[KingOfJericho]

I was an exchange student in Costa Rica in high school and saw quite a bit of the country. Jaco was nice back then and is probably still quite nice (was a little surfer town at the time). I remember the place quite clearly as it was the only place where people actually spoke English (my Spanish was dogshit). The country is beautiful. I vividly remember going to Arenal volcano which was extraordinary as it was loud and spewing lava every few minutes. Really great experience. I did explore the rain forest as well. Honestly, there's no need to freak out about diseases. I would worry about bot flies before malaria or dengue but the odds of any of them are very slim. There's a big world out there - stop worrying and go explore it!