Environmental Talk

Costa Rica is filled with danger

Costa Rica is a stable country in Central America. It is home to a diverse collection of animals and vegetation, making it a prime eco-tourist destination.

I don’t really consider myself either “tourist” (I prefer “citizen of the world”) or “eco” (I prefer “capitalist”) but, there I was this past weekend, touching down at the main airport in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Part of the fun of any trip to a foreign country is learning to speak the language. One of the first things I learned upon my arrival was that, in Spanish, “international airport” means “having one runway, a tower and a couple of gates.” This is to distinguish it from the concept of “domestic airport” which means having one runway, a tower and a 10-minute walk to the plane in sub-tropical heat.

After landing in Juan Santamaria International Airport, we hopped in a cab for a 20-minute drive to the Pavas Domestic Airport. The Pavas Airport has a few unique features, as described by the website, A.M Costa Rica:

The airport has been made more secure this year as part of the international push against possible terrorism. A chain link fence encircles much of the sprawling facility … however, a section of wall that separates the field from a residential area has less secure fencing. It is here that mental patients invade the airport as they flee Asilo Chapui, the Hospital Nacional Psyciatrico.

Air traffic controllers in the airport tower are able to see the fleeing patients and make efforts to direct planes around them, airport workers said.

It is this kind of effort to live in harmony without disturbing other wild creatures (or people) that has helped burnish Costa Rica’s status as an “environmentally conscious” destination.

At the Pavas Airport, we were introduced to our pilot, Miguel, who, in addition to appearing quite sane, was scheduled to fly us in a single-engine plane to the Tambor Local Airport.

The term “local airport” refers to the fact that a section of jungle has been cleared and paved. The term “local” also means that there is a guy with binoculars, shorts and a tank top performing air traffic control duties from an old barstool at the end of the runway. This helps to differentiate a landing at a “local airport” from the phrase “crash landing” in which you land in a field where air traffic control duties are performed by a nearby cow.

Costa Rica is located between Nicaragua and Panama

Tambor is located between high tide and the jungle

Upon our arrival in Tambor, and after paying a $1.00 per person airport tax to a guy sitting under a tree, we hopped into a Toyota RAV4 taxi and set off for our final destination, the Florblanca Resort in Santa Theresa.

Our driver estimated the ride would take between forty-five minutes to an hour. We stopped seeing road signs about three minutes into the drive and, at about the seven minute mark, stopped seeing anything resembling pavement.

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression about the condition of the road. It was abysmal. At last count I was missing six fillings and about 35 cents in change.

…to be continued

global warming, climate change, eco-tourism, Costa Rica, Tambor, San Jose, mental patients in airports