Costa Rica
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Backpacking Costa Rica: The Country I Knew Almost Immediately Wasn’t for Me
Costa Rica was the second country of my three-week Central America trip and officially country 52 out of 197. We had just left Bocas del Toro in Panama and were making our way north with basically no fixed plan other than eventually reaching Mexico. Costa Rica was supposed to be another stop along the way, and Puerto Viejo sounded like the obvious place to start because everyone kept talking about how cool it was. Unfortunately, Costa Rica and I did not exactly fall in love. I barely spent any time there, so I know it might sound unfair to say it became one of my least favorite countries in Central…
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Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo: How I Traveled Overland to Costa Rica
Getting from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo is actually pretty straightforward, but apparently my friend and I decided straightforward was unnecessary. We were traveling overland through Central America with backpacks and trying to keep the trip as cheap as possible, so instead of booking a direct transfer from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo, we took the boat back to Almirante, hitchhiked to the Costa Rica border and then jumped on a local bus to Puerto Viejo. It was my first time hitchhiking, I was convinced there was at least a reasonable possibility we were going to get kidnapped, and my friend was once again wondering why he had…
