It's easy to fly into Costa Rica.... but everyone who leaves must pay a "tax" upon departure. If you've ever crossed that bridge into Prince Edward Island, you know what I'm talking about... doesn't cost a thing to get in, however, the toll to cross the bridge out costs about $30. Well, here , it's about $30 a person to leave...
You can get this done at the airport, put there is a bank just on the east end of Coco where you can do it and avoid one more line at the airport....
We walked there today...
Yeah, it's another 4 weeks before we leave, but Bill & I are both folks who like to have our ducks in a row ahead of time. So.... we walked our bods up there... had passports in hand.... took a number and waited in line until it was our turn...
I took this photo through the window... from the outside looking in.
Costa Rican banks are a little (!) different from the USA... we had to go through security, including showing our passports, taking off our hats and sunglasses.... looking up into the security camera... before being allowed to enter. No problem.... all we want is to pay our exit tax, we don't want to rob the place.
After taking our number (#347) and waiting for maybe 20 minutes, we were summoned to one of the kiosks.....
We paid our $31 (US dollars) each, got our exit forms to take to the airport.... and headed back down the road.
As we were walking up our hill..... and I've mentioned before that it's one heck of a BIG hill, we saw a guy who'd parked his bicycle... one of those he'd attached a cart-like affair to the back. We've seen him before, and were fairly certain he's one of the guys who collect recyclables to .... well recycle. So we stopped and asked him if he'd take plastico...... he said, yes, he did.... we told him we live at the top of the hill.
We really don't have much aluminum to recycle... most of what we buy is 2 litre bottles of Canada Dry or Green tea... and we sure have a lot of those...
These bags are all filled with empty 2 liter bottles that can/should be recycled.
We trudged up the hill... Bill got everything in order... and eventually, Guadalupe, (yeah, that's his name) came up to see what we had. He didn't push his big tricycle up the hill....
But his eyes lit up when he saw our stash....
He carefully knotted all those bags together....
And headed back to his bike.
Bill gave him some "extra" colones for carting off our stuff...
Last we saw Guadalupe, he had a big grin on his face.... made him and us both happy today.
Later today we met our new neighbor... Robin, who is a State Trooper in Michigan. She and her cousin will be around for the next day or so..... I almost put away my glass of wine when we were introduced, but instead decided to offer her a glass....
All Right! She took a glass of red, and we sat around and talked for a half hour or so...
Hey, folks! What more can a person ask for?
That's All For Today!
Like you, Sharon, I also like to get everything in order ahead of time. It was interesting to read about the bank security too. Your stay seems to have gone quickly and hope the last 4 weeks go smoothly with lots of adventures for us to read and see. Nice that the recyclables were taken away.
ReplyDeleteYup, banks are sure different depending on which country you're in. I'd bet they never get robbed though. Our little bank in Delden, when we lived in the Netherlands, DID NOT HANDLE CASH. Period. You could get it from the ATM outside, but that was it.
ReplyDeleteIf you wanted to put money in, you had to go to the nearest city (about 6km) which was Hengelo.
Well now. That place wasn't going to get robbed either. Not as "secure" as the Costa Rican situation, but you didn't get up to a teller without going through two sets of doors, and finding yourself in a locked "chamber" until the teller would let you advance.
It was...interesting.
We would have been at the bank early just like you two! Isn't it satisfying that Guadalupe did you the favor of hauling all that stuff away but you also did him a favor by giving it to him!?!
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way: I like everything organized and lined out ahead of time. That's interesting about their banks.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what's the harm in doing things early? And, my experience in Central America is that things can 'change' but not so drastically if you have all your ducks in order. Enjoy this wonderful sojourn up until the very last moment.
ReplyDeleteNothing better than good conversation with a sip of wine. One question, though. Since you gave away a glass of wine, are you sure you'll have enough left to last out the month?? ;)
ReplyDeleteSounds like and awesome day all the way around.
ReplyDeleteI have my own personal method of organization, it is called chaos, you know, a state of confusion and disorder.
ReplyDeleteIt costs around $30 to leave Honduras as well. And yes, the banks have the same level of security. One nice thing though is that they have special lines for 'older' people as well as pregnant women that are shorter.
ReplyDeleteGuadalupe has you one his route now, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteI guess you could say you're worth thirty one bucks!!!
ReplyDelete