Jan. 24 – Rivas, NI to Liberia, CR

We both got up late, took our cold shower, and went looking for breakfast, which we never did find.  We settled for some bad coffee and sweetbread at a panaderia.  It was noon before we were loaded up and on the road to the border only 30 miles or so away.

At the border, it took exactly one hour just to get the paperwork done to leave Nicaragua!  Is that nuts, or what?  Then, when we were attacked by the maggots claiming to be ‘helpers at the Costa Rica border, our pre-arranged answer of ¨No ayuda¨ actually worked, and they left us alone.  Again, Levi did all the work at the windows,  while I stood guard of the valuables,  and it took us an additional 2-1/2 hours to clear the border.

When were finally done, and had all the papers we needed to leave, we discovered that the exit road from the border station had become completely blocked with a simply un-imaginable and indescribable snarl of cars and trucks.  Somehow trucks had blocked both the exit and entrance roads, and then cars had tried to get past and blocked up the shoulders and everywhere else into one big gridlocked snarl. When they saw us waiting patiently for the mess to clear,  some of the truckers started signalling us to go around the mess.  So we started to thread our way, between the stalled trucks and cars, then over curbs and ditches, across sidewalks and driveways, around buses and pedestrians, and through spaces with barely inches to spare,  until we did finally get out!  I can’t imagine how they ever got that road cleared after we left!

Soon into Costa Rica,we noticed hot the scenery changed – from dry and brown to lush and green.  Really beautiful countryside.  We passed two police checkpoints, and were not even stopped for papers. What a change!

We were greeted by rainbows and volcanoes!  Very dramatic;  very  beautiful.  After 77 kilometers we reached Liberia,  a decent medium-sized town, and located a hostel with safe off-street parking.  Weather was perfect.  I had chocolate cake for dinner, and got a few mosquito bites while sleeping in the worlds worst bed.