(This is the third and last in a series.)
The Frommer’s guide to Costa Rica states:
Still, tourism is the nations true principal source of income,
surpassing cattle ranching, textiles, and exports of coffee, apples,
bananas, and Intel microchips. Over two million tourists visit Costa
Rica year, and over half the working population is employed in the
tourism and service industries. Ticos whose fathers and grandfathers
were farmers and ranchers find themselves hotel owners, tour guides, and
waiters. Although most have adapted gracefully and regard the industry
as a source of jobs and opportunities for economic advancement,
restaurant and hotel staff can seem gruff and uninterested at times,
especially in rural areas.
Happily, the staff at the Ramada Inn my wife and I stayed at was warm
and cordial, not seeming forced at all. I was there mainly to keep her
company while she was at a conference in the hotel, but looked forward
to a couple of day trips when she was available.
We decided to go into the interior to see a live volcano at Arenal, a
tour that included a few hours at a nearby spa called Tabacón that had
hot baths fed by thermal underground springs. As it turns out, the
volcano erupted in 1968 and wiped out the village that the spa now
resided on. Although Costa Ricans are proud of their volcanoes, you can
get much closer to them in Nicaragua if memory serves me right. On a
tour in Sandinista Nicaragua, our group stood right on the rim of Masaya
Volcano and watched the steam pouring out. It’s the only volcano in the
Western Hemisphere that you can get so close to.
full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/ecotourism-in-costa-rica/
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