School starts for the boys in 3 days and we need to find a way to transport them to and from school. For better or worse, our condo is on the south side of Tamarindo, while their school is on the north side. Poor planning, perhaps, but we just couldn’t find anything close to the school that we could afford ($8,000 per month for a 3 bedroom, albeit gorgeous, condo? Sadly, not for us.) And, we were told (and now tend to agree) that the Playa Langosta neighborhood is a nice place to live. And, we thought “A mile and half? That’s nothing. We can do that! We can probably walk that!” Except that a mile and half is an eternity in the heat, the sometimes crazy winds that create brief little pockets of sand tornadoes, the insect-like chaos of “el centro” with its motobikes, pedestrians, golf carts, scooters, cars, diesel delivery trucks and bicycles and a final stretch of road on the way out of town where everyone suddenly speeds up, passes on the left and there is NO shoulder.
When this dilemma first came up, back in October, I did some research (as I do) and proposed to Matt we lease a car for five months for $780 per month, including insurance, or roughly $4K for the entire trip. He thought that was too much to spend and suggested we figure it out once we got here. I took a deep breath and thought, “Okay, be strong, try winging it.” For those that know me well, you will note that this sort of “letting go” is a stretch for me. But, one of the things that I am working on during this trip is being more relaxed and less controlled. So, here we go.
In say November, Matt randomly suggested “Let’s just get scooters!” And, I thought, “Oh, that would be fun! Maybe this will work out after all.” And, again, I did what I do and took to the internet and discovered that we really can’t rent/lease scooters for a long term and the daily rates are prohibitive. So, maybe we buy scooters? Again, taking to the internet, I learned that you CAN buy a scooter for about $2K new and $1 to 1.5K used. So, that seems doable, except, how do you actually “own” a scooter in a foreign country and what about insurance and what if you can’t sell it before you leave? Hmm…
Fast forward to our arrival and impending need for transportation. Since we had a full week before the boys school started, I suggested, “Let’s just TRY the commute from the condo to the school in each form of transportation this week and maybe that will make it clear what we should do?” Matt agreed.
Option 1, a car, was easy to try out since we already had a rental car that brought us and our eleven bags from the airport. Not surprisingly, driving, was super easy and quick…also, very practical for transporting groceries which tend to contain lots of heavy beverages (did I mention it’s hot here?)…but, maybe a bit boring and not beachy fun at all.
Option 2, a golf cart, also easy and almost as quick as the car. You may recall from the beginning of this post that there is that one final section of the road where the cars speed up and, it turns out, the golf cart just can’t keep up. So, you pull all the way to right, grimace a little and let a few cars pass, until suddenly….you are at the school! Also, golf carts ARE beachy fun! However, you can’t really lease them long term for much of a discount. They are $50 per day to rent and $40 per day if you rent them long term, so those of you who like math the way I do, that’s $1,200 per month and $400 more than the car option that I found back in October. And, we’d still need to rent a car to drive anywhere else in Costa Rica. So, as much as I love the thought of having a golf cart all the time, it seems a bit much and the practical side of me does not want to spend the extra $ to be beachy and fun. <sigh>
Option 1a…so maybe we do just lease a car? Except now, it’s going to be $5,000 for the five months, instead of the $4,000 it would have been back in October. Why am I turning my back on my super organized side? That side of me gets things done and for less money. Hmmm…okay, breathe, staying the course.
Option 3…bikes? Luckily, there is a place two doors down that rents bikes, so that’s easy and the people are nice. The store, which also sells touristy stuff, like t-shirts and tours, and yummy stuff, like gelato for boys and lattes for me, is run by a very friendly family who actually acted excited when we told them we had just moved here for five months. The Dad describes himself as a “Texafornian” and the Mom is a Tica. They have one 11-year old son, Jimmy, who is bilingual and seems really sweet. He made my latte and did a great job. Upon meeting Jimmy, I immediately thought, “He’s the same age as Sam!” and hoped for an instant love connection, but no, they were a little shy. Two minutes later Sam came over to me and said wished he was an introvert. Yeah, right, kid. Maybe the love connection will take two meetings…or school will start. So, anyway, bikes were $10 per person, per day. You will note that the combined cost is about the same as a golf cart, but I think a super long term deal is there for the taking. So, we got on bikes and the first 10 seconds were GREAT, until Sam got sand in his eyes from one of the mini sand tornadoes that swept across the road. Crying and frustration ensued. Matt and I looked at each other and quickly agreed that the first stop in town would be to buy sunglasses for the boys. So bikes took forever, but I do think we’d get it down. Matt tried the ride to TIDE this morning and reported that traffic in town was quiet, but the last section of road before TIDE was not safe and the path along the road was super narrow and not for bikes. So, while probably super affordable, I think we can eliminate bikes from the options.
Option 4, two-wheeled motorized vehicles (aka scooter for me, “Navi” bike for Matt). I am not a motorcycle person, even if small and electric (I think…but new more adventurous me should probably at least try it). Matt is thrilled with the idea, so that’s worth noting. However, renting them long term does not seem to be an option, mostly due to the expense…online they are $40 per person, per day…so we would have to get a major deal for them to compete with a golf cart. As noted earlier in the post, you can buy them new or used, but we would need to figure ownership, insurance and probably also transporting them here. So, for now, we are putting a pause on this option. We will still try them, but they are not feeling like top of the list.
Option 5, taking public bus. We are going to try this today. We have been told that it is about $500 colones (just under $1), but there is likely not much of a schedule and is not likely a dependable condo/school/condo form of transportation, but maybe it’s a fine just “into town” option or “back to the condo” option when carrying heavy bags.
So, for now, our plan is to rent a golf cart for Sunday to Thursday next week, so we can at least get boys to and from school. We think we can get a $40/day deal. If that works out, perhaps Option 6 and the ultimate winner will be some kind of hybrid, where we rent golf carts for the short school week ($160 week/$640 month) and mix in the other forms of transportation as needed?
Any other logistically-oriented minds with thoughts to share out there?