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 | Costa Rica Warnings or Dangers | Tips 51 - 60 of 215 |  |
 honey-killer-bee by RoyJava
Mostly Killer Bees do not sting to hurt. But the Costa Rica Killer Bees are different! They have been introduced to and used in the US by wrong ideas. When have a meet with these killers,... just get away!
How do you get away from stinging bees?
RUN. Best way run is the "zig-zag" running. Run along tall objects (like trees, bushes) so the following bees will get confused. DONOT stand still, or just dive into water to escape the attacking killers! Leave a Comment
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 by R.Dettmann
All those animals will leave you alone as long as you leave them alone. Leave a Comment
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 by matt34747Leave a Comment
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 by Jim_EliasonLeave a Comment
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There are several dangerous areas in San Jose. Our second visit to CR we stayed at the Park Garden Hotel, in downtown SJ. The hotel warned us about how to get to the center of town. They said 'Turn left for one block and then left to downtown. My wife and another couple were returning from downtown and missed the street to turn right on and were walking in an area east of downtown past the hotel. We were once accosted by a prostitute, who said to me 'hey big boy, want to party?' I told her 'No, con mi esposa'. She says 'that's ok, do her too'. Since she was loud and demanding, a crowd of dredlocked men started to move in our direction. We immediately started to quick step away back toward downtown SJ. They didn't follow, but it gave all of us a scare. So stay away from areas you have been warned about. Leave a Comment
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We recently spent time in Costa Rica, a "safe and peaceful country" we read. We rented a 4WD at the airport in San Jose to get to our small hotel near Dominical and we planned to travel around a bit.
We drove through San Jose heading SE onto the main highway. Just past San Pedro we had a flat tire and pulled off onto the roadside.....BIG MISTAKE. A "nice" young man came along and helped us change the tire. Then he took off and jumped into a car which sped off. Back in our car we found that my travel bag which had been on the floor on the passenger side was GONE. Obviously, while we were busy with the tire an accomplice came from the driver's side of the car and stole the bag. Passports, $+++ and credit cards all gone. When we had the tire repaired we discovered that it had been cut with a knife.
Officials told us that, in high season, about 10 Canadians EACH DAY are robbed of their passports in Costa Rica. Add to this number those who lost only money and credit cards and did not report to the Consulate. If Canadians account for e.g. 10% of visitors then the total number of travellers robbed is enormous. Do the math.
We were also told that we were lucky not to have been attacked and injured as some travellers are.
When pressed, the Car Rental guy told us that this exact thing happens to as many as 3 renters per day, and that is only from the one rental agency. We had to pay out of our pocket $100US for a new tire, as that is not covered by insurance.
To add insult to injury, on the way back the Transitos pulled us over for "speeding" and made us pay $20US, though we did manage to talk him down from the $45 he was demanding. Of course he would not give us a receipt and the money went straight into his pocket. You don't argue with a guy with a gun.
We are not innocents abroad. We have driven in many countries but have never had such a nasty experience anywhere else.
We would NOT rent a car there, but we MAY go back to Costa Rica. Many things there are wonderful BUT...
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 My blurry photo of a poison
dart frog in Tortuguro by grandmaR, 4 more photos
We went to the serpentarium at 1st Ave., 9 & 11 Streets in San Jose so we would know what the snakes looked like, but other than that, we saw no snakes.
We did see big iguanas and Jesus Christ lizards and poison arrow frogs and lots of birds, and monkeys and a couple of sloths and a coati mundi. And mosquitoes. And bats, hermit crabs and fish. But no snakes.
The serpentarium however has moved from San Jose, so that it is no longer in the city. It is now about 1km (1/2 mile) outside of Grecia, on the old road to Alajuela (see photo #2 - the map) and is now called the World of Snakes.
It had lots of other kinds of animals other than snakes, like crocodiles and other reptiles. It also featured boa constrictors, Jesus Christ lizards, poison dart frogs, iguanas, and an aquarium full of deadly sea snakes. There are also such exotic creatures as king cobras and Burmese pythons. Unless you have a severe phobia about snakes, I recommend it - I thought it was fun.
Open daily from 8am to 4pm. Not only has it moved, but it apparently has also raised the rates. Although the $11 admission includes a guided tour.
There's also one near Monteverde Leave a Comment
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When you are leaving (airport), you must pay a tax! If you don’t have the tax stamp you won’t be leaving. First make sure you didn’t spend all of your money, when I was there the tax was about $17.00. Also don’t buy it from the guy on the sidewalk unless he is wearing the correct ID. There are scammers who will try to sell you fake ones. Leave a Comment
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 Stay calm if you see this by gramboman
However, if you see them take a very aggressive posture as seen in this picture, there's no need to panic. They will sit like this, motionless, for minutes. Just be calm and don't get too close. Leave a Comment
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 Frightened Scorpion by Paul2001
I understand that it is not common to see scorpions in the day as they are nocturnal. But if you are wondering around at night watch out! Leave a Comment
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