Costa Rica is one of the most Eco friendly and eco diverse nations. This is mainly due to the preservation of rain forests and reforestation and many national parks to control and manage this

In other ways (daily life) it is probably less advanced than many others

We were told that the country has a very high standard of living e.g. free education and health care but in rural areas especially there still seems to be a lot of poverty

Costa Rica does not have any armed forces. It therefore has money to spend on education and health care

It has been clever in diversifying and encouraging external investment in high tech eg Intel and also in medical goods e.g. breast implants!

The last big volcanic eruption (Arenal) was in 1968. That doesn’t seem long ago to us!

Costa Ricans like a sweet confection called a snow cone. These are also known as ‘Churchills’ because the man that invented them bore a resemblance to Winston!

They don’t have ‘colleagues’, they have ‘co-workers’

Thee are a surprising number of adults wearing braces on their teeth. Presumably dentistry is free and available as well

Very disconnected - on our last day the hotel ran out of Sauvignon Blanc. Was it a coincidence that Lin had been there for 3 days? I think not!!