Black Culture Tour to Costa Rica

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BLACK CULTURE TOUR TO COSTA RICA

You may know that Costa Rica is the #1 destination worldwide for nature travel. But, do you know you can combine a nature tour with an educational journey into the black culture of Costa Rica's small but influential minority population? Started in 2003, our Black Culture Tour to Costa Rica continues to be the one and only tour of its nature. Below is a description of the tour experience written by Dr. Evetta Borden, a podiatrist from Hinesville, GA.

The Costa Rican Black Culture Tour was exciting in name alone; as a black female with an interest in biology and the rainforest I was hooked. I also had the desire to see how people of my color fared in other parts of the world. Usually I only travel in a group that consists of family members, but this tour seemed to be worth traveling with a diverse group. I did not know it was the first black culture tour ever done in Costa Rica, although knowing that would not have influenced my decision.

Our group was quite varied: there were several office workers and small business owners, a magazine editor, a pastor, a pharmacist, a lawyer, and a retired realtor, nurse, doctor and school superintendent. Passengers came from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, and North Carolina.

The tour is conducted annually from August 27 to September 3. Most of us met at the airport in Atlanta on the way to Costa Rica. We were told that Costa Rica was a Spanish and English speaking country, but Spanish is the national language. I believe that speaking Spanish would be a definite benefit. There were many opportunities to interact with the people of Costa Rica, and speaking Spanish would have made it more enjoyable. Many Costa Ricans struggled through the language to interact with us, and all were more then willing to be helpful and to share the country and culture with us.

Our Costa Rican tour guide, Fernando, was fluent in English and Spanish. He was able to give cultural, historical, and relevant information of the day. As you can image from such a diverse group of travelers, we had many and varied questions, but they were all answered well.

Travel magazines warned about the dangers in the Limon province on the Caribbean coast; however, we walked to most of the areas and never felt threatened or unsafe. I felt safer in Costa Rica than I would have in a city like New York or Los Angeles.

I did not feel discriminated against, but it seemed that most people knew our destination was Limon without our telling them. After getting to Limon I understood: that is where I found brown skin and ethnicity in abundance. Limon’s diverse population also includes Chinese, indigenous BriBri and Cabecar Indians, Hispanic and European inhabitants.

The trip started with San Jose capital, and we stayed at the Hotel Villa Tournon. Spanish was not needed here, and they offered services we needed like running to the post office for stamps. The hotel is also black-owned. We left San Jose to go to Tortuguero on the northern Caribbean coast. If you don't like water you want to skip this part of the trip since the only way to Tortuguero is by boat. In Tortuguero we saw how living the simple life can be fulfilling when all the necessities are there.

The attraction in Tortuguero is the sea turtles and their nesting habits. The nesting was interesting to me, but again I was a biology major; however, the stars and the night sky on the beach were extremely romantic. The Costa Rican sky had more stars then I have ever seen. The lodging was the Pachira Lodge.

We left the next morning and went to the city of Limon and the Hotel Maribu Caribe (a two hour boat ride). Maribu Caribe sat on a small hill over looking the Caribbean Sea. I recommend the back bungalows to have a wonderful view. The food here was magnificent and allowed you to try varied dishes both ethnic and those from home. The shopping area which was the area full of locals was approximately a two dollar cab ride; and a cab ride to the beach is $1.50.

It would have been easy to spend another two to three days in Limon. While in Limon, we attended the annual celebration of Black Culture. They have cultural foods, music and history of blacks in Costa Rica with their contributions. This is a week long celebration ending with a parade and block party. We participated in the parade and had our own small banner.

We were joined in the parade by members of the black civic organizations who had hosted a dinner for us the night before. We had enjoyed the Afro-Costa Rican food and several oral reading from a well known local poet. Afterwards, a well known Caribbean Costa Rican band played.

The culture that we were exposed to on this tour more than exceeded my expectations. This was not just a black cultural tour in name only, but in every event and in every location (with the exception of the turtles nesting).

After our stay in Limon, we traveled by tour bus to the beaches and rainforest along the southern Caribbean coast. It was here I took a Canopy Tour through the rainforest on zip cord, an awesome experience. Afterwards. it was back to San Jose with a stop for shopping at the crafts town of Moravia.

Costa Rica is definitely a place I must go back to. The Black Culture Tour presented a little of everything so you could see what really appealed to you and know where to spend your time on your next visit. Costa Rica is a beautiful country with friendly people. The meals were all wonderful and service was excellent, however, I recommend packing light since most of the resorts did not have bellboys. I believe that in the 21 century it is one of the last unspoiled vacation area. The tour may not be for everyone, but for anyone who wants to experience the black culture of Costa Rica and the opportunity to meet the people who live there, I heartily recommend Costa Rica Tours’ Black Culture Tour to Caribbean Costa Rica.

For further information on the Black Culture Tour in Costa Rica see Infohub, Central America>Costa Rica or click here