I had an incredible time traveling to Costa Rica. The country is beautiful, the
people are warm and friendly and the beaches and the wildlife are some of the
best in the world.
I really would like to do a video like this
for every destination that I visit solo, because I think it's really important
information for other female solo travelers.
And anything that I say that's
negative is not meant to disrespect the country in any way, or its people, I just
think it's useful for other females to hear the perspective of another female
traveler.
So I'm going to talk about my specific stories and experiences from Costa Rica
and then give it some ratings.
I traveledto Costa Rica completely solo.
I flew to
San Jose. And then I also went to Tortuguero National Park which was my
favorite, and Manuel Antonio and La Fortuna.
I ended up meeting several new
friends including three other girls that were also traveling solo.
I stayed in the
barrio Escalante neighborhood of San Jose.
It's a really nice neighborhood,
it's trendy and safe and there's a lot of restaurants around. And I felt fine
walking around in this neighborhood even at night.
And we actually stumbled upon a
party which was kind of cool and I think there's always events happening around
in this neighborhood.
For most of the trip I did feel fine in
San Jose, but I did have an issue with catcalling. A friend and I we decided to
walk back to our hostel, it was a little bit before sunset and unfortunately we
experienced about 50 men catcalling us in the period of maybe 10 to 20 minutes.
Yelling at us, whistling, making comments, and obviously this is a super
uncomfortable feeling. We were ready to get back and frustrated and as soon as
we got back to the barrio escalante neighborhood, we felt fine again.
And for
the rest of the trip I pretty much just took taxis around San Jose. I didn't
really want to experience that again walking.
I didn't really go to any bars in San Jose. I was waking up early for day trips
so I didn't really have any late nights.
In Tortuguero, I felt nothing but
respect. They are so friendly to tourists there and my guide at the lodge was so
helpful. He always asked if I had any questions and I felt super comfortable.
The bus that I took from San Jose to Manuel Antonio and back was really nice.
It was kind of like a charter bus it was really comfortable and they even
stopped halfway for a restroom break and snacks.
In Manuel Antonio it is really eerie
to me that everything closed down at night. Walking around at maybe 8 or 9
p.m. there were no restaurants or bars or shops open so that was a really
strange feeling.
A friend and I had met some locals in
Manuel Antonio and they invited us to go up the hill to Quepos to experience
some nightlife. And everything was going fine until they pulled the car and were
like "hey get in." And that's where I was just like I think I'm gonna pass, and you
have to listen to your gut and your intuition and sometimes you're gonna
come off as a party pooper and that's okay, because when you're traveling solo
you're the only person looking out for yourself. And I'm sure we probably would
have been fine, those guys seemed nice, you never know, but looking back I'm
happy that I listened to my intuition and you always have to.
On that note, there
are drivers in Central America called collectivo drivers and basically it's
like an uber driver but they're cheaper because it's unofficial so they just
have lower fares but they're not being tracked or anything there's no app so
personally I don't want to use any driver like this because there's no way
to know that this is even a driver. You don't know where they're gonna go
versus a taxi. If it's an official taxi, you know what they're gonna look like so
this is a small thing that I would say makes me feel more comfortable traveling.
It's just maybe being a little bit more conservative in these kind of situations
but it makes me feel safer.
Now I'm goingto do some ratings in some different
categories.
So navigation
Navigation by myself knowing nothing about the country...
I didn't know anything about the Costa Rica bus system. It was pretty easy to
figure out and obviously you can ask your hotel are your hostel as well for
more information and the buses were super comfortable. It was pretty easy and
simple so I'm gonna give it an 8 out of 10.
Meeting people....
I think one of the cool things about traveling solo is having
the option to meet people when you're traveling as well so that if you don't
want to be solo you can hang out with them and it was super easy in Costa Rica,
I met a lot of people at the hostels as well as just out and about... At the
volcano I met someone and then they knew someone and we went to lunch together.
So it's super easy to meet people there so I'm gonna give it a 10 out of 10.
Walking....
I'm gonna give this a low score because of the cat calling and feeling
disrespected by this so I'm gonna give it a 6 out of 10.
Go or no?
Yes! Definitely go to Costa Rica.
I had such a wonderful time and I think
you will too and I'm gonna give it eight ten out of ten, would recommend.
I would encourage you to travel to Costa Rica. I know it can be a little bit scary
traveling to a new country by yourself, but I think you will have an amazing
time.
If you have any questions be sure to comment them below and I will answer
them.
Please subscribe for more videos like this and I will see you in the next
one!