Costa Rica have an affordable public transportation system.

This article is based on the feedback I have received from some of the foreigners who live here and does not reflect my beliefs. It is important to remember that the positives outweigh the negatives when we talk about Costa Rica. I think it is important to share both the good and bad about Costa Rica on my monthly relocation/retirement tours.

I respond to the negatives below in parenthesis.

1. The driving (not that bad because the drivers can be courteous and show good manners at times. There is a lot of road rage and many deaths in the U.S, so it is important to keep things in perspective)
2. Crime (more than before but nothing when compared to the other countries in Latin America i.e. Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala)
3. Foreigners who take advantage of their own (this problem has increased because of the Internet, unlicensed real estate agents and Costa Rica attracting its share of unsavory characters, carpetbaggers and outcasts. Check out who you are dealing with.)
4. Bureaucracy (it is also bad in other countries including the U.S. where it can be even worse)
5. The rainy season, especially October (There is a lot of sunshine and warm weather during the rainy season. This is unlike the U.S. and Canada)
6. Long waits for attention at public hospitals (Not all the time. The medical care is good at a fraction of the cost of the U.S. There is always the private system which is also affordable when compared to its U.S. counterpart)
7. The country’s immigration office is a mess (This statement is true but things will change in the future)
8. Hard to get phones (IN some cases….hopefully with privatization this will end)
9. Hard to return merchandise in stores (Yes, this is true in some cases but not impossible since there is an organization that protects consumers)
10. Lax immigration (True…many people stay here illegally for years. There is a new immigration law scheduled to go into effect to help put an end to this problem).
11. Lack of regulation in the tour business (There are many tours operating without government approval and licenses)
12. A lot of stray and undernourished street dogs (This is sad. I know a lot of people who have adopted street dogs. Bless them)
13. Salad bars are lacking (very true, but you can always buy vegetables at a low price and make your own salad)
14. No good Mexican or Chinese food (Tin Ho is the only good oriental restaurant in the country and Mexican restaurants leave a lot to be desired)
15. No bike lanes (true but there may be some in the future)
16. Steep custom’s duties on imported items (try to buy the local versions)
17. Expensive cars (true but you can always use the country’s affordable public transportation)
18. The locals think all foreigners are rich (in most cases they are when compared to most Costa Ricans)
19. High cost of living (Not true. One thing is to come here as a tourist and another is to live here full-time. Once you get settled and know the ropes you will find it more affordable than the U.S. If you try to live like you did in the U.S., have expensive habits and buy a lot of imported products the country will be expensive.
20. Books are overpriced (yes, but there are used bookstores and you can order from Amazon without much duty)

The clients on my monthly relocation/retirement tours inevitably ask me if there is a problems with insects in Costa Rica. I am quick to tell them that where I live in Heredia, I have no screens on my windows nor do I have screen doors. I admit that I do have a few flies, ants and an occasional cockroach, but none are a real problem. So, insects don’t seem to be a concern in the Central Valley.

In some beach areas and in the the country’s rain forests and jungles there are many insects. Nevertheless I take my clients to the beach every other month and surprisingly nobody has had a problem with bugs. I do remember that around sunset there there are a few bugs that come out but after the sun goes down they don’t bother you. None of my clients has complained about being eaten alive by insects. Most of them bring their bug spray and douse themselves with it in the evening. Perhaps this is the reason they don’t get bitten at the beach. Anyway, i don’t use repellent and have never had a problem bugs at the beach.

It’s only been 47 years in the making, but finally the Costanera Sur will be ready by December the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) promises.

The Costanera Sur connects the communities Central Pacific communities to the Southern Zone and once completely finished will save drivers up to two hours, the time it takes now to make the 42 kilometer trip between Quepos and Dominical.

The Costanera Sur also eliminates the need to cross the Cerro de la Muerte to get to Pérez Zeledón, offering an alternative from Puntarenas and Guanacaste without having to pass through San José.

At this time only 20 of the 42 kilometers have been paved with the first lawyer of asphalt, with the work continuing daily.

In addition work continues on the important bridges from Parrita to Dominical. In the coming weeks it is expected that the contractor will begin pouring the concrete slab of the new Parrita bridge, which once completed, will be a two lane wide bridge that will eliminate traffic congestion, that at peak hours can add an hour or more to the trip, replacing the current one lane bridge that saw its better days decades ago.

The Costanera Sur is a project that began as an idea back in 1942 by the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE). However, the recommendation to begin construction of the project did not occur until 1962. In 1979 the administration of Rodrigo Carazo received financing for the project, however, the money was all spent on appeals and “improper” payments.

In 1982 the government of Luis Alberto Monge signs a contract with the Spanish constructor, Agroman and the building of the Costanera is on its way. However, in 1987 the Contraloría (Comptroller’s office) found irregularities with the contract whose cost went from ¢445 million colones to ¢1.8 billion, of that time, creating a scandal of proportions which forced the then ministro de Transportes, Guillermo Constenla, to rescind the Agroman contract.

In 1997 the Belén construction company was awarded the contract for part of the project, but bad weather and lack of financing setback the project.

In 2004 the cost of each kilometer of road for the remaining 42 kilometres that connects Quepos to Dominical was estimated to cost us$1 million dollars and as such the project comes to a complete halt.

It wasn’t until earlier this year (2009) that the MOPT gave the order to complete the highway that included widening eight of the bridges, all financed by the BCIE.

Once complete, the 222 kilometre road runs from Barranca de Puntarenas to Palmar Sur in the Osa Peninsula, providing a direct route to Panama without having to go through San José.

The crime here is really miniscule compared to the other countries in the region.

Yes, you read right! I have not gone off my rocker. Let me explain the title of this article. Proa, the Sunday magazine section of La Nación, had a cover story about crime in Latin America’s cities. The lengthy article mentions Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Lima, Quito Ecuador and surprisingly Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Many of the Costa Rican on-line news groups in English talk about the rising crime in Costa Rica, especially in the capital city of San José. After reading the article the Sunday edition of La Nación, San José seems like paradise. The crime here is really miniscule compared to the other countries in the region.

Caracas, Venezuela now has the dubious distinction of being the most violent city in Latin America. There are 130 homicides per 100,000 people there. In the first third of this year there were 1,448 violent crimes in Caracas and 8,040 in the whole country. The kidnap rate is double that of Colombia. The worst part of this situation is that police are believed to be involved in 20 percent of all of the crimes.

Rio de Janeiro is also drowning in a sea of crime. There are now 73.2 murders per 100,000 people and last year 2,069 people were killed. There are nearly one thousand slums or favelas and all are controlled by drug gangs.

Crime in Mexico City is also out of control. Every day there are 547 crimes reported there. You can’t feel safe taking public transportation either. Between January and June of this year there were 1,997 crimes reported aboard buses, the subway and private taxis.

Lima , Peru also has its share of criminal activity. There are at least ten people robbed per day in taxis. Gangs like the colochos are also raising havoc among the citizens of the city. Lima now has a specialized police unit called El Comando “Robo Cop” to try and combat the crime problem.

Quito, Ecuador is riddled with crime. The government reports that 35.3 percent of the population have been victims of robbery and/or physical violence. In addition, 49.6 of all businesses have been affected by some type of robbery. I had a friend who was stabbed to death in his bar in Mata, Ecuador.

Even Argentina has been affected by the crime that is sweeping across many of Latin America’s cities. Besides an increase in all types of crime, violent car jackings are rampant.

In Central America San Salvador and Guatemala City are leaders the pack when it comes to violent crime. Over 150 bus drivers died last year in robberies in Guatemala City alone. El Salvador is rumored the highest homicide rate in Latin America. As if things were not bad enough in these countries, there are over 30,000 gang members in the area who are responsible of a large part of the violent crime.

San José, Costa Rica is not without crime. Fortunately it is nothing compared to the other countries in Central America or the rest of Latin America. I have lived Costa Rica for almost 30 years and have basically remained unscathed like most people foreigners know.

Crime is an important consideration when selecting a place to live south of the border. On my monthly relocation/retirement tours I am always asked about crime here and try to put it into perspective. I tell people, “I would not be living here if I thought that crime was out of control or my family was in danger.”

The U.S. Is probably as dangerous if not more in some ways as any of the cities I mention above.

We can learn a lot from the way the locals approach life.

About 10 days ago the roadbed of a bridge  near San José separated and what ensued was like a comedy. Actually, the crack was only about an inch wide. You would think the whole bridge came down judging by all of the attention the hoopla.   Every rubbernecker who traveled over the bridge had to slow down to see the crack which caused a huge traffic back up. The  local highway department finally closed down the bridge and tried to repair it. When they finally opened the highway to traffic again the repair only lasted a couple of hours and the traffic jams were back.

The media had a field day with this joking about the ineptitude of the Costa Ricans highway department since they couldn’t fix the bridge. A couple of local models even took advantage of the situation to pull a publicity stunt. They appeared scantly dressed on the side of bridge showing off their best attributes. Of course this brought traffic to a virtual standstill while every male drive admired the model’s curvaceous bodies and female passers-by called the sexy female models sluts or even worse things. Anytime a high-profile incident like this one happens in Costa Rica the people turn it huge event, media circus and make up a whole slew of hilarious jokes about the situation. People don’t fret, they just joke about most things.

Costa Ricans are very event oriented. Everything here is a vacilón or excuse to have fun. Even major elections are one big party. Almost every local scandal becomes the target of local jokes and humorists.  Actually it seems that Costa Rica’s fun-loving people don’t take anything seriously. They say that the three most important things in a Costa Rican man’s life are women, beer and soccer but not necessarily in that order.  It’s a wonder anything gets done here with such a care-free attitude. This can be trying on a foreigner who is in a hurry or trying to get something important done.

I have come to discover that we can learn a lot from the way the locals approach life. They seem to slow down, smell the flowers, face problems with a good sense of humor and savor the moment a lot more than most Americans do.

On my monthly relocation tours I go into to Costa Rica psyche and culture in detail to help my clients understand the country and its people.