The case of the hijacked road sign in San Jose, Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, road signs on major highways can be somewhat confusing or even absent. I had an unusual experience the other day when I discovered the exit sign on the highway to my hotel in Heredia Province (San Jose Area) had been hijacked.
I was returning from the small town of Tibas about 4KM away. There was no signage whatsoever for the exit to Santo Tomas, the town where the Bougainvillea Hotel was located. As I stayed at the same hotel four years earlier, I distinctly remember an exit sign on the highway for Santo Thomas, but I couldn’t remember exactly where. Stopping at a roadside restaurant, I asked a gentleman how do I get to Bougainvillea. He told me to go back to Tibas and take a route through town. So I headed back along the highway to Tibas, got off at the exit but in last a minute change of heart, I decided to get back on the highway again, retrace my steps and try to find the exit sign that existed 4 years earlier.
After passing over the bridge located only 200 meters from the restaurant where I had stopped previously, I approached the first exit on the right. Slowing down as this turnout looked familiar, I looked quickly over my right shoulder and saw a small sign nested within the turnoff itself with directional arrows pointing to Santo Tomas. To say the least, I was relieved as I knew this was the right way. Following the familiar twisting, winding road I navigated the car safely back to my hotel. When I told Omar, the front desk receptionist at the Bougainvillea, about this driving adventure, he laughed out loud and said to me “Senor, the road sign on the highway was hijacked. Welcome to Costa Rica.”
Do yourself a favor – If driving a car in Costa Rica, you’ll save yourself a lot unnecessary aggravation, if you get a car with GPS. Most car rental companies in COSTA RICA, will provide with the optional GPS device for about $10USD extra per day. Well worth it!
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