Costa Rica's poverty tourism

Zach Dyer on Costa Rica's first slum tour offers visitors a different perspective on paradise for The Tico Times.

Thousands of tourists visit Costa Rica every year and load onto buses to see the country’s famous beaches, volcanoes and rainforests. And on their way, they might pass by Costa Rica’s most unlikely tourist attraction: Triángulo de la Solidaridad, one of the capital’s best known slums.

Now, for $12 visitors can participate in the “Really Experience Community” tour guided by the slum’s residents. Organizers and participating residents hope that the tours will offer visitors and Costa Ricans alike a new perspective on the country’s persistent 20 percent poverty rate and a window into the lives of those who inhabit these neighborhoods on society’s fringes.

The Tico Times tagged along for one of the tours, coordinated by Boy with a Ball Costa Rica, a nonprofit community development organization.

My wife was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica fifteen years ago. Many people were surprised that the Peace Corps operated in such a paradise and were jealous that she was posted there. However, as you can see from the video, Costa Rica, like many other places, is not all beaches and fantastic volcanoes.