Normally, when I take a well deserved break from cartooning for a few weeks, I kick my heels up at home and just take a mental break from blogging/internet. But this Christmas, we went away on a trip to Costa Rica. I have been to Belize and Mexico but never had any intestinal issues before. Even in Costa Rica, I kept with the experts advice to only drink the water at the hotels or bottled water. And yet I spent more time in the bathroom than I have in the last six months combined.
But it didn’t keep me from seeing the incredible sites of Costa Rica and experiencing the extremely genuinely nice people of that country. The only thing I missed out on doing was the zip line tour. I didn’t want to have to crap on people from the trees as I swung by…even though I saw a few monkeys do it.
So for anyone preparing a trip to Costa Rica, I offer you the ten things I learned that I didn’t know about this wonderful country before I went.
- They disbanded their army in 1948
- More so than other Central American countries, Costa Ricans are mostly of European descent. Some sites claim that disease brought by the Spanish settlers killed off much of the indigenous population.
- Costa Rican woman have a high self-esteem. Which was explained to us by a guide as we passed a large woman, who may or may not have recently given birth, wearing a bikini.
- Even in the dry season it rains (a lot).
- You can find souvenir vendors all over the place but what they don’t sell but need to are battery operated fans and sweat towels.
- Bob Marley must have been Costa Rican and NOT Jamaican (as evidenced by the number of Marley beach towels and tshirts for sale everywhere.
- For a country that prides itself on tourism, it doesn’t take much pride in completing roads to get you anywhere. If you are lucky you get a two lane paved road. I saw one road construction worker the entire time I was there, and he was on his lunch break.
- If you are on a antacid like Nexium, Prilosac, etc., you may be more prone to intestinal issues as the reduced acid in your stomach allows the bacteria to take hold in your stomach.
- Due to issues with processing toilet paper in water treatment facilities, most public restrooms have a garbage can next to the toilet for you to deposit your used TP. I thought it was surprising that it didn’t smell. My wife said several of the women’s restrooms did. I think men are more courteous and wrap their poopy TP nicer than the women.
- Given the previous two points, it seems only fitting that they named their currency the COLON.
I have a set of friends (really, I do) going there in Feb. I just forwarded this to them! We were going to join them, but I’m a tad lazy. I saw we’d have to layover in Miami and I said to the wife “wife, lets just go as far as Miami” and she, surprisingly, agreed. By the way, how were the Monkeys?!? My understanding is, they are everywhere!
Not everywhere as I would have wished. Saw them a bit in Papagayo. Best place to see them was around our hotel in Manuel Antonio
Man, just got flashbacks from Honduras. My wife and I got so sick on that vacation.
Luckily that isn’t on my top 5 to visit next.
I had a mean dose of chilli last week so I can totally relate to the cartoon. I wonder if I should try wrapping my poopy in TP & putting it in the garbage instead of flushing. It would save valuable water too. We don’t have a garbage bin in the bathroom so I would have to use the kitchen bin.
Depends which costs more…water or TP.
Yea i think I wouldn’t care about cost in that matter. I think the old school way of just flushing TP is best!
Well the old old school way is pooping in the woods or during the Roman era, using the same scrub brush as everyone else to wipe your butt.
The volcano looks like a steaming hot product from Montezuma’s revenge. Here in Oz they have Mexican restaraunts with that name.
Somehow fitting.
Love the cartoon bearman. They do that toilet paper thing in Greece too. Never noticed any smell there but I have to confess to flushing the solid stuff. I was sharing a room with daisyfae and dolce and didn’t want to gross them out
The question is…where they as courteous to you. I don’t remember having to do that in Greece but it was so long ago. Maybe with all the public service strikes they don’t want the poop backing up.
never been to Belize but I would love to return to Costa Rica. It’s been about 10 or so years. Had a great time and no intestinal problems but I know it happens and maybe we were lucky. Did you go to Tabacon? That’s a paradise type place if you ask me. Did you see any eruptions?
thanks for sharing and welcome back
Didn’t go to Tabacon but I think I mentioned enough eruptions..haha
Is this what bathroom humor is these days?
Not gross enough for you?
I t’weren’t complaining!
“t’weren’t”. What an underused word
I try to support all the good orphan words.
As I have no idea what you look like Bearman, I now have a rather gross image of a green headed cartoon character, with his pants around his ankles, depositing a shit load of toilet paper in the garbage bin, whilst machine gunning the contents of his bowel into the bowl 🙁 Thanks
I could have done without you painting such a vivid word picture, loon !!!
I don’t need to draw this stuff. You can conjure a picture with your words.
Me too, Duncan, me too.
Awesome one Bear! I LOLed
Thanks Lisa!
Sounds like you needed to bring pepto with you.
Did you have to pay to use public restrooms? Germany charges you to pee.
No but they do keep them pretty clean b/c every place you stop is either trying to sell you food/drink or souvineers.
I try hard never to stray very far from my own bathroom.
Or outhouse.
Actually we have indoor plumbing at the Gatorhead Mansion now. We’re movin’ on up.
Next stop is the Lumpkins take Manhatten.
How cool, I want to be a worldly traveler also. I would also like to pass on Montezuma’s Revenge! Ha,ha,ha!
Why? It’s written up in all the travel books.
I have never been to Costa Rica, but I have been to Cancun and I did not drink the water and was fine. It is too bad that you got hit with the revenge but good you didn’t let it spoil your trip.
Nothing some chalk wouldn’t cure.
Said it before, say it again:
BEWARE OF SLOTHS!
When did you say it? And they are cute and cuddly. Why should I beware?
Sloths may be generally slow, but some of them do have pretty big claws that they can use for defense. If you stay out of the trees, you should be safe.
Something about the three toed being worse than the two toed ones.
That’s hilarious, I almost spit my coffee out when I read Montezuma’s Revenge… lol.
I’m responsible for my own eruptions. I won’t be responsible for yours.
Luckily it was easier to clean up than your eruptions. 😀
I’ve never been out of the country except for trips to the Bahamas and Mexico. On both journeys I made sure to drink from wherever was intended for tourists with spendable dollars. One guide led us off-track to the regular neighborhoods and I tried a churro that didn’t exactly seem to wanna agree with me. I’m glad I palmed it off to my stepson before it made me sick. Whew! 🙂
Churros at Costco are the best!!! Take that back. Only really good food I ate in spain were Churros dipped in chocolate.
I haven’t tried that, but it sounds delicious!
I don’t know if you have it in the States but Cottees Raspberry cordial kills every known stomach bug on earth! Hmm also vegemite…oh wait…scrap that!
Funny you should mention vegemite. For years I thought Men at work were saying “give you a bite of my sandwich” Thanks to all you Aussies, I now know it is “Give me a vegemite sandwich”
Welcome back Bearman, sorry you had a touch of the shits!
What a classy way to put it…Thanks Dave.
Bearman! You should have told me! I´m in Nicaragua right now, I could have changed my flight dates and we could have met up!
Or wait…maybe you planned it that way?
Watch out for the Sandinistas. Or wait, are those the good guys? I can’t ever remember.
#9 has my stomache turning at the thought.
It’s not as bad as I thought at first.
Going to places that require extra trips to the bathroom scares me. Undergarments are not cheap.
It’s worse if you tend to go commando.
Haha…there’s probably poopy in that toilet.
No doubt
Costa Rica is my favorite country in Central/South America. I’d move there right now if my daughter was in the states. It helps that I’m a surfer and hippie at heart. I stayed beside Manual Antonio every time I’ve been there at a place called the Costa Verde. They have the airplane restaurant bar thing?
If you take a ‘puddle jumper’ it’s a 20 minute ride. To take a van will take over 4 hellish hours. I wish I know ahead of time you were going.
I ate at that restaurant. I’ll have to pull out the pic I shot of it. Stayed right down the road at Si Como No.
Ha! Travel can be… motivational in… just… so many surprising ways! 🙂
Motivational? My get up and go was limited to one place.
I lived in C.R. many years ago. When we first got there I got this weird digestive bug. Not really the screaming poopies but my digestion just came to a screeching halt and anything I ate (and believe me it took only one try for me to realize that eating was a BAD idea!) would just sit there in my stomach and rot and when it got rotten enough I would puke it up. That whole thing landed me in the hospital for a couple of days
Once I got over that I did whatever Costa Ricans do with respect to the water. I think we just drank it: I don’t remember buying water to drink or make tea with. We also drank the tap water when we lived in Monterrey of Nuevo Leon, but very definitely NOT in Guanajuato.
Did you throw your TP in the trash at home? I can only imagine what the roads were like then.
I poop – erm, HOPE – that you had a great TP – erm, TIME – in Costa Wreaka -erm, RICA.
thanks, I think