Flying SANSA from Bocas del Toro to Costa Rica

We woke to rain on our final morning. We’d lucked out with weather and this was actually the first rain during our entire stay. The rain stopped just as we walked up to the restaurant for breakfast, which felt like polite timing from the weather gods. Today was all about getting from Bocas del Toro to Costa Rica.

Breakfast was a local fried dough, excellent on its own but even better when stuffed with breakfast sausage.

The monkeys arrived partway through the meal and immediately took up their usual positions on the balcony, where the bananas functioned like a sort of primate takeaway bar.

A Slow Morning Before Departure

Our flight wasn’t until the afternoon, so we had a relaxed morning around the lodge. We spent time on the porch watching birds come and go from the feeders. These birds may be common for the area, but for us they were extra special because they were clearly visible and in great light.

Lunch was served at noon, and shortly afterwards we boarded the boat back towards Bocas Town. Along the way we stopped to admire a cluster of bright orange starfish just beneath the surface of the water. The weather was perfect and we were both feeling very relaxed after our time at Tranquilo Bay.

Before long we were pulling up to the same pier beside the Rasta shop where we’d arrived a few days earlier. A shuttle van was waiting to take us to the airport, and our boat captain walked us inside to help us get sorted.

The Bocas del Toro Airport Experience

Bocas del Toro’s small airport on Isla Colón doesn’t have a dedicated SANSA counter, so passengers flying to Costa Rica check in at the Air Panama desk instead. There are several flights via Panama City, however the SANSA flight was direct. The only risk was if there was a delay or cancellation, the next SANSA flight from Bocas del Toro to Costa Rica was a few days later.

We already knew our bags exceeded the 11 kg per person luggage allowance. To be honest, our camera bags alone weigh more than that. My biggest concern wasn’t the excess baggage fees, it was whether the aircraft would be too heavy and our bags would have to follow on a later flight, something that happens fairly regularly with these small regional planes.

Instead, we were simply asked to pay US$65 in excess baggage fees and that was the end of it. Since we were leaving San José early the following morning, it was a huge relief knowing our luggage would be travelling with us.

After checking in, things became a little strange.

First we were told to take our carry-on bags into the arrivals area. Then we were called back to the check-in counter and instructed to bring our checked luggage as well. We needed to clear Panamanian immigration and customs before flying to Costa Rica, which made perfect sense.

What caught us off guard was doing it from the arrivals hall, the exact place where we’d collected our bags and listened to a spontaneous guitar singalong just a few days earlier.

Immigration couldn’t process us yet because they were waiting for the flight manifest, so we found a seat and waited. It felt much longer than it probably was thanks to the heat and humidity, but in reality it was likely only about ten minutes.

Eventually we were called forward. The immigration officer took our photographs and fingerprints, another official gave our checked bags a very casual inspection, and then we were sent back to the check-in counter yet again.

Next we were told to wait near the desk because it was cooler there.

It was indeed cooler. It just wasn’t exactly cool.

Eventually we were called through security with our carry-on bags, and the departure lounge at least had a small amount of air conditioning.

A Caravan from Bocas del Toro to Costa Rica

Our flight to San José was operated by SANSA using a Cessna Caravan. It was the nicest Caravan we’ve ever seen and nothing like the ones we’d flown on in Australia.

Because of Andy’s height, the pilot asked us to sit in the first row for extra legroom. The aisle was incredibly narrow, and he could barely fasten his seatbelt, but once we were settled the flight itself was excellent.

The one-hour journey followed Panama’s Caribbean coastline north towards Costa Rica. We spotted the Changuinola Canal we’d explored the day before, as well as the river and estuary.

The Airtag Mystery

When we landed in San José, I checked our Airtags. One appeared to be sitting at the domestic airport in Panama City. Another showed that it was still in Bocas del Toro.

What.

The.

Actual.

F&!k.

By pure luck, the pilot was riding the shuttle bus with us from the aircraft to the terminal and overheard my increasingly panicked commentary. He calmly explained that he had personally loaded both of our bags onto the aircraft, so there was nothing to worry about.

Sure enough, when we reached baggage claim, both bags appeared on the carousel exactly as promised.

To this day we have absolutely no idea how we lost those two Airtags, and how one flew from Bocas del Toro to Panama City.

Welcome to Costa Rica

Immigration in San José was quick, and we walked outside to find the airport shuttle for our hotel.

I’m not sure if the arrivals area was chaotic, or we were just shocked to be back in civilisation. The hotel shuttle pick up area is easy to find to the left as you exit the terminal. What wasn’t easy to find was the hotel shuttle. After waiting about thirty minutes we called the hotel. They suggested the driver was probably stuck in traffic. This was frustrating, but I didn’t have the mental energy to work out an alternative.

About fifteen minutes later the shuttle arrived. And there was indeed traffic. Pretty much constant traffic. But we made it to the Hampton Inn with exactly one hour to spare.

Our room was basic but comfortable. Our plan was to throw in a load of laundry before heading downstairs for the welcome dinner, but the machines required tokens, which the front desk didn’t have. Oh well, we would find laundry somewhere along the way.

Meeting the Group

We were in Costa Rica for a 13-night photography “Green Season Costa Rica Birds” with Van Os Photo Safaris.

In addition to our tour leader, there were seven other guests, all from the United States.

Explaining our background is always a little awkward. We sound, and are, American, but we’ve lived in Australia since 2013. Long enough that Australia feels like home and the United States now feels strangely foreign.

Then there was our admittedly ridiculous itinerary. For everyone else, Costa Rica was the holiday. For us, it was the next chapter in an almost embarrassingly extravagant itinerary.

We had just arrived from Panama… after Antarctica… which came after Buenos Aires and Santiago… which followed a week in New Zealand. And after Costa Rica, we’d still be heading to Ecuador for two weeks before visiting my mum in the United States. It made us realise how differently we now think about travel. Most holidays have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Ours had quietly become one continuous journey where one country simply blended into the next.

That said, by the time we looked ahead to Ecuador, and then another visit with my mum in the United States, we both agreed that after Ecuador we might actually need a small holiday from the holiday.