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[Odler]

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It is 1:05 a.m. in San Jose, capital city of Costa Rica, 3:05 a.m. in New York City, capital city of the world.

You know what? There is no postcard with naked women in San Jose. I have looked and looked. Nope, none, nowhere. (Here goes of my collection of naked women from everywhere.) What kind of democratic, non-Muslim country is that?

Aside from this fundamental constitutional flaw (the flagrant violation of everyone's right to live his voyeuristic experience as he sees fit), Costa Rica, as I have seen it for last 30 hours, deserves its reputation as the Switzerland of the Americas.

This small republic of Central America (51,000 sq km, the size of West Virginia, or of the Dominican Republic) accomodates 4.2 million happy people with a living standard unmatched anywhere south of Mexico City.

Costa Rica is the most developed and the most politically stable of all the Latin American countries. It boasts one of the lowest rate of infant mortality, the highest income per capita ($3,000, vs $210 for Haiti) and a literacy rate of 96%, higher than the United States.

The country got rid of his army and has been since 1845 (?) electing one president every four years, for only one term. An ex-President is no longer eligible to run for office, for life: four years, you are out.

It takes five hours to fly from New Jersey to San Jose. And the ticket is dirt cheap, considering that one needs 366 colones for one American dollar. A shuttle ride from the airport to the Real Inter Continental, a five star venue where I stay, costs... $1.40! And the hotel room itself is the vicinity of $150 a day!

The bargain quality of these prices down here has made the country a popular destination, mostly for the ecotourist (eco, as in environment, not for economy.)

Indeed 24% of Costa Rica territories are protected from real state developers as national parks. The largest percentage of any country in the world(?).

Eighty five per cent of Costa Ricans are catholic. But the country is an ethnic mosaic with a delicious mixture of Africans, Indians, Europeans, and Chinese.

(The Traveller, Saturday, October 12, 2002)