Moving To and Living In Costa
Rica. The Dangers and Pitfalls.
The Truth finally Told
Costa Rica, a vacation paradise for vacationers
only
Too many people visit Costa Rica and then think their life will be
one big vacation if they move down here. Well, I've got news for
you. Costa Rica is an OK place to vacation but a poor selection for
living. When you vacation in Costa Rica most of the Tico's are very
friendly but that's mostly because they want your money. The
following info is what I gathered over 2+1/2 years of living in
Costa Rica.
Costa Rica's single scene
Single men, doubly beware! I've heard too many stories of women
marrying gringos just for a relocation to another richer country or
for alimony payments once they divorce. Yes, Tico's (natives of
Costa Rica) think of gringos as walking wallets. They really think
we are all rich. I personally had a female friend who I'd known for
7 months and she took me for all she could the first chance she
got. She cleaned out my checking account by forging my name and
walked with $6000. (1.5 years later she is still free after
marrying a gringo and moving to the states. no justice exists in
Costa Rica.) Luckily I had more money elsewhere. But my landlord
here (from Canada) says that happens all the time. They get your
confidence over many months and then steal everything they can the
first chance they get.
Costa Rica's attitudes toward gringos
Since there's so much sex tourism in Costa Rica most latinos
automatically think you've come there just for cheap sex. So none
of the middle or upper class latinos want much to do with you. Even
though you can convince them you're not a sex tourist, they still
don't want to associate with you for fear of what their friends
might think. And the poor latinos will associate with you just to
take advantage of you financially. Generally I found living there
very lonely.
Costa Rica's quality control(?)
And Costa Rica peoples second biggest negative attribute is that
they lie like crazy. They have no stomach for conflict and so will
always tell you whatever you want to hear just to keep you happy in
the moment. Like many different types of indians these Costa Rica
people are very in-the-moment and don't (or can't) think about
future situations that their present actions cause. They are also
dull-witted and incompetent. Heaven help you if you try to run a
business down here and want Costa Rica people as employees. You can
tell them exactly what to do for 5 times in a row and right in
front of you they'll still do it their way. There exists no
stubbornness like what latinos possess. The other day 56 people
were injured and 4 people killed due to some incompetent highway
worker who didn't lock some machinery 'arm' from being able to
move. It swung out over the highway and killed a trucker instantly
and then a loaded bus crashed into it.
Costa Rica's import situation
Import taxes here are 100%. Yes I said 100%, which means that all
imported goods cost twice as much in Costa Rica as in the USA. A
VCR that costs $120 in the States will cost $240 here. And anything
you have shipped to you has to be taxed which is almost never less
than $100.
Costa Rica's dissatisfied gringos
Rich gringos move here and then everytime you talk to them they do
what I'm doing here which is only complain. My landlord, who is an
isolated positive thinker, is the only gringo I've talked to who
says he likes it here.
Costa Rica's internet connection
Yes you can be connected to the internet down here but it's hard to
get 'on-line' and you pay both for on-line time and telephone time.
(Even local calls are billed.) My monthly bill from RACSA (the
government monopoly supplier of internet connections in Costa Rica)
is $35. And connection speed is so slow some web sites are useless
to you.
Costa Rica's polluted food
The evil pesticide companies in the USA sell outlawed pesticides at
a low price to the farmers here. They are outlawed in the USA
because they are highly toxic to humans also and cause cancer. But
the farmers here buy it because it's cheaper. They don't care if
you get DDT poisoning. I've eaten vegetables here that caused an
immediate reaction in my throat because they had so much pesticides
on them. It seems the farmers spray too heavily or too frequently.
Costa Ricans are typically very immature in their thinking and do
things you'd only think children would be capable of. A friend of
mine knows two people who returned from Costa Rica after just a few
months with pesticide poisoning from eating the food here.
Costa Rica's downtown
And then there's San Jose, the most polluted city I have ever seen.
Old buses and cars with all pollution controls taken off are
continuously spewing out tons of dark exhaust fumes. I try to never
go there but there are many essentials which are only available in
San Jose. If you like to wait a lot then you'll enjoy driving in
San Jose, Costa Rica. Traffic jams galore and believe it or not
there is no main highway loop around the city. You have to go right
through the middle of it! And the roads have lots of potholes due
to the government stealing most of the money designated for road
repair. And parking, yeah right. This is a small town turned big
(~1.5 million people) and there is little parking space to be had.
And if you park somewhere that isn't gaurded then you may return
from shopping to find the car gone.
Costa Rica's thievery and lack of security
There's so much theft here it isn't funny. Women who go to San Jose
go without jewelry or they hide it in their purse. I know of a
woman who had her earrings ripped right out of her ear lobes! ouch!
One time a friend of mine left her sweater on the back of a chair
in front of Taco Bell in the mall for 5 minutes. When she returned
it was gone and no one knew anything about it. And you will never
see so many security bars around houses and guards outside stores
and banks with loaded shotguns in any other country.
Costa Rica's coastal areas
Some people move to the beaches but I think they are doubly crazy
because retail goods there are almost nil and it is very hot and
humid and the mosquitos carry the Dengue virus.(sometimes fatal).
So they wind up travelling to San Jose anyway to buy things they
need.
Costa Rica, land of poisonous metal
Michael
Kraidy of the U.S. Organic Fruit company: "Here in Costa Rica
they have the second highest rate of stomach cancer in the world.
Currently, one of the incorrect explanations for this phenomenon is
that cows are eating a noxious weed which poisons the milk that
people drink. However, Japan has the highest rate of stomach cancer
in the world and they don't drink milk or eat dairy products. The
common tangent between the two countries is overworked soils that
are volcanic in origin and high in metals (especially
aluminum)."
I myself had a hair mineral analysis (which is reflective of
mineral levels in all body tissues) after one year of living here
and it showed an aluminum level of 4 times what is considered
toxic, and a toxic level of lead. Also, the fish and salt of this
country is high in toxic metals because they come from the Nicoya
Peninsula which is where most of the rivers, which are polluted by
industry, dump into. Conclusion: Costa Rica is a great place to get
heavy metal toxicity from the metals in the food and water and air
here.
Costa Rica, parasite haven
The Chagas
parasite which causes Chagas disease is a greater threat than
AIDS in central america where it is the #1 parasite problem. 11% of
people in Costa Rica are infected with it! Chagas usually attaches
to heart muscles which it then eats until one day the heart muscle
ruptures which kills the person. 18 million Latinos have this and
it kills 20,000 people every year. This is of course only one of
many parasites here waiting for you, their next dinner. I myself
have battled with protozoan parasites ever since I arrived.
Summary of dirty Costa Rica
So if you like pollution, traffic, bad roads, thievery, high import
taxes, high prices, incompetence, lack of security, parasites, and
few friends if any, then Costa Rica is the place for you! Visit the
beaches (on the west coast) or the active volcano Arenal but don't
for your own sake move here! One time when I rode my motorcycle to
the beach I was stopped by a police officer who required payment of
about $18 to prevent him from writing a big ticket (for a
fictitious charge according to my lawyer later) and impounding my
motorcycle. You know things are bad when even the police rob from
you.
Costa Rica, the rich coast
On the bright side, except for 4 very rainy months (July-Oct), the
weather is great up on the plateau and the women are very pretty
(although snobbish), and the land is beautiful. But all things
considered, my advice to you is don't move here.
ps- if any of you reading this are Costa Rican and you don't like
these words, then do what you can to change your corrupt country
instead of wasting your time getting mad at me. For a good first
step, stop voting for one of the two status-quo candidates for the
presidency when you can vote for someone of an independent party
who will confess to how bad the government is in Costa Rica. (Costa
Rica ranks high when it comes to overall corruption according to
independent entrepreneurs. see http://www.cipe.org/ert/e28/ifce28.php3.)
If you are a gringo and think that I'm just spoiled or just hate
latinos, well you are very wrong. I am just a realist and report
things as I see them. I still live amongst latinos (in a different country now) and my workers
love me because I care for them and help them whenever they ask for
help. So don't make bad assumptions about me because I tell it like
it is. Truth is the hardest pill to swallow. Tourists are generally
treated very nice so people who have visited there and didn't have
any bad experiences could think badly of this page. I understand
that. But this page is about living in Costa Rica for years and
years, not just visiting.
Although this page was created solely for the humanitarian purpose of making the untold story of Costa Rica known I now use it as an introduction to the country where I live now and to introduce you to some friends of mine here who are real estate agents and would be glad to help you find a home if you decided to move here. Click here for my perspective on other latino countries. I'd also recommend you go to escapeartist.com and do some research on living in Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland if you don't want to live in a third world country.
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