Costa Rica - Travel Advice

[Lorenzo]

Chase Star,

Many thanks for your very thorough response. Your point about spending so much time on the bus, including the inevitable delays, is well taken. I actually do plan to buy an open jaw ticket, arriving in Guatemala City, then departing from Belize. The reason I had planned on taking the bus back from Panama City to Honduras is because the Tica Bus route from GC to Panama City doesn't go through Tegucigalpa, and I thought it might be easy to get from Teg to Belize. After thinking it over, it might be better to fly into Belize, then get from Belize to GC somehow, take Tica Bus from GC to San Salvador, then detour to Tegucigalpa, then get from there to Panama City via Nicaragua and Costa Rica, flying home from Panama City. One way or another, I'll work it out.

As general rule, if I'm not pressed for time and it's not obviously dangerous, I generally prefer traveling overland to flying, for a number of reasons. You get to see the local towns, and it is always possible to get into a conversation with locals. I never miss a chance to hone my language skills.

Anyway, thanks for your thorough response. Be assured that there will be reports from me--monger related and otherwise--once I commence the trip.

Lorenzo

[Prolijo]

Lorenzo,

I haven't been to all of Central America but I have been to a few different places there and have traveled by bus. So here are a few of my thoughts. The short answer is definitely yes. What you roughly describe is certainly doable though I might have reservations or questions about certain aspects of it.

First regarding safety & crime, I've also been to Brazil and would say this if you're a veteran of the streets of Rio and survived you probably have enough street smarts to survive traveling by bus through Central America. Obviously, there are certain aspects of bus travel that are unique. The bus terminals are nearly always in the not so safe parts of town. If you arrive anywhere after dark, which is not uncommon, be even more careful. Always keep as close a watch as possible on your luggage. Try to get off the bus ahead of the rest of the crowd or someone might "accidentally" grab your bag by "mistake". Of course, traveling on the TicaBus direct "luxury" routes will probably put you in with a slightly wealthier crowd than with local buses, but I assume you'll also be taking some local buses to get around to see some of the countries you visit beyond the capitals and I wouldn't really let my guard down on ANY of the buses you take. Finally, it should be noted that Nicaragua is the one country that is particularly noted for bus pickpockets, perhaps even on par with the pickpockets of Rio.

The other aspect of safety is that of traffic accidents. From what I've seen the TicaBuses are well maintained, but they still have to travel on the roads of Central America which are not always in the best of repair. You might be tempted to take some night routes, given the number of hours you will be spending on the roads, but that is not always possible or desirable when it is for good reasons. Driving at night is even more dangerous than driving during the day. Most of the TicaBus route from Guatamala to Panama is during the day with nightly stops in El Salvador and Nicaragua. The notable exception is the final 18hour leg from San Jose to Panama City, which leaves SJ at 10 at night (although from what I understand of the Cerro de Muerte section of road, you may be better off being in the dark about where the driver is steering). I've also seen a report that the border crossing at Paso Canoas is a bureaucratic nightmare, even by central american standards. For that part you might consider either springing a little extra to fly (safer and quicker) or breaking up your trip by going a different route (with stopovers in Cahuita/Manzanilla CR & Bocas del Toro, Panama since you'll have only seen the Pacific Coast by that point)

The other thing that struck me about your itinerary is that you plan on spending a full 43 hours on the road between Guatamala and Panama, not including any road delays, getting to and from the bus terminals, arriving early at the terminals and waiting, delayed departures and more waiting, etc. Travel by bus may be cheap and TicaBus may make it more comfortable than local buses but there is no getting around how timeconsuming it can be and that goes beyond the scheduled travel times. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. I'm saying you should be prepared for that. But getting back to what struck me is why would you repeat the bus journey all the way back to Honduras adding yet another 45-50 hours of road time? Thats close to 100 hours of road time total. If your travel days averaged 8 hours each that would mean you'd be on the road at least 12 "vacation(?)" days of your 30 days. Not a great ratio. And that doesn't even include any bus time to get to see the many sights that are not at the primary bus stops along the Pan American Hwy. I'm sure there are better ways to do it that would still incorporate plenty of low cost bus travel.

You could use more air travel with little if any extra cost. First, you want to check into what they call an "open jaw" ticket. You don't have to leave Central America from the same city that you arrived. Consider flying into Gutemala City (GC) or San Pedro de Sulas or Belize City and fly out of Panama. Second, it is possible you could do a free stopover. If your flight to GC goes by way of San Pedro de Sula or Belize they may not care whether you leave on the last leg on the next flight 2 hours later or take the same flight 2 days later. Third, on particularly long legs of your journey, that you can't break up with stopovers, or gaps where there is little of interest to you or simply to avoid having to travel on dangerous roads at night, you might want to consider splurging for the cost of a local jumper flight.

As an example of that last case, consider this. After you arrive in Guatamala but before you start your TicaBus journey, you'll probably want to check out the area. Most of the more interesting parts of Guatamala are pretty close to the capital - Antigua, Lake Atitlan, etc. The big exception is Tikal which is north of Flores. You could take one of the local buses that stop at every town and which jam your knees into your chest (no exxageration, I've taken other local buses there). The luxury bus to Flores leaves at 7:30pm and arrives at 7am and cost $22.50. Personally, I shelled out the extra cash and flew there in an hour or two. The road from Flores to Tikal is very smooth and you can also take a bus to Belize from there that takes about 5-6 hours. Or you could fly into Belize and do that itinerary the other way around.

As for land travel between Belize and Honduras, I'm not sure if that can be done or at least how easily. At the very least you would have to pass back through Guatamala. Most land transportation routes in Central American countries are focused on their capitals. If you have to pass through Guatamala, I'm willing to bet it will be much easier to get between Belize and Honduras by way of GC. You will probably be best off doing a stopover if you can in San Pedro de Sula or Tegucigalpa on your way to GC, doing a Tikal/Belize loop with a flight between GC and Flores and/or a one way flight back from Belize. Also consider doing a side trip from GC to Copans in Honduras (5.5hrs each way). Or if you stopped over in San Pedro in Honduras you could go to Copans by express bus (3 hours each way). Or even better, whether you can work a stop over or not, fly into San Pedro and go by bus to GC stopping at Copans along the way and then do the Tikal/Belize loop before hopping on the Tica Bus to El Salvador and beyond. And fly out of Panama City to get home.

I hope this was at least a little help.

[Lorenzo]

I am posting this here because Costa Rica appears to be the most frequently posted Central American site. Here is my question: I have never been to Central America, although I am a veteran Brazil monger, and I speak pretty good Spanish. I am thinking about taking a mongering trip through Central America during the (North American) winter, visiting all 7 countries. After doing a Google search, I found Tica Bus, http://www.ticabus.com/index.php, which appears to have luxury buses going to every Central American country except Belize. My idea is to fly to Guatemala, take Tica Bus from there all the way to Panama, then back to Honduras, then find a way from Honduras to Belize, then fly home from Belize, of course sampling the pussy in all 7 countries and duly filing reports. I hope to do this in a 30 day period. I'm retired and have plenty of money (yes, I'm a dirty old man), so I'll probably stay in first class hotels, unless I see a monger hotel specifically recommended.

So back to the question: what do those of you experienced in Central America think of this idea, especially the Tica Bus part? Their rates seem reasonable and the buses look good. My only concern is safety, since I am an obvious gringo. I have heard of buses getting highjacked, and I know that bus stations are often dangerous places, although I plan to arrive during the daylight hours whenever possible. So what do you mongers think? Is this a crazy idea, or would you wish me well and tell me to give it a go? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Lorenzo

[Rabo Verde]

Absolutely the Sportsmens, no question.
Be sure to make reservations as soon as possible, as they are getting very popular!

[Carnal1]

FYI,, Sunday thru Wednesday should be fine. Alot less competition for the girls so the prices and availability will be on your side. Monday night may be the slowest of all the nights but really, no worries,, may have a choice of only 50-60 girls instead of 80-100 like the weekend BUT will be alot less men as well.

Try the Presidente's newly refurbished section. I have heard good things and will personally visit them next week.

Have fun

[ThunderPants]

The Sportsman Lodge is a better choice than the Del Ray IMO, rooms and service are better. During my last visit July 18 Monday - Thrusday the bar offered a fine selection of ladies every night. The ladies were better dressed an less agressive and semed friendlier or should I say less business like.

Music and food were excellent.

It is a short walk to Del Ray and gulch or a cab ride is less than $5.

[Dr Travel Man]

Hello gentleman,

I have been to LOS several times. I have been to the DR twice. I was planning to go back to LOS on the 8th of Sept for a couple of weeks. Unfortunaltley, my business may not allow it. I have 2 questions I need help with. First, I want somewhere nice to stay that is girlfriendly so I am thinking the DelRey. But I am curious about the sportsmanlodge and information on it would be appreciated.

I also am changing my trip so I will only be there Sunday thru Wednesday. Will I have a great time being there but not on a weekend?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

[Jaimito Cartero]

I've heard that some bars, especially gringo orientated ones have gotten around this in previous years. While I wouldn't count on it, there is a lot of "getting around" this regulation.

You can always stock up in your room, I guess.

[KYJ]

Because of the elections on Feb. 5, Costa Rica will prohibit the sale of alcohol that day and the preceeding one. Thus on Superbowl weekend, Costa Rica will be dry.

The bars can open but no booze is sold. Only cokes and so on. Some bars choose not to open.
Last election even Idem was closed.

Plan your trip accordingly.

[Jaimito Cartero]

AA seems to be blowing out some sales to CR. Especially from Orlando. Dates are August 29-Nov 11. Here's the email from travelzoo.com

Here are just a few sample roundtrip fares:

* Orlando - Costa Rica ..... $126
* Tampa - Costa Rica ..... $155
* Charlotte - Costa Rica ..... $237
* Boston - Costa Rica ..... $267
* Hartford - Costa Rica ..... $274
* New York - Costa Rica ..... $274

So far I've only found the fares on aa.com - They may show up on other booking engines soon though. Add about $70 or $80 for taxes and fees.

[Orgasm Donor]

I have had no problem finding Durex Comfort condoms (made in Canada) in Costa Rica, as long as you go to a drug store. A lot better than the "compress-wrap" condoms you get from Ticas or for cheap. A little more circulation room for us larger guys, a little more safety margin. I usually bring Trojan Magnum condoms, but dont get the ones with weird lubes on them. From the expressions on the Ticas faces, they must taste terrible! Just get the plain Magnums.

So if you are burnin' more rubber than you planned, this is a good choice.

O.D.

[NastyBoy]

I never said I didn't like the tour itself...although the river was kind of tame...it was walking down the mountain to the river that caught me by surprise.

[Trottle Buck]

I'll be in CR in August the 3 first week. , any one around that time?

[NastyBoy]

Ok Chase...found my way back and man that is one hell of a map...thanks for the directional arrows on the streets too....that is very helpful.

You must be a programmer to get all those features working. If you could convert it to a downloadable java ap for small devices you could probably sell it.

Great work.

NB

[NastyBoy]

Sorry, no, I did not notice the mouse over feature. Shit. Greed got the better of me again. All I did was download a copy of the pic. Now I don't know how to get back to it since the link now goes to a message board. But it's still very helpful.

The arrows would be great since that would help me with directions for the taxi drivers who don't know how to get where I'm going.

One cool thing I learned about taxi driver "speak" on my last visit was to ask for "the Maria". I always had a small problem getting to Zona Blue from Downtown Best Western even though it looks like it's only seven blocks away. As we approach there is a new street not listed on the maps called 3B and we have to loop around the one way streets to get there.

Ace is right on about the street beggars and tourists wearing shorts. I wore some the last time and the minute I hit the sidewalk, bang! there she was...asking for money.

Thanks guys. Got another visit planned and all this will help make me feel like a veteran.

NB