Every 3 months we have to leave Costa Rica to renew our visas. The last time we left was the end of September, so we were due to leave again at the end of December. Our biggest issue this time is that we have Ally who doesn't have a passport yet. After spending a day at the Registro Civil and the Caja Amarilla, we finally received her Costa Rican birth certificate...isn't it cool?
So we have her birth certificate from Costa Rica, but now we have to go to the US Embassy and get her US citizen born abroad birth certificate, her social security number and her passport. Then we have to get a letter from Costa Rica saying that we are allowed to take her out of the country. Oh yeah, to get her stuff from the US Embassy, we have to get a hand-written letter from the doctor who delivered Ally saying that we are her parents. We've heard this is a whole other long process at the embassy, but that's for another day.
Anyway...
So we have to leave the country, but we can't take Ally. That's an issue. We heard about a town at the border of Costa Rica and Panama that is actually between the two countries so we are able to drive there with our own car, park, and walk between the two countries (check out of Costa Rica, walk across town, check into Panama, walk to the next window, check back out of Panama, walk across town, and check back into Costa Rica). It really shouldn't have been that big of a deal. But we never know. This was our only option this time since the 4 of us had to technically leave the country, but Ally technically cannot. The drive was nice down the coast of Costa Rica and we found an easy parking place right in town. This border town is called Paso Canoas and it looks just like a dirty border town out of the movies. The people were really nice and helpful....but the town was so dirty. And as soon as we arrived, it started to rain...hard. It became a complete downpour and the streets began to flood. There were people everywhere and now there were rivers of trash flowing through the streets. The town was probably the size of half a football field, so we had to walk back across town to our car in about 6 inches of flowing water. I just knew I would see a rat swimming by my feet or something. And, of course, my children were great. They know exactly what to do in those situations. They both become quiet and grab the end of my shirttail and follow. Perfect.
Checking out and back in to Costa Rica was actually no problem at all. It took us a few hours to figure everything out, but the lines were short and the people were nice. The man checking us back into Costa Rica even gave each of us a 90-day stamp, so we're good for another 3 months. Whew. Oh yeah, there was even a separate line for indigenous people who were all dressed in full Indian dress. There are Indian tribes that span through the south of Costa Rica and the north of Panama, so they must have separate rules for them crossing the border. It was very interesting and Emma recognized them immediately from our home school studies of Indians in Central America. Very cool.
We had a hotel on the outskirts of town and it turned out to be a nice clean place. We got there at sundown and Will grabbed us a pizza for dinner. We left the next morning and drove back to stay in Jaco at the beach for two more days. At crazy trip to the border turned out to be a very nice few days away from home. Thank you Lord.
I snapped a few pictures on our way out of town the next day to document the town of Paso Canoas. So, picture all of this with a downpour of rain!
The road to our hotel
So we have her birth certificate from Costa Rica, but now we have to go to the US Embassy and get her US citizen born abroad birth certificate, her social security number and her passport. Then we have to get a letter from Costa Rica saying that we are allowed to take her out of the country. Oh yeah, to get her stuff from the US Embassy, we have to get a hand-written letter from the doctor who delivered Ally saying that we are her parents. We've heard this is a whole other long process at the embassy, but that's for another day.
Anyway...
So we have to leave the country, but we can't take Ally. That's an issue. We heard about a town at the border of Costa Rica and Panama that is actually between the two countries so we are able to drive there with our own car, park, and walk between the two countries (check out of Costa Rica, walk across town, check into Panama, walk to the next window, check back out of Panama, walk across town, and check back into Costa Rica). It really shouldn't have been that big of a deal. But we never know. This was our only option this time since the 4 of us had to technically leave the country, but Ally technically cannot. The drive was nice down the coast of Costa Rica and we found an easy parking place right in town. This border town is called Paso Canoas and it looks just like a dirty border town out of the movies. The people were really nice and helpful....but the town was so dirty. And as soon as we arrived, it started to rain...hard. It became a complete downpour and the streets began to flood. There were people everywhere and now there were rivers of trash flowing through the streets. The town was probably the size of half a football field, so we had to walk back across town to our car in about 6 inches of flowing water. I just knew I would see a rat swimming by my feet or something. And, of course, my children were great. They know exactly what to do in those situations. They both become quiet and grab the end of my shirttail and follow. Perfect.
Checking out and back in to Costa Rica was actually no problem at all. It took us a few hours to figure everything out, but the lines were short and the people were nice. The man checking us back into Costa Rica even gave each of us a 90-day stamp, so we're good for another 3 months. Whew. Oh yeah, there was even a separate line for indigenous people who were all dressed in full Indian dress. There are Indian tribes that span through the south of Costa Rica and the north of Panama, so they must have separate rules for them crossing the border. It was very interesting and Emma recognized them immediately from our home school studies of Indians in Central America. Very cool.
We had a hotel on the outskirts of town and it turned out to be a nice clean place. We got there at sundown and Will grabbed us a pizza for dinner. We left the next morning and drove back to stay in Jaco at the beach for two more days. At crazy trip to the border turned out to be a very nice few days away from home. Thank you Lord.
I snapped a few pictures on our way out of town the next day to document the town of Paso Canoas. So, picture all of this with a downpour of rain!
The road to our hotel
Turning right out of our hotel...this was the edge of town
The road going into the town of Paso Canoas
Downtown Paso Canoas
Car wash station to Panama
Road at the other side of town
Since this town is between countries, everything is tax-free. So there is a lot of shopping going on in this town.
Middle of town where we walked back and forth
Parked over on this side
Trucks lined up to enter Panama
This was our walking path through town
Police station
Car wash entering Costa Rica. Every country has these bug spraying wash stations that I don't understand. Can't bugs just fly back and forth across borders???
Costa Rica check-in and check-out station
The line to check in and out of Costa Rica
On our way out of town. These trucks are in line to get into Panama. There's no telling how long it will take each of them to be approved to cross. Border crossing is a crazy thing.
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