By Joe Richards
It took me less than 24 hours from getting my first Costa Rica stamp on my passport that I gained valuable insight into the social microcosm of bus riding. Arriving to Costa Rica for the very first
time the previous night, I was on a new-country-feelgood-buzz. It was fall 2001, and I was just starting my study abroad program in Golfito; the group was flying down to Golfito, but a few
of us cheapos decided to take the 8-hour bus ride for $7. We’ll arrive to the bus station nice and early, maybe an hour or so, that way we’ll surely get tickets. Let’s
just say I learned a new term in Spanish that day, a pie. A bad gut feeling sunk in as the driver, ticket agent, and passengers were saying it and sort of shaking their heads and grimacing. I
soon found out it meant “standing”. Eight hours. I learned the first unwritten rule that day: you must buy your ticket a day in advance if you want a reserved seat on a direct
bus.
Since then I’ve taken many a bus rides in Costa Rica and have had more than enough time to soak in written and mainly unwritten rules; that would include during the 4-hour ride from
Golfito to Pavones, which couldn’t have been more than a couple dozen kilometers, but we must have stopped at every single little village on the way. Here’s a summary of, to put
it nicely, the challenges:
- There is simply no such thing as a full bus. Period. David Copperfield has nothing on these drivers; when you think it would defy the laws of physics to get one more person
on and you’re so relieved to see that three people are getting off at the next stop, six more get on. In more ways than one, it’s like one of those clown cars at the circus, except
I’m in it.
- That thing that looks like an aisle in between the two rows of seats is not actually an aisle; it is two more rows, a pie. 25 people in each row of seats, and 25 people down the middle;
who cares that the middle is only a third as wide as the seat aisles. And yes, I did actually count.
- A reserved seat is pretty much as nonnegotiable as “I called it first” in the US. Two 40-pound kids can each have their own seat, if they have a reserved ticket. So
if they’re a third my size, my space in the aisle is a third the size of their seats, they have 9x as much space as me. I did the math when I was really disgruntled after like 2 hours
of standing butt to chest with Ticos, while staring at these kids kicking their legs and jumping around in their seats.
- Ticos don’t (insert explicative here). With the thousands of fellow passengers I’ve traveled around with and the hundreds of hours spent on buses, not once have we made
a stop for an emergency bathroom break. Another reason to “do as the Ticos do”: if your bus stops for a break, eat and drink as they do, there’s a reason for it.
- Hold on to your belongings or they’ll be stolen. It’s simple. A Tico will never leave their stuff in the upper racks.
Not that bussing in Costa Rica is bad. Here are some positives:
- The busses operate in their own dimension of time, separate from the rest of the country, what we foreigners call “on time”. In a country where everything gets done mañana
and simply showing up at all is within the realm of ‘on time’, these busses are really a freakish cultural mutation. If you’re ever frustrated by ‘tico
time’, just go hop on a bus from its departing destination; it’s an oasis of impeccable punctuality.
- On a bus in Costa Rica I’ve never met someone I didn’t have anything in common with. Ticos are generally very open and interested in conversing with their temporary Gringo
neighbor. The fact is, the rides are usually so long that you’d go nuts if you don’t talk with someone, so it’s easy to find common ground and, sometimes, someone nuts to talk
with.
- Cheap, sometime dirty, and productive. No, not the mujeres de la calle in San José. These busses run often, regular, can be comfortable (if you have a reserved
seat), and typically cost about $1 - $2 per hour of ride. Be sure to get the directo bus whenever possible.
Riding the bus in Costa Rica can be very practical and economical, and it will allow you to experience Costa Rica the way Costa Ricans do. Just be sure to pack a watch, buy your ticket early,
and strike up a conversation with the Tico next to you.
Joe Richards is the owner of Mango Travel (www.travelmango.net), a group adventure travel company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota – USA. joe@travelmango.net
1900 Stevens Ave. #25
Minneapolis, MN 55403