“Costa Rica has long been a beacon of stability in the region, with a democracy that’s over 100 years old, a literacy rate of 95 percent, and the highest standard of living in Central America. There are a lot of natural superlatives in this country as well. Arenal Volcano is Central America’s most active volcano. Some five percent of the world’s species are found on this small plot of land, including more species of birds than the U.S. and Canada combined. A quarter of the country is devoted to protected lands and parks and the government here has been far more enlightened about environmentally friendly tourism than most other countries anywhere.

“Don’t plan on having the whole place to yourself though. The secret has been out for ages and this is one of the most popular destinations for North Americans, drawing over 1.5 million total visitors per year. A fair number of those visitors never made it back home: this is a popular place to retire to and buy or build a dream home.

“The good side of all this traffic is that upscale facilities are quite good, the better guides speak English well, and staffers aren’t just figuring all this out as they go along. Some of the eco-tourism pioneers are based here, so eco-friendly lodges and hotels that “think green” are more prevalent than those that are not–a welcome change in the luxury market.

“Don’t plan a Costa Rica trip around colonial history and sightseeing. Instead come here to find jungle adventures, white-water rafting, hiking, mountain biking, and then a bit of beach living” in a luxurious vacation rental villa, private home or condominium on Jaco Beach, at Los Suenos Golf Resort and Marina on Playa Herradura, or Manuel Antonio.

A proud mother who's just laid a nest of Olive Ridley turtle eggs

Last night my buddy Raul and I met up at the Back Yard Bar and Grill and then drove the six or so miles to the south end of Hermosa Beach (Playa Hermosa) just 10 minutes from Jaco; the last five miles were all within the Tulin Playa Hermosa Refuge, a nature preserve established by the government about eight years ago. The north end of this beach is where the World Surfing Games were held during the first week of August 2009.

Four of the world’s seven species of marine turtles nest on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica — the Pacific Green, Leatherback, Hawksbill and the Olive Ridley.  Forty-seven beaches on the Pacific Coast have been identified as having turtle nesting activity

The Olive Ridley turtle lays 70-120 eggs at a time, and typically lays two-three batches per year. This is one of the many interesting bits of info shared by Raul, a Costa Rican who knows so much about his beautiful country, including its history, flora and fauna. 

Tulin Playa Hermosa Refuge on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast

Our mission was to walk the beach looking for turtle tracks, which lead to nests of just-laid eggs. Mostly we walked by moonlight; it’s easier to see the tracks. Occasionally we turned on our red-light flashlights to check out whatever dark mass was in our path (always just a large log or beautiful piece of driftwood, typically from an ancient growth tree struck down by age and the elements).  Artificial light disorients the turtles; they navigate by the light of the moon.

Raul has experienced so much of Costa Rica. While walking toward the mouth of the Tulin River and the 100 or so crocodiles who call it home, he told me about fishing in there and catching rooster fish and huge snook.  At a river further south, he met an old guy in an ancient canoe who had told Raul about the crocodile who ate his dog.  Enraged at losing a loved companion, the old guy killed the 12 foot long croc with a grappling hook.  When Raul expressed disbelief, Cocodrilo Dundee took Raul to his hut and pulled the croc skull with teeth out from under his bed.  Sr. Dundito had eaten the dog-eating croc!

I asked Raul what croc tastes like and his response was the one heard the world over, “Like chicken!”  My high school chum Tammi Mclaughlin wrote on Facebook, “I’ve actually had crocodile and I think it tastes like not much of anything with a nice rubber texture to boot!”.

Olive Ridley turtle laying eggs

Once at the river, we shined our flashlight across the broad waters and were met by the reflections of about 20 red dots. Each dot represented one eye of a croc hunting in the river (the second eye of each was on the other side of their head and not seen by us).

We walked back to the nursery where about 100 nests are covered by protecting wire mesh (to help keep raccoons and other predators out) and surrounded by a wire mesh fence.  We found that one nest had been destroyed by ants and all the eggs had been ruined.  Better luck at the next nest, where one baby turtle had hatched and was somewhere in his hour-long process of waking up and gathering energy for his journey to the sea. With a gloved hand (to protect him from our insect repellant and other forms of contamination), the tortugito (baby turtle) was carried to the water’s edge, where he was gently washed out into the Pacific with the next small wave. 

I said a silent prayer for his health and well-being and imagined what changes the world would see during his lifetime, which could be 70 years. (Another Bush presidency? China’s world domination? Scott Miller becomes house trained again?)

We then walked up the beach in the other direction, looking for a momma turtle making her way to lay eggs.  What we found were fresh turtle tracks.  She had made a roundtrip, which means the eggs had been buried above the high tide mark.  We found the nest, dug up the eggs, counted and placed them in a plastic grocery bag.  Turtle eggs—Olive (so named for their color) Ridley turtle eggs—do not have a hard shell.  The eggs are squishy, softer even than a hard-boiled egg that’s been peeled. 

Turtle eggs being laid; think "squishy ping pong ball"

I carried the eggs to the nursery and re-buried them in the sand, within the protective enclosure. Of the 106 eggs, 85 or so will likely hatch. Those nearest the top of the nest (a hole dug in sand, elbow deep) will likely be female, those on the bottom will likely be male. Gender is determined by the temperature during an early developmental stage (eggs nearer the top are made warmer by the sun).

With our one hatchling safely launched and our eggs buried, we called it a night. I cannot wait to return; Raul is a terrific guide. Easy company and very knowledgeable.  His family has grown coffee in the San Ramon area of Costa Rica for generations and Raul sells it via a web site he built.  Check out the site; better yet, order a few bags for yourself and friends; Finca Rica (rich farm) ships to the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere.

A just-hatched Ridley turtle making its way to the Pacific Ocean

When you come to Costa Rica for an adventure vacation off the beaten tourist path, let me know and I’ll hook you up with Raul.  His specialties as a guide are outings that are “non-touristy” and include surfing, fishing, waterfalls, coffee farm tours, snorkeling and this hands-on turtle tour at the Tulin Playa Hermosa Refuge.

This weekend Raul is heading to Playa Camaronal in the Guanacaste region on the Northern Pacific Coast for “arribada” (mass arrival) of Ridley turtles. Check out Christopher P. Baker’s blog for an excellent description of this wonder of nature.

"Mass arrival" of Olive Ridley turtles coming to lay eggs

The South Carolina resident went out of her way, literally, to find a solution, which turned out to be in Central America. Her trip to the tropics is part of a health insurance experiment for trimming medical costs: overseas care.

As Washington searches for ways to tame the country’s escalating health care costs, more insurers are offering networks of surgeons and dentists in places like India and Costa Rica, where costs can be as much as 80% less than in America.

Until recently, most Americans traveling abroad for cheaper non-emergency medical care were either uninsured or wealthy. But the profile of medical tourists is changing. Now, they are more likely to be people covered by private insurers, which are looking to keep costs from spiraling out of control.

The four largest commercial U.S. health insurers — with enrollments totaling nearly 100 million people — have either launched pilot programs offering overseas travel or explored it. Several smaller insurers and brokers also have introduced travel options for hundreds of employers around the country.

Growth has been slow in part because some patients and employers have concerns about care quality and legal responsibility if something goes wrong. Plus, patients who have traditional plans with low deductibles may have little incentive to take a trip.

But a growing number of consumers with high-deductible plans, which make patients pay more out of pocket, could make these trips more inviting.

In the meantime, the insurance industry’s embrace of overseas care has had a pleasant side effect at home: some U.S. care providers are offering price breaks to counter the foreign competition.

This domestic competition and the slumping economy have led to slower growth for medical tourism over the past year, as patients put off elective procedures that involve big out of pocket costs, said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

Last year, the center estimated that 6 million Americans would make medical tourism trips in 2010. But Keckley has since shaved that projection to about 1.6 million people. Still, that more than doubles the roughly 750,000 Americans who traveled abroad in 2007, the last year for which Deloitte had actual numbers.

Keckley expects the medical tourism industry to recover, as more health insurers offer the option and as more people wind up with high-deductible plans.

Health care costs for employers who offer insurance to their workers were projected to rise 9.2% this year and another 9% in 2010, according to the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. That could mean double-digit percentage increases for employees through higher premiums, deductibles or copays.

Overseas care can lead to price breaks of more than $40,000, not counting travel costs, for procedures like knee replacement surgery or heart bypasses. Insurers, or employers who provide their own insurance, can save between 50% and 90% on major medical claims, said Jonathan Edelheit, president of the Florida-based Medical Tourism Association. A lower cost of living and lower prices for medical supplies and drugs help drive down care costs overseas compared to American providers.

While employers or insurers reap much of the savings, these lower costs can be the difference between a manageable expense and a bank-breaker for patients with high-deductible plans. These increasingly popular plans can lead to out-of-pocket expenses surpassing $5,000 for individual coverage and $10,000 for family plans.

High out of pocket costs also are common with dental coverage, which is one reason dental care trips have proven popular.

Kunz, 47, initially doubted the potential savings she might see from visiting a Costa Rican dentist though a program offered by her insurer, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. But a little comparison shopping — with help from the insurer — persuaded her to get on a plane.

She had eight crowns replaced, a tooth filled and root canal. The work would have cost her $10,000 out of pocket back home, but she paid just $2,800 after insurance.

Ben Schreiner of Camden, S.C., would have paid the entire $10,000 deductible on his insurance policy if he had his hernia surgery done last year near home. For that reason, Schreiner, 63, had planned to wait until he turned 65 and qualified for Medicare before fixing it.

After reading about medical tourism in his insurer’s annual report, the retired bank executive flew to Costa Rica and paid about $4,400, including travel expenses. Frequent flier miles covered his flight.

Schreiner said he was initially skeptical about the quality of care he might receive but reading about the doctors who could perform the surgery put him at ease.

“When you read the bios and the backgrounds of the doctors, you kind of lose your skepticism,” he said.

However, apprehension about medical travel remains a high hurdle.

“People still do not understand that there could be a hospital in Thailand that can be as good as any hospital anywhere in the world or in the United States,” said John Ferguson, chief marketing officer for Georgia-based BasicPlus Insurance Services.

BasicPlus, which underwrites and provides group health insurance plans to employers, started offering medical tourism as part of a benefits package last year. About 200 employers it contracts with around the country now offer that option, but no patients have used it.

Quality can be a legitimate worry, said Harvard Medical School professor Sharon Kleefield, who has worked overseas with several health care systems to establish quality measurements.

The average patient has no way of comparing hospitals worldwide on quality, which can vary widely. But, Kleefield said, insurers are helping to raise standards through careful inspections of hospitals before including them in an overseas network.

Concerns about liability also may be keeping some employers from adding overseas care options to their plans.

U.S. employers who encourage an overseas medical trip could become litigation targets. It can be difficult to sue an overseas provider in U.S. courts, said Nathan Cortez, a Southern Methodist University law school professor who studies medical tourism. And the average malpractice recovery in Thailand is about $3,000, roughly 1% of the U.S. average.

To ease this fear, medical tourism companies have started offering insurance that protects employers who send employees overseas from liability.

Some employers also have learned they don’t have to send people overseas to save money.

Shortly after Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Inc. and the Maine-based grocery chain Hannaford Bros. Co. launched a program to send patients to Singapore for hip and knee replacements, some New England hospitals countered with their own deals.

So far, three patients have benefited from the competitive pricing; Hannaford has sent no one overseas, even though the program pays travel and lodging costs.

“People travel all the time a couple hours on the interstate,” said Dr. Brian Kelly, Aetna‘s national medical director. “That’s no big deal.”

From USA Today

Love nature, food and art? Monte Azul is perfect for you.

This past weekend I re-charged at Monte Azul Boutique Hotel + Center for Art & Design near Chirripo, the tallest mountain in Costa Rica at 12,228 feet (as a frame of reference, Mt. Rainier in Washington state is 14,441 feet). Fishing and swimming in the really cold and beautiful river, hiking and seeing many species of birds, the community dance on Saturday night, amazing meals in the organic Cafe Blue, a really comfortable and thoughtfully designed casita decorated with world-class art, and goat cheese from the resident herd were all highlights. 

Casita Amarilla was my comfortable home for the weekend

All of the casitas have first-class original art, really comfortable beds and bed linens, a spa-like bath with watery Italian tile and hand-made soap, a kitchenette perfect for brewing a cup of the organic coffee grown on the preserve, plush robes and lots of light.  Each casita is situated for maximum privacy.  I left my windows and doors open for most of my stay for the full effect of being in nature.  No worries about creepy crawlies here!

The staff at Cafe Blue–led by Sherry Lee West–lovingly, artfully and professionally prepared and served some of the best food I’ve had the pleasure of tasting in Costa Rica.  Much of it was grown, raised or made on site.  Randy, the many-talented visionary-host-owner (there are 3) of Monte Azul, made the goat cheese served with fruit and a glass of wine in my casita just after arrival.  Randy also made a pumpkin pie that rivals any made by my grandmothers!  The bar in Cafe Blue is a “must see”; much of it is a beautiful work of art created by Alvaro Gomez.  Cheese-making in the Swiss style with a local family is one of many offered activities.  This is on the list of “to experience” for my next visit!   

The light, trees, orchids and bromeliads all combine for maximum lushness

Carlos Rojas Jara is another of Monte Azul’s visionary owners with many talents.  He’s an artist and host with something interesting to say about many topics.  His Monte Azul creation delights one’s senses of smell, taste and sight.

Cafe Blue at Monte Azul features locally-produced, organic food perfectly prepared and attentively served

The climate at Monte Azul is perfect for me (I’m from the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.); it’s considerably cooler than Jaco, Los Suenos Resort, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Tamarindo and other popular beaches along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.  The topography, scenery, flora and fauna are all quite different, too.  A perfect vacation for someone visiting Costa Rica for a week or more would be to stay at one of the beaches mentioned and then at Monte Azul.  It’s about 2 to 2.5 hours from Manuel Antonio, 1 to 1.5 from Dominical and 3 from San Jose. 

Activities in the immediate area of Monte Azul include whitewater rafting, horseback riding, cooking lessons, cheese-making lessons, yoga and massage, hiking, birding, trekking, swimming and fishing in the river (I did both and found the really cold water invigorating; the current is swift and the fish are impossible to catch, but what a way to spend an afternoon!).

For families or small groups, the newly completed Villa Palo Alto is a really special place to spend a week.  The contemporary design fits perfectly into the land; the 1,100 square foot great room opens to a magnificent view of the valley with the rain forests and cloud forests above and beyond.  The home is filled with art from some of the most talented artists active today.  (The owners have art galleries in New York City and San Francisco and Monte Azul has a an artist in residence program.) 

I could go on and on.  The bottom line is that Monte Azul provides all the comfort in a stunningly beautiful setting that anyone who loves art, food, nature and life needs to create memorable experiences they’ll remember for a lifetime.  I hope to make this my home away from home, with a retreat to the mountains every couple of months.  It’s that special and that restorative.

Expats turn your Costa Rican siesta from lame to lavish.

Casa Mono Loco in Los Suenos Resort & Marina, Costa Rica

If you’re planning an escape to Costa Rica this year, be sure to check in with Mark Mead and Michael Brown of the eponymous Mead Brown, a full-service, vacation rental marketing and property management company specializing in the country’s Central Pacific Coast. The company is widely regarded as one of—if not the—best for travel to Costa Rica, a hard-earned distinction for its two founders. After all, Mead and Brown gave up fast-paced careers in the United States to set up shop in Costa Rica, where they drew on their own experience as tourists to create one-of-a-kind vacations for a market that had, in their eyes, gone uncatered to, or at least insufficiently so.

“After rewarding careers in the US, we knew we wanted adventure and to live abroad,” says Brown. “Several visits as tourists to Costa Rica illustrated the need—and business opportunity—for a professionally managed vacation rental company that could deliver to the expectations of North Americans. After a year of research and planning and the investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars into the best systems, we opened for business.”

The result was Mead Brown, which now boasts a diverse collection of privately owned beachfront villas, houses, condos, and fincas in the Jaco, Playa Hermosa, Herradura, and Los Sueños areas. Mead Brown has also become the preferred vacation rental provider for the Los Sueños Resort & Marina, where clients enjoy lavish condominium accommodations and leisure, sporting, and spa privileges.

Mead Brown also offers complete concierge services, meaning clients can craft the ultimate vacation package. Spa services, championship golf, world-class sport fishing, horseback riding, sea kayaking, and flora-and fauna tours are among the wishes and whims the outfit’s dedicated guest services staff can fulfill. There’s also the placement of private chefs, as well as air- and watercraft charters, housekeeping, and transportation.

“Service is what sets us apart from most of the vacation rental companies in Central America,” Brown says. Even when the most hedonistic at heart come calling, Brown, like a seasoned hotelier, has the answer: “We will do virtually anything to meet our guests’ needs, expectations, and wishes,” he says. “This is a promise not easily fulfilled in a developing country, but we give it our very best and we typically deliver.”

So how are these American expats adjusting to life in this business? “It’s been really gratifying and rewarding for us,” Brown says. “When [guests] leave, they tell us that they’ve never been so well taken care of. It seems a bit odd to us . . . it’s not as though we are peeling their grapes.” Maybe so, but we have a feeling that this hospitable pair would be happily willing to do just that.—Lindsay Lambert

Mead Brown’s accommodations range from fully equipped three-bedroom condos from $300 per night to seven-bedroom villas at $7,500 per night; all properties include daily housekeeping. For more information or to make a reservation, visit www.meadbrown.com or call 866-567-1516.
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