Costa Rica: Day 1

Solomon and I arrived in San Jose around 1pm on Sunday and took an airport taxi to the hostel.  We had woken up at 2am that morning to get to the airport on time and were quite exhausted by the time we arrived. The taxis are bright orange with big yellow triangles on the side and have set prices to various parts of San Jose.  Our taxi driver couldn't find his way directly to the hostel as a street festival was blocking the way so he turned off his meter part way and we ended up paying $30. We checked into Aldea Hostel into a dorm room with 8 beds and a private bathroom ($13 pp).  There were wooden lockers to put your packs (had to supply our own locks) and a promise of hot water for certain hours of the day.  Our rooms water was broken so we took cold showers for the first time of our trip. The hostel was decorated with pop art pictures of girls with big, juicy lips smoking cigars.  A pool table sat under a chandelier in the front hall and the kitchen was in a courtyard outside.

The first thing we did was head to the Tica Bus stop which was a couple blocks away to try to get three bus tickets to Nicaragua the next day.  We figured out you could go straight to Granada (not to Managua) quite easily on the Tica bus as it was a scheduled stop, but we needed all three passports to get the tickets.  Since Nick was not arriving until 9 at night, we left and planned to get them early the next morning.  We went to Pali, the grocery store and bought some pasta to cook for the night while we waited for Nick to arrive.  The hostel staff sat around smoking while we ate dinner and took a nap to pass the time.  The sheets were clean and we didn't need sleep sacks here. By the time Nick showed up, the hostel staff had changed shifts and we had to convince the guy at the front desk that Nick was already paid for and reserved.  We decided to try our luck with the bus stop again and were happy to find it open so we could buy our tickets.  For anyone trying to go to the Tica Bus stop it is open quite late at night, if not 24 hours a day.  We went at about 11 pm and had no problems.  In fact, a bus was just getting in.  Buying the night before turned out to be okay but we could only get on the noon bus and not the 6am one.  Knowing this bought us a few more hours to catch up on sleep, we headed back to the hostel to bed.

Nica Living (Culture Shock)

One of the most interesting things about travelling is seeing the little differences between where we live and where others spend their days.  There are many of these observations in my day to day details but here are a few overwhelming discrepancies.

First of all, the heat.  This may seem obvious but the heat and humidity combined was simply...overwhelming.
This was coupled with frequent electrical outages that turned off the rusty fan right when you needed it the most.  The best way to cool off was in the showers because there was no hot water.  Water was often collected in rain barrels and so heated somewhat by the sun but at most it was tepid, and at the least it was icy. While this felt nice in the middle of the hot day, an icy shower in the morning was a sure way to ensure an efficient bathe.  The one hostel that had hot water was heated by an electrical device attached to the shower head. Occasionally the water would just not run at all on the Isla de Ometepe.

The water from the shower often ran directly out into the yard behind the room, which was at times in a courtyard and just open to the sky.

Speaking of the bathrooms, one of the first things you'll notice if you visit a similar country is that the plumbing is rather...touch and go.  Instead of flushing anything down the toilet, you must put all your, ahem, toilet waste into a trash can near the toilet.  You can imagine the aroma this gives to every bathroom and surrounding area as this sits in the hot sun.

Riding Nica Style was another stunning difference.  Nicas would put 2-4 people on one bike and ride to and from work.  Instead of sitting on the handle bars or on pegs like we sometimes do, another person and a baby would sit on the main frame of the bike in front of the seat.  The rider would wrap their arms around their passengers, helping to keep their balance.

These were a few of the things that stood out the most but read on to the day to day recaps for more!

Nica Living (Costs for Costa Rica and Nicaragua)

Phew! Well the past couple weeks went by FAST. We successfully moved to Colorado and a week later got on a plane for our much anticipated Costa Rica- Nicaragua trip!
There will be many posts and pictures to come detailing what we did and where we stayed in the following days but let's start with the nitty-gritty.

First of all, keeping a daily budget kind of fell through.  Travelling with three people we found ourselves fronting each other money and then being paid back later--something that made it very hard to keep track of day to day expenses.  Instead I will give overall cost of the trip and details of what some important things cost.

Before we left we were able to save up more than we originally thought so we raised our budget to $1500 for two people.  This turned out to be a good thing because we came in at $1494- wow, that was close! That comes to $93 dollars a day, for two people. Things that were more expensive than expected: bus tickets, border crossings, Costa Rica as a whole (we forgot how many of the prices rival those in the US!), and a much needed night with air conditioner when we all weren't feeling well.

Nicaragua was much, much cheaper than Costa Rica and spending most of our time there surely helped us from going over budget. We were significantly under the daily $93 on our days in Nicaragua but even a few days in Costa Rica quickly made up for it. Here are a few of the daily costs:

• McDonald's at the Denver International Airport: $15
• Taxi ride from Juan Santamaria international airport (Alajuela) to hostel in San Jose:: $30
• Hostel in Costa Rica (Aldea Hostel, near Tica Bus station in San Jose): $13 pp (one night- $26)
• Tica Bus tickets from San Jose to Managua: $26 pp ($52)
  For this we got off at Granada and had the option to get off at Rivas but the price does not change. 
• Border crossing into Nicaragua: $14 pp ($28)
  Note that Costa Rica is free to exit and enter, but Nicaragua charges for both.
• First night in Granada (unknown hostel, found at night on the way into town from Tica Bus stop): $5 pp (one night- $10)
• Next two nights in Granada (the Bearded Monkey): $7 pp (two nights- $28)
• Las Islas tour from Granada (random boat off the beach): $5 pp ($10 for both + tip)
• 1 Litre of Flor de Cana Rum: $12
• 2 750 mLs of Flor de Cana Rum: $8 each ($16)
• Haircut, shave, facial and face massage at local barber (Sol and Nick): $18
• 5 hour ferry from Granada to Altagracia on Isla de Ometepe: $5pp ($10)
• Shuttle from ferry to hotel (from tout on ferry): < $1 pp ($2)
• Hotel Castillo in Altagracia: $6 pp (two nights: $24)
• Guided hike up Volcan Concepcion: $20 pp ($40, but should have been less because we paid a middle man)
• Bike rental: $6 pp/ per day ($8 for both, half day)
• Natural spring swimming hole: $2 pp ($4)
• Taxi back from Playa Domingo to Altagracia: $15 for three people
• Taxi to ferry stop in Moyagalpa: $20
• 1 hour ferry from Moyagalpa to San Jorge: $2 pp ($4)
• Taxi from San Jorge to San Juan del Sur (about 45 min to an hour): $15 for three people
• Hotel Estrella in San Juan del Sur: $8 pp with free breakfast (two nights- $32)
• Transport to Playa Marsella from the hotel: $15 with hotel transport, for all three of us
• Hostal Amelia with air conditioning, San Juan del Sur: $30 for the room
• Taxi from San Juan del Sur to the border: $16 for two people
• Leaving Nicaragua: $3 pp (paid in increments of $1 each and then $2 each- $6 total)
• Bus from the border to Liberia Costa Rica: $12 pp ($24)
• Posada del Tope in Liberia: $20 for the room (one night)
• Bus from Liberia to Puntarenas: $5 pp ($10)
• Bus from Puntarenas to Quepos: $6.50 pp ($13)
• Wide Mouth Frog Hostel in Quepos: $35 a night per room with free breakfast, plus an $8 deposit for keys and towels (4 nights, $140)
• Bus to Manuel Antonio National Park: 50 cents pp one way ($4 for two days, round trips)
• Manuel Antonio National Park entrance fee: $10 pp (2 days, $40)
• Bus from Quepos to San Jose: $8 pp ($16 total, but we bought 4 tickets because we needed to change our time after our original purchase, so $32)
• Taxi from Coca Cola bus station in San Jose to Maleku Hostel in Alajuela= $25 (unlicensed cab)
• Maleku Hostel with free airport shuttle= $15 pp (one night- $30)
• Costa Rica airport departure tax= $26 pp ($52)
• Parking at the Denver International Airport: $7 per day ($112 for 16 days)

These are the main expenses we incurred. All prices are dependent on the exchange rate at the time which was around $1= 23 cordobas in Nicaragua and $1= 520 colones in Costa Rica.  

• Other taxi rides in Nicaragua ranged from $1- $15.
• Meals in Nicaragua ranged from $2 pp for a set plate (rice and beans, mixed veggies, and meat), to $5 pp for spaghetti, to $10 pp at an American-style restaurant in San Juan del Sur. With the prices above for lodging and transport, we spent an average of $30 or less a day on snacks and meals (going out to eat and groceries).
• In Costa Rica meals ranged from $6 pp for a set plate to $20 pp for upscale Italian food.
• A tour of the petroglyphs and natural springs on Ometepe was going to be $10 pp but we ended up renting bikes instead.
• A soda in Nicaragua cost anywhere from 20 cents (at a small, local tienda which you had to return your glass bottle) to $1 (at bus and ferry stations). A 2 liter bottle of water cost less than $1 (around 80 cents).
• In Costa Rica a soda cost around $1.75- $2 and a 2 liter of water cost around $2.
• In Nicaragua, a t-shirt with little to no haggling cost $5.  A small painting cost $5 as well.
• For groceries we spent an average of $5 per trip (consisting of food for 1-2 meals) in Nicaragua and $15 in Costa Rica.
• Nick's sunglasses at a local market, no haggling, cost $15.  A hair band for me cost 1/23 of $1 (1 cordoba).
• A coloring book at an exclusive stationary store in Nicaragua cost around $3.25.
• Bananas cost less than 4 cents each in Nicaragua. 

Some things that are hard to account for are bank foreign transaction fees and ATM fees and conversion rates at street money changers. Just make sure you know your bank's policy and the exchange rate before you go.

Another thing to consider is that when you travel with three people, it is often more convenient to pay for all three hotel beds at a time, and thus each person inevitably ends up paying for the others at some point or another.  Unless you rigidly keep track of this or religiously keep each payment separate, budgets will be harder to keep and you may end up over or under spending compared to what you calculated for yourself.