Recently we took a trip through La Fortuna because the bridge was out going to Playa Coco on the Caldera Highway. We stopped for dinner in a place in La Fortuna next to one of those tourist booths and for some reason took a shine to go in and ask for a hotel recommendation. We knew several of the hotels in the area as we have stayed at many in the past and thought we would just stay with one that we knew to be good again. Since we weren’t looking for a resort atmosphere and only there for a nights stay we thought we would take a shot at whatever the tour guy recommended. This was our first mistake.
He recommended a place called “Pura Vida” How bad could that be with a name that had such a strong name right? Wrong! We went to this place that was just 300 mtrs down the road and part of a chinese restaurant. The owner was very loud and very rude upon check in. This was our second mistake. We should have known better at check in and run before checking in.
Once we got in the rooms it was bad!! We had to leave immediately as I would not stay in the hotel nor let me my kids sleep in these conditions. When we arrived in the rooms I turned down the beds to check out the beds and that was my third mistake.
When we went back to the front desk to get a refund and leave the woman charged us for messing up the towel that was on the bed, for turning down the bed and for turning on the water in the sink so we ended up paying for one room out of the two that we had paid for originally upon check in but at that point we would have paid for both I think just to get out of that horrid place.
Moral to the story, be careful what recommendations you take from the tour guides in those kiosks. No matter how great they make them sound (and he did) they are usually not so great!
Oh and another thing, come to find out, the tour guide was making 20.00 on our reservation. That is a lot of money in Costa Rica. As we were driving away we saw him walking up the street to gather his commission. Can’t say as I would have wanted to be in his shoes that evening for the way that woman was yelling and screaming at us. I can only imagine how she would have lit into him for referring us to her place
If you have ever driven to one of the volcano’s or the back roads to the beach you have probably encountered the cows in Costa Rica.
Imagine driving down the road, minding your own business, listening to your music, talking to your wife, husband, children and all of a sudden cows are running towards your car followed by a man screaming carrying a big long stick. It is a site that words cannot describe but one that you must see at least once in your life to consider it whole
Now you have cows in front of your car and behind you and you cannot move because cows have overtaken the road and the man with the big still is not making much progress with his yelling and stick waving but it is definitely fun to watch.
If you are lucky you got a picture of this like we did to send it home to your friends because no one is ever going to believe the story with out proof.
Do you ever just want to shoot people for being inconsiderate? I realize this is a touchy forbidden subject and I may lose some readers for going here but I just can’t keep quiet anymore. Some people just don’t use their heads in everyday life. They are just inconsiderate about things and others have to suffer as a result of this.
When people stomp all over ones feelings in business acting as though they are better than you, arrogant and egotistical in their manner. This is absolutely stupid and pointless and it gets them nowhere but on the bad side of the person they are needing help from. This is a big problem in Costa Rica. So many foreigners come down and act as though they are better than the nationals when in fact they are not. This is NOT the attitude to take with people you are going to be living next door to for years to come.
Mind your manners. Follow the golden rule. Treat others the way that you would want to be treated and you will be treated well in return. Do not degrade or belittle people or point out flaws. It doesn’t help it the situation that you are in and it only hurts the person that you are working with.
Whether you are in the grocery store or having a house built or hiring someone to move your furniture, keep a smile on your face and keep your attitude in check. Remember these people that you have hired work very hard to please you an many other people every day. They really don’t need you to act stupid and arrogant towards them. They have their own set of problems much bigger than you could possibly get your head around and they don’t need your garbage and trash talk on top of that. Be nice! Treat people with respect! I know they are treating you with respect. Just do the same!
I write a lot about animals coming into Costa Rica, but this is a subject close to my heart. This past week 3 birds FINALLY made it into Costa Rica after a year of toil and trouble with Costa Rica government issues. They came in last November only to be turned away after being given an import permit and being approved to enter by the government. It was a sad day last November when we had to put those babies back on a plane to the US. It was very scary too because the MAG threatened to euthanize them because they said that their papers were not in order. Again, after giving them permission (in 2 different forms) to come into the country.
About 3 weeks ago a woman brought a parrot into Costa Rica through the passenger terminal without as much as a health certificate. She didn’t have any paperwork whatsoever. Nothing, nada! And the dumb a…. in the US at the airport allowed her to get on the plane with the bird in cabin. (This is so illegal it is not even close to funny). When the bird arrived in the passenger terminal without and documents the woman and bird had a very serious problem. I was called to see if there was anything that I could do but without a health certificate the bird could not even go back on a plane to go back into the US.
There are international laws that protect parrots on the endangered species list from trafficking and this bird was one of those birds. There was no way to prove ownership of the bird, where it came from, where it was born, captive or wild, nothing. This bird, a pet of many years, was taken from the owner at the airport and euthanized, killed, destroyed!
This could have been prevented if the owner had done her due diligence and gotten the proper permits for her bird. This was not the fault of the Costa Rica government in this instance. It was the fault of the owner and the airline for letting her on the plane without any documents.
Getting everything right and in order IS a long, drawn out and expensive process to come into Costa Rica, but THIS is what happens when you don’t follow the laws of the country.
Another client of ours was more fortunate than this woman. She had her CITES permit from the US and her health certificate when she arrived. This was only a small portion of what is required to enter the country but she had enough to keep her baby alive. Laurel was allowed to board the plane and go back to the US with Jean Luc and we are now working on getting her blood tests and documents in order for his safe return in a month or so.
This same rule applies to dogs and cats. DO NOT run the risk of coming into the country without the proper paperwork. Your pet WILL be euthanized!!!! Costa Rica does not fool around with this stuff. It happens more times than the public will ever be aware of.
There is MUCH confusion in the past couple of weeks on pets going into Costa Rica and worry that there is a new law in place because pets are being sent to the cargo warehouse rather than being cleared through the passenger terminal.
There is not a new law. This is an old law that the government is now enforcing on pets coming in on their own ticket or airway bill. The customs officials at the airport were not aware that Continental pets were not coming in as excess baggage until a very important woman (wife of someone high up in the government)threw her weight around on the 18th of April and flashed her airway bill at the customs officials demanding her pets.
This upset the customs officials and brought to their attention the fact that Continental was allowing pets to come through the passenger terminal with an airway bill when they should go directly to the cargo facility like all other pets arriving as manifest cargo with their own tickets.
Several meetings took place over the following days and the result of these meetings were that for now, only Continental would be affected by this ruling since all of the other airlines were already following this protocol. All pets arriving on Continental as quickpak on their own ticket (airway bill) will go directly to the cargo facility rather than be released in the passenger terminal as previously allowed.
Now you must acquire an import permit prior to arrival in order for your pet to be released when you arrive. This should be applied for at least 4 days prior to your arrival in Costa Rica through a broker so that your pet does not sit in the customs warehouse for many unnecessary hours unattended.
There will be taxes and customs duties charged as well as fees charged now that were never charged before as a result of the pets coming in through the cargo warehouse. The tax rate is 24.30% of the adjusted value. Pets are automatically insured at $50.00 above the amount shown on the AWB. Value is set at $50-$60 above the amount shown on the AWB and the taxes and costs are based on this amount.
You still must have a current rabies under one year and vaccinations (for a cat FVRCP, for a dog DHLPP) current within one year. Tick and tapeworm treatment prior to arrival as well. All of this must be documented on the APHIS 7001 International Health Certificate and it must be endorsed by the USDA within 10 days of arrival in Costa Rica.
I hope this information helps clear up some of the confusion that is out there about what is now necessary to bring your dog or cat into Costa Rica.
We want to send a shout out to all our pets that recently made it home to their families. Quibbles, a Boston Terrier / Pug mix, her sisters Dream Catcher, a cocker spaniel and Tazzie a Siamese / Tort Cat mix were transported from San Francisco to Costa Rica. Jake, a Labrador Retriever, came out of Costa Rica and met up with his family in Canada! Our French Poodle friend, Linda, arrived in sunny Miami after safely flying across the nation from San Jose, CA. 3 Cats, Jungle Boy, Melanie and Bo were excited to get to Tel Aviv after a long flight from Chicago. Welcome home everyone!!
Costa Rica is closed for business for the next few days!!! The streets are bare, traffic…well there isn’t any to speak of. The valley is a virtual ghost town. Getting around a breeze right now. Great if you live in the valley!!
Everyone is at the beach. You cannot find a hotel anywhere near the beach unless you booked it months ago.
Buses are not running on Thursday or Friday so the laborers and domestics cannot get to work on these days either. The country pretty much shuts down for Easter. I tried to call the bank today and they aren’t even answering the phone
The airport is closed for transporting animals because all of the government agencies are closed that approve the documents for the animals to come in and go out.
Today is Holy Thursday, tomorrow is Good Friday. Nothing is happening business wise. This is a long weekend for rest and relaxation. Most people are spending time with their families and friends during this long holiday in Costa Rica since they don’t have to work. Aside from Christmas, this is the biggest holiday of the year.
I’m not the cyber guru that Ramiro is and i could not figure out how to get this video to open on this page but I believe that if you cut and paste the link into your browser it should work. This video portrays the directions one would get and how an expat would interpret those directions EXACTLY! It is definitely worth the time and a good laugh that you all could relate to if you have ever asked for directions in Costa Rica
Good luck and my apologies that I am not more internet savvy!
As of February 2009, the TSA in the USA will not allow anyone to book their own pet as cargo coming into the US. As excess baggage if you are on the same plane, no problem. But as manifest cargo, you will have a problem as TSA will not allow anyone that is not a known shipper to book a pet into the US on an airline carrier flying into the US.
For this among other reasons, like travel to the US being higher than in years in the past, our moves are up considerably this year. This past week was a record setting week for pets coming out of Costa Rica. It seems that 3 families with multiple pets decided to leave all within 3 days with us.
A record week for World Pet Travel was 18 pets out of Costa Rica in 3 days. Andrea, Jose, Edgar and Mandiel were at their best in these days. Thank goodness for all the great people with World Pet Travel and those that support them in Costa Rica.
I have written about this many times before but some things bear repeating time and time again . There is so much bad information out there!!! Just this weekend I learned of another poor animal dying because someone received BAD information, information they received from an airline.
This poor cat came into Costa Rica last week from Canada. After many hours in flight and many more unnecessary hours in the customs warehouse because the paperwork was not in order. The cat was finally released to the owner but it was too late. The cat was severely dehydrated. It was rushed to the veterinarian but passed away the following day.
ALL pets coming as manifest cargo MUST have an import permit!!! This permit must be applied for 4 business days prior to the pet arriving with the Senasa. In order to apply, the Senasa must have a copy of the pets vaccination records. Any pet over 3 months old must have a current rabies vaccination that is under one year. No exceptions under any circumstances to this rabies law. No puppies under 3 months and no dogs with rabies over one year old will be permitted entry into the country.
The permit cannot be applied for by an individual. It must be applied for through a broker and there is a process that must be followed. The original is held by the agency that is clearing the pet through customs. The owner cannot do this themselves without the pet spending much unnecessary time sitting on pallets in the customs warehouse.
This is only a brief outline of some of what you need to know when moving to Costa Rica with pets. For more information, contact our pet moving division at World Pet Travel.
You can read of some of their moves at testimonials and you can also learn here how to contact them directly.
