BACKGROUND
Costa Rica (UK: /ˌkɒstə ˈriːkə/, US: /ˌkoʊstə/ (listen); Spanish: [ˈkosta ˈrika]; literally “Rich Coast”), officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of 51,060 km2 (19,710 sq mi). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.
The sovereign state is a unitary presidential constitutional republic. It has a long-standing and stable democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. Many foreign manufacturing and services companies operate in Costa Rica’s Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives.
Costa Rica was inhabited by indigenous peoples before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the First Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the Federal Republic of Central America, from which it formally declared independence in 1847. Following the brief Costa Rican Civil War in 1948, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army. [Wikipedia]
TRANSITION: YUCATÁN TO SAN JOSÉ
Travel from Merida, Yucatán to San José, Coast Rica was a solo trip. My arrival in Mexico City from Merida allowed me only 46 minutes walk to the departure gate for San José, Costa Rica. It was a short sprint from one terminal to the next with only one wrong turn. That turn cost me approximately 8 minutes which, once on the proper corridor, put me at gate seventy-seven at the precise boarding time. It was fortunate because my entry ticket to Mexico had to be returned to customs during departure. At the boarding gate I gave my pass to the attendant who handed me off to another clerk. The line was at a stand-still at that time and it was perfect timing. What’s better than that is the clerk, after checking my passport and entering my departure into the immigration system issued me a new ticket that placed my seat six rows closer to the front of the aircraft. Rows 14 and 15 on a Boeing 737-800 are also the emergency doors, which allows much more leg room between seats. I was happy to oblige. This also placed me in Zone 2 instead of Zone 5 for boarding, row 29 to row 15 is by far a more desirable position when rapid evacuation is the focus. This modification probably decreased my wait time by at least a few minutes.
LOGISTICS
Only a few hours prior to leaving the Merida, Yucatán hostel, El Tigre de Santiago, my evening was filled with searching for and booking a hostel, and booking a departure flight. A hasty decision was made to book a night at TripOn Open House hostel as it was one of the few advertising free breakfast and a kitchen. The ChillOut Escalante was the other reasonable option, however it didn’t have free breakfast (but it did have all-day and night coffee) – a very important accommodation during these travels. Due to limited time and searching for several hours the previous day without avail and to narrow the choices, those two accommodations were a requirement. This also disqualified a large percentage of otherwise listed hostels. I knew I wasn’t going to be there long and was uninterested in finding a market and investing half a day in directional challenges.
“Okay!”, the hostel had been booked. Now for the “exit strategy”, otherwise the risk was to be denied entry. Thank you to Maria and Chris at Verde Energia near Puriscal, Costa Rica, the important information regarding logistics was clearly stated, and received. No exit strategy, no entry. Due to undetermined probabilities, the option to purchase a flight from San José to Mexico City two days before 90 days was scheduled. There were other options, but at the time my interest to remain compliant and return to Costa Rica in the future were a greater focus. This also allowed some breathing room and is aligned with maintaining a higher vibration.
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