Lost in Limbo: The Unexpected Struggles of Crossing into Costa Rica

Travel has been both exceptionally affordable and easy so far in Nicaragua. The staff in the hostels spoke English, there was a long list of great tours and day trips to choose from, and shuttling from one place to the next was a breeze.

We had encountered some challenging, and even scary, border crossings on this trip, but I thought the one from Nicaragua to Costa Rica would be simple. I expected it to be easy. How wrong I was…

We wasted two days in San Juan del Sur just trying to find a company that would take us to the border.

First, we heard our hotel provided transportation, but not for at least another ten days (and only if they had enough people). Another hostel was a dead end, as were several travel agencies. Some had closed down, while others didn’t offer transport to Costa Rica at all. For those that did, we were told we would need to find enough people to fill the minibus ourselves. You might find this hard to believe, but we didn’t have a supply of 20 friends at our disposal who wanted to cross the border into Costa Rica exactly when we did.

Hot and frustrated from walking in circles and receiving bad news, we finally found a travel company willing to take us — at a hefty price, of course. The cost was more than all our previous border crossings combined, but we bit the bullet; we just wanted to get there.

Another quirky aspect of this border crossing was that it didn’t take us to any major tourist destination, a city, or even a town. Instead, they dropped us at a random car park outside an out-of-town shopping center in the middle of nowhere. We had no clue where we were. We sat on the concrete, using the supermarket Wi-Fi to figure out our next steps.

We realized that there was no way we could make it to Monte Verde that same day, so we would have to spend the night in a small town halfway there and leave for Monte Verde in the morning. I had read about a small waterfall near the town that we could visit, so it wouldn’t be a completely wasted day. We booked a hostel and managed to find a bus to take us there.

We arrived around 1 PM at a nice but empty hostel. The owners seemed shocked and horrified that we had arrived “too early” and didn’t know how to handle us. We explained that we didn’t need to check in right away; if we could just leave our bags and check in later, that would be fine. But then they suddenly changed their tune, saying there was a room ready for us. However, less than five minutes after we entered that room, they returned in a flurry, ushering us out.

“This isn’t your room! We’ve overbooked; there’s no room for you tonight!”

“Oh…”

“I have a friend who has a hostel; I will call him.”

We waited while she made the call. She assured us that her friend would be able to take us in, gave us the address, and said he would meet us there. We walked to the address and sat on the porch of a hostel that looked more like someone’s grandma’s home, waiting and waiting. After an hour, we decided to find some Wi-Fi to contact our original hostel, call their friend, and figure out where he was. He eventually arrived to check us in, and luckily we managed to secure a room for the night, but that took three hours after we had first arrived.

By that point, we no longer had time to visit the waterfall. The town was dull and, oddly enough, the windiest place I’ve ever been (being outside was unpleasant). We spent the rest of our time in a café, playing cards since there was nothing else to do.

After our third hot drink, we agreed that we didn’t feel like we were in Costa Rica yet — it felt more like we were in some strange limbo. I exclaimed.

“God, I miss flying!”

We couldn’t stop laughing.

The truth is, land borders are never simple or easy. But with a lot of patience, a sense of humour, and some good card games, you can shrug it off and accept that all that truly matters is making it to your destination.

Thank you for reading! Hearts and tips are always welcome, and your support is very much appreciated.

This story was originally published on Medium

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