A beach, a beach, my kingdom for a beach.
5 a.m. pick up doesn’t sound like much fun and it isn’t. But this is the time, Caribe Shuttle leaves San Jose for Nicaragua. I missed the beaches in Panama. I missed the beaches in Costa Rica (the nice ones) so this time I made sure I will not miss the beaches in Nicaragua too. Thus this time I made sure I went directly to my beach destination with no ‘stopovers’ on the way.
Cannot recall having ever so much fun crossing any border as I had at Costa Rican/Nicaraguan. Other than having to show my passport over and over again it was the usual routine at Costa Rican border but once I crossed it (on foot), once I entered Nicaragua … OMG … party in full swing. Vendors everywhere; tons of people; taxis, buses, vans parked all over the place; music playing on full blast; even clowns entertaining arriving/leaving travelers. It felt like a carnival market somewhere in the Caribbean and not the border.
The trip itself took six hours and was uneventful, In fact, it was quite boring. Nothing to see and nothing to do. Trees, trees, and more trees. Bring your own entertainment to kill the time. Other than that? Things worked like a clockwork. We had to change the van twice; once in a town called Liberia and once at the border as tourist vans may not cross over. The only ‘event’ worth mentioning was an unbelievable scene of hundreds and hundreds of trucks forming a ten-kilometer long cue on a two-lane road (one lane in each direction) waiting to cross the border which (apparently) takes one week to accomplish. Just hope they don’t transport fresh fruit. Traffic the other way wasn’t moving either as we drove against it for good 15 minutes yet didn’t have to stop once to let the incoming trucks (or cars) through.
Changing vans in Liberia was like a walk in the park and the drivers took care of the luggage. Changing vans at the border was more of a hassle as you need to walk on foot with your luggage some 200-300 meters. But it worked. I managed without a problem to pull/drag my 23-kilo heavy suitcase on a (with an exception of the last 10 meters) quite presentable paved road.
Caribe Shuttle costs 70 USD and is the only door to door, ‘direct’ service from Costa Rica to Nicaragua. There are other, much much cheaper alternatives, but not as convenient as you need to get to the bus station in San Jose, change not only bus but also bus stations in Liberia which requires a taxi ride and once you cross the border on foot, you need to take yet another bus or taxi to your final destination in Nicaragua.
Note: It costs 8 USD to exit Costa Rica (bargain as the departure tax at the airport is a whopping 29 USD) and 13 USD to enter Nicaragua though you get a receipt for only 10. (Hmmm)
Same, same but different? You bet. Three siblings yet so unlike. The only thing Panama, Costa Rica and now also Nicaragua seem to have in common is gallo pinto (rice and beans).
It was, in fact, the Caribe Shuttle itself that surprised me with the second taste (after the border crossing) of the trio’s individual approach to life and order. Same company, same type of van yet so contrasting procedure. The luggage no longer went in the back but on the top. Top of the roof. I didn’t want my suitcase up there so the driver put it next to him in the passenger seat. And why not? The seat was vacant… half the way.
Following all the chaos at the border, I never expected to find the road leading to my destination so … first world country(?). But what surprised me the most were the countless wind turbines along the way. Quite a scene in a third world country.
I arrived at my Airbnb at 12.30, dropped off the suitcase, exchanged a few pleasantries and as soon as it was only feasible asked my host: “Which way to the beach?” and run off to check out the hottest spot in the country, the best surfing paradise in Latin America, a fishing village turned A Tourism City of Nicaragua – San Juan del Sur.
