I few readers have asked how my brother and I did the border crossing into Costa Rica and where we stayed.
Our intent was to drive across, having just spent weeks getting all the paperwork done to register the car, get the new plates, etc, etc, etc.
Of course, that was not to be.
Despite a file folder full of papers with stamps, approvals, proof of payments, etc - I was now missing three more papers - plus a photo ID card for the car.
We drove back to David - and had a wonderful stay at Gran Hotel Nacional - across from the Fiesta Casino. $45.60 total with Pensionado discount, which included breakfast for 2. The Pirates restaurant in the casino serves up a great burger!
There is an air conditioned coach you can take tot he border for $2. (We opted for a cab $20)
First you must exit Panama (get a postage stamp from a woman wandering around with a badge, and then go to the window)
Then walk 200 yards towards Costa Rica and line up for the Entry to Costa Rica line. (Watch out for line jumpers. We let on Noble Bugle woman in and thirty family members followed - A Panamanian gentleman got angry and went up to the window to complain. We had been waiting an hour in the heat).
In the end, one line-jumper had the window closed on him as he got up to the glass, and the Noble Bugle woman was told she was in the wrong line anyway, so it all worked out.
We took the $2 bus to Golfito. No air.
Watch out - do not buy anything at the bus station tuck shop - they rip you off on exchange (which right now is $500 colones = $1 USD)
Costa Rica was expensive compared to Panama - $2.50 for a beer in the grocery store, $89 a night for hotel (we stayed at a fishing resort called Las Gaviotas Marina Resort: www.lasgaviotasmarinaresort.com
Golfito has a number of nice hotels and resorts, including the Banana Bay Marina. The staff feed a giant turtle bananas (thus Banana Bay) right at the dock, to the delight of all the guests.
There is also the elegant Casa Rolando - a teak and glass restaurant/bar left over by the United Fruit Company when they suddenly left town, along with hundreds of houses, a huge hospital, a fire station - all just left for locals to take over.
Night-life in Golfito was nonexistent, but the area is pretty, safe, and easy to get to - fishing cost us $400 for 5 hours.
We left Golfito at 10: 15 A.M. by cab and were thought the border into Panama by 11:30 A.M. We picked up the car in David and managed to make our friend's daughter's Sweet 16 Birthday Party at Los Camisonies in Coclé by 6 P.M.
So - when you have to do your next visa renewal, try Golfito in Costa Rica - a nice place to spend a weekend. Roberto
