Costa Rica is situated right below Nicaragua and right above Panama, consisting of 7 provinces (Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limón, Puntarenas, and San José). Within those 7 provinces are cities, which are called cantones in Spanish, and there are 81 of them in Costa Rica (Abangares, Acosta, Aguirre, Alajuela, Alajuelita, Alfaro Ruíz, Alvarado, Aserrí, Atenas, Bagaces, Barva, Belén, Buenos Aires, Cañas, Carrillo, Cartago, Corredores, Coto Brus, Currridabat, Desamparados Grecia, Dota, El Guarco, Escazu, Esparza, Flores, Garabito, Goicoechea, Golfito, Guácimo, Guanacaste, Guatuso, Heredia, Hojancha, Jiménez, La Cruz, La Unión, León Cortés, Liberia, Limón, Los Chiles, Matina, Montes de Oca, Montes de Oro, Mora, Moravia, Nandayure, Naranjo, Nicoya, Oreamuno, Orotina, Osa, Palmares, Paraíso, Parrita, Pérez Zeledón, Poás, Pococí, Puntarenas, Puriscal, San Carlos, San Isidro, San Jose, San Mateo, San Pablo, San Rafael, San Ramón, Santa Ana, Santa Bárbara, Santa Cruz, Santo Domingo, Sarapiquí, Siquirres, Talamanca, Tarrazú, Tibás, Tilarán, Turrialba, Turrubares, Upala, Valverde Vega, and Vásquez de Coronado.)
Costa Rica is full of rich cultural heritage and exportation businesses. The name of the country literally means Rich Coast in a direct translation to English, so you get the idea how amazing it is here. Everywhere you go there is a mix of traditional historical past and new modern technology. You won’t go a day without seeing a cowboy riding a horse and talking on his iPhone 4. It’s truly amazing to see this.
The currency of Costa Rica is called the Colone, and it is relatively close to 500 Colones for 1 US Dollar. Though it does fluctuate, those are the basic exchange rates that most everyone goes by.
If you are a smart shopper you can make your money go a long way here by shopping at local farmers markets in Escazu, which is one of the densest places in Costa Rica for Expats and foreign residents. Every Saturday there is a market north of the center of town beside the Catholic Church. Of course you have to watch your pockets for people who will rob you, but if you dress like the locals do and be respectful, you can minimize the changes of this happening.
The most tourist dense provinces of Costa Rica are Guanacaste and San Jose. But people who visit here and end up staying for a long time, like San Ramon in Alajuela province a lot. The people there are very friendly and help one another out. You will notice when the locals ride the bus in San Ramon that the women and children get to sit in the seats and the men will stand up and be courteous of their needs.
Doing research and understanding what to expect in Costa Rica is important, you can visit the tourism Costa Rica main Government website for more information and links. Also, do not forget to check the local weather patterns before going surfing or to the beach for the day. Rain and thunder storms can come out of no where and catch you by surprise.
If you are in need of a map to find your way around the Costa Rican provinces, you can download really good ones here to use as an Application on your smart phone. Gone are the days or carrying around a physical map, unless you need to.The really cool part about this map is it is a locally saved version of your smart phone so you do not need to have connection with the Wifi or data network in Costa Rica, which will save you money.
Sports play a huge role in the culture of the cantones of the country. La Liga and Saprissa futbol (soccer) teams go head to head often and it brings out all of the people in the country to the local bars to watch the games. Escazu also has a soccer team called the Brujas, though they do not usually win as much as the other two teams I mentioned before. The word Bruja means witch in Spanish. This is a huge part of the culture of Escazu as many people believe that witches once roamed the mountains that make up the city.
We are slowing building the content on delivery.cr to ensure that we cover all of the main topics that make up Costa Rica. While you are exploring Costa Rica as a resident or tourist, if you need delivery services you can count on us to provide the best quality products fast and at a reasonable price.
Now go out and enjoy the information that you just learned and see why so many people love to call Costa Rica and all of the provinces and cantones home. Pura Vida!