29
Jun
If you've been to Costa Rica, one of the comments you've probably made
to friends and family back home is OMG! The roads in Costa Rica are
just horrible!"
As you probably realized, driving and maintaining
vehicles in Costa Rica is a huge challenge! Our highway infrastructure
is difficult to maintain due to the treacherous, windy mountain roads,
uncountable rivers requiring the construction of expensive bridges,
landslides, pot holes and much more!
I think Robert Isenberg described it the best in his story called Biking from Sea to Shining Sea:
"...if you've spent only a few hours in Costa Rica, you know that
mountains, rivers, volcanoes and rain forest will always stand between
you and your destination. Every road curves, and most roads curve
epileptically. The landscape is corrugated and confusing, and even Ticos
get lost in its natural labyrinths. The highway pavement is often
pocked and potholed, and no amount of roadwork can make up for the rainy
season. Shoulders barely exist. Bike paths are rare. Drivers are
aggressive, not "crazy" as expats would have you believe but
definitely cavalier.
We
are always complaining the Costa Rican government isn't doing enough to
maintain our infrastructure, but the reality is it can't be easy and is
incredibly expensive to do so! Costa Rica gets quite a lot of
funding from other countries (especially China) for highway and other
construction projects which also raises some political concerns.
So... To Rent a Car or Not to Rent a Car? - That is the Question!
Our
solution for tourists for the Transportation Dilema? Let Desafio do the
driving! We have a nice fleet of modern vehicles that circulate all
over the country and we pride ourselves in our friendly, safe drivers.
Plus we offer FREE WiFi on board!
We created our Adventure
Connections to help clients save money and save time by doing an
adventure on the way from place to place. We like to say "Let the
Journey be the Adventure!"
And we are constantly upgrading our
vans - as a side note, it is a costly endeavor to operate transportation
in Costa Rica considering import taxes make our vehicle purchases on
average 30% more-expensive than vehicles in North America and mandatory
end-of-the-year licensing fees, insurance and permits are big expenses,
not to forget our fuel prices are higher than in North America.
Our
clients have told us that booking private transfers or shared-ride
shuttles and Adventure Connections are better options than driving on
your own in Costa Rica. We have heard stories from clients who
were driving on their own and got lost and were stranded some remote
place and missed out on doing their planned activities.
If you
book your transportation with Desafio, you don't have to worry about a
thing! We will also throw in some great discounts for our favorite
hotels in the places you want to visit if you book your transport with
us.
But, if you really want to brave the roads and rent a car, we
can help you choose a good rent a car agency. We urge you to download
the WAZE application - this little marvel of an electronic map will take
the headaches out of navigating in Costa Rica! We can also give you
some pointers on what to visit and where to eat along the way.
And
one last thing... Are you an air travel enthusiast? There are a few
options for domestic flights, as well. We like to work
with CarmonAir for chartered flights all over Costa Rica. Nothing like
getting some cool aerial shots of the rainforests, volcanoes and
mesmerizing coastline of Costa Rica!
Either way you go, you're bound to have exciting adventures along the way in Costa Rica!
Happy travels!
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