Costa Rica instead of Mexico "thumbs up"

Not very long ago I visited Costa Rica, and I highly recommend you visit. We flew from Portland, Oregon to Atlanta, Georgia to San Jose. The flying was a little time consuming and not cheap, but once you get there the prices were great. There is plenty to see and do. We visited both coasts and the active volcano area. Costa Rica pursues tourism and is very environmentally attuned, much more than the US and they have been eco conscious since before it was trendy. We participated in several semi custom tours where our driver would act as guide and naturalist, sometimes on our own and other times with a group of three of four couples. Everyone we dealt with spoke excellent English, except maybe the couple from Texas, more importantly all the locals are proud of their country and glad to have us visit. Few places make you want to make them your home but Costa Rica is one of them.

Massive rains from Hurricane Rita over 500 miles distant, left mudslides and cut all power. The train car is the hotel registration office.

Railroad bridge converted to cars is a little scary.  The country abandoned railroads all together.