I am Costa Rica bound. I’ll be gone for a week-and-a-day. I was originally going to try to do some work down there but I’ve been too busy to line up anything to really cover, so I’m just going to play it by ear. If you know of any good tech or environment-oriented projects happening down there that I should look into let me know. I’ll be flying into San Jose but plan on being fairly mobile.
Couple of questions: What’s the internet cafe/access scene like down there? Should I bother taking my laptop or will it just be dead weight? (Obviously, I know there’s internet, but I don’t know how common it is to find it outside of San Jose. I can rely on internet cafes if I have to.)
If you need anything BBG related, feel free to contact Rob or John at rob@ or brownlee@ and they’ll take care of you.
Enjoy your vacation, boss! We won’t do anything you wouldn’t do.
Hey Joel,
Lived down in Costa Rica a few years back, so things may be a little better now, but I pretty much had to rely on internet cafes that were mostly set up by expats.
San Jose has quite a few of them, especially if you get out to Escazu.
You will have so much fun! I went for a week two years ago and had no trouble finding internet cafes, even in small towns. Be sure to hit the hot springs at Arenal. You can drink a beer while watching magma flow down the mountain. Sweet.
Hey Joel,
I worked on an off-grid chocolate farm in Costa Rica not too long ago. I think you would do well to check it out if you are in Costa Rica and interested in sustainable farming, appropriate tech, entrepreneurship, fair trade and/or the best chocolate in the world. Seriously. You won’t look at (or taste) chocolate the same way ever again.
The farm is above Canaza on the Osa peninsula, practically bordering the Corcovado National Park.
More info about Samaritan Xocolata can be found here: http://www.samaritanxocolata.com/
You can reach Kimberly (the proprietress) here:
fincaxocolata[at]yahoo.co.uk or (+506) 361-1485
Tell her Curtiss sent you ;^)
That looks amazing, Curtis. I may have to check that out!
I wouldn’t mess with the laptop. I’ve been down there several times and have yet to see a hotel offer wireless…but there are oodles of Internet Cafes all over. Also, a lot of the more primitive eco lodges don’t have simple security features. I was with a group once that had their screened (no glass) “window” slashed and everything stolen from their room. I wouldn’t take that risk with a laptop. Just enjoy a week being (partially) unplugged!
I hear there’s an island off the coast that has dinosaurs. Sounds kinda cool. I’d go there if I could.
Pura Vida! A lot of internet cafes in the tourist towns, but beyond that good luck.
Which parts are you planning on visiting?
Hi, Joel… A costarican here!! (You can call us “ticos”…).
There are internet cafes in all the main cities around the central valley, and you can count on them in every other big city, even those far away in the mountains… Or the beaches…
About the laptop… That depends! Are you coming for vacations in the naturegasmic rain forests, hiking near to awesome volcanoes, surfing at the beaches, lying relaxed in hot springs or… Some kind of gadget reviewing??
If you are coming for vacations, don’t bring your laptop… Chances are that it will be stolen if misplaced! Even more probable if it has some kind of fruit logo in its lid!
I would recommend a camera, lots of flash memory cards (for backup!!), and nothing else… Except for comfortable clothes… And do yourself a favor, don’t bring clothes that scream “I’m a tourist!”… Blend among the locals, jeans, cargo pants, tennis shoes, t-shirts and small backpacks/messengers are common among the people… Short pants, sandals, flower-painted shirts, sombreros and camping backpacks are just a way to scream: “Steal my passport!”.
I can tell you about of a gadget company that works on embedded Linux, where I worked for a while, but apart from that, the technology scene here is more technical support than anything else.
Hi, Joel… A costarican here!! (You can call us “ticos”…).
There are internet cafes in all the main cities around the central valley, and you can count on them in every other big city, even those far away in the mountains… Or the beaches…
About the laptop… That depends! Are you coming for vacations in the naturegasmic rain forests, hiking near to awesome volcanoes, surfing at the beaches, lying relaxed in hot springs or… Some kind of gadget reviewing??
If you are coming for vacations, don’t bring your laptop… Chances are that it will be stolen if misplaced! Even more probable if it has some kind of fruit logo in its lid!
I would recommend a camera, lots of flash memory cards (for backup!!), and nothing else… Except for comfortable clothes… And do yourself a favor, don’t bring clothes that scream “I’m a tourist!”… Blend among the locals, jeans, cargo pants, tennis shoes, t-shirts and small backpacks/messengers are common among the people… Short pants, sandals, flower-painted shirts, sombreros and camping backpacks are just a way to scream: “Steal my passport!”.
I can tell you about of a gadget company that works on embedded Linux, where I worked for a while, but apart from that, the technology scene here is more technical support than anything else.
Yo can check the so called biggest sofa on the world
Say hi to Toby Flenderson.