I was getting ready to leave Guayabo Lodge near the small town of Santa Cruz - about a 30 minute drive from the city of Turrialba - to Orosi Valley, my next destination in Costa Rica. When I discussed the driving route with Rosanna the co-proprietor of the Lodge, she suggested that instead of going through the city of Turrialba - the conventional route - that I take the more scenic route through Pacayas and Ujarras. From Pacayas, she said, “There is a winding road that takes you down into the valley. Make sure that you make a left at the sign Bocadito del Cielo – that is the turnoff”.

As the signage can be somewhat tricky in COSTA RICA, I asked Rosanna what landmark should I look for to indicate that the turnoff is close by. She said “About 20-25 minutes away from our lodge you’ll see a small, pale blue colored old house with yellow cream trim perched on top of the hill on the left hand side of the road; the house has a lovely flower garden. People in the area call it “The Dollhouse”. You can’t miss it. If you have a chance, you should stop and take some pictures”.

I proceeded to leave Guayabo Lodge, bidding farewell to Don Pedro and his wife Rosanna taking the scenic route to Orosi Valley as she suggested. Keeping a lookout for the dollhouse, I glanced at my watch seeing that 20 minutes had passed by since my journey had started. I must be getting near I said to myself. Another 7 minutes passed by and still no dollhouse in sight. Needless to say, I was getting a bit nervous figuring I had taken the wrong road or gone astray. About 5 minutes later (over 30 minutes had expired since my journey started), I saw the house that Rosanna had described on the left side of the road about ½ mile further up the road. Seeing the dollhouse up ahead, I was overcome with joy as it meant that I hadn’t got lost. With a big sigh of relief, I proclaimed Hallelujah!

As Rosanna had suggested, I stopped at the house to take some pictures. Perched on a hill overlooking the valley below, the dollhouse with its unique candy cane lily garden was just as beautiful as she described it. Now I have the pleasure of sharing some pictures with you. PURA VIDA!

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!

Driving in COSTA RICA is quite an adventure, however once you become familiar
with the idiosyncrasies of Costa Rican drivers and the way things work here, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem. When discussing this issue with Omar, the friendly receptionist at the front desk of Hotel Bougainvillea, he confided to me with a big grin on his face, that if you can drive in Costa Rica, you can drive anywhere in the world. After all, he proudly said “Ticos are some of the craziest drivers in the world.” Furthermore he pointed out to me that automobile accidents are the leading cause of death in Costa Rica. I nodded and told him, I read that somewhere in a travel book

If you plan to drive an automobile in Costa Rica, there are a couple of observations and tips that I would like to share with you. Having driven a car in Costa Rica on four of my eight trips here, I am definitely speaking from experience. In my opinion, driving around Costa Rica is still the best way to see the country!

• Bad Roads

..In general roads in Costa Rica are not in very good shape; on secondary roads in particular, be prepared to encouter potholes (in Spanish, huecos) of every imaginable size and shape. Curiously enough while driving from Siquerres to Turrialba on Highway 10, I saw road signs warning that the road was in bad shape “Carratera en mal estado”, but much to my surprise there were only a few minor potholes. Yesterday while driving on a secondary road from Guayabo National Monument to the town of Turrialba; over a 7-8 miles stretch, I stopped counting huecos at 50!

• Stop Signs

..In the urban area, you’ll see stop signs posted at most intersections. Alto means stop in Spanish. For most Tico drivers, a stop sign doesn’t necessarily mean stop. Some will slow down as they drive through a stop sign, looking both ways to make sure the coast is clear before proceeding through the intersection, while the typically more reckless driver will go right through the stop sign as if it doesn’t even exist. Apparently this is a unique Costa Rica custom. I have seen only a handful of drivers come to a full stop – they were mostly ladies and tourists. When questioning the representative of the Toyota Car Rental Company about this custom, he confirmed to me that this is how most people drive in Costa Rica including himself. Apparently the traffic cops in Costa Rica don’t enforce the law with respect to stopping at stop signs and issue citations to drivers only if they are directly responsible for an automobile accident. Pura Vida!

In my next post, I will discuss signage, finding addresses and where to park your car.

When renting a car in COSTA RICA, by all means take the full insurance coverage - most car rental companies will usually offer you at least two coverage plans. Better spend a little bit more for full coverage and be safe rather than sorry

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