Crossing Borders: Costa Rica to Nicaragua

Along Dusty Road's guide to Crossing Borders: Nicaragua to Costa Rica is a very good resource for step-by-step guide to crossing borders between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. I wish I had the guide downloaded ready for reference instead of trying to recall from memory. After just completing the border run from Costa Rica to Nicaragua yesterday, I've got a few notes I want to add to make it easier for Ryan, who is traveling up north in a few days, and for all other travelers.

Exit Costa Rica - Enter Nicaragua

#1  All Roads Lead to Penas Blancas

Bus from Liberia to Penas Blancas ($3, 2 hours). The bus picks up and drops off passengers along the road, so depending on how many stops the bus makes, the ride took just shy of 2 hours.

#2  Exit Costa Rica (30 minutes)

Once off the bus, go to the first official looking building on the left side of the road, which is the Costa Rican departure building. There were only a few travelers at the time, but there were cones that form a queue out the door, which suggest that there could be a long wait here.

Entering the building, go to the first available agent and ask for a form to fill out. Remember to bring your own pen!

Pay the $7 departure tax at the machine in the departure building. Credit cards only. Along Dusty Road suggests that there are other ways to pay if the machine didn't work, but luckily there was a staff on hand to help. The trick seems to be that you have to swipe the passport and the credit card at the right speed (fast-ish) in order for the machine to read them.

Return to the agent with the filled form and exit tax receipt in exchange for a stamp in your passport.

#3  Enter Nicaragua (1 hour)

From here, it was confusing as there are no signs on where to go next. Exit the departure building and continue walking on the road for 5-10 minutes towards Nicaragua. Stay to the right side of the road to go through several passport check-points that checks for your exit stamp. Walk past the soldiers with automatic rifles, walk past the man with the handheld cannon, and walk past the building on the left (though you'll come back to this building later). The Nicaraguan entry and departure building is off to the right. The near side of the building is for departing Nicaragua, so you'll want to go around the other side of the building for entry into Nicaragua.

Pay $1 (USD, colones and cordobas all accepted) to enter the Rivas area. There was a really long wait, but once you get up to the counter, pay another $12 for entry into Nicaragua. This is a good opportunity to change USD for cordobas if you pay with a $20 US bill, then you'll get enough change in cordobas which should be good for the rest of the transport fee for the day.

After you get the entry stamp in the passport, head back towards the building that we walked past initially. There is a small gate just before the building, which is the entrance to Nicaragua.

#4 Catch the Bus to Rivas or Granada

Once out of the border zone, walk 100 meters and the bus to Rivas or Granada will be in a parking lot on the left. The bus to Rivas (20 cordobas or $1, 45 minutes) is an old school bus whereas the bus to Granada is newer that looks more like a tour bus.

From Rivas, I shared a taxi to San Jorge ferry port. Avoid the non-official taxi drivers as they are ready to rip you off. Even if you come to a negotiated price, the taxi drivers will change the price midway in the drive, threatening that if we don't pay more, we would miss the 3:30pm ferry. There was no 3:30pm ferry. After an hour's wait, I caught the 4:30pm ferry. An hour ferry and a 45-minute taxi ride later, I arrived at my hotel on the Santo Domingo beach at 7pm, eight hours after I left Liberia. A long day....

Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising from Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome and tepetl, meaning two mountains. It is the largest island in Lake Nicaragua.

Last tips:

• Have food and water for the long journey
• Have small coins to use the restroom in the border zone

January: A Month of New Resolutions Made & Broken

It has been a very busy month of moving and adjusting to living in the jungle, completing 200-hour yoga teacher training, and enjoying life to the fullest. I used to think that I live life fully, taking advantage of each day as best as I know how. But this past month has shown me that it's possible to exceed that. Looking back, I, along with many of my classmates here, feel like we've lived double or even triple number of days in each day.

Here are some resolutions or things that I've tried in January:

No coffee for a month
I'm a strong believer of "A cup a day keeps the doctor away!", so to say no to coffee for the month during yoga teacher training is not an easy feat. I did it though! I almost broke down on day 17 (which was the maximum number of days that I've once tried to go without coffee), but my good friends here have persuaded me otherwise (or, to be exact, they physically removed coffee from my vicinity).

My thoughts after a month without coffee? "Life's too short to live without coffee!" It was a good experiment, but I'll stick to "un cafe, por favor!"

Eating Vegetarian
The recommended diet during our yoga teacher training is Ovo-Lacto-Vegetarian with a little protein from time to time but preferably no red meat. Eating vegetarian isn't difficult here when there is an abundance of vegetables and fruits in Costa Rica. The only exception I make to this is the most delicious ceviche with yuca fries at The Harmony Hotel on the weekends.

Will I stay a vegetarian / pescatarian? No thanks!

I believe in eating a balanced, healthy meal with all of the natural foods that the earth has provided for us while being conscientious about the source of our foods by supporting your local, organic farmers. You know your food is raised in a humane way, when everyday I see chickens cross the road and I think to myself: "Why did the chicken cross the road?" because everyday the chickens here roam freely everywhere. No cage, no farm, the way nature was intended to be.

Surfing a short board
I learned to surf about a year ago. Since then, I haven't touched another surf board. Life is busy here, so I haven't surfed everyday like I had planned to. One day, I borrowed a board that is way too short for me and jumped in the white water. Surprisingly, I got on the short board on the second try. Wow, what a thrill! I'll stop there and not mention that it took at least ten more tries until I got on the short board again. Pura vida!

Teaching My First Yoga Class
I taught my first yoga class at the Treetop Studio which was where I took my first yoga class when I visited Nosara. It felt like a full circle, a home coming! Instead of relaxing on the weekend, I "spotified" for the perfect yoga playlist, practiced the flow sequence over and over again until I got the timing down, and spent way more time and energy stressing over it than I needed to.

As soon as I stepped onto the mat at the front of the studio, everything just happens as it happens. Not perfect as I have practiced it in my mind, but rather it was better than I imagined it. Based on the class feedback, I think I found my yoga voice!

Witnessing Transformations, Levitations, and Miracles
Throughout the month, I watched the class "form, norm, storm, perform, and transform." During one of the last days, Don led us through an energy flow exercise and I levitated! If you had asked me a month ago whether I believe in levitation, it was a resounding "No". As my partner, Judy, performed the energy flow on me, I felt heat and hot air pushing my arms up towards the sky. I had my eyes closed, so I thought this could be just my imagination. As the exercise was ending, I felt the heat and the hot air dissipating from underneath me. I had to see it for myself to believe it, so I sneaked a peek to see whether my arms have moved at all on their own, and sure enough, it had defied gravity!