I am still waiting to go on my trip to africa, but like a true traveller, im already trying to plan my next trip. For some reason im drawn to costa rica. Ive heard amazing things about this country and would love to spend time here. The thing is, i dont even know where to begin. I'm not exactly sure what each area has to offer and how easy it is to get around. If anyone can recommend a book or a search i could do here to get some general information so i can ask more specific questions, id really appreciate it. Thanks!

Hi, jen - wow, Africa? That's one I'd like to do too. If wildlife interests you, you could head down to the Osa Peninsula. We just got back from Bosque del Cabo, and it was amazing. Another popular trip, and the one we did last year, is a combo. of Arenal and Manuel Antonio. Arenal/La Fortuna is the volcano area - we got to see lava flowing every night there; you can take a day trip to Cano Negro to see wildlife - great tour. Manuel Antonio is a beach area and national park on the Pacific side - there's a very pretty beach inside the park, and the park is full of monkeys and other animals. Some people go to the Caribbean side to see turtles hatching, but we haven't been there yet.

The Osa is really wild - scarlet macaws and monkeys easily viewable from the front porch of your cabin. Manuel Antonio is more Americanized - we could easily walk from our hotel to get espresso milkshakes - so it really just depends on what your style is and what you're looking for. We use Costa Rica for Dummies and have been really happy with it.

thanks for the info volcanogirl!

You're welcome - let us know what you end up doing.

I think you're already on the right track. I started by printing out a map of Costa Rica and scouring message boards. I'd reference the map when I came across a post that sounded like something we wanted to do. We had 9 months to plan and I really enjoyed the research. I wrote a blog about our trip if you are bored and want to look at it
http://blogs.bootsnall.com/DawnP/

Hi Jen,

Africa is also high up on my wish list. Someday...

Costa Rica is beautiful, and offers an wonderful array of ecosystem and wildlife diversity. It's definitely a destination for nature-lovers.

Volcanogirl and dpruitt have offered some good advice. Like VG, we chose the popular Arenal/Manuel Antonio itinerary for our first visit last year. It offers a nice combination of beach and volcano, there are lots of activities to choose from, good tourist infrastructure with a wide range of hotel and restaurant choices, and we had some excellent wildlife sightings (which is a huge draw for my family). It's also a pretty easy and 'user-friendly' itinerary.

Many people also really love the beaches of the Nicoya peninsula and Guanacaste province. The Caribbean side seems to have it's own unique laid-back vibe and turtle watching is excellent in Tortuguero. The Central Valley area has beautiful working coffee plantations, botanical gardens, and some fun shopping areas. Then there's the Osa peninsula which is more remote and offers dramatic coastline and pristine primary forest.

It can be a bit mind-boggling to choose between the destinations! My advice would be to consider the types of activities you are most interested in and start reading on the forums. I have the Lonely Planet guide to Costa Rica which offers some good overviews of each region of the country.

Once you start to home in on your top preferences, you can get some really good advice and suggestions here.

dpruitt: Thats pretty much what ive started doing! when i have free time, im reading posts and think, hmmm...that sounds like fun, then i look on the map for locations. I also check out flickr.com to see some pictures. Thanks for the blog post, ill definitely take a look at it.

cmerrell: thank you for breaking down some of the locations for me! Ive been looking into the osa area because i like the idea of being in a remote beautiful area like that, but i love the idea of monteverde cloud forest! Guess ill just have to keep researching and figure it all out!

thanks again for your replies!

jen - if you want to check out the Osa, I just did a trip report on BdC - you can just search under my name, and it should come up for you.

Hi Jen - As always the regulars here give you great advice! I too, have been researching safari in Africa, and it's overwhelming!

For wildlife, I second the other recommendations for the Osa. Just fantastic! We're heading back next spring I took my 10 year old in May/June and wrote a recent trip report as well, which may give you more detail for different locations, including the Caribbean side.

Happy planning!

Check the Monteverde area for trip to coffe plantation and sugar cane proccessing facility.I used the website Monteverdeinfo.com