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Costa Rica (Country Guide) | 
 enlarge | Author: Mara Vorhees
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Category: Book
List Price: $21.99
Buy Used: $7.88
You Save: $14.11 (64%)
New (32) Used (18) from $7.88
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 99652
Media: Paperback
Edition: 7th
Pages: 592
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1741044634
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.2860452
EAN: 9781741044638
ASIN: 1741044634
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Beyond the deserted beaches of the Nicoya Peninsula and the visceral heights of the Monteverde cloud forests lies the real Costa Rica – a land of delicate pathos, forthright purity and hard-won pacifism. Tromp through virgin rain forest – sighting poison-dart frogs and howler monkeys along the way – or simply explore the local lore and laid-back beach scene with this comprehensive guide.
Less Is More – expanded ecofriendly coverage and loads of volunteer and learning opportunities make traveling with a conscience easier than ever.
The Wild Side – spot your favorite rain forest dwellers – scarlet macaws, caimans and more – with our expert-written color wildlife section.
Gaps On The Map – lose yourself in the seldom-visited corners of this ecological powerhouse with informed do-it-yourself content and more than 80 maps.
Charge It! – surf the world’s longest left at Pavones, hike through rain forest in Corcovado or drop into roaring rapids with our Adventure Travel chapter.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Conflicted author may depress you July 10, 2007
Ross H. Calvert IV (NYC)
61 out of 64 found this review helpful
While I agree with the conservationist spirit and general distaste for overrun tourist traps expressed throughout this guidebook by Matthew Firestone (one of the book's two authors), I found his relentlessly negative tone to be extremely off-putting. While the sections written by the other author (Mara Vorhees) are more neutral, informative and generally reflect the high quality I've come to expect from the Lonely Planet series of guidebooks, Matthew Firestone's sections have fully succeeded in dampening my enthusiasm for a trip to Costa Rica before the trip has even begun.
While it may be that the beach at Playa Tamarindo "is full of blubbery North American and European holidaymakers who spend most of their time frying in the sun like beached whales" turning their complexion "from a pasty white to a rosy shade of skin cancer," and while that description does indeed sound like a scene I would rather avoid, I find the author's consistent haughty tone and overriding negativity to be out of place and offensive in a book that is intended for - after all - tourists.
I am still planning what I fully expect to be an exciting and fun vacation in Costa Rica, but now I have to do so in spite of the author of this book's overbearing negativity. It's true, I'm sure, that Costa Rica was once better to visit than it is today, but this book is not for people who knew and loved the country years ago. It's intended for people who have never been there before, and since Mr. Firestone couldn't put aside his sour gripes and focus on what's great about the place rather than bemoaning what's been lost, his words and advice won't be making the trip with me.
This book has been my first disappointment in the Lonely Planet series.
 The only one you'll need January 4, 2007
Dr D
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
As usual I bought a few guide books and took them all with me. I had the National Geographic, the Tico Times book (Exploring Costa Rica) and the Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet was the bible. All the rest were fluff. As my trip progressed I put the others in the glove compartment and eventually deep in my luggage. The only time I needed anything else was consulting the map (I had a waterproof detailed Costa Rica map which I also recommend) and once when a phone number was misprinted.
As for the preachy tone, yes, I agree, there was a huge element in the book. A lot of it I tended to agree with (I personally think zip line tours are a terrible idea and would make more sense over Manhattan skyscrapers than in one of the world's most precious cloud forests and I also agree that Tamarindo is a hole) so it didn't bother me as much as some of the other reviewers. I wouldn't lower my score by more than half a star for that so they still got 5 stars.
 Excellent Resource! March 30, 2007
William R. Langley (Lafayette, LA United States)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I bought this book from Amazon.com prior to a recent missions trip to keep on hand as a reference. It was recommended by one of the Costa Rican translators as one of the best guides. It turned out that one of the trip leaders needed to borrow it to get up-to-date information for the "free day" portion of the trip.
This travel guide came in very handy. It provides a wealth of information on a variety of topics. The only thing I would add is a large map, but quality maps are available for purchase elsewhere at reasonable cost (just don't buy in-country).
I enthusiastically recommend this guide.
 Lonely Planet Falters April 5, 2007
J. Friedman (Scottsdale, AZ USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've taken numerous trips using Lonely Planets and have always found the info useful, correct and up to date. One would expect the same from this book since it was published only a month before our trip (we left Dec '06 and returned home Jan '07). Not so. This book had many questionable endorsements...the food was not nearly as good as indicated. And many places to stay were either not as nice or much nicer than the book indicates.
Information on climbing Cerro Chirripo is terrible hence we only received a one night permit instead of the 3 nights we wanted. Even so, this was the highlight of our 27 day trip. Also, almost no info is given about what to do once you hike Chirripo...from the base camp there is easily 3 days of exploring you can do on your own without one of the inexplicably expensive guides. The sunsets are incredible. But with over 7,000 feet elevation gain on one day and the same to walk down the next, we cursed lonely planet more than once on our way down. Not that we're wimps, we hiked the 50 miles through Corcovado only a few days prior and were in great shape for Chirripo. Its just a lot of stress on the knees.
If you are going to Chirripo, I highly recommend staying at the Rio Chirripo Retreat.
If you are going to Corcovado, you will love staying at Ojo Del Mar.
If you have the chance, The Peace Lodge will blow your mind.
Overall this book is superior to most of the others I reviewed before taking the trip but from Lonely Planet I expected better.
Find a new author Lonely Planet January 17, 2008
Fikus Tree (Texas)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
If you want to enjoy traveling to Costa Rica I would recommend another book. If you want to spend your time lamenting about how Costa Rica has changed, how Americans are annoying, and be afraid to take your valuables out of your hotel safe than I recommend you check this book out. I would often read passages out loud to different people I was traveling with. You would think that Jaco is similar to Jersey but with more crack and lots of prostitutes from reading this book. In fact, when I went it was mostly families, a little sketch, but man get a grip. I read the chapter on San Jose and was to afraid to take my camera to the central market and downtown. What a regret! The people everywhere in Costa Rica were so nice. Downtown was crawling with tourists with their cameras and police. It wasn't even remotely sketchy. We could only get reservations in Tamarindo for Christmas day and I was terrified that it was going to be like Myrtle Beach on Spring Break. Yes there were lots of condos but it was still Costa Rica! Dirt Roads. you could walk from one end of town to the other in less then 10 minutes, everyone was nice, the beach was pretty. I just couldn't understand why the authors seemed to hate travel so much and be so hateful towards places where we were going.
Also, the book didn't give a lot of key information about how to get around without a car. We wasted so much time in La Fortuna trying to figure out how to get to the different places we wanted to go. It turns out there isn't a bus, there are only guided tours. They are all expensive. We finally hitchhiked which worked out well but I never go to go on the hanging bridges. I loved Cahuita (it wasn't dangerous) and Dominical. I loved Costa Rica. I am ready to go back.
I just wanted to warn people to stay away from this book. I love guidebooks. I am the kind of psycho that gets them from the library and reads through them even when I am not going anywhere. This one was the worst.
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