San Jose airport

Costa Rican license plate
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After a 1.5 hr flight from Bogota we finally arrived in Central America!

Costa Rica is the smallest but two of the Central American republics (after El Salvador and Belize) and only Panama and Belize have fewer inhabitants. Known throughout Latin America as the continent´s purest democracy, Costa Rica celebrated a centenary of democracy in 1989 (and does not have an army). The country has the highest standard of living in Central America, the highest literacy rate (95%), the second-lowest birth rate (after Panama) and the greatest degree of economic and social advancement. Its main attractions are its countryside, nature and wildlife. Most of its colonial heritage has been lost in earthquakes over the centuries.

After going through immigrations (very efficient and friendly and most officers were women) we tried to find some kind of tourist information office, but did not find any. We planned not to go into San Jose city as we wanted to cross the border with Nicaragua the next day and going into San Jose would mean back tracking (as the airport is 16km west of the capital). We wanted to catch a bus to Liberia, a village about 1.5 hrs drive to the border with Nicaragua.

So when we left the airport we managed to find a police officer kind enough to help us out. We noticed right away that most people here speak english and their skin is a lot paler than that of the people in South America.

The police officer arranged a taxi to a suburb. We had no Costa Rican money on us, but in Costa Rica you can pay with US dollars as well as local currency (Colon). From here (and after a long wait) we took a local bus to Liberia which took 4 hrs.