Thursday, May 19, 2011

Surviving Crime, Murder and Corruption in Costa Rica


Here's how to travel to Costa Rica and survive crime, theft, murder and overall mayhem. You know, because it's around every corner.

So this dude from Connecticut, Howard Daniels Jr. writes an editorial to A.M.Costa Rica (Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday'....whatever) and gives his take on why tourism is down in Costa Rica. His reasons, here's the exact quote:
"The reason that North Americans are not going to Costa Rica as much anymore is twofold. #1 crime and #2 tired of dealing with bribe dealing police."

This subject is a pet peeve of mine and I've written about it numerous times. So, I'll let the VIDEOS BELOW do most of the talking. But here's my bottom line: I would say that 98.9% of the BAD things that happen to tourists while in Costa Rica are a direct result of their STUPIDITY when traveling abroad. #2- Their are exceptions but 99% of the time, if you're bribing a police officer, it's because you got caught breaking the law and with some of the fines here, you'll hope the cop is 'corrupt'. However, they have been known to 'shakedown' tourists on occasion as well, but this is more the exception than the rule and don't forget, you do have recourse when a bad cop tries to pull a fast one.

Lastly, only the worst of the worst stories get printed, so perception and drama RULES on the internet. If tourists weren't so STUPID, crime against them wouldn't be so high. Yeah, I said it.

*Living here is an entirely different matter.


If you are traveling to Costa Rica, watch all the videos below from beginning to end and I can assure you, your risk factor will be cut to about '0'. I have much more INFO about crime and it's effect on tourism in this blog but don't stop there, visit other sites and get more perspective as well.

Our ORIGINAL video about Theft and Crime in Costa Rica:



Renting a car, you don't want to skip this one:



Perspective on 'corrupt' police officers in Costa Rica:



Perspective on this 'murder' and 'crime' thing in Costa Rica:



Plan on riding the public buses:



Backing up your Travel Documents:



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!