Report from Costa Rica

" Natchos as big as your ass"

February 13/06

With an early start and no more encounters with the Nicaragua constabulary we reached the Panama border fairly early. Once again the border crossing was a less than pleasant experience.

One might think that with the obstacles that one confronts at the border, that Costa Rica has not really embraced tourism. Not that this border really presented any greater challenge than the others, we just got tired of “playing the game”. We had a bit of an internal conflict at the border today. Linda and I are not apposed to paying for a service of value but Jen and Dave are of opposite mind. There are pro’s and cons to both approaches, unfortunately neither generates entirely satisfactory results. Basically this is how it appears to me… some “helpers” can and will save you time and frustration. Other however, will attempt to take advantage of your unfamiliarity and try to convince you that you need to spend more money than necessary (i.e. bribe one individual or another).

Today we encountered this situation… One official would not accept our motorcycle registration as an original. He insisted that it was a copy and it was therefore unacceptable. We had to go down the road to talk to the custom’s boss man. On the way to talk to him our helper explained that this process may take 5 hours or more, but for $30. US each (for the custom’s official) we could solve this problem. This was the breaking point for me. We emphatically state “NO, we have plenty of time. Let’s go a talk to the boss man”. To make a long story short, less than 5 minutes with the supervisor and the problem was solved. We have decided that we have figured out enough to do the process without assistance. The official customs personnel are actually quite helpful if you ask them. In a couple of days we be entering Panama.. let you know how it goes.

Note to MC travellers: The BC registration documents can be a problem at border crossings. To the Central American border personnel they do not look official enough to be genuine. Since they are computer generated forms, there is no official header or provincial seal. Any document that can easily be created with a typewriter or computer is immediately suspect.

Any way, eventually they let us into Costa Rica and we continued south on the Pan-American Highway. We decide that we should checkout the Pacific beaches so after consulting the Lonely Planet guide book we set course for Tamarindo, a popular surfing town. We had been warned, by other riders, about the quality of the roads in Costa Rica. Even a Costa Rican police officer, at a check point, warned us of the dangers of the potholes.

I have no idea why, but even the main highways have deep pot holes every so often. Constant vigilance is required. The secondary highways, that we have encountered so far, are terrible. There are large sections of rough gravel punctuated occasionally by short pieces of asphalt. Even the asphalt sections are a minefield of potholes and broken pavement. It appears that the original asphalt road has deteriorated. Instead of repairing it, the solution was to tear it up and replace the asphalt with gravel. These gravel sections are rough, washboard surfaces. The funny part is that these roads are the main access roads to the popular tourist beaches. I bet the rental car take a beating. They were the only vehicles that passed us on the rough road.

One of the reason we chose Tamarindo as a destination was because one of the restaurants advertised “Nachos as big as your ass” and we had to try them. I must say that these were without a doubt the best nachos I’ve ever had. They were a complete meal and even at Costa Rica prices, a cheap meal. (I’m pretty sure that we covered all the food groups, counting the beer of course.) Prices here in Costa Rica are, for the most part, comparable to Canadian prices. Much higher than we have been accustomed to paying. There is plenty of development here, golf courses, gated communities, fast food restaurants, etc. No wonder the locals refer to “Tamarindo” as “Tama-Gringo”. I think that we were the only ones in the restaurant this evening speaking Spanish… but we got great service.

We may stay here another day and do a long day the next day. Despite the prices, Tamarindo is worth a second look.

February 14/06 Happy Valentines Day to all you lovers!

We decide to stay here one more night. Marielos Cabinas are very nice and a reasonable price for Costa Rica ($60. / night for the 4 of us). Tomorrow we are planning a fairly long day to another beach south of San Juan. (On the way back through Costa Rica we will skip the beaches and check out the volcanoes.) Then onto Boquete, Panama then next day. We are aproximately 1200 K from Panama city now. Our plan is to reach Panama city by the afternoon of Feb 19th. This gives us a couple for days to make arrangements for the bikes and get some maintenance done.