Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [484]
LEGAL MATTERS
If you get into legal trouble and are jailed in Costa Rica, your embassy can offer limited assistance. This may include an occasional visit from an embassy staff member to make sure your human rights have not been violated, letting your family know where you are and putting you in contact with a Costa Rican lawyer, who you must pay yourself. Embassy officials will not bail you out and you are subject to Costa Rican laws, not the laws of your own country.
In Costa Rica the legal age for driving, voting and having heterosexual sex is 18 years, and you can get married when you are 15 years old. There is no specific legal age for homosexual sex but sex with anyone under 18 is not advisable. Keep in mind that travelers may be subject to the laws of their own country in regard to sexual relations.
Return to beginning of chapter
Drivers & Driving Accidents
Drivers should carry their passport and driver’s license at all times. If you have an accident, call the police immediately to make a report (required for insurance purposes) or attend to any injured parties. Leave the vehicles in place until the report has been made and do not make any statements except to members of law-enforcement agencies. The injured should only be moved by medical professionals.
Keep your eye on your vehicle until the police arrive and then call the car-rental company to find out where you should take the vehicle for repairs (do not have it fixed yourself). If the accident results in injury or death, you could be jailed or prevented from leaving the country until legalities are handled.
Emergency numbers are listed on the inside front cover of this book.
Return to beginning of chapter
MAPS
Detailed maps are unfortunately hard to come by in Costa Rica. An excellent option is the 1:330,000 Costa Rica sheet produced by International Travel Map (ITMB; www.itmb.com; 530 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1E, Canada), which is waterproof and includes a San José inset.
The Fundación Neotrópica (www.neotropica.org) publishes a 1:500,000 map showing national parks and other protected areas. These are available in San José bookstores and over the internet.
The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT; Click here) publishes a 1:700,000 Costa Rica map with a 1:12,500 Central San José map on the reverse. These are free at ICT offices in San José.
Online, Maptak (www.maptak.com) has maps of Costa Rica’s seven provinces and their capitals.
Don’t count on any of the national park offices or ranger stations having maps for hikers. Topographical maps are available for purchase from Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN; 2257-7798; Calle 9 btwn Avs 20 & 22, San José; 7:30am-noon & 1-3pm Mon-Fri). In the USA, contact Omni Resources (in USA 336-227-8300; www.omnimap.com).
The Mapa-Guía de la Naturaleza Costa Rica is an atlas published by Incafo that includes 1:200,000 topographical sheets, as well as English and Spanish descriptions of Costa Rica’s natural areas. It is available at Lehmann’s (Click here) bookstore in San José.
Return to beginning of chapter
MONEY
ATMs
It’s increasingly easy to find cajeros automáticos (ATMs) in Costa Rica, even in the smallest towns. The Visa Plus network is the standard, but machines on the Cirrus network, which accepts most foreign ATM cards, can be found in larger cities and tourist towns. In these areas, ATMs also dispense US dollars, which is convenient for payments at hotels and tour agencies. Note that some machines will only accept cards held by their own customers.
Return to beginning of chapter
Cash & Currency
The Costa Rican currency is the colón (plural colones, ₡), named after Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus). Bills come in 500, 1000, 5000 and 10,000 notes, while coins come in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100. Note that older coins are larger and silver, while newer ones are smaller and gold-colored – this is often a source of confusion for travelers fresh off the plane.
Paying for things in US dollars should be free of hassle, and at times is encouraged since the currency