I find this conclusion very hard to believe.

I was in Costa Rica last year and I was very surprised at how unhappy many of the natives seemed to be. They appeared "tourist weary" to me, and yet I think much of their livelihoods depends on tourism. My guy felt the same way. --we both agreed that after being in so many different countries over the last few years, we felt a bit of a " downer " overall there.

This is not scientific in any way, just one person's opinion, but I have some friends here in Ireland who spent a month there, and they were nearly carjacked! They agreed with us that the poverty there breeds a lot of resentment.
They said a major reason for this was that many Ticans w...

I find this conclusion very hard to believe.

I was in Costa Rica last year and I was very surprised at how unhappy many of the natives seemed to be. They appeared "tourist weary" to me, and yet I think much of their livelihoods depends on tourism. My guy felt the same way. --we both agreed that after being in so many different countries over the last few years, we felt a bit of a " downer " overall there.

This is not scientific in any way, just one person's opinion, but I have some friends here in Ireland who spent a month there, and they were nearly carjacked! They agreed with us that the poverty there breeds a lot of resentment.
They said a major reason for this was that many Ticans were unable to afford land in their own country, while Americans own loads? (not sure about this, just what I was told)

I don't want to offend anyone from CR as the country is very beautiful , but I have to be honest in saying I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to go back.