www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Mr. O,

Welcome to the board and thanks for the information. It might be helpful if you "flesh out" your report a little.

Does he have a phone number for contact?

If not how is the best way and time to reach him at the Del Rey?

What is his pricing structure?

What kind of "great spots" are you referring to?

Members will be more likely to try his service if they have sufficient info to compare him to others recommended here.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I'm working with a tour guide named Yuri. He is Nicaraguan, but is legal here and knows Costa Rica like the back of his hand. He is very professional and does all kinds of jobs, from ecotourists to families, to guys who want to play. I've seen his database. He seriously knows everything about Costa Rica. His van is having some work done now but he says it will hold 6-7 comfortably. You could quiz him on anything Costa Rica and probably not stump him. Knows hotels for all budgets and places to go in every town in CR. And he charges $100 a day for his services. He takes care of his own lodging. He said most people end up taking him to dinner and such. A tip is nice and sure he always gets them. He is a very pleasant entertaining guy. And my seal of approval is that I don't work with many people and I trust him implicitly. I'll let you know when the van is back up and running and you can reach him through our office at 643-2601.

I must chime in and join all who have praised Juan Carlos.

Juan is a great guy who speaks perfect english. Myself and 3 other CRT members (with our chicas in tow) hired him for a 4 day, 3 night trip to Jaco and Manuel Antonio in early February followng the Super Bowl Party.

We hired him from Monday at 11 AM through Thursday at 6 PM for
$ 125 per day all inclusive, with tip we paid him $400 and he was extremely happy. This included all gas for his van, we of course took very good care of him, including feeding him from our fishing trip on Tuesday morning (we caught enough to eat for 2 nights and make some fresh Ceviche...thanks Juan for offering you chef services).

After arriving on Monday night and taking us to the docks for fishing, he returned to our rented condo's to take the girls shopping and such and was awaiting our arrival at 4PM as scheduled.

On wednesday, drove us to Manuel Antonio National Park and back.

Again, Juan Carlos is everything you would want and expect from a driver, translator, guide, etc.

Give him the CRT business he has earned and deserves.

Respectfully

CG

Does anyone have Julio Solano's new phone #? His old # is not working.

Ask any of the front desk staff at SL, I am sure they will have it

they gave me his old #

Julio Solano's new # is 873-0391

While away in Flamingo last weekend, we met a very good driver named Marco Castro. He speaks perfect English and is extremely helpful. He drove us from Flamingo to Tamarindo to catch our flight and translated for us when there was a problem. The seats were all sold out (and we didn't pre-book ) so we hired him to drive us back to SJ for $200.

His # is 357-2042, if anybody needs a good driver in the Flamingo area.

I will post a review on Flamingo later on this weekend, if anybody is interested in geting away from SJ.

Just realized the number I left above got changed. Yuri will drive for $100 per day, with no added expenses. You can reach him at 643-3094 or 643-1171. He is completely bilingual and knows the country backwards and forwards.

Julio from Soortsman lodge is dependable speaks good English and is a pleasure to be with. He is worth engaging for the night as he knows all the places and can assist in negotations and preventing you from being the victim of gringo pricing

I use Julio too and he's been good. Recently the guy waited for my hell Continental flight that arrived 5 hours late at 2 am. I'm not kidding.

Just beware that he's fallen on hard times somewhat. I made the mistake of letting him find out my room # at Morazan and he called me pretty much every day asking for loans.

The address that works for me:

dukeofearls@racsa.co.cr; 506-392-5660

Sorry, I thought that I had this "Quotes" thing down, but as you can see above, I haven't--apparently "rasca" is actually "racsa" (I got it off of his business card).

DISREGARD--ADMIN INSTRUCTED ME.

I just got home from trip number three and although I have two other drivers I used this new one who was recommended to me for the entire trip.

Freddy Bustamante (506) 384-5409

Brand New 2006 15 passenger Van.

Freddy is fluent in English and is Reliable!

For pick-up and drop-off fares he is very fair however I paid him $8 hr. for staying with us all night Tico bar to Tico bar. I am sure you can negotiate anything fair for all parties.

In the short time I have known Freddy he we have become friends. He is apartment hunting for me while I am here in the states and interpetes for me on the phone when I need help and is a really good guy. He was referred to me by Alfonso at Casa Blanca.

Be sure and tell him you got his number on CRT.

RC

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Slow down for the Curves...

Is Juan Carlos the ex-CR tour guide that got into a bus accident? On my last trip, we met a great guy on the street. He called himself John (Juan?), was born in CR, was adopted and went to live in Vancouver, then came back to CR to find his parents. He became a tour guide, had a real bad bus accident, and now is just working the streets freelance, helping tourists. Speaks great english, showed us all over the city, and arranged a great trip to Jaco and back for cheap. Very honest guy. We are heading back in April, and would like to look him up again. Any help gents?