So Fiona from Value Motors asked around and Franklin, who works there too,and who is almost fluent in both languages, would drive us there,on Sunday, in our car with our gas and pick us up on Tuesday at 5pm.
The best of both worlds for $50. This obviates a local bus ride to David and a local bus to the border.Times two with the return.
Okay,that done I booked a room on line.
We were told to go to Pavone Beach,beautiful beaches,a surfing mecca and because it is much closer to Canoas(the border crossing). I'll make a long story short. However,there were NO vacancies in Pavone,it was very expensive there too and it was actually further from the border.
The hotel listings on hotels.com are confusing. The first place we booked was Hotel Zima. It looked good. But...it was not even close to Pavone. It was 3 hours from Golfito! Anyway I got my reservation refunded.
Here's a tip. Call the hotel. It's easier,faster and more convenient. Quote the on line price and you will probably get that too.
So I looked again. This time with a lot more knowledge of the local geography. I found Banana Bay resort and marina. Beautiful on line. I book it. Only $90 a night including a full hot breakfast. More to come.
Border trucks to go to Costa Rica were lined up for ....miles...I am not kidding. That's how archaic the paper work is. It was a 2 to 5 day wait to get across the border. I wish I had a camera handy. One truck actually had a hammock set up.
Thank you Franklin. He was familiar with where to get stamped out,from Panama,and where to get stamped in to Costa Rica. It was easy(when you know how) It really was an easy crossing. With the duty free being right there,you could freely walk around between Panama and Costa Rica till you were ready to get your passport stamped formally,or not if you were only there to shop. It is a totally free border for the people on foot.
The taxi ride to Golfito was $50 at first, then the same driver quoted $40. He might have gone to $30. Anyway we took the bus.
$4" por ambos" for both of us! It took about 1 1/2 hrs. A great way to see the country side.
It is very green,very hot,poorer,and there is very dense jungle compared to Panama.
Of course we are right in the middle of two bus stops in Golfito. Good thing I was paying attention or we would have missed our stop. So we had to walk a 1/4 mile. Big deal.
We arrive at Banana Bay. Our reservation is confirmed and what a treat. The best we could have hoped for. Here is our view from our room.
What a sunset.
The rooms are clean and modern. There is air conditioning(trust me, you need it). There is free bottled water,internet,TV and a great setting over the bay on a pier with a small sitting area. There are two..hot tubs,albeit they were being cleaned and there fore not available.
The restaurant,the food and the bar are fabulous. What can I say. Nice.
The first day we walked to town to enjoy the heat and the new surroundings. I think we found a new place to buy by the water.
Just kidding LOL
The second day I took the "Lancha" launch to Puerto Jimenez. Beautiful place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.
There was a restaurant called Parrot Bay and there were dozens of live parrots in the woods there. Unique for sure.
The boat to cross over to the island was $4. To get back(albeit much faster) it was $6.
It's just too humid to really enjoy the day. When we were out I noticed there were 23% taxes, the overall prices can not compare to Panama.
We had a great time there.
Getting out of Costa Rica was also easy. Oh yea,there is a $7 tax to get out of Costa Rica for each person. Another money grab. Oh well.
So we go to the ATM to get money for the border crossing to Panama. We need $500 each and proof of our plane ticket home and of course our passport stamped out of Costa Rica.
So....the chip card does not work in the ATM. We have to go into the bank. Take a number... after you are wandered and your backpack and purse are cleared by the two guards there. We had to wait for about 10 minutes.
I go to the wicket to get my $500. No problem right? Wrong. We are already stamped out of Costa Rica. We technically can not get any money because we are no longer in the country. But the teller is more than helpful and..to make a long story short(sound familiar?).. we get the money. Yea!
We get to the Panamanian border and we are first in line. They look at our passport,take our picture,look at the copy of the return flight and we are in. They did not even ask for the money.
We actually had over $1,000 US in cash.
We had a quick Subway sandwich a beer at the Red Dragon in the duty free section and we are picked up by Franklin. Smart boy. He paid $1US for someone to watch the car for 15 minutes. That way we got to keep all our car parts,and maybe even our car.
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