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Costa Rica.
Le sigh. I was disappointed. I think there was so much hype on Black Twitter years ago that when I got there, I was deflated.
I didn’t find the locals particularly warm or friendly. I was visiting for over a week that began at the end of a year and brought me into a new one.
I stayed in San Jose to be a bit more submerged in the culture.
Thankfully, I had arranged excursions, including to La Fortuna / Arenal volcano and a trek through a forest where the highlight was a Tarzan swing through a gorge.
The worst: I deplaned relatively early, and as I passed through immigration with my carryon and handbag wearing my rasta tam, I was surrounded and pulled aside for questioning. I had to point out to the Federal Police that I found it interesting that they zeroed in on me as a Black person, they weren’t searching my bag, were asking everything but requesting blood, while the yt boys with the nasty dreads on the plane who were obviously there for a good time were not stopped. I told them they could clearly see I had traveled extensively as they flipped through my passport, I had a departure ticket and excursion receipts, and had no intention whatsoever of staying in their country because I had other places to visit. Yes, I said all that and didn’t care less if they’d put me back on the next flight because almost everything I’d paid for was refundable.
Costa Rica is not some utopian location for Black people. It is like any other place. And, sweeping statement, but I don’t care: The police hate your Blackness just as much as where you come from.
My son and I traveled to Costa Rica recently and it was quite nice. We basically road tripped and passed through many small communities. Overall, we’d say that we felt welcome and safe in all of these communities. We didn’t feel uneasy at any point and most people were very kind. One of the only downfalls is that we ran into very, very few black people and we have to brush up on our Spanish bigtime because most of the communities that we stopped in had zero English speakers. SanJos has awful traffic, so be prepared for that. We rented and vehicle with ease and it was quite affordable because it is non peak season. It takes a long time to get around most places because of the winding roads across the countryside. Lots of mountains and volcanoes. Airbnbs were also beautiful and affordable. Food, not so much. Whether you prepare your own food or eat out, it’ll be pricey. Food wasn’t that great, but that’s subjective, of course. I have to say that Costa Rica is one of the most gorgeous countries I’ve ever visited. Definitely worth a visit beyond the resorts.