Things I really wish I knew before going to La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Costa Rica was beautiful but also humbling and not in the way you might think. My name's Allie, I'm a travel agent and if you're planning a trip to Costa Rica, especially La Fortuna, listen up. I'm about to take you through everything I really wish I knew before. Number one, hire a driver or take public transportation. Please do not rent a car unless you are really confident in your driving. Not only are you driving on really unfamiliar terrain, the roads are super windy, they're pretty much the size of a one-way road, but they're two way. If you're driving at night, good luck. There's zero lighting. Number two, bug spray for your clothes. Not for your skin, though, but for your clothes. This is game changer. I actually used this for my trip to Kenya and also the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. The mosquitoes there were so much worse than it was in Costa Rica. Wearing a whole tank top, mind you, I didn't get bit once. That shit was insane. Number three, and this doesn't pertain to just La Fortuna, but if you have the opportunity, bounce around. That was the number one thing that we probably regretted. If you have the opportunity, stay, don't just stay in one place. Binoculars. The vegetation is really, really thick and sometimes even the animals are just super far away. So the binoculars are really going to help you not miss out on things. Lastly, Costa Rica is starting to get more and more expensive, so definitely leverage all the free things and free things to do in the area. So there's actually some hot springs that are open to the public for free. There's also a rope swing into a river that's really, really fun. You may have to pay a little bit to the locals to help you kind of navigate through it, but other than that, it's completely free. Costa Rica is by far one of the most magical places I've ever been to in my entire life. So if you're thinking about booking that trip, this is your sign.