We Might Not Be Back: Costa Rican Driving: San Jose to Pavones

Because I have had the great pleasure of driving the questionable roads of Costa Rica on 3 previous trips I have developed a foolish level of confidence in my ability to get from place to place. On our first trip down in 2009 we drove in the dark most of the way through the mountains. Had it not been for our GPS (which we don't get any more) and following a truck in front of us I probably would’ve pulled over and had a nervous breakdown. After that trip I vowed to never drive in Costa Rica at night. On the second trip it took us almost double the amount of time the directions indicated to reach our destination. After that trip we started spending the night in a hotel and waking up bright and early before making any major journey. We also had the joy of getting rear ended on a mountain side that encouraged a little more caution. (I think after that accident I said I'd never go back to Costa Rica again.) On trip three I started making better time and remembering the routes, so this time we were going into the journey as experts.

Despite the fact that we weren’t arriving in San Jose until midday and then had a 6-7 hour drive ahead of us without traffic or weather problems, we decided to just go for it. We picked up our rental car and headed out for Pavones. This wouldn’t be a big deal except the sun goes down around 500 pm. Throw in a festival that blocked streets and caused us to take a “detour” and some torrential rain and you have a sort of stressful drive. We still managed to stop for groceries, but failed to feed our children. The roads were slightly better than in the past. They seem to have compacted some of the dirt and rocks, but those bridges in the dark and rain almost made me want to turn back around and go home. I don’t mean to complain, but just a small guard rail on the side would make me feel a little better.

We made it to Casa Amarilla by about 900pm and it was crazy how easy it was to settle back in even with new “guard” dogs outside. It was such a relief to be some place familiar and have the drive ended. At that point lack of food didn’t even matter. We knew where everything was. We knew how to get places the next day. There are some serious perks to revisiting the same place. You can check it out here http://www.southerncostaricaland.com/

These were waiting for us. The yellow one Gabby created and added to the arrangement.

I do like to acknowledge that school is important. So when I take them out for travel I try to compensate a little by making them fill out journals. Someday I'm sure they'll appreciate them.