RBCal

mbrad006

Sorry you are right, CR has superhighways, state of the art hygiene, sterile water and pristine beaches. Drink up to your hearts content.

tully

ah yes, let us wallow in all the bad things we can find searching on the internet, makes us all armchair doctors

PS - you can get leptospirosis right here in the good ol' USA but I understand the search was extremely selective.

dariow

I actually appreciate RBCal's post. (For that matter, I appreciate everyone's post) As someone who is visiting Costa Rica in 9 days, this forum has been invaluable in giving me extensive information about Costa Rica including important caveats.

I thank you all for that.

RBCal

I wish to clarify my annoying behavior. Prior to going to CR two weeks ago. I read this forum and came to the conclusion from the postings that no one gets sick in CR from the water or food. Thus we ate and drank with no concern. All of us got Montezuma's revenge. This is almost always due to e. coli.
As far as being an armchair doctor, my PhD is in Pathology and took me 12 years of advanced education.

mbrad006

Sure, and "annoyed" was a harsh word for me to use. I just get sick of responders that consistently respond to people looking for resorts, by saying "why would you do that?! You are SO sheltered, etc."
Just as you like vacationing with third-world standards, some of us enjoy vacationing to relax and be pampered.

RBCal

Just as many people go on vacation to be relaxed and pampered, many people go for adventure. CR is an adventure destination with white water rafting, rain forest zip lines, mangrove monkey tours, volcanoes, etc. You are being foolish if you do not take extra precautions, if you participate in adventures. The rain forests have poisonous snakes and bullet ants (I saw both of these when there). Even within developed areas such as Manuel Antonio there are hazards, I saw a Fer de Lance on the road to Ronny Lugar's.
People that travel obliviously without being aware of these hazards are asking for trouble.

mbrad006

RBCal - I fully agree with you. I went to Costa Rica and avoided the water like it was the plague. My only comment was that tips are helpful, while dissenting opinions are not.

faithie

This site is for information gathering from people who are technically not experts , but who give advice out of goodwill and fun . It is up to the person gathering the advice to understand this , do further research , and make your own judgement calls . I do not believe people "withhold" advice here , what would the point be ? I have not been sick in Costa Rica in my 3 trips , period . Does that mean no-one is EVER sick there ? Of course not . But I was not , we asked around , checked the cdc before we left ( made my hubby drink first !!! ) We made our own judgement call . Everyone has their own level of comfort with regards to these things , but you have to make your own decisions in the end and live with it . I believe it IS good to know when someone has been sick or had a bad expeirence , it helps all of us in the end . But when it "seems" like someone is consistently being negative for no clear reason it is a little annoying . Forgive me ! Faith

RBCal

From the CDC on CA
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama

http://www.cdc.gov/travel/camerica.htm
Food and waterborne diseases are the number one cause of illness in travelers. Travelers’ diarrhea can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or parasites, which are found throughout the region and can contaminate food or water. Infections may cause diarrhea and vomiting (E. coli, Salmonella, cholera, and parasites), fever (typhoid fever and toxoplasmosis), or liver damage (hepatitis). Make sure your food and drinking water are safe. (See below.)

mikemo

CDC recommends Hep A for all and Hep B and Typhoid immunizations for some.
I always thought typhoid vaccine was a bit over the top since it's effectiveness was never better than 50% - 'tho the newer oral and IM stuff is maybe 50-80%.
We are seeing more than a few sporadic cases of Typhoid among the "professional" classes in Central Mexico. No obvious source from a public health perspective as yet.
M

faithie

RBCAL .... so .... did YOU check the cdc before you went ???? It errs on the side of caution .... , I DID read it , remember ?? I suspect a troll ...

RBCal

Faithie, I checked it. However, if you read the postings here, virtually everyone states that Costa Rica is more developed than most countries in CA and you do not have to worry about getting sick. Thanks to this advice we got sick and this affected our vacation. This is why I am posting. I find it very hard to believe that our group is the ONLY people who get sick in CR. I believe the CDC web site NOT Fodor's posters now.

faithie

O.K , let me try to get this straight , you did check the CDC etc. ( which are obviously not Fodor posters ). You then chose to "ignore" the CDC's advice , take the opinions of travelers (fodorites ) , now you are feeling miffed because your party became ill .... ???? I personally can't post that I became ill when I did not , thats a fact . It's your responsability to make yourself aware , it is very unfortunate you became ill ,and I am glad you stated that here . BUT ... to say that it is somehow the fault of people who post here because they have not become ill and post that positive fact or lack of the other ??? That makes no sense . You seem very capable of finding and quoting all kinds of info. now , surely that means you could have made that educated decision yourself and should accept it .You have no more need to keep searching for and posting these little tidbits , most of us are allready aware ... You had a bit of bad luck , thats too bad , better luck next time !

Iza

RBCal, we did not get sick during our three trips to Costa Rica and have met only one traveller there who was sick. I guess you were just unlucky. I don't think people on this board were lying in order to induce you not to believe CDC ;-) People just report their experiences and I think if you were to do a search on this board many more travellers to other LA countries report getting sick than travellers to Costa Rica.
I would encourage everyone travelling to Costa Rica to do plenty of research (going beyond this board and including the CDC website) and to reach their own conclusions about vaccinations, medications and other precautions they need to take.

faithie

Tully ! Your a HOOT , loves it !!! Faith

RBCal

I didn't say anyone was lying, just ignorant. Let's see you read the CDC and then let your husband taste test everything first? Thank god I'm not him!

Jessie_

I have been traveling to CR for 12+ years and have never had a problem with either the food or the water. I used to travel to Mexico frequently and always had a problem no matter how careful I was. I don't stay in all inclusives like the Paradisus Playa Conchal or big chains. A good bit of my time is in much smaller out of the way places for 3-5 weeks every year. We have stayed in places that had no electricity or plumbing other than a well or a jug of water. I have stayed in private homes in the city and in the country. Still no problema. Cheryl (hopalong) gave me some good advice a few years ago about not drinking out of taps even in the city where it is supposed to be good. With all the frequent earthquakes there is always a chance of contamination. I can't avoid fruit and veggie washing with the tap water a lot of times but do drink bottled water most of the time. I am not paranoid, I still ask for ice not knowing for sure where the water came from, but I do still use a little caution.

My eyes are certainly not closed. Nor is my nose. As much as I like Monteverde, more than once, I have smelled sewage running along the side of the street while walking from town towards the Butterfly farm. Most people are aware that the Rio Tarcoles is the drainage for most of San Jose. Costa Rica as a whole is much more advanced than many countries in central america and for the most part is doing everything it can to clean things up. Those flags for the beaches really helped and most beach communities are really working hard to keep the water clean and safe to swim in. We were warned when we first started traveling down there to not even go into the water in some places because of pollution but we wouldn't hesitate to go in now in most places.

Go to CR, relax and eat what you want, you will probably be fine.

faithie

O.K , I will say it again . I DID read the CDC's facts , among others ... BEFORE we went . My husband made the choice ( tounge in cheek is hard to read I guess ? ) He seems just fine , and also still seems to like me ! I am not ignorant . I did not drink from a ditch . I gathered my facts from here and elsewhere , made my own decision and live with it . I am also aware enough to get the fact that if I had been unfortunate enough and become ill, I would also have to live with that . I would not choose to go on a crusade and blame people on a travel board who simply report their own true expeirences ....

RBCal

Geez, I am not on a crusade. I'm sorry I got sick when I was there, okay already?
There were four of us, we all got sick, I guess we deserved it.

faithie

My empathy entirely for becoming ill while on vacation , that sucks . Letting us know is a good thing ,as I did state earlier ,it will keep us all on our toes .Maybe you should have just stated that fact . Peace , Faith .