Costa Rica river crossings

1 Jul

Let me start off by saying that the roads here are CRAP! Costa Rica is the wealthiest country in Central America and locals pay pretty high taxes. There are hordes of tourists that travel to this country by either giant tour bus or navigate on their own, but for some reason, none of the wealth here flows to repair or maintain the roads. So it shouldn’t be surprising that a lot of roads continue through river beds.

During the dry season, this isn’t an issue. But from May until November, the rainy season, some of rivers flow so high, the normal road is impassible. Instead, drivers are forced to go 3+ hours out of their way to cross to a city that is right on the other side. Minimal measures have been taken to make travel on these roads more effective. One of the rivers we crossed had the base set up for a bridge but no work had been done to complete the bridge in about 30 years.

When Hani learned that we would encounter some rivers we may have to forge, he was pumped. Actually, pumped was an understatement. He paid close attention to the locals’ description of how to cross the river and not how to avoid it.

So without further ado, I give you our river crossings:

Crossing a river around Lake Arenal