Subject: Costa Rica
Date: Sep 18 00:48:40 1997
From: "CHRISTINE W. MAACK" - 73201.3124 at compuserve.com


Zach and other lucky Costa Rica bound travellers:

Harking back about 7 years to my CR visit, I found
renting a car and driving around the country to be
surprisingly easy. Getting out of and into San Jose
was the hardest, but that would be true of any
major city. The drivers are a little more cavalier about
things like passing on blind curves, but on the
whole appeared sane.

One trick that got pulled on me and a couple of
other people I ran into at the main hotel in San
Jose was that the cops like to pull over rental cars
and accuse the occupants of breaking a law by
not having their seatbelts on. I actually had mine
on, but had removed it thinking maybe I should get
out of the car and appear more polite and cooperative.

First, it isn't against the law to not fasten your seat
belt, although you should, of course. They will write
you a ticket with a big fine on it. Just assure them
that you will take care of the matter, get your pass-
port back, and go your merry way.

I loved the Caribbean coast. The Atlantic looked so
wild and gray and windy compared to the big blue
bathtub on the Pacific side. I signed up for a group
tour to Tortuguero, which involved a morning bus
ride and a lengthy boat ride along narrow canals,
but we saw sloths hanging in the trees as well as
monkeys and birds. The lodge we ended up at was
not big and touristy, and it didn't look like there would
be any places in that part of the country that could
be so described. On the lodge grounds was a tree
that contained a colony of Montezuma Oropendola
which woke us each morning with their weird
zapping noises.

For special birds though, Monteverde Reserve
is a must. Hope it hasn't gotten overrun with
visitors yet.

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com