Boriquen Thermal Resort, Costa Rica--
I am taking advantage of a lull in our tour activity to sit down at the computer and write. Switchback (the band I am in with Brian FitzGerald) brought 19 travelers this time to enjoy a week in the sun along the Pacific and then head into the cloud forest.
Costa Rica is a destination that offers amazingly beautiful natural scenery. But it is also more than that. It is an opportunity to witness how a country can work, when it gets rid of its military, offers free schooling and resorts to using clean energy. The result is that this Central American country works extremely well. It has 1.8 percent unemployment. English is taught as a second language. It exports its clean energy to all the neighboring countries, except for Nicaragua, which is under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega. In fact, the Panama Canal operates on Costa Rican clean energy from wind, solar and geothermal sources. It is a country whose people like to work and slowly they are pulling everyone up from poverty into a society with a strong middle class. The southern border crisis of the United States did not involve people from Costa Rica. The people fleeing were from countries with authoritarian governments. Nicaragua, for example, spends millions on its military--something that could easily be spent on schools, infrastructure and the like. Venezuela is another example of a country that under the dictatorship of Maduro, had millions fleeing to not only the US, but to other places, like Costa Rica.
I call Costa Rica “Tropical Ireland” because there are many similarities. The young, educated population. The willingness to work. The thriving tourism industry, roughly half of the income for this nation. The commitment to a devolved (or in the case of Costa Rica, eliminated) military. And a land that has beautiful scenery, works hard to protect the environment, and truly appreciates the presence of the tourist population. All the while fostering a democracy that just elected its first female president.
On the world stage, such countries like Ireland and Costa Rica are often ignored or downplayed by the bigger actors. However, these countries remind me of the story of the “Little Engine that Could” and the lesson that intention and self-assurance can accomplish great things.
There are, like any other countries, challenges coming down the road for Costa Rica. Americans and Canadians are purchasing beach fronts to build big homes. Europeans are now starting to arrive, with Liberia airport in the north adding four new airlines to its already crowded schedule. All they have to do in Costa Rica is observe everything that went wrong with the resorts of Mexico to see how over-reach can ruin the tourism industry. Thankfully, the government here seems to actively be working to curtail any encroachment by drug cartels and other nefarious organizations that might undermine the social and economic progress that has been made as well.
Like Ireland, I feel happy to spend my time here, helping the economy and thus the country maintain the ideals they have put forth regarding their “Pura Vida” or “Pure Life” lifestyle. It is a little engine that can and we should take note of their far-reaching vision and give such places the respect (and dollars) they have earned.
READ MARTIN’S OTHER BLOG HERE.