A Trip to Costa Rica

By: Leimana Poepoe

Flights & Currency
Hey! In this presentation I will be traveling to The Rich Coast, Costa Rica. I’ve
been given 10,000 USD to use, however, once I get there I have to turn my
money into the currency of the country I’m visiting. But before I do any of
that, I have to buy my flight. I’ll be using $1,182.03 round trip from Kahului,
to San Jose, and San Jose back to Kahului. Also I’ve rented a car for 2 week,
costing $1,346.36, which will be my main source of transportation
throughout Costa Rica. Now that I’ve got that figured out let's look at the
currency.

The current currency of Costa Rica is called Colon, the plural being colones.
It was named after Christopher Columbus, known as Cristóbal Colón to the
Spaniards. 1 USD is the equivalent to 596.38 Colones. So with that being
said, with my remaining 7,471.61 USD, converting that into Colon will give
me 4,461,753.35 Colones (CRC).
Costa Rica Introduction/
Accomodation
Before we talk about the initial trip, let's give a quick intro. Costa Rica, also
known as the Rich Coast in English, is a very biodiverse and peaceful country
located in Central America. The reason I would want to travel here is because of
its beautiful landscape. I’ve always enjoyed wandering off into an unknown place
to explore, and I feel like this place would be perfect for that. Containing a vast
amount of both plants and animals, I believe it’ll definitely be a sight to behold.
This is the flag of Costa Rica.

Honestly, I think getting a room is a bit pointless as I’d rather be out exploring
than in fancy hotel all day, but I still need a place to sleep. So, I’ve chosen the
stay at the Radisson San Jose - Costa Rica. I’ll be staying there for 13 days
checking out on the 13th day. The total comes out to 721,024.48 CRC leaving me
with a total of 3,740,728.87 CRC.

Also, I’d much rather cook my own food so I could go to the grocery store and
pick up what I’d want to eat. I’ll buy a total of 400 USD, or 238,864.36 CRC, worth
of groceries getting me Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Now I’m left with
3,501,864.51 CRC.
Common Phrases
Tuanis - this is a simple phrase that could mean “Cool”, “Awesome”, “Nice”, or any other iteration of those words

Mae - Mae is a very common phrase as it means “Dude” and can refer to any person

Pura vida - Pura Vida is probably my favorite phrase as it has many translations, but all of which are friendly and very positive
like “Great” or “Nice to Meet you” and I know that there are already ways to say those in Spanish but the fact that they’re all
apart of the same phrase makes me happy

Más Tico que el gallo pinto - This phrase combines two essential terms in Costa Rica. Tico, which is basically how the
Costa Ricans refer to themselves, and Gallo Pinto, a very popular bean - rice dish from Costa Rica. And it basically translates to
“More Costa Rican than Spotted Rooster”
This is the largest protected region in Costa Rica, La Amistad
International Peace Park. This park may be a journey to get Cultural sites
to but it seems worth it. There are actually no paved roads so getting there by car may prove to be
difficult, which is why people prefer to enter by horseback. But once you get there, you get the luxury
of seeing the variety of both Flora and Fauna this place has to offer. Containing around ⅔ of the
species found in Costa Rica, it’s safe to say you’ll see something interesting. To enter, it’ll cost 5,958.88
Colones.

This is Rincon de la Vieja National Park. Stretching over 34,000 acres, this National Park is definitely a
beautiful place I’d love to visit. In the large spread of land lays 2 volcanoes, 32 rivers/streams, and an
incredible variety of both plants and animals. Not only that but there's a large amount of activities you
could also engage in, such as Hiking, Horseback Riding, Swimming, and many more. This park is located
North-West of San jose. I will probably take my time here and stay for 1 night costing me 8,938.32
Colones.

What you see here is known as the Stone Spheres of Costa Rica, otherwise called Bolas de Piedra
which is Spanish for Stone Balls. The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica are a collection of almost 300
perfectly round spheres. These stones are ancient with some dating back to the year 600 and most,
after the year 1,000. While some experts believe that these stones were made as decoration on the
path to a Chiefs House, the actual reason is still unknown. Visiting these stones will cost me around
3,575.33 Colones. And at the end of visiting all these sites I’ll be left with 3,483,391.98 CRC
 Common Foods
This is Gallo Pinto, also known as “Spotted Rooster” in English. Often referred to as the
National Dish, it consists of basically just rice and beans and anything else you’d actually
want to eat it with. This dish is often eaten as Breakfast however I’m sure it’ll taste just as
good throughout the day. And as you saw there is a common phrase said in Costa Rica that
relates to this dish.

This is a small dessert known as Flan. Although it isn’t exactly exclusive to just Costa Rica, it
is, however, popular among the people there. It goes by many different names like “Creme
Caramel”, “Caramel Custard”, or “Egg Pudding” but it’s basically a custard dessert with
caramel sauce on top of a harder caramel surface.
Music
There is a wide variety of music taste in Costa Rica as well, I’ve
found out that most Costa Ricans Now-a-days tend to listen to
more modern Latin, American, and British music but, when it
comes to dancing they prefer more traditional Latin music.
However there is something known as Folk Music and it’s
defined as more traditional music made by the citizens or
“folks” hence the name.

This is a video I found on what Traditional Costa Rican Music

sounds like
 Heading Home!

I had fun! But sadly, it's time to leave.

At the end of my trip I’m still left with 3,483,391.98 CRC