Tiny Grass

Or, how to survive in a car, or on the sidewalk, in a country where you can pass another car anywhere, at any time, regardless of signs, road markings, speed, or the deep ravine an inch from the edge of your tires.

Here lies one of the very very few signs in Costa Rica.

I read all the important details before I came….there are no street signs, addresses are actually descriptions rather than addresses, yada, yada, yada. When you actually get here and walk around a small city like Alajuela and find that not a single street has a sign, it is still a very weird experience to have, however much you expect it.

The first week we were in Costa Rica, we actually hired a driver to transport us from Alajuela all the way to Cahuita, and back 10 days later. It was a long trip (5 hours the first time, more like 4 the second time). With a public bus, I was concerned that my kids wouldn’t be able to handle the trip without any stops. With a driver, it actually worked out fine, and the driver was a good source of information about Costa Rica on the long car rides. He also led us to some yummy and fairly cheap Tico eateries on the way. I had tilapia ceviche for the first time, and it was excellent. But now that we have been renting a car in the central valley for the last week, I have to say that renting a car is far preferable to hiring a driver. Not only is it cost effective, but we are learning to find our way around, rather than sitting back and watching the world go by from afar.

Do you think this guy drives worse thinking that Jesus is on his side?

Driving through the mountains was fantastic. But can you see that little sign in the lower right-hand corner? No? Well, never mind. Feel free to ignore it. Everyone else does anyway.

I will now admit that I haven’t actually done any driving myself yet. Arp seems to be taking some sick enjoyment out of it, and he is using his Manhattan driving skills to his advantage. I am also a far better navigator than Arp is. I study all the maps ahead of time and give him directions from the passenger seat. And listen up: For the first time in my life, we have been driving around in a car with a Jesus fish on it. Mark that on the calendar.

Here are some observations that I have on driving in Costa Rica:

• Drivers are insane. You can hear those words a million times, but you won’t understand it until you come here and see cars driving 3 and 4 abreast on a highway that can barely accommodate 2. You get used to it in about 48 hours. You just sort of adjust to the new reality and throw caution to the wind. Maybe this is sort of the culmination of the systematic desensitization I needed to get myself over the fear of dying in a car.
• Pedestrians are insane. They walk along the sides of roads while the crazy drivers swerve within inches of them. I kept wondering why the people don’t walk farther off the side of the road, in the grass perhaps. But then I thought of the snakes. Question is, which are more dangerous in Costa Rica - the snakes or the drivers? I’d gamble that the drivers are.
• Navigating around with no road signs isn’t actually that hard, at least in the central valley. The keys are to stay on the main roads, study your maps (especially tour book ones that give directions and names of stores and things), and don’t hesitate to ask directions. There are only so many main roads in Costa Rica. When in doubt, we take the ones that are better paved, and that seems to get us closer to our destination.
• It’s almost comical to watch drivers swerve wildly around the roads trying to avoid potholes. Sort of like playing Frogger.

So far we’ve successfully driven from Belen to Alajuela, Grecia, Sarchi, Poas volcano, and also to Atenas. Our favorite place so far, in terms of where we might like to live, was Atenas. Our next stops are San Ramon, and later in the week, a fun stint in La Fortuna and the Arenal Area.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 10th, 2007 at 6:00 am and is filed under blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.