Ground Transportation in Costa Rica

Good evening! You may not get many, if any, responses about your trip to Costa Rica.

This is a Rick Steve's website/forum primarily about Europe and areas very close to Europe. I am not certain as to what other forums you could check.

Sorry!

You may be in a for a surprise. When we were in Costa Rica a couple years ago we learned that time has little meaning. I am sure they will be there just may not be there when you want. You going there to relax so relax.

On our second day we book a half day tour of a near by national park that included lunch and brochure seemed to imply that we would back shortly after lunch. We were, kind of. Supposed to pick us at 8, made it by 8.30 or so but then had to stop for gas for the van, then back to office to pick up another couple . Going down some side roads headed, I thought, to the park. Are getting a good running commentary about Costa Rica, where we are going. what we are going to see, etc. when the tour guide spots a bunch of workers in a field harvesting cantaloupe. Stops the van, asks everyone if they like cantaloupe, hops over to the field carrying a sack, and returns with maybe a dozen in a sack, and we are off again. Finally hit the park - now about 11 - and the gate is locked. No problem, we can walk from here. About hundred yards or to so the boat dock. I am looking at my watch and thinking the half day trip is about over. Another van drives up, must have had key to the lock, we all board the boats for the park tour. Around 1 pm we are still out bound from the dock and I wondering when is lunch and when does it end. Finally beached the boat on small island with a bunch of monkeys in the overhead trees. "What wants cantaloupe?" Pulls out an old, well used machete and starts chopping up the cantaloupes and passing the pieces around. (Some of the best cantaloupe I ever had.) Well, maybe this is lunch. "Don't throw the rinds in the river. Throw on top of the canopy. " There is a canopy run the length of the boat. All hell breaks loose, about 50 monkeys descend on top of the boat fighting for the scrapes. And some in the boat. Back on the river and headed back to the dock. Constant on-going commentary, great information, pointing out lots of various wild life. Then we motor right pass the dock.

About 2.30 we get back to the dock. Back to the van that is now inside the gate. Lunch is just around the corner and it was. Terrific lunch. Obviously they didn't start cooking till we showed up. Now about 4.00pm and I thought we would be heading back to the hotel. But first need to make a stop at a pottery school. And great, cheap, traditional pottery. The van finally dropped us off at the hotel around after 5pm.

Around 9pm wife is getting concerned about our son and dil who are no where to be found. They had gone on an all day tour. By 10.30 wife is getting real concerned. About eleven a van pulls with our kids. The tale they told was just like ours. We both had great tours but time meant nothing. We learn that Costa Ricans have their own sense of time and it is not tied to a clock.

We had a wonderful week and are eager to return once we learned to just relax 'cause no one is in a hurry or worrying about the time. The people are wonderful, food great. If she said she will be there, she will. She just will not be standing in the luggage area with your name on a sign.

Bev, correct section, Beyond Europe,correct question. No problem Janet. Many of us travel beyond Europe.

Janet,
I have a feeling your host is waiting to find out if they can combine your pickup with other guests.

From my experience, I highly recommend motion sickness meds 30min before you get in a minibus down there.

I don't think anyone threw up on my bus, but my cousin got very irritable and exhausted from the long ride. Using the motion sick pills really took the edge off and helped me relax and even take a nap.
Nordheim

Frank -- What a story! Sound like a lot of fun (once you start going with the flow), but all I could think was: "Oh, no! I'm allergic to cantaloupe!" LOL. I can also say that we had a similar experience in Brazil. I don't have time to go into great detail, but it involved being stranded in a small boat on the Amazon river. Our guides had let some people in need siphon off our boat's gasoline before we started out, then realized they didn't have enough to get us home. But ... it was a memorable and beautiful experience. We got to enjoy the stars in peace and quiet as our guides somehow got us to shore.

Nordheim -- You're probably right. Also, thanks for the head's up about the motion sickness. I have horrible problems with this and hadn't even considered it as a potential problem.

pnpldy -- We're going to Rancho Naturalista. We've never been before, but have friends who have been at least twice and don't stop raving about it.

So, I will just wait it out then. The only thing that stresses me out is that we will be travelling with medicine that needs to be refrigerated. We have a really good thermos -- one that keeps cold for 12+ hours. But still it is stressful waiting around while the ice is melting, particularly at the very beginning of a trip. Also, we tend to only take short vacations (this one is only 4 days long), so every 1/2 day or day lost counts that much more. If we were going to be there for 2 weeks or more, it would be a little easier to chill about it.

We didn't sense any motion sickness in any of the vehicles we rode in but we are not prone to having a problem either. Even the best roads are not great and side roads are very marginal. But not going that fast either. I suppose that if you are prone to motion sickness then it might be a good idea to premedicate but I seen no reason to do so routinely.

I wish I had the time to go into the lunch. When we pulled up in front of the lunch stop, I am sure that at least half, including my wife, were not going inside. I am also certain that tomorrow's lunch was walking around under our feet and table while we were eating some of their relatives. It took a couple of days to completely de-tune but well worth it. We were in the NW part of CR on the Pacific.

Have been trying to plan a Christmas/New Years trips for all of the family sometime in the next couple of years. Too many vacation calendars to juggle.

One small problem - There is an airport departure tax - I think it was $20/head - that caught us off guard. Didn't have enough local cash so they said we could put it on a credit card. However, it was processed as a cash advance on the credit card which meant several additional fees when I returned home. I protested but no luck. Next time I will make sure we have enough cash.

Good to know about the airport departure tax. They can't just call it the "Give Us More Money!" tax. LOL.

Anyway, I just had the absolutely brilliant idea of actually calling the lodge with, you know, the telephone! I spoke with the director and voilà communication loop complete!

It is fairly common. Last February had to pay a tax going into Cuba and coming out. Also had to pay a cultural art tax on a rolled up canvas that we had purchased from a street vendor. Just a few extra dollars. Have a good trip.