Day 4: Tortuguero to San Jose – Taxi Rip-off and Hotel Reservation misunderstanding

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Today, Renata and I are heading back to San Jose, for the start of the McMaster Alumni volunteer portion of our Costa Rican trip. Renata’s iphone still would not turn on after placing it in a bag of rice overnight. Sympathetically, I gave her my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone, so she would be able to take her own pictures for the rest of the trip.



Renata’s wanted to have a fruit shake before we took the boat out of Tortuguero. At the time it seemed like a good idea until I had to badly run to the washroom while I was on the boat. Unable to enjoy the scenery, I was relieved when we finally reached La Pavona. I quickly paid the 1 US dollar to use the bathroom at the restaurant by the dock.



When we reached San Jose, we took a cab to our hostel Gaudy backpackers. I made the mistake of not asking the Taxi driver how much it would cost. We spent over 40000 Costa Rican colonies just to get us around to the other half of the city. I did not want to argue with the driver but next time we will be more prepared.



At the hostel, we had difficulty determining whom the reservation for our room was under. Since the rest of the Mac-Serve group would not be arriving until late evening, we did not have anyone to ask. First we asked, the hostel staff, if the reservation was under Mac-Serve, since that was the name of the mission. Then I asked if it was under Kris, the group coordinator from McMaster. I finally asked if it was under VIDA the Costa Rican group helping run the tour. Luckily, it was and we had a bed to sleep in for the rest of the night.





Tomorrow, we meet up with the rest of the Mac-Serve group as we make our way to Monteverde.

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