don Alejandro, the manager, a nice, amiable guy who carries Nikon, Canon and medium format, and also repairs cameras. There may be a couple of places more, but I've been to Fot Tec and talked to the people there. I don't know if they speak English, though... They are 75 meters North from the Hotel Aurola in downtown San José (that's an address, Costa Rican style!).

The last time I went I didn't take any RF gear, because of the wonderful landscapes and wildlife. Hence, I'd advice taking an SLR with looong lenses. In any event, good luck and enjoy your stay in Costa Rica! 🙂

 

[dexdog]

A number of not-to-be-missed' photo locations are the national parks, particularly Monte Verde, Manuel Antonio and Arenal.

I spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica in 2004 traveling with a female friend, driving from point to point through the countryside. IMO Costa Rica is a safe place. The local tour company that we made arrangements through gave us the typical advice- watch your stuff closely, and don't leave anything in your car unattended that you don't want to lose- in other words, same SOP as here in the USA.

San Jose is different story- there are definately some dangerous places, but about the same as most big cities. There are a lot of places in NYC that I would not go into- same situation exists in San Jose.

A bonus is that Costa Rica has both Spanish and English as national languages, and you can find English speakers even in small towns in the middle of nowhere, such as on the road to Monte Verde. The ticos are very friendly and helpful. Costa Rica has been fortunate compared to several nearby Central American countries in that they have been able to avoid the civil/guerrilla wars that El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala have experienced.

Don't worry inordinately about your leicas.

 

[blw]

You've pretty much gotten all you need to know already. I went with 2 friends in December '03 & had a blast. We went for skateboarding. There's a hotel at the nw end of Lake Arenal with a skatepark as the amenity. Kite boarding is also a big draw on that lake. We spent the other half of our trip in Tamarindo- a popular surf beach that also had a little skatepark.

The only stuff I left behind in CR were a pair of skate shoes- one of the local kids needed them more than I did- and a pair of sunglasses I was stupid enough to leave behind on the table when we went out on the beach.

Knowing some Spanish would be my strongest recommendation though. Since one of my friends was very fluent, I didn't think I needed to know much; but I constantly felt like a fish out of water as a result.

 

[aad]

In that part of Central America, the big city would be the only place to worry about crime. Costa Rica is a pretty cool place to go, almost as laid back as Belize!

 

[Olsen]

Olsen, I really don't envy you. You must be convinced that the world is a very bad place...

With 5 weeks holiday regulated by law - and a strong currency to pay for them, norwegians do a lot of travelling abroad and gather some experience about where to go. And not.

The world offers a wealth of places to go, thanks God.

Otherwise I see you flag the same warnings about high crime risk. Add to that that about everybody carries a hand gun in Central America. But that is conditions that you americans master better than us europeans, I am sure.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Olsen, I did raise the same flags you did, only in a different way. Now, after reading all the preceding posts, go and give Costa Rica a chance.

BTW, what you said about Central America applies (alas!) to my country, Guatemala, and also to El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. In Costa Rica only policemen can own guns. It is still relatively safer than other countries in the area.

 

[whitecat]

If you need the basics, there's a good size photo shop near the main plaza in San Jose. You can't miss it.

 

[Olsen]

I looked up the pages of the Norwegian Foreign Office. They issue 'general recommendations' for just any nation on the globe, on everything from travel medicine to crime rates, but their pages were down.

You are absolutely right that Costa Rica is regarded as the safest of the Central American nations. Nor is it like this that crime is none existent here in Norway. The papers wrote about this british couple who had travelled by car from Cape Town, South Africa to North Cape, Norway. Their car was robbed clean. In Oslo...

It is all the hand guns I can't like in (most of) Latin America.

If I had a hand gun my house would be surounded by police, - helicopters and all, with our young and bright minister of justice, making a career for himself on TV, lying out in the bushes outside my house with a loadspeaker microphone in his hand. They would wait untill prime time news to bomb my house with teargas canisters and lead me away, handcuffed and unshaven, - spitting bad language after the newsmen. I would miss three World Football Championships before being released....

 

[Tuolumne]

I had a friend who went to Costa Rica last year with his family of 6 children. No problems at all. Of course, he did have a private tour guide and stayed in a rented house in a remote Pacific section of the country! But he did also spend time in the cities with no problem. I think you are going to need a telephoto lens if you have any interest in nature photography. Amazing birds and wildlife there, but you'll never get very close to it.

/T