Sidebar #82 - Presa

There are so many amazing things about living in Costa Rica: the nature, the weather, and the lifestyle are all second-to-none. In fact, Costa Rica is routinely named one of the happiest countries in the world. However, if there's one thing that Ticos and visitors alike are frustrated by in Costa Rica, it's the traffic. In Costa Rican dialect, "presa" (which generally translates to "dam") means traffic, although most Spanish-speaking countries say "trafico". One of the great things about Costa Rica is that it puts a lot of its federal spending on things like education, health, and pensions. But there's only so much money to go around. As Costa Rica has undergone rapid urbanization, (2/3 of its population lives in the greater San Jose area) infrastructure hasn't caught up. San Jose relies on buses for public transport. There is a commuter railine to some suburbs, but its range and schedule is extremely limited. This causes pretty extreme traffic around the country, and especially in the capital. Downtown San Jose is only about 10km, or 6 miles from my house. However, I typically budget at least an hour in order to make the trip on bus. In fact, last year, San Jose was ranked as having the second-worse traffic in the world, falling just behind Lagos, Nigeria.

None of this is reason to not live or travel to Costa Rica. It's still a beautiful country and an amazing place to be. However, when planning your next visit, be sure to budget some extra time for some unexpected traffic delays and be sure to carry a "Pura Vida" mantra when some frustrations on the road inevitably occur.