Michael: Our First Attempt Fails

Rio Sereno
Is two shacks and a dirt road
From Costa Rica.


Friday, July 17, 2015

If all would have gone as planned yesterday, we’d be sitting in Costa Rica right now as part of our two day escape from Panama to renew our tourists visas . And we were in Costa Rica briefly, but decided to kick ourselves out.

Why? Because we goofed. In our rush to catch a bus to San Vito, Costa Rica, where our hotel is located, we sat and unknowingly rolled by the immigration offices that we should have stopped at and had our passports stamped.

We thought the border crossing would be a bit more obvious and everyone  that needed to have their passports checked would be stopped. But Panamanians and Costa Ricans go back and forth freely and there is no  stopping to show any I.D. or to inquire about passports. The immigration officers are not going to come and look for you, you’ve got to go find them.

About 20 minutes into Costa Rica is when we discovered this. I felt we had traveled quite a distance into Costa Rica and we had already gone through a small town, when I asked the bus driver if there was an immigration office further down the road. No, the offices were back in Rio Sereno. He was very helpful and said he’d be turning around soon and heading back to Rio Sereno. So we sat on the bus and headed back with him.

Unfortunately, the Panamanian office closed a little early. Now it was either head back to Volcan or back into Costa Rica. Either way, we’d have to spend a good chunk of the next morning on a bus back to the immigration offices in Rio Sereno. We chose the shorter route and headed back home to Volcan.

This morning we’re going to try it again and get it right. We’ve read conflicting accounts of exactly how much time we need to spend in Costa Rica to re-enter and have our passports renewed. In David, an immigration officer told us two days. We’ve read accounts that say anywhere from three days to as little as twenty minutes - the time it takes to stand in line at the border to walk back and forth between the two countries and have your passports stamped. 

We’re going to try for one day. If that doesn’t work I believe I have a sneak around that should work without our having to spend an additional night in Costa Rica. I’ll describe that when we get back. Hopefully not until Saturday after visiting and staying the night in San Vito.