salir del camino! (Get out the way)

Each time I travel in Costa Rica, the sound of horns blowing -- and people screaming various things and offering hand signs (making a fist with the thumb between the middle finger and index is akin to giving the finger) is coupled with the words, "salir del camino" is part of life in Costa Rica.

As I've been walking down the road, I've seen people who forgot to make a turn...back up down the road until they get to the place they were supposed to turn.

I know that you can't tell from this picture, but this driver is driving backwards down the road.

NOTE TO SELF... (and any one who plans on visiting Costa Rica)
When walking:
1.  Drivers will not stop for a pedestrian...even if they are backing up.  I saw this first hand.
2.  Potholes in the road are the norm.
3.  There are a number of blind drops from the "street"
4.  Make sure you know your landmarks...if not, you WILL get lost!

This is the "sidewalk" in front of Maximo Nivel"...yes, I said "sidewalk"  it's not a road.  You can't really see the depth of the drop from this shot...but I've learned not to bring out the camera too often.

One of the couples at the hotel told me that they got into an accident.  The husband said he was slowing down to allow a pedestrian to cross...but the car behind him wouldn't slow down.  The car rear ended him.  In Los Angeles, the driver that hit the vehicle would have been in trouble.  This was not the case in Costa Rica.  The police informed the man that he shouldn't have slowed down.

As for me, there's no way I would rent a car or drive in Costa Rica.  The roads are narrow and bumpy, and the drivers are crazy!  As I stated earlier, it's not uncommon for a driver to back down the road.  I've seen buses and cars jockeying for space on a narrow, one lane road...driving precariously close to each other going in opposite directions.

Another thing that surprised me...but I don't know why, was seeing peddlers walking between cars selling fruit, tickets, and whole meals.