Hello,

My boyfriend and I are thinking of planning a trip to Costa Rica in early December. I have a bit of a bug phobia. I was just wondering what the bug situation is there. We would probably be staying in low budget hotels or hostels while there. Would there be a lot of bugs in my hotel room? While I'm not petrified of bugs, I don't think that I would enjoy my trip as much if there were bugs in my hotel room.

Thanks!

Read the "Bot Fly" thread. I'm not the least bit afraid of bugs, but this is giving me second thoughts about visiting Costa Rica!

I have been spending several weeks a year in Costa Rica for about 10 years now. I have never had a Bot fly pulled out of me. This posting is the first I have ever seen about them. It is not a big problem. As I mentioned before. I had one taken out of my cat in Ohio. Maybe you should not ever come near here either. I am thinking of staying away from Colorado because of West Nile. I will be going to Connecticut for the first time in several years to visit my family. Glad Lyme disease isn't as bad as they thought it was going to be since it was discovered in Lyme CT many years ago. Be realistic people. We should all be wrapped in cocoons I guess.

I just got back a few weeks ago. If you have a true phobia, you might have a hard time. Every night we had bugs in our hotel room, mostly moths which are attraced to light. Add to that some HUGE spiders and you might have a hard time. I think we got used to it by the end of the trip.

Suzie2, are you sure it was a bot fly and not a tick? My vet pulls blood-bloated ticks off my dog. I thought bot flys were tropical insects, not usually found in Ohio. Anyway, thinking a large bot lavae squirming under my skin as stomach-turning IS pretty realistic to me! Yechhhh!

Suzie, the Bot Fly is not a big problem until you have 3 inside you!!! The Human Bot Fly is most commonly found in Costa Rica and Belize, I'm assuming it was a different type in your cat. I did not post the message to put people off travelling to Costa Rica but to warn them of the danger of something which their doctor may not be able to recognise straight off - mine told me I was just having an allergic reaction! It is an extremely painful experience. From reading your previous postings (which I found very helpful when planning my trip) I can tell you have a great love of the country and I do not wish to take away from any of the positive things about it but being realistic as you suggest I feel that being informed of these things is the best defense against them. There were postings from a few years back but I had not read any of them before I travelled and it was in fact only when I got back and read them that I realized what I might have, this proved very helpful to me when I tried to have it diagnosed. Hopefully most people will not encounter this probelm but if they do at least they will be aware of what it may be.

I have been there several times, and I may love the place as much as Suzie. there are definatly bugs in costa rica, but i grew up in the south eastern US, and they are not much worse in CR than they are in that section of the US.. The bugs are sometimes better in CR, because they dont seem to have as many mosquitos or bugs that bite... I have never come across the Bot fly, but i have heard of it (not in this context however)... If you are staying in hostels, you will come across lots of moths, and bugs that just kind of fly around... but they are rarely much more than a nussance... you shouldnt let them ruin your trip

I would be just about the last person to try and sway someone away from CR, but if you don't like bugs this may not be the place for you. We stay in medium range hotels and almost always see a least a bug or two in the rooms. Spiders mostly, but other things two. But please don't let that stop you from going. Check your sheets before laying down, check any closed toe shoes before putting them on, and keep your suitcase zipped. You'll be fine. Just scream for your boyfriend when you see something. Hopefully he can 'take care of it'!

The thing that was pulled out of my cat was really gross. The vet said it was some kind of fly larvae that gets under the skin. It had a little air hole and everything. If it wasn't a bot fly it was very similar.
Didn't mean to jump on anyone. There are bugs everywhere. In some places they are a little different than what we are all used to and fear of the unknown is the worse kind. I have been known to refuse to come in the house because of a stupid spider so I really do understand your phobia. I freaked out while doing a home stay in CR and looked next to me while I was sitting on my bed and screamed because a huge spider was sitting next to my hand. My host came in with an old fashioned pump bug sprayer and after I thought about it figured I was probably safer with the spider than I was with the bug spray that is probably banned in the U.S. LOL.
Most of the bugs you will run into will be pretty much just run of the mill annoyances. Little sand fleas, mosquitos, no seeums. Stick to nice clean places for your hotels.
Pura Vida

we're off to CR soon and are looking forward to sharing our time and space with the local 6 and 8 legged inhabitants - at least i am. bring it on tico bugs! after all, they live there and we're just crashing their party, right?
except for those humungous millipedey things you hear about - yechhhh indeed .... sorry, pixie.

Hello

My family and I just returned from a Tortaguerro/Arenal/Los Angeles Cloud Forest/Manuel Antonio trip. We stayed in a variety of places and did have bug encounters that were interesting and didn't bother any of us. Fortunately, the bigger, less-cute ones visited us near the end of our trip (in a higher end place too!) when my wife and teenage girls were used to seeing all kinds of things. Spiders (one big one the last night), frogs, moths, millipedes, and geckos shared our rooms along the way. Not a nightly occurance....Just another part of the adventure. Keep your suitcases closed and enjoy.

Jim