To the folks at 'Open Road Travel Guide' and specifically, 'Open Road's Best of Costa Rica' Travel Book,
You wrote this about La Fortuna Costa Rica:
Boring Fortuna. Fortuna is an uninteresting tourism-support town, which is useful for booking tours but not much else. Stay somewhere closer to the volcano, where you might see some action if the clouds ever clear up. The interesting places to stay are on the way to the lake, towards the town of Nuevo Arenal and beyond. Most lodges can help you arrange any of the local tours and activities. Without a car, transportation can be a bit of a problem.
First, I got to say, F**K YOU! You know, just so we're clear on what I think of your recommendation(s). After reading your BULLSHIT, my first inclination was to list ALL the GREAT things about La Fortuna but that seemed so defensive and grade-school like. So I decided to go with, "Sticks and stones may break my bones....." BUT really, you should be ashamed of yourself for writing such a blatantly untrue and deceptive review of La Fortuna. Obviously, I live here, I know you're full of shit...but most people don't have the foggiest idea of La Fortuna and they're going to take what you have written as the truth. Did I say , "fuck you"? For instance, your statement doesn't even make sense logistically for just the fact you tell people to stay in Nuevo Arenal and 'beyond' but do the tours in Fortuna... and you state it as such, "without a car, transportation can be a bit of a problem." NO SHIT DUMBASS. I could go on and on.....
I just want to know how you got the gig to write for a travel guide in the first place, you clearly did NOT spend time in La Fortuna, which makes your entire 'travel book' a little suspect to say the least. Really, I have so much shit I want to say,,,but I decided to take the 'high road' and make a video instead. But PLEASE, if you EVER want to debate 'boring' La Fortuna or your 'credituals' for that matter- I'm here, anytime. Anyway, here's the video.....
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Riding horses in La Fortuna Costa Rica under the shadow of the Arenal Volcano.
D'Angelo and I hadn't been horseback riding since we first came to La Fortuna about 7 years ago, so when we got the opportunity last week to check out one of the horseback riding tours here, we jumped at the chance to saddle up again... of course with cameras in tow.
Check it out, nice little video I think. Especially like the shot of the horse 'yawning'.
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!
The 'perpetual tourist' in Costa Rica finally catches a break, as long as they play by the rules that is. This just reported in AM Costa Rica:
Starting at the beginning of next year, the Dirección General de Migracion y Extranjeros will impose a new fee for foreigners who overstay a tourist visa, according to Mario Zamora Cordero, security minister.
Delinquent persons will have to pay $100 for every month over their allowed visa period at the time they are caught. If the person cannot pay, he or she will be denied entry for a period that is triple the time that they overstayed, he said Thursday.
“So if you stay one month more, you won't be allowed to enter for three months,” said Freddy Montero Mora, deputy director general of immigration.
But for us who are perpetual tourists', that's not the good news, THIS IS:
"If a person leaves the country within the visa period and has the correct documentation, immigration agents will not bar them from returning. A perpetual tourist is a foreigner who lives here and renews a tourist visa, usually every 90 days, by traveling outside the country.
“If you want to keep leaving and coming back, that's your decision,” he said. His comments were perhaps the most clear ever uttered on the subject by an immigration official."
WHOO HOO! Talk about a HUGE stress relief.
Technically, just so you know, they talked about the $100. thing back in 2010 but obviously couldn't implement it for whatever reason, but now they say it will take effect at the beginning of next year. No sweat for us, in the 7 years we've lived in Costa Rica, we've never overstayed the 90 days.
The fact is, perpetual tourism has been going on for years, but officially it's never really been made clear if leaving the country every 90 days and then returning within 72 hours was technically legal or not. I think most of us 'perpetual tourist' types were expecting to eventually get bitched slapped with some serious changes to the immigration law, especially after a lot of misinformation was spread about the supposed 'clamp down' on perpetual tourists back in 2010. So for a government official to actually come out and say, "If you want to keep leaving and coming back..." is just the clarity we've been looking for.
We made the video below back in January 2011 and I would encourage you to check it out, it's still relevant and has some information that you need to know if you're going to live the life of a perpetual tourist in Costa Rica.
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!
