A lot of people think that now there will be wholesale changes now that ICE will face competition.  I am not so sure… at least in the short term.  Let’s examine what has been happening. If this topic interests you, read on!

First,  ICE states that it will close or at least restructure Radiográfica Costarricense  (RACSA), its 245 employees, and move all those  Internet customers from Racsa, its wholly owned subsidiary, to its own network, affecting maybe  80.000 users.  RACSA customers would therefore be serviced by ICE and the rates would be unified.  Sound easy?  Nothing is so easy in Costa Rica.  Two issues here… and this gets a little screwy, so take notes!  Remember that RACSA, while owned by ICE, runs its own show.  RACSA customer service and in fact their overall service has been improving over the past several years  to the point where I now tell people they are quite good! RACSA also sells only Internet services (high speed and modem) but not communications.

ICE, however, is renowned for just terrible customer service and doing everything even remotely possible to inconvenience the customer base.  This is something that should not surprise anyone as most monopolies never have to compete and therefore do not have to deal with the concept of making the customer happy.   Further, the technicians at RACSA are clearly more knowledgeable, or perhaps they are more accessible.  Hard to tell… but either way, they solve issues whereas ICE techs often blame the problem on you or deny there is a problem.

OK… so with the existing structure, RACSA can re-sell Internet  service (i.e. wholesale it) and they do.  Two of their customers are Cabletica and Amnet both distributors of cable TV services. Both of those companies sell cable TV with optional Internet (cable modem Internet).  You can buy cable TV with no Internet connectivity, but you can not buy Internet service from them without buying the cable TV service as well.

Now when ICE restructures RACSA, Amnet and CableTica customers will be moved to ICE.  ICE though, does not sell cable services so far as I know… so that means if I am getting this correctly,  AMNET and CableTica customers will have to all have new DSL installs, new equipment, etc.  UGH! This will effectively put Amnet and CableTica out of the Internet business.  Why do we (or at least I) care?  Because CableTica has  hands down the best customer services of all the companies in my opinion. Those businesses using cable modem service from either company may therefore have some serious issues ahead of them. But…. now we have this:

THIS week,  Amnet has announced they will cut the umbilical with RACSA and sell Internet services directly.  How?  They must, of course, buy services and connectivity directly from ICE and must also arrange to connect to the two underwater international cables in Parrita and Limon that connect to the Internet backbone.

Sounds simple… huh? Oh, did I forget to mention that Amnet also announced that they will compete with ICE for the cell phone business in Costa Rica?  Amnet was purchased last year by cellular service provider Millicom International Cellular, S.A. .  Gee!  I wonder if ICE is happy about that! I betcha not!

Nothing so far from CableTica.

So why am I writing all this? Well for those of you old enough to remember, once upon a time in the giant country to the North, there was a pretty GOOD communications monopoly called American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). Their service was just about as good as you an get anywhere.

Well one day, the mean old US government said, “NO MORE MONOPOLIES”  and broke apart AT&T.  The problem was that AT&T owned all the land, all the infrastructure, all the wiring, all the central offices… well you get the point. Startup company MCI just did not open the doors.  AT&T made life VERY difficult with major issues as regarded setting wholesale rates to providing access to all the above infrastructure. On the surface, they seemed cheerful enough about having the competition… but that was on the surface.  It took years and a zillion law suits and more zillions or dollars before MCI truly entered the US communications market.

ICE has kind made it clear they have no plans to go peacefully into the night…. so I asked myself, “I wonder who in Costa Rica  owns all the land, all the infrastructure, all the wiring, all the central offices, routers, contracts with backbone providers….”.  Things that make you go… hmmmm.

I have no idea how communiations and Internet services in Costa Rica will be affected.  Maybe everyone will just get along and overall, services and customer support will reign supreme with many happy and properous companies each providing these better services at lower prices.  Or not….?  Comment welcome~!

Crow tasted just fine. Besides, I knew that some offended person would file an appeal with Sala IV, the Costa Rica Constitutional Court.They did, and just days ago, the court  deemed  this restriction unconstitutional and thus declared it null and void.

Basically, the court said that the Executive branch of the government does not have the legal power to impede or violate fundamental rights such as the liberty of transit.Hours later, the Transportation Minister ordered the  Policía de Tránsito (traffic police) to suspend the restrictions.

Now, days later, the traffic is back and San Jose is all but gridlocked. What’s that old Russian saying?  “Be careful what you wish for?”

About 10,000 tickets were handed out since the law went into effect.  None were paid though as the government waited to see if their restrictions were legal.

Clearly, something must be done and the MOPT is making noises about making a restriction under some other guise.  Personal liberty or no, I hope they succeed because the current traffic sitution is truly intolerable.

The government, getting fed up with the huge number of alcohol related traffic accidents and the resultant deaths, passed last December La Ley de Tránsito or simply new driving laws.

Although signed into law and effective last December 2008, I did not blog about it because there were sure to be a ton of appeals to the Costa Rica Supreme Courts, called Salas, regarding the legality of the new laws and the associated punishments which are truly severe. Sala IV has upheld some and is still considering others, but it is time to talk about these new laws. In this post, I will provide my thoughts and more important, a shortened list of the new laws and the associated fines and/or imprisonment.  If this topic is of interest, read on!

The new laws are nasty but are receiving huge popular support.  La Nacion did a survey of Ticos over age 18, and a whopping 77% supported the new laws. Many respondents  (58%) told La Nacion they had altered their lifestyle and simply no longer drink anything if they are driving. I guess the government was not alone in their concern for traffic safety. Further, the law seems to be having the desired affect! In January, drunk driving arrests dropped 53% and that ain’t bad!

Stuck towards the bottom of the results was the interesting fact that women had fewer traffic accidents than men.  OK, this is where you say, “Well Duh!”.  This was probably a shock in machista Costa Rica.   Guess they have not figured out that women tend to drive using their big head… but I digress!

As I said, these laws are tough.  Some of the fines, however, actually exceed the monthly salary of the transit officers, so that might make bribe taking a real possibility.

The new laws not only have the usual fines, called multas in Spanish, they also include a point system though the point system here bears no resemblance to the systems used in the USA.

Everyone starts with 50 points and when those are gone due to traffic violations… well…  so are you, at least on the roads. The points do not come back.

I would suggest readers also check out the section on drivers licenses in Costa Rica and owning a car here.

Below, I will break out the new laws and the associated fines and possible prison sentences involved.   I’ll put them is order of seriousness/fines/penalties.  Note that not all of these laws are effective today.  All drinking related laws ARE in effect, and the others phase in over the next months. All drivers are required to know these laws, so if you do not because you do not speak the language, that will not be a defense.

To be clear here! You get the fine AND the loss of points.

Example:  Driving (you or adult passenger) without seat belts.  Pay $310.00 AND you lose 20 points.  Same thing for talking on your cell phone

Jail – the biggie!

Reckless driving, speed more than 100 MPH (150 kph), death of a person from the accident (and perhaps injury!) blood alcohol level exceeding 0.75%. You get to keep your car (which is not too useful as you are in the slammer), but it may become State property at your trial. Loss of 50 points i.e. all your points.

No jail but real costly!

227,000 colones (or about $415.00 at today’s exchange rate) plus points lost

Category A offenses.

Reckless driving, in this case speed exceeding 80 MPH  (120 kph) 0.5%, drag racing. Lose 50 points.

Driving without a valid drivers license or learners permit  (and I would urge expats, especially those expat “perpetual tourists”)  to read this as this WILL affect you!

Driving under a suspended license.

Driving a child without proper safety seats (and you lose all 50 points).  Included is driving a motorcycle or any other motorized similar vehicle (like quadracycles with a minor and that minor has no helmet.

Transporting or carrying anything considered dangerous.  This is broad and I am not going to go into it, though I do wonder if this would include my menopausal wife…

170,250 colones or about $310.00 plus points lost

Category B stuff.  Includes driving 14 MPH over the speed limit, exceeding 16 MPH when passing schools entrances or exits, hospitals or clinics. PS:  These are many times NOT marked.  Lose 20 points.

Talking on your cell phone not using hands free.  Lose 20 points

Running a stop sign, illegal u-turn,  or driving a restricted vehicle.  Lose 1o points

Driving without the minimum insurance required by law.

Driving with illegal plates…. meaning I think, not corresponding to the car driven. Lose 20 points.

Driving older children but who are still minors not using seat belts. Lose 20 points.

Driving motorcycles or as above ANY similar vehicle without a helmet.  Lose 20 points.

Driving or carrying passengers (adults) and not using seat belts. Lose 20 points.

113,500 colones  ($210.00) plus the loss of points shown.

Driving in the wrong lane (I think).  Lose 15 points.

Driving a motorcycle between cars while stopped or moving.  Yeah sure! This will never be enforced.  Lose 15 points.

Driving too slow in high speed lane. Lose 15 points

Improper vehicle lights. Lose 15 points.

Driving too slow and impeding traffic and failure to yield to faster traffic.  Lose  15 points.

Stopping in the middle of an intersection blocking traffic. Lose 15 points.

Brakes lights etc, Lose 15 points

Driving a souped up vehicle that bypasses environmental pollution rules. Lose 15 points

Driving on the beach. Lose 15 points.

Driving a vehicle without plates.  Lose 15 points.

Improper passing.  Lose 15 points.

Littering or transporting garbage illegally.   Lose 20 points.

These are the biggies and the ones I believe might most affect my readers, whether tourists or visitors.

There are about 60 other items  such as driving the wrong way, excess cargo or passengers, driving without a windshield (I am serious), parking in handicapped zone,  tooting your horn in front of a hospital, driving on a foreign drivers license while in violation of your visa (US is 90 days), jaywalking, playing music too loud in the evening, failure to have your drivers license with you while driving, driving with an expired license,  failure to maintain assured clear distance,  etc.  The list goes on ad-nauseum and covers all the normal stuff.

Those fines range from 90,800 colones ($180.00) down to 22,700 colones ($40.00) and most include some loss of points.

As far as I can see, when/if you lose points they never come back. If you lose all your 50 points, you must take the driver’s exam again and perhaps attend driving school.  I can assure you that neither is offered in English.

In addition, there are another dozen or so that affect taxi drivers and other livery/bus drivers.  As I doubt any of my readers fall into this category, I have not included them.

While I am not thrilled with the fact that the points do not come back over time, I am generally happy with the law, though I also expect the extortion by transit officials to go way up. Clearly the problem is many of these fines, especially categories A and B, exceed or come close to the entire monthy income of many Ticos. The payoffs cometh methinks.

First… let’s look at what this is all about.

The two most popular forms of residency are Pensionado and Rentista. I am NOT going to cover the variations… just using generalities. For more info, Read This.

Pensionados must currently show a guaranteed for-life (not always easy!)  source of income of at least US $600.00 per month.  This is pretty easy to do if people  use their Social Security payments as the guaranteed source (or perhaps a military pension), but not always easy if funds are coming from the private sector.

Rentistas need to deposit $60,000 (equal to $1,000 per month for 60 months) in a Costa Rica bank to assure they have adequate funds on which to live. After 3 years, they can switch to Permanent Residency and no more deposits are required.

Both plans are fair, in fact far more fair than in just about any country in the world.

The proposed plans (you see the bold and italics?) would change this to $2,000 per month for Pensionados and $5,000 per month for Rentistas.

These of course, are the biggies.  $2,000 per month from Social Security would be difficult if not impossible unless one waited to perhaps age 74 to file and had paid in the max each year for many years. The vast majority of applicants would be thus eliminated.

The $5,000 per month for Rentistas would eliminate a huge number of applicants, leaving only a non-stop stream of real estate developers able to afford Costa Rica Rentista Residency… though with no one else coming, I guess they’d just have to sell their products to each other!

There are some other changes like… increasing the time to convert to Permanent residency to five years…  requiring all residents to join and pay to the CAJA – Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (”CCSS”) Costa Rica’s socialized medical care and retirement, which I think would be an excellent idea… and fining anyone who gives either Pensionados or Rentistas jobs as neither class are permitted to work legally.

One online source put the panic into a lot of folks by warning that it appears this law would be retroactive and affect all Rentistas and Pensionados at renewal… a truly stupid statement designed only to cause panic as Sala IV (the constitutional court) has never permitted that sort of thing.  Again, panic sells!

While I think many would agree that the current immigration law needs to be reviewed and changed, this is far away from actually happening.  By far away, I think six months to two years is about right.   I think it is getting a lot more difficult to live here on $600.00 per month, though not impossible I suppose.  At the other end, it does not take $5,000 per month to live here.

Readers of the ARCR Forums and other user groups have been given the email addresses of the various legislators to whom they can write their thoughts and opinions. In fact, there are even simple emails in Spanish!  I would urge you to do this if you wish to make your thoughts known.

Finally, and this is part of our culture, everyone seems to think that these proposed laws are aimed at US citizens.  This is pure silliness, of course.  It affects anyone from any country who wishes to live here legally.  If it were to be passed “as is”, it would cause far more damage than the good it would do. I think the chances of it passing are about nil.  The negative effects, like the immediate increase in perpetual tourism (or just illegal residency) would be an huge issue.  It further would send a message to the world that I am fairly sure Costa Rica does not want to send.

My advice?

Calm down… send emails if you wish but make them sound intelligent and well thought out.  As you can’t vote regardless of residency, using an agressive or threatening tone is not only stupid, it makes you sound like… well…  a Gringo… NOT a good thing in general.  Use logic! Don’t rant. Remember… Gringos are not nearly as important to the Costa Rican economy as many think we are.

Finally… If possible, begin your residency process now because if changes are made in the future, and there will be some changes for sure, , they almost assuredly will not affect current residents or applicants in process.

Happy New Year

North Americans and others always have a real problem understanding “how things work” in Costa Rica. In the USA, for example, laws are more or less clearly defined. The “rules” are clear. If you go to renew a drivers license, you know what has to be done, and you are confident that all the clerks and others who assist you will follow these rules. Nobody does things on-the-fly.

This is NOT the case in Costa Rica, and most assuredly it is not the case when dealing with migración.

While there is certainly law underlying the activities in most government offices, you can and often will be completely and totally at the mercy of the person assisting you. That means the actions of these people can be influenced by everything from “the word” passed down from above to whether they had a fight with their spouse the night before. In some cases, they simply do not have any idea what is the law nor the correct process.

In some past administrations, there was a distinct policy of xenophobia. This affected you whether dealing with immigration or simply going to the CAJA. The administration encouraged this and this was evident to all of us who lived through it. It flowed right from the casa amarilla (Costa Rica equivalent of the White House) to all levels, and it was often not fun to have to have to interact with any government office.

Things changed under the current Arias administration, and it is generally better now. Immigration certainly seems better from many reports, but still, you must understand that every time you interact with an immigration official, he can pretty much do as he pleases, and you have little recourse, or none. A good example of this is at entry points in Costa Rica. More and more perpetual tourists (those who flaunt the law and never get residency preferring to leave the country every 90 days to “renew” their visas) are being turned back at the borders or having the immigration agent refuse to stamp their passports upon re-entry. Some are simply told to go back and refused admittance. The problem is that this seems to be entirely at the whim of the official.

Anyway… back on topic… my permanent residency expired in July 2007. Because of some glitches in immigration, everyone got a free year, so my new expiration (vencimiento) was moved to July 2008, and I must now renew my cedula.

The process seems simple enough, but when dealing with any government office, there is always that feeling in the pit of your stomach. The process begins with a phone call made by me to immigration. Seems simple but may not be. To reach the immigration appointment person, you must dial a 900 number. Yes, kids, a 900 number here is used as in the USA. YOU pay for the call (5 colones per minute), and you better not mis-dial or you’ll get some porn business at $10.00 per minute! Further, the use of a 900 number is blocked on many phones in Costa Rica, especially if you do not own the phone number. That means it is possible you will need to go elsewhere to make the call.

As my regular readers know, I urge the learning of Spanish, and after today’s call, I especially urge it before you have to renew your residency. The process went smoothly. I dialed the number. A polite young man named Alejandro took me though the process and I now have an appointment in September. I need to make a deposit to the bank account of immigration in the amount of $58.00. Their bank is Banco de Costa Rica.

As there is little more to do at this point but wait until September, you will just have to wait for the update!

Pura Vida!

This phenomena occured on 9 June when I wrote the post entitled “3,000 Jobs Gone? Why?“. I am 99% sure I read in La Nacion that the new regulation had been published in La Gaceta. It appears I was wrong and it was not published. As Bugs Bunny would say, “Whatta maroon!”.

In Costa Rica, before a law or government decree can be enforced, it must be first published in La Gaceta. The fact that it was not explains why, during my (purely research based) visits to the various casinos, I found them operating as normal. So now I must grovel to my readers and apologize for the mistake. The rest of that post is just fine.

However some of these changes will be published… perhaps as soon as this week, though it seems the decree affecting hours may not be published. If it is, those 3,000 workers will be unemployed as nearly all casinos are 24 hour per day businesses, and the reduction to an 8 hour day (6PM to 2AM will certainly hurt a lot of people.

But… as the government does not appear any too anxious to publish the decree relating to hours, who knows? Could be somebody’s brain kicked in and they realize what a truly bad idea is the cutting of jobs.

Further, there seems to be some question as to whether these decrees will affect existing businesses. One of the new “rules” is that a casino must be part of (actually IN) a hotel and may not take up more than 15% of the total space. How places like the Horseshoe, a landmark and not connected to any hotel, will fare is anybodys guess. The same is true for the Fiesta Casino near the San Jose airport. It too stands alone.

Anyway… now you know!

Most foreigners living here feel they do have that right. Perhaps they do. Certainly, it is hard to not form opinions and even harder to keep those opinions to yourself. However, I have yet to hear of a case where a North American was asked his opinion on an issue by anyone in the government.

Saying that, there are times when the government does something that to me just makes no sense whatsoever. A few weeks ago, the government announced a new policy that for the life of me I did not understand and still do not understand.

The announcement I am referring to involved a edict telling casino operators that henceforth they would be limited to allowing casino gambling only from the hours or 6 PM to 2 AM. Further, casinos must be part of, meaning inside, the hotel. Costa Rica’s casinos are for the most part inside the hotels, but a few, like the large Fiesta Casino near the San Jose airport, are not attached to any hotel, though it is across the street from the Garden Court. Other rules included no direct access from the street, and rules about alcohol being served.

I thought immediately of the huge sums of money that these companies had invested in building the casinos. Really, invested in Costa Rica. I thought of the tourists that would be affected. I thought of the thousands of Ticos employed by the casinos. Basically I just asked myself why would they do such a thing? Tourism is the cash cow of Costa Rica. Why do anything to screw that up? Why take the chance of losing just one tourist?

I read a statement by someone in the tourism bureau that visitors to Costa Rica do not come here for the gambling and I thought “This guy is making decisions that affect thousands of jobs and a ton of tourists, yet has not a clue as to what he is talking about!

While technically he is right and gambling may not be the prime reason for choosing Costa Rica as a vacation spot, I know that when most people make their vacation plans, they take into consideration things to do as a family, things their kids can do, and things they can do as adults, especially if there are no kids on the trip. When I do play at the Fiesta, Del Rey, Cariari (now Doubletree) and others, those are not Ticos I am sitting next to! Most are foreigners and they are tourists. Lots of people, especially from the US do look to see if gambling is available probably because so many states prohibit it and vacation is a great time for some harmless sinning!

Why is it so hard for Ticos to realize that tourism is a business, and if they want their share of those vacation dollars, they sure better offer services at least equal to all the other Caribbean vacation spots. They should be thinking of offering more services, not less.

If that is not enough, the cutback in hours and the closing entirely of some casinos would mean the loss of 3,000 jobs. 3,000 jobs would be a big deal in the US with what, close to 300 million people? The population of Costa Rica is under 5 million. 3,000 jobs. Incredible. For what?

I like to play Blackjack, or as that is not really available here, the Costa Rican version called Rummy. I play maybe every two months or so, so I am far from being a regular client. Still, it means I could now go only at night, and as that is the time I spend with my wife, I can not go when I want and now, maybe not at all. I felt really irritated.

I waited all this time to blog about this as I wanted to see if this would be read into the legal newspaper which is the final step in activation of any new law in Costa Rica. It was. I thought to myself that certainly someone would come to their senses and stop this silliness. They didn’t. It is now law. One newspaper on May 9 informed the readers that this law was now being enforced.

So this week, when I had an opportunity to meet with a client in the Del Rey Hotel (at 11:00 AM), I was surprised to see the casino operating all tables! Hmmm! How could this be? A quick stop at the Fiesta showed me that they too were open in the afternoon. Huh? What happened to the new law? Were the jobs lost? What happened to the law? Shrug.

Odd huh? Makes me wonder why I wrote this post.

Life in the tropics.

Costa Rica! No Artificial Ingredients! A types need not apply.

I can now say that this law has been changed and the news is good and bad.

The good news is that you may now once again bring your birds to Costa Rica.

The odd part? You may NEVER export those birds to any other country after they are here! I guess this should be called the bird version of Hotel California… You can check in, but you can never leave…

Therefore, as I have written at least 1,000 times before, if you are not 100% SURE that you will want to live permanently in Costa Rica (currently about 50% leave before first year), I would urge you NOT to bring your pet birds until you have lived here at least 6-9 months and are sure this will be a lifelong move.

For further information, I would suggest contact ARCR . I am sure members can get the hot skinny on this topic.

Is residency required to obtain a driver’s license in Costa Ria and is a test required?

Not yet! However there is now a bill before lawmakers that requires this, and it looks like it has a good chance of passing. As your right to drive here is tied to your being in the country legally, this might spell problems for those here illegally (past their 90 or 30 day tourist visa).

Do you know if the CCSS insurance covers pre-existing conditions?

They do. I actually hope this changes and I think it must. Too many people are coming to Costa Rica with VERY costly illnesses and this places an enormous burden on the already financially strapped CAJA.

I loved your website, very helpful. I do have a suggestions; maybe you can include more information for MOPT offices, hospitals, clinics, etc; in other areas, like Guanacaste where the expat populations is very high.

The hospitals (CAJA) are listed in the Real Costa Rica. There are VERY few private hospitals in Guanacaste and the “clinics” would shock the average expat. This is why I have ranted about 400 times that if you are over 50, you should consider whether you wish to be 4-5 hours from quality medical care. Expats love that beach, but seem to forget that over 50, your chances of needing emergency medical care go way up. Even in San Jose. getting an ambulance and getting to the hospital can take an hour. Just two weeks ago, three persons died in Escazu (10 minutes from Cima Hospital) because the ambulance arrived 50 minutes after it was called. Consider this when moving here!

There are MOPT (Ministry of Public Transportation) in Liberia and Limon, but the reason I have not listed them is that I have been told my many expats that those offices cannot issue driver’s licenses and are not full service.  I’d love some feedback on this as I am getting mixed signals.

Your website is very informative. Thank you. Quick question: I have an opportunity to work in Costa Rica for a couple years (have been there several times). My wifes main objection is that she does not want to live where she cannot fluch (sic) toilet paper. Is it possible to rent homes with plumbing that can handle TP?

I was not going to answer this, but then I remembered why I wrote The REAL Costa Rica in the first place which was to debunk these generalities!

Yes, there are about a jillion places to buy or rent homes with toilets that can handle paper. This is one of those truly dumb urban legends that surface on occasion… probably based on either plumbing from the last century or places that used really cheap toilets. Also, there are some older homes where the pipes are too small. Easy to find out! FLUSH before you BUY (or rent)… something you should be doing anyway! Now if you are one of those people (read GUYS) who use about a half a roll to take care of your business, then you may have a issue.

Hello, my name is Dave, I am the fire chief at Nancy Run Fire Department I am trying to locate one of our old fire trucks that was sent to Costa Rica some time ago, I was seen at a parade called the fiesta palmares, see photo attached, I am hoping to find where it is currently located and contact information for the department that is using it. The fire truck is a 1964 Mack, yellow in color with the above listed fire company name on it.

So here is the photo (click to enlarge)! Any of you readers able to help? If so, email him at djb2328@rcn.com

When a cable company advertises cable modem speed 4 mb would that really be 4 mb? After reading your segment on the internet I wondered if they could really deliver that speed.

Probably not. I know I have never received even close to what I pay for (2MB). First, the infrastructure is generally crummy and second, you are sharing the connect with your neighbors. Order 50% more than you need and you will probably be happy. Also, expect a fair bit of downtime from the company you mentioned in your email.

We are planning our first visit for June 2008, and would appreciate any
feedback you have on the tentative following itinerary for myself, my wife,
and our two daughters, ages 11 and 9:

June 24 depart LAX – redeye
June 25 arrive San Jose around noon and take private van to Monteverde
June 26 fun and games in Monteverde
June 27 private van to Arenal
June 28 fun and games in Arenal
June 29 private van to Tamarindo
June 30 fun and games in Tamarindo
July 1 private van to Grecia
July 2 shuttle/van to airport, San Jose – LAX

I almost never answer these questions (or even reply) as I tell people I am not a travel agent. It occurred to me though, that this is a great example of why not to plan your own trip without the assistance of a good travel agent. Let’s take a look at this.

Monteverde is about 5-6 hours from the San Jose airport and about 2 hours from the Liberia airport. Is Liberia a better option?

Next, there are few vans that can handle the truly horrible road to Monteverde. A 4X4 is required. A tank would be better! Beautiful place though for sure! I love it!

Then to Arenal? Same issue. 4X4! Lovely drive – 2-3 hours depending on roads. Go North around the top of Lake Arenal.

To Tamarindo? 3-4 hours I am guessing. Loooong drive with young kids on bad roads (until you reach the Pan American Highway.

Tamarindo to Grecia? 5-7 hours. Lose a day just driving. Good roads though and a van would be OK.

You chose some GREAT places to visit, but after counting your drive hours (about 17-20 including the trip to the airport), you should be prepared for some grumpy kids and the perhaps serious loss of some vacation time. Now if you and the kids all really enjoy driving… well then give it a shot! You’ll pass through some beautiful country.

In summary, it is very tempting to look at a Costa Rica map and make plans based on what you THINK looks close. When traveling here, plan on an average travel speed of 20-25 MPH. Sound low? It is not. A 100 mile (150KM) trip here is at least 3-4 hours if you know where you are going. Bad roads are everywhere. Just this week I informed two of my tourist customers that the Pan American highway south is closed. They had no idea and had they followed their original plans, would have lost 6-8 hours getting back on track.

There are some excellent US based travel agents who really do know Costa Rica. Sadly, the majority read the same travel brochures and web sites you do and that is not enough. I always suggest a good Costa Rica based TA as they know what is happening here.

That’s it ’til the next batch.

Not long ago, President Óscar Arias Sánchez signed into law (”Ley de penalización de violencia contra las mujeres”) a truly controversial measure that provides tougher and longer sentences for the murder of women than of men.

While that in itself seems odd to me, the kicker is it also makes it a crime to insult a woman. Here I am not just speaking of a woman on the street or in the workplace. I am referring to any woman… even a wife or daughter. The law punishes men who are physically and/or psychologically abusive of women, especially a wife, live-in partner or girlfriend.

Theoretically, the law was designed to place some limits on the famous Latino “macho” behavior prevalent here and in many Latin countries.  Good luck!  Like a law is going to change a culture!

Like most, I have been in a lot of relationships in my life, but I have never struck a woman (other than my sister Pam when I was 11 and she deserved it) though I am sure that I have said things that were just wrong while in the heat of battle. The women also certainly did not remain mum during these conflicts. Couples fight, at least just about all the couples I know. This law certainly places some interesting new rules on the average couple in Costa Rica.

The new law provides sentences of from six months to two years in prison for a male who ridicules or frightens his female companion. It also provides protection against something called “psychological aggression.” That is defined as saying pretty much anything negative to your partner that would cause her distress. WOW!  How is THAT determined?

A comment like “you seem to be gaining a little weight” or the like, is now cause for imprisonment! Say that to a woman in menopause (like my wife), and it would be the man (me) who would be dodging a knife!

Kidding aside, I often call my wife Gordita… a (true) term of endearment but literally translates to “little fat girl”. Does that make me eligible for the slammer? Guess so!  She also calls me Gordito, a far more accurate word when used for me as my wife is quite thin whereas I have problems seeing my feet without tilting forward a bit.

The new penalty for actually killing the female companion is 20 to 35 years. The penalty for a “typical” murder, (read that as killing a man I guess), is 12 to 18 years. Huh? Good to know my life is worth about half of any woman’s life. (Please, no comment from my ex-wife). The current law sets outs the same sentence in the case of murder of a wife or live-in partner but only in the case where there are one or more children created from the union.

So I guess it is best to kill her before you have babies?

I am certainly not against women here, but am I the only one who thinks this is just nuts??

The bill was passed 45 in favor and 3 against after having been in the asemblea for 7 or 8 years. It never got close to passing before, but seemed to have 9 lives as it would always be resurrected after some particularly nasty domestic violence resulting in the death of the female. We even have a new word! Femicide!

Jails here are already badly overcrowded, crime is on the increase and now this?

I cannot see how this law can possibly withstand the sure-to-come appeal to Sala IV, the constitutional court of Costa Rica, but I am getting very concerned that CR is now on its way to being as dumb as the USA in making biased unreasonable laws based on PC and various “causes”.