From Arenal to Manuel Antonio

Today was our last day in Arenal and we were not yet sure how will we be getting to our next destination, Manuel Antonio.

When I initially planned the vacation out, I had Monte Verde as our next destination for 2 nights. When we decided to spend an extra night in Tortuguero we also decided to skip Monte Verde and stay an extra night in Manuel Antonio as well....but how to get there?

There was a nice option of Jeep/boat/horseback option, unfortunately that would only take us as far as Monte Verde. There are bus routes and tours...or a cab.

The cab was out of the question after our ordeal to get to this hotel, I had no interest in giving it another try anytime soon (not for long drives anyway)...so we asked the front desk if the driver we had yesterday had any interest in taking us to Manuel Antonio. I had a good idea of how much did a transfer costed from a bit of internet research and when the rate the driver asked was not much over we were happy to agree to it.

The driver had made a very good impression on us and  we felt a lot more comfortable with him then trying someone new that may or not be like the cab driver we had.

After checking out we hopped in his car and off we went. He let us know that the drive will be long 4 hours minimum and with some road construction in the area we were heading it could be more like 6 hours. So, when he asked us if we would be ok if his wife came along we were more then happy to accommodate (keep in mind he had to do the return drive at night alone if not...)

We picked up his wife and asked him to take us to a bank. While most hotels and motels accept credit cards, the canadian debit cards do not always work and most smaller restaurant or stores prefer cash (Costa Rican colones or USD).

We stopped at a bank and tried our debit cards...they got rejected...with a very puzzled look we tried again with the same result. As soon as our driver noticed our puzzled look suggested that we go in and talk to a teller, which I would have never thought about since this was not our bank, but a local one....

While from the outside this bank looked like any other building in the area and the room with the ATMs was very similar to the ones at the entrance of any Canadian or American bank, getting access to the main area of the bank where the tellers were was a completely different experience. There was a huge revolving cylinder with only one entrance to the middle of the cylinder. There was also a small normal door next to it, but was locked and guarded by a guard with a semi-automatic.

The revolving door was operated from the inside by one of the guards (not the one next to the desk). The revolving door turned with the opening to the side where we were and our driver stepped in the middle, the opening then turned very slowly around until it was on the other side and he could gain access to the bank. After what looked like a small conversation with the guard our driver came back out and signalled that we should go in (one at a time) with our bank card and passports. We did just that, wondering at the level of technology behind this door and not being able not to notice that the guards were caring pistols and semi-automatics....just the look of the guards should keep any robbers away...not to mention that ones in you have no easy way out....funny, but ones inside I felt extremely safe, more then I ever felt in any other bank.

There was a teller that was designated for tourists. She spoke a few different languages which were marked on her desk, this made things a lot easier. We explained that our cards got rejected at the ATM and she showed us something we never paid any attention to...the back of our cards, and the different logos on them. She explained that while her bank does not accept our card, there are other banks (5 others) in the area alone that do and we should just look that the ATM has the same logos on it like the back of our card. We thanked her and left.

Getting out was quicker as there was no one in the room with the ATM machines and the guard punched in a code and opened the side door and we were out much faster then the revolving door.

Our driver was in the car and asked us if we got the money...when he heard no he explained that he will take us to a different one, we tried to tell him that we are ok and we can figure it out in Manuel Antonio (we already paid him and just wanted to pull more money out for the next few days), but he told us that we paid him to be our driver so he will drive us where we need since there are plenty of banks in the area...the next one we went to was the correct type and we had no problem in getting the cash.

After we left La Fortuna, we only stopped ones at a gas station were we used the bathroom and picked up some chips, chocolates and pop. Whenever we have to buy things from gas stations we always stick to international brands that are prepackaged and have an expiration date (Lays, Mars, Snickers, Pepsi)....they may not be the healthiest options but you do not have to fear food poisoning or other issues when on a long drive. The car we were in had air conditioner vents in the back that we were able to control, so the hear from outside did not affect us that much.

As mentioned, not far before Quepos we hit road construction. A road that had one lane going North and one going South, now had only one lane that had to be shared. There were workers directing traffic and when we past the actual construction area we were impressed to see workers actually working from the start of the closure until the end of it (keep in mind we are from Toronto). They were pouring asphalt at +35 C. Our driver took this opportunity to call the hotel we were going to to get the exact location and local directions, and also to let them know that we will be there later in the afternoon.

About an hour or so later we arrived at our destination Hotel Plinio.