A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post on getting around Costa Rica.  This route is a perfect chance to show you how easy it is to get from one Costa Rican birding Mecca to another.  You do not need prior reservations, just hop on the next bus.  None of the buses we took were full, but we were traveling in the slow season.

A – Tarcoles
B – San Jose
C – Savegre

The bus stop nearest to our accommodation at Villas Lapas is on the main road and buses travel every hour to the capital city of San Jose.  There are no direct buses to Savegre, as in most cases you will need to change in San Jose.

Across the street from the bus stop is a small shop.  I went over there to get some drinks and was surprised to hear the squawking of a parrot nearby close to the ground.  I played “dumb tourist” to investigate further.  I was dismayed and shocked to see a forlorn looking White-fronted Amazon and Orange-fronted Conure in tiny cages.  I really wanted to let them out but feared repercussions with the law so I snapped a couple pics quickly before the people in the house came out.

I knew at my next destination, Savegre; someone would know how to report this to the authorities and if they didn’t, Ara Project would.

The bus came and we bought tickets from the driver for around $8-ish.  The ride to San Jose is nothing special as it goes on the highway, but there were some interesting views.

Once in San Jose, we had to change from the Puntarenas bus station to the Musoc bus station.  We bought some sandwiches from Subway to bring with us for the 2nd leg of the trip, then used a taxi to get to the Musoc station which has moved from where it shows on the map below.  Unfortunately, there is no central bus station in San Jose so you have to use taxis to get from one to another.

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We bought tickets for a bus leaving in 15 minutes (service is roughly every 60-90 minutes) and had to scramble to find a payphone to call the Savegre Lodge so they could meet us at the drop off point.  We couldn’t find one so the ticket lady finally made the call for us.  The buses go to San Isidro de Perez Zeledon and you should buy a ticket for the “indirecto” or “colectivo” service.  Make sure the driver knows to drop you at Km 80 for San Gerardo de Dota.

This journey was beautiful with the spectacular mountain scenery.  One stop was made at a small cafe for snacks and pit stops.  Half an hour later, the bus pulled over to KM 80 (we had asked him to let us know as we were tourists and unfamiliar with the area) and the truck from Savegre was waiting for us to begin our next adventure!

If you Google map this route, it looks like you are being dropped off in the middle of nowhere.  Actually, there is a small cafe at the junction.   The road leads to the small town of San Gerardo de Dota.