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Well said Dwayne! Pass me another Imperial, will ya’? I figure two or three more and I’ll be able to let it go…
$191 for two weeks sounds like a great rate. Is it a small car? Some of those basic Korean s they lease are tiny.
I’ve always used the insurance provided with my credit card, and thankfully have never had an incident to test its worth. Every card is different.
One thing I can guarantee you though, sales of insurance coverage at car rental companies is a highly profitable endeavor.
But don’t get bogged down in the insurance details and forget the most important thing when renting a car in Costa Rica – Does it have good a/c???
I would recommend Spanish Conversation classes. Conversa and Intensa are the two oldest companies offering this to foreigners. Conversation classes get you up to speed faster without getting bogged down in grammar.
You don’t want to know how long it took me to become “fluent”. There is no doubt, however, that total immersion is the best way to go. Since you’re there with your wife & kid, that’s impossible because you’ll always be speaking English with them. Classes are the best way for you to go. Also, they say soap operas are good for learning, because you know what back-stabbing phrases they’re using anyway…
You should understand that learning another language is not just an intellectual exercise. The different sounds require different movements of the mouth and tongue muscles, which can be a workout. If your mouth isn’t tired by the end of the day, you’re not speaking enough.
Pura Vida!
Kimyoa650,
Don’t miss out on the little mom & pop restaurants. They may not “look” inviting, but that’s were the cheapest, best and most traditional foods are. You didn’t travel 2,000 miles to go to KFC!
Try the Central Market. Put your wallet in your front pocket, and hang on to your purse with both hands. Once you get past that, the food served in the various small establishments there is some of the best around, at 1/2 the price of KFC. The main traditional dishes include “Gallo Pinto” (rice & beans mixed together, best eaten with eggs – I can’t get enough of it! Don’t for get the “Salsa Inglesa”), “Casado” (rice, beans, vegetables, cole slaw & meat or chicken), and “Olla de Carne” (beef soup with vegetables). Try them all. They’ll be a bit different everywhere you go. They may sound bland, but they grow on you. This is real food! I can’t even eat fried chicken anymore.
As for bad roads, you need to get out into the countryside for that particular tourist attraction.
For the last decade or so, the exchange rate has been controlled by the Banco Central through a regime of “mini-devaluations”. The Central Bank devalued the colon daily at a fractional rate, that turned out to be 10% – 12% per year. This enabled everyone to know about how much their colones would be worth in the near term, and businesses and investors appreciate that kind of stability. The official rate was the same at all banks.
A few weeks ago, however, the colon was allowed to float on the open market, within a certain range. Now Banks can offer different exchange rates within that range. These different exchange rates must be posted on the Central Banks website daily. You can find them at:
http://indicadoreseconomicos.bccr.fi.cr/indicadoreseconomicos/Cuadros/frmConsultaTCVentanilla.aspx
Currently all the banks are within 1-2 colones of each other, and the Casas de Cambio offer inferior rates. The guys on the corners yelling “dólares” are not listed. I haven’t exchanged money with them since the 80’s when they were offering much better than official rates. You had to watch them like a hawk though, as many are con artists.
pdavid,
What do you disagree with what I said about Chavez?
I understand you’re not exactly a liberal lefty, but you seem to think everything people on the left are writing here is hogwash without saying why. You may think the Sandinistas were bad, and obviously you’d be right in many ways, but you have to admit that Somoza was pretty bad in many other ways as well. There’s a reason why the Sandinistas had so much support.
I believe that during the Cold War both the US and the USSR did some pretty despicable things in other countries, much like how kings and queens protect themselves in a chess match by sacrificing the pawns. We can argue whether or not our actions were justified in this context, but there should be no argument that we caused a great deal of pain and suffering which is now coming back to haunt us.
It was especially hard to witness how we maimed Costa Rica during the Sandinista regime. It seems that Reagan, in his obsession with destroying the Sandinistas, was actively pressuring Costa Rica to build up an army to fight Ortega (for us). He coerced President Monge to allow the Contras use of CR airspace and airstrips, all in secret and completely against the law. I believe he even approved a CIA black op to have agents dressed as Sandinistas in a fake “invasion” on one of Costa Rica’s beaches in an effort to provoke Monge. This is not a “fact”, but third-hand knowledge from someone who had a friend in the CR embassy at the time. As such I hesitate to mention it, but given the things we know happened, secret airstrips, Iran-Contra, drugs for arms, etc., it’s VERY believable. Reagan actively used the Honduran military in his fight against the Sandinistas, it’s only natural that he would have wanted a southern front as well.
To think that Costa Rica’s sovereign choice to abolish their military was almost overturned because of our obsession with one democratically elected socialist leader of the 3rd poorest county in the hemisphere, well, that makes me mad. I can only think that the Costa Rica we know and love would have been gone forever had he been successful. Now THAT would have inhibited investment in Central America.
Whatever historical/political view people subscribe to, the fact is that Nicaragua has been a struggling “nation” since its inception. They warred heartily among themselves, Somoza swung the pendulum one way, Ortega the other. Now they’re dangling somewhere in the middle. The fallout in Costa Rica from all this chaos comes in many forms.
1. A couple invasion attempts by Nicaragua into Costa Rica, each beaten back by civilian peasants. Countries with severe internal problems often seek military glory across their borders in an attempt to unify their people by “identifying” an external enemy (sounds familiar). They finally gave up, and gifted the Central Plaza monument in downtown San Jose. I still think its ugly…
2. The US using the country as a (illegal) staging ground for the Contras, and attempts by the Reagan administration to militarize Costa Rica so they could fight against the Sandinistas on our behalf. Fortunately they didn’t get that far.
3. Massive migration from Nicaragua to Costa Rica to the point where Nicas make up 25% to 30% of the population, creating all sorts of social pressures.
In spite of this huge absorption of immigrants, as well as several periods of financial assistance from Costa Rica to their government, Nicaragua continues to take a hard line against Costa Rica. They jealously defend their (highly) disputed border, they inhibit traffic along the San Juan River, and they threaten Costa Rica whenever there’s a perceived backlash against all their immigrants.
I would say that Nicaraguan foreign policy as it relates to Costa Rica has always seemed belligerent. Costa Ricans think they’re just envious.
In spite of it all, Costa Rica seems to keep chugging along, shrugging their collective head at their politics, rhetoric and internal writhing.
I think Ortega has changed, at least a bit. If the Nicaraguan people choose to elect him, than that’s their right.
Regarding Chavez, called a “dictator” by his retractors even though he was democratically elected, what’s the big deal? He can rattle his economic sword as much as he wants, it’s still a pretty small sword. The more the US vilifies him, the more credit he gets. Why bother? He’ll dig his own grave all by himself, just like George W. is doing.
And Costa Rica keeps chugging along, ducking so they don’t get hit by all the fecal matter flying back and forth above their heads.
Strawbales are new to me, but I know bamboo is being used in home construction in CR. It’s cheap, very strong, and holds up well in earthquakes.
Thanks to Scott O. for the tremendous sacrifices he made on all of our behalf to bring us this article. I’ve always wanted to know the names of all the islands in the Gulf of Nicoya, and because of his great pain and suffering, I now do.
Yes, it seems that one of the condo developers in Puntarenas begged him to travel to Tortuga Island to help him appreciate the natural amenities that surround Puntarenas, and sure enough, Scott dropped his important plans and told his social director to hold all his urgent calls, all for our vicarious remote consumption. What a trooper.
You know, travel comes from the French word “travail”, which means “troubles”. Yes, Scott weathered the worst and gave his best on this daring trip, always maintaining his dry British outlook, humbly stating that it “wasn’t too much of a hardship”, when we all know the horrendous conditions he must have endured.
The poor soul must have been exhausted by the end of this particular travail, and yet he immediately put pen to paper to relate his discoveries to us, one of which was nothing less than earth-shattering. It seems that Cocos Island has migrated 270 miles north east of its original position, and is now only 35 miles off Cabo Blanco. I don’t know if this is due to tectonic plate movement, or the powerful administration of Oscar Arias, but Cocos Island is now a day-trip!
I think he also got mixed up with Larry Snyder’s article about his trip to Panama where he visited the Embera Indian Tribe and saw that women go topless. Nonetheless, Scott, surely in a fit of post traumatic stress from his ordeal, insisted in his article that he saw the “largest colony of brown boobies” in Nicoya. The heat must have gone to his head to create this feaful mirage. Will he ever be able to wipe those debilitating mammaries from his head?
Rest up Scott. One day one at a time, you’ll make it through!
Travelers checks are not always honored everywhere in CR, and there may be a charge for cashing them. You definitely don’t want to give yourself the extra step of waiting in line in banks to cash them. Credit cards are the most convenient, but your credit card company will give you less-than-market exchange rates. I don’t know about using debit cards there.
Carrying a lot of cash is usually not recommended.
Since you’ll be in a group the whole time, I’d bring some cash, and use credit cards for bigger ticket items. If you get in at a reasonable hour, you can change your dollars at the airport bank.
You can also use atm machines.
It definitely won’t save time. It used to, before they built the bridge. The reason is you have to get there well before the sailing time to get in line. About an hour will do. Too far back in line and you’ll have to wait for the next ferry.
Since the time is the same, it’s just the cost of gas vs. the cost of the ferry. I don’t know how that works out, but I enjoy the ferry ride.
Have a great time in Tambor! Not the best beach there, but it’s definitely the best all-inclusive resort in CR. Not a good time to go on a diet.
From Liberia it’s probably not more than a 3-4 hour drive, depending on the road conditions. From San Jose it’s more like 5-6. Using the ferry saves on distance, but not time.
Sansa and Nature Air fly to Tambor and their planes are not that small. It will take about 25 minutes, and to my knowledge Sansa has a perfect safety record (I don’t know much about Nature Air). Excellent pilots.
But if you feel safer braving the precipitous curves, the dangerous traffic and the horrendous road conditions from Paquera to Tambor, then by all means…
According to La Nacion, turn out was less on Tuesday than Monday, and from the pictures they showed the participation looked pretty thin compared to the expectations. The organizers said they’d hold more protests in November.
Arias reaffirmed his commitment to CAFTA, saying he wouldn’t renege on his campaign promise.
Even though a lot of people are afraid of CAFTA (in the US as well), I think the majority of Ticos see no alternative. After all, every other Central American country has signed on. If CR doesn’t, they’ll be economically marginalized, and I bet most of the Diputados (Legislators) understand this.
I think it will go through. Arias is a very strong President (in a country where the Legislature is the “First” power), and the business community (where all the money is and the strings are pulled) is backing it. It would take massive public protests to influence the Diputados to vote against it, and so far I don’t think this has materialized.
