About the money, you'll find plenty of ATMs for the most common credit & debit cards. Don't bother with traveler's checks & take only a little cash. Try to have more than one credit or debit card just in case an ATM somewhere in the hinterlands that doesn't see a maintenance person very often eats one of your cards.

And here's my two handy household packing tips:

1) Pepto Bismol. Take a spoonful every morning when you brush your teeth. (You can buy it in Costa Rica if you want.) It will coat your stomach enough to ensure you don't pick up any strange buggies from eating weird and different foods. Who needs Montezuma's Revenge or the Aztec Two-Step while on holiday? (Don't be concerned when your feces turn black. That's caused by the Pepto Bismol and will end when you return home and stop taking it every morning.)

2) Buy Vitamin B1 tablets (100 mg) and take one every day, starting a few days before your trip if possible. This works for most people to keep the biting insects away, including mosquitos. It doesn't work for everyone but it certainly does for most. A very inexpensive insect repellant, and it sure beats the smell of Deet!

JoBurrit,

Just got back from 2 weeks in CR with 2 young kids. Regarding snacks and packing light, Skippy Squeeze was a necesity. For those of you who don't know, it is single servings of peanut butter in a tube. They saved us many times...and you can put them on bread or crackers for variety.

Also grouped things and packed them in gallon size plastic bags (ex. socks, t-shirts,...). It worked great and was so easy to find things. Bring a lot of extr plastic bags. We seemed to use so many of them--wet clothes, shells, food in fridge, etc.

Good luck packing and have a great trip!

sclubb,
Where did you buy the Berndston map? I went to Borders today, and they don't carry it and won't order it, either. I will try Barnes and Noble, but curious as to where you bought yours.

Yeah - Borders wouldnt order it for me either. I ordered it from the Borders website - however it is really the partner with Amazon.com. The map is $10 plus shipping & it came within a week. The ISBN # is 3897075105 to make searching online a little easier!

We made a trip to Target tonight for some of the "essentials" & have set aside some time this weekend to pack everything! Getting excited!!!

At the risk of sounding terribly high-maintenance... does anyone know whether the airlines usually will allow excess baggage if we don't mind paying the fee? I know the limit is 25lbs, but they say on their website that you can pay something like $.56/lb for any extra weight. I am not confident that I'll be able to pack "light" and was wondering if anyone has any experience with having 10 or so extra pounds? (we're just taking one Sansa flight from Tamarindo to San Jose) Thanks!

You might want to contact Sansa directly. I've heard conflicting information. Some say that you can pay extra for the extra weight and I've heard others say that if the plane is fully load, your bags will need to follow you on a later flight. I have the same concern about my flight from Tortuguero to San Jose. I just today sent the same question to Nature Air and am awaiting a response.

Neither of the domestic airlines respond to email with anything resembling what one might expect. So don't hold your breath waiting for those emails from Sansa or Nature Air.

Whether or not they will take your heavier-than-permitted bag is totally dependent upon how full the flight is. These are little planes and they do not give much wiggle room for throwing on extra weight. You wouldn't ask them to overload the plane, would you? So if they say "no," you might as well accept it with a smile and move to Plan B. You do have a Plan B, don't you? Such as leaving those wet jeans and some of that other stuff you have come to realize since arriving in Costa Rica you will never wear.

Anyone can overpack. Why don't you be the clever, sophisticated, savvy traveler who doesn't?

Hey Barbarian,

How clever you are!

Thanks everyone for the excellent advice... I'm stressing less about this trip, and taking YOUR advise, Barb, savvy I am! ;;)

As a notorious over-packer, taking the flights in CR made me seriously reconsider what I needed. Yes, you can pay a charge if you're over but I didn't want to take the chance my bag may be put on a later flight.

Using a duffle bag instead of a bag with wheels will save you weight right away. Remember most hotels & locations have laundry, it's cheap & you can get it back the same day. I managed to bring 8 shirts, 6 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of pants, 4 (!) pairs of shoes, 2 bathing suits, make-up, full assortment of hair stuff, hair dryer, a book...and still managed to come in at 22 lbs. Just be creative and this isn't the place to over-dress.

In the Sansa terminal in SJO, I remember the couple who came in with 2 heavy bags each who looked like they were going shopping on Rodeo Drive (the girl in spike heels!), everyone was giving them sly smirks and they looked ridiculous. Trust me, I'm proof packing light can be done :)

Definitely pack into a lightweight duffle - you will not only save the weight but also make it easier for everyone on those domestic flights. A soft duffle is much easier to fit into those luggage compartments on the small planes than a stiff bulky suitcase. It is not such a big issue for Sansa flights because their planes are somewhat bigger (weight is still important though). Nature Air, however, flies tiny 5-6 seaters where the storage compartment has an opening of about 1 square foot (I am exaggerating but you know what I mean). There is no way a big rolling suitcase can be fitted into one of those.

And yes, you can fit into 25lbs for a 2 week trip!

Three of us are flying from San Jose to Tortuguero. I am not sure who we are flying with as this is a tour package. I was planning on bringing a big duffel bag to pack all three of our clothes,boots etc in. The bag will probably be about 40 pounds--definitely within the 75 lb. limit for the three of us. My question is --Is it a problem using one bag for the three of us or do we need to bring separate bags. I was concerned because of the comments above about Sansa and cargo space.

We are leaving Monday night, so I need to know soon.

Thanks,

Kathy