January 17,  2003

Being the political junkie I am, I was curious to hear the Costa Rican view of the United States and the present administration when I arrived in this lovely Central American country. I had no idea what to expect.

The Costa Ricans that I spoke with reminded me of the removal of Manuel Noriega from Panama during Papa Bush's reign and the errant U.S. bomb that killed over 4000 Panama citizens ( they pointed out there was more loss of innocent lives in Panama caused by Papa Bush than the 9-11 loss of innocent lives in the U.S.).

The airport I flew into, Liberia International, was built by the U.S. under the Reagan/Bush reign to move the illegal Iran/Contra weapons obtained by Ollie North and his crew into Nicaragua. Gun and cocaine running  by North was so prevalent during that time that the Costa Ricans named a point in the Pacific leading to the Liberia Airport, Ollie's Point.  Gee, what a surprise and Ollie North was rewarded with a radio talk show! A viewer of this website sent me this information: The airport Ollie North used was a secret strip on the Santa Elena peninsula on private land owned by a guy named Hamilton (gringo). It was discovered by the authorities when a transport plane got stuck in the mud during the rainy season. You can still find it, but it's getting pretty overgrown. The land has since been purchased and added to the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr ). Ollie's point is the end of that peninsula.

The local gringos that relocated to Costa Rica also had similar views.  In fact, one local hotel owner said the U.S. had recently set up a radar installation to detect drug running boats about 3 miles from our hotel. My question was "Is the U.S. protecting or stopping the drug running?" The gringos just laughed and said they wondered the same thing.

I only spent about 10% of my time talking politics.  The other 90% was spent enjoying a true democracy where I only observed two policemen, one at a car crash, the other was riding his bike near Florida, Costa Rica.    I snorkeled, hiked to several waterfalls, lava formations, Pacific coast line and dined on world class cuisine. Costa Rican's have a motto -- Pura Vida  -- which means pure life, just enjoy life. I enjoyed every moment of vacationing in a true democracy, something I haven't enjoyed in the U.S. for a long time.

p.s. The Costa Ricans were curious why U.S. southerners are always re-enacting the Civil War.  As one local said, "Who in their right mind would want to re-enact a war they lost?  Are they hoping to finally win?"

Lisa Casey

Waterfalls

Junquillal Beach

Typical Day at Iquanazul

Front Yard

Estuary Hand Line Fishing

Various scenes of Costa Rica

 

I highly recommend the Iguanazul Hotel and Resort.  Hospitality is their top priority.  The rooms are lovely, their cuisine is world class (their nachos are the best on the planet), and the views are breathtaking. I am counting the days to return to Iguanazul. Their room rates are better than Florida.  Check out their website below.

Hotel Iguanazul is located in Junquillal Beach Guanacaste, Costa Rica. 

Enjoy Costa Rica surfing in Junquillal as this beach has a great break during low tides and great surfing during high tides. Snorkel in our front yard anytime.