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      IMPORTANT - READ BEFORE POSTING to SUPPORT FORUM   01/28/2011

      Posts to this Support Forum are to be related ONLY to one's ARCR membership.   Please post all other types of questions to the appropriate forum.   Only Forums Moderators, Administrators and ARCR Employees ae able to make any replies to this ARCR Support Forum.   Paul M. Forums Moderator ==

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  10. LOVE LOVE LOVE.... lol, please next time... GoPro the trip. Make a series per country...
  11. I've done this twice. The first time was 6 years ago when I was faced with the conflicting requirements for transporting my three dogs. Because of their breeds, temperature restrictions and airline capacities, I elected to drive them from North Carolina. I purchased a Ford E-250 cargo van on eBay (like a 8 passenger van but without any rear seats or windows). I also transported my motorcycle in the back of the van at the same time. No bribes given. No harrowing experiences. Stayed in one star lodgings so I could keep the dogs with me in the room and the van under cover. Took a easterly route until Tampico, MX then turned inland. Avoided San Salvador completely. The route was very carefully chosen. It's shown on a photo album on my Facebook page called "Three Dog Fortnight". On arrival, drove the van and moto around for the legal 90 days then nationalized them. Soon thereafter sold the van for enough to pay for the trip expenses for the two of us, the cost of the van, the nationalization plus a tidy profit. The second time was four years ago. It was a for-profit run to import a particular pre-sold vehicle. Same scenario less dogs. I traveled with a male friend who has good Spanish. Mine is basic but it turned out I did most of the talking.

  12. Young, Healthy, full of dreams

    David C. Murray replied to diceallion's topic in For Visitors and New Users

    Driving in Costa Rica is pretty much like driving anywhere else. We drive on the right, as in most of the rest of the world. Generally, other drivers will obey the laws, stop signs, etc. And, like the rest of the world, we have our share of crazies. The worst of them are the motorcyclists of whom you must be very, very aware. They'll tailgate, speed through congested downtown streets, cross in front of you from the right to make a left turn, ignore Stop signs and traffic lights, split lanes, and ride as many as five family members on one cycle. There certainly are some car jackings, but males, females and couples are equally exposed. It's no worse than anywhere else. I've always recommended to our guests that they deal with a reputable car rental agency. Maybe check Trip Advisor for reviews. You can probably get a lower rate somewhere, but as a friend used to say, "If it seems cheap, it probably is." How much of your time here do you want to spend dealing with a failed rental car? Be sure to get a full-price quote that includes all mandatory insurance coverage. Costa Rica will not permit you to use your "home" insurance policy despite what your agent may tell you. If your company doesn't do business in Costa Rica, and it's certain not to, their coverage cannot be honored by the rental agency and you cannot drive without the legally mandated minimum coverage.

  13. Young, Healthy, full of dreams

    PaulaB replied to diceallion's topic in For Visitors and New Users

    Hi Eleanor! I'm planning a trip down (probably in November) and am considering a car rental to make it easier to get around. I haven't finalized an itinerary yet but will likely be sticking to the West Coast and some places closer to San Jose like Grecia, Atenas etc. I'd like to get some input on whether it's fairly safe for a single female to be driving alone and the reliability of the rental agencies there. I'm a confident enough driver and have rented vehicles in many cities in Canada and some in the U.S. but know it may be a different experience there so I would appreciate any insight.
  14. They did not make it... Im just a travel story junky, I actually had my hopes up thinking he / she would come on and say... YEAH!!!! Video recorded the whole trip heres the link!!! lol, wishful thinking!
  15. I searched for "Ionwat", the OP, in the directory and came up empty. I would not expect a reply.
  16. If OP has done the drive.... 9 years ago.... or even 8 years ago (5 years ago?) ... it may not be relevant for you. Things have changed a lot in that time. In general: Safety is a BIG issue so not a great trip to take with a family; you will cross 5 borders so patience and paperwork will be important; you will need to register your car, have it inspected and pay the tax within 90 days of your arrival and keep in mind, the tax will be around 50% +- the value of your car, as determined by the Costa Rica government. A "gringo" in a nice car, loaded with stuff (and obviously with some cash and cards) is a very BIG TARGET these days.
  17. So 9 years later... OP, have you done your drive? I would love to hear the story. Nothing more.

  18. Young, Healthy, full of dreams

    eleanorcr replied to diceallion's topic in For Visitors and New Users

    That sounds great! You will find that renting a car really is "budget friendly" since you won't have to take taxis or use organized tours or shuttles to get around. This is a very helpful website: www.yourtravelmap.com which shows you distances and travel times between many places and also directions. If you decide to explore the Nicoya Peninsula, this website is great: www.nicoyapeninsula.com You are doing a great job with paying off your debts and with those tickets! (I know how much work it can be to find those tickets.) I know you and your family will love Costa Rica, but try to look at things from the eyes of someone who would live here and not just a tourist.

  19. Young, Healthy, full of dreams

    diceallion replied to diceallion's topic in For Visitors and New Users

    Alright ladies and gentlemen let the planning begin. I originally anticipated to pay anywhere from $2100 to $2500 for our family of 4 airfare. Return flights obviously. So I have been shopping for tickets the past 4 weeks or so and I finally pulled the trigger this morning. Jan. 30 9:30pm landing in Liberia and departing March 6th... $1650 tax incl....at this price I have now decided to rent a car during our stay. It will still be cheaper then my anticipated cost of the airfare with both costs together.
  20. Wait... Ambassador Haney is Jewish? Who knew? I know he is black so I thought that would be the "racist rant" of choice. Why would anyone care? His religion (or race or sex) should have nothing to do with his Ambassadorship. And yeah, I would NOT want to be associated with ANY website or forum that allows any kind of racist or "religionist" posts.
  21. There's lots of math to do to get a handle on the information in this website. It would have been a lot easier if they had just put price per kilo or price per each, if that is appropriate. Here are some recent prices from my shopping expeditions: eggs - 30 eggs for 2,000 colones. (Haha - this is kind of a trick since I live near a big egg farm.) Eggs - are sold by weight and not by the each or by the dozen. A typical package has 15 eggs (mixed grades and sizes) and costs around 1,000 to 1,500 colones - mas o menos - depending on the weight. I bought some recently at a supermarket for 1,127 for 980 grams. 18 roll toilet paper supermax (Maxi Pali) - 6,500 carrots - 550 kilo 2 liter club soda - 1,160 bunch of spinach - 700 Pkg Jack Mejitos corn chips - 710 pkg of 6 gala apples - 1000 Tuna in chunks, in water - 930 sweet potatoes - 800 / kilo Lizano mayonnaise - 1,575 400 grams cantaloupe - 600/kilo Heinz Barbecue sauce (my luxury!) 1,500 purple cabbage - 1200/kilo Ketchup - 875 (about 350-400 grams) Blackberry jam - 935 Chunky salsa - 1,150 (about 400 grams) Package of pasta - 1,050 Assortment of Twinings black teas - 3,100 Tosh limon/green tea cookies - 1,325 Badi ground cinnamon - 625 Whole wheat flour - 1,000 (Bioland 1 kilo) Brown rice - 940 - (900 grams +-) I don't pay a lot of attention to meat prices. I buy meat from a local butcher who is a young man that was my English pupil many years ago. His meats are very good quality and I just buy what I want and don't really look at the prices. Sometimes he gives me an itemized receipt..... sometimes not. He grinds his own ground beef every morning and it's so lean, I usually have to add some fat of some kind. I NEVER buy meat at the supermarket! All you have to do, mostly, is just smell the meat department and you will then be saying, 'nononono'. The only meat I ever buy at the supermarket is for my dog (sorry sweetie....).
  22. Is anyone familiar with this site?: https://www.numbeo.com/food-prices/country_result.jsp?country=Costa+Rica And does anyone care to comment on whether the prices posted are in line with your own firsthand experience?
  23. I can echo David's complaints about WLCR - I used to be a regular participant until Scott booted me off for complaining about the blatant anti-semitism that was directed at Ambassador Haney just after he took up his post in CR. Hi David!
  24. MartinFierro started following Communications, Technology and The Internet in Costa Rica

  25. Where to get your Costa Rican Postal Address

    SEATURTLEWOMAN replied to durphym's topic in ARCR Support Forum

    They have boxes available. What they don't have is the keys! When we got ours 3 years ago, they told me to come back in 2 weeks for the key. At the time we were only here on vacation, so I objected. Funny how a key miraculously appeared then and there. But you don't really need a box to get mail. You can have your mail addressed to you in care of the correos in Cobano. It's just that when you do it that way, you won't know when a package has arrived for you. Even if your phone number is listed on the package, they don't always call you. We have friends who do it this way, but they only have stuff sent that is trackable so they can track when it has arrived at the post office. But since you have a friend with a box, yes, you can use her box number.

  26. Where to get your Costa Rican Postal Address

    Epicatt2 replied to durphym's topic in ARCR Support Forum

    Wouldn't if be just as simple Dean, to have the letter sent special delivery (if available) c/o General Delivery to your nearby post office? Then you can just go in in a few days and ask for it by showing your passport. All that said, since you say that already you have a 'workaround' in the form of a friend's 'loaner' p.o.box, you should be In Like Flint! ¡Buena Suerte! Paul M. ==

  27. Where to get your Costa Rican Postal Address

    eleanorcr replied to durphym's topic in ARCR Support Forum

    Did you think that showing them your passport and cedula would make a difference? If they don't have any boxes.... they don't have any boxes. It's really up to the "central" Correos management to decide when to put in new boxes and not up to the local workers. They can say "We have had this many people applying for boxes and we now have a waiting list of this many people." but they don't make the decision. I wouldn't expect them to call you when box becomes available. It's just not how institutions like this operate. Perhaps they are wrongly rewarding the people who live in Cobano since it's easier for them to check in. But that's the way they have decided to handle it and that's the way it is. For your home address: I am sure you can refine your address to something that makes sense to both the Correo and whoever is sending you a letter. It may take a few tries. Perhaps the real question is: Do you actually have home delivery in Montezuma? On a side note -- can you just get your letter as an email and then print it out? Because the payment for apartados are due in January, I would pay close attention to this time frame. You can check the Correos de Costa Rica website about payment terms and at what date a box will become available due to non-payment. In the meantime, if you have a friend whose apartado you can use -- that's a good solution until you get it all worked out.
  28. JanetPDX changed their profile photo
  29. I have been to the Post Office/Correos in Cobano on many occasions and I was wrong, it is not at the bus stop; it's the next block over. You cannot simply walk in to the Post Office and expect to get a box. They don't have any available. I was told that I had to check in with them every month to see if there is a box. They don't seem to be interested in adding new boxes. Someone has to relinquish their box in order to make one available. Even though I have provided them my cedula and passport that appears to be for not. They are not going to contact me when a box becomes available. Luckily, we have a friend with a box there so if we do have the need we can have mail delivered to her.
  30. This is an urgent and critical message to all of our members. Over the weekend, a massive cyber attack took place worldwide affecting 200 countries and several hundred thousand people. The initial attack, known as “WannaCry,” paralyzed computers that run Britain’s hospital network, Germany’s national railway and thousands of other companies and government agencies worldwide in what is believed to be the biggest online extortion scheme ever recorded. If you or your company use Microsoft Windows products, it is imperative that you upgrade your systems and apply patches released by Microsoft over the past 2 months. This "ransomware" can infect your computer or your business network. It locks all data on the computer and demands between $300 to $600 ransom to be paid via Bitcoin. When the workweek starts, you can be infected by opening an infected email or browsing an unknown web site. We urge all of our users to address this matter immediately. This ransomware affects only Windows products. Especially vulnerable are older version of Windows, ie XP If you do not know how to upgrade or install the patches, I suggest getting technical assistance. Anti-virus programs may or may not be of assistance.
  31. This is a bit hard for me to get my head around, but I opened these forums with the ARCR 14 years ago this month. May, 2003. Happy birthday to everyone@
  32. yes. my lawyer said that in the last month. Costa Rica has been dissolving alot of old corporations mine is dissolved and paid up dennis

  33. Forums Upgrade

    TicoGrande posted a topic in The ARCR Forums Notices

    I had to upgrade the ARCR forums today. LOTS of changes! I had no choice because the publisher no longer was supporting the old version. As of this minute there are a ton of tasks running in the backgroud. Those tasks are triggered by forum activity (people logged in and browsing the site), and until they finish, some of the layout may not be correct, such as quotes, signatures, lists, images, etc. Be patient! You can express how much you like or hate the new format, but really, there was and is no option B. TG
  34. I think I found a translation, when I did it word by word it says: business name: Dreamscape anonymous company no periods pending this estate dissolved by law 9024, up to date i guess that means I am paid up and they already dissolved my corporation and I dont have to pay to have it dissolved myself? thanks again
  35. well this is interesting... now after I paid the last of my back taxes, I can see a normal page in the national registry site on my account but it says the following, which makes no sense in google translate.. if you k ow, please let me know, it looks like I have no periods pending to pay, and the corporation was dissolved? thanks Dennis here it is: ----------------- RAZON SOCIAL SUEÑOS DE ESCAPE SOCIEDAD ANONIMA PERIODOS PENDIENTES 0 ESTADO DISUELTA POR LEY 9024 A ESTE MOMENTO LA ENTIDAD SE ENCUENTRA AL DIA
  36. yes but still have some hurdles in wiring cash here from Canada, choosing the right bank, etc. it will work out in the end
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