Border Run: Questions & Answers

Thanks for all the comments on my first Border Run post. Yes, I guess in some ways Lisa and are are Pioneers of the Frontera, but really, I'm happy to be a pioneer so long as I'm going to the beach (pura vida, right?).

To answer some of the questions, Lisa and I actually went from Friday morning till Monday morning to fulfull the 3 day requirement. The exit fee from CR is (I believe) $8, but I'll double check with Lisa. Going back into CR is much the same as going out, except you probably won't have much money to exchange to Colones. The border process is long, inefficient, but necessary for many of us Ex-Pats. Also the fee to get back into CR is somewhere between $3 and $11 dollars. Lisa and I both paid $3, but then later they asked for $8 more from the non-Central Americans, but the guy didn't ask the two of us for more money... go figure, I'm blonde and pale and definitely not Central-American.

Most employers understand completely that you need to take these border runs and have very little problem with you taking off work. Lisa doesn't have class on Fridays (lucky her), and one of my employers just asked me to make up the missed class if possible.

Finally, Joanne, I wouldn't worry too much about having to do the run on your own. First of all, its not that difficult, second, you'll meet a lot of foreigners through work that will have to do the same thing, and third, there will likely be other Americans/expats on your bus to Nicaragua that are going to the same place - we definitely used them to ask questions about the money changers, where to get off, etc etc.

Alright, well, Lisa and I have been very busy lately - hence the sporatic posts - but hopefully Lisa can write about the remainder of our Border Run trip in the next day or so.

Thanks again for all the questions, and keep them coming!