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Ive made it back home to Costa Rica and will update you even if you dont want it, since I have free internet in San Jose. :)

Well, what a mission! It started yesterday in Ecuador when I picked up my new passport (after the other one was stolen). My credit card hadnt arrived yet but they can send that to me in Costa Rica. Anyway, they were all doom and gloom at the South African consulate, telling me if I didnt go to Ecuador immigration to get my entry date stamped into my new passport, I would be fined $300 USD at airport immigration. Thats cool, I tracked down immigration early the next day (the day I was flying out) and managed to charm the officer into giving me a new stamp on the spot. It was so easy and I was away laughing to my second salsa class.
I hadnt planned on having a second but, wow, the first one was so good I just couldnt leave the country without having another one! Ive already raved about this to some of you, but Salsa & Merengue School in Quito new town is THE BEST place to go. Seriously, I had one-to-one classes with a very gorgeous pro who was a lot of fun and taught me sooo much. I reached the level of class 6 in my second class because of him. The cost is great, the people so fun and friendly and the results awesome.
Dont miss it if you are travelling in Ecuador, its probably better than spending your money on their many spanish classes. Oh, the dance teachers dont really speak english so it is easier if you have spanish, but if you dont then your dance class can double as a spanish lesson! Why not?
Im going on about this because they deserve the promotion. Their contact details are:
Address: Foch E4-256 y Amazonas (Amazonas is the main tourist road in new town)
Ph: 2 220 427 / 098 805 372
Email: salseritosmerengue@hotmail.com

They do merengue classes, all sorts of drum lessons, live shows and jam sessions too.


Ok anyway, I was talking about my mission to get to Costa Rica. I had some fun check-in issues at Quito airport in Ecuador:

• Because my new passport number didnt match the one I entered the country with, they had to check me for fraud by making up wierd names and asking me if they were cities I knew in South Africa. That was really strange but I passed no problems!
  
• They thought I needed a visa and spent half an hour checking that out. Turns out (of course Ive checked a million times!) NO I dont.
  
• But, I do need proof of funds and an onward ticket. Ok, all I had was a small amount of cash, a credit card statement, and the police report to prove that I did have a credit card, its just not on me yet! Oh, and a bus ticket to Nicaragua which I havent used yet. Phew.
  So it took another 30mins of calling costa rica security to make sure this would be ok. Yes, turns out there wont be any problems.
  

Ok, so they were really nice and thorough and actually very kind, not treating me like the bad guy. I mean, come on, I just had all my stuff stolen!

So after a nice Taca airways (highly recommended, they are a great airline) flight I arrived in Costa Rica and had no problems at all with immigration. They didn´t ask for proof of funds. All I needed to say was yea, of course I´m here for 3 more months to spend summer on the beach, and I was away laughing.

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