Please see notes and disclaimer below.

HWY 32 -BRAULLIO CARRILLO HIGHWAY CLOSED SAN JOSÉ - LIMÓN
Kilometer 127, Matina - Chirripo River has overflowed. Passage blocked.

PLAYA NEGRA BRIDGE OPEN CAHUÍTA - PUERTO VIEJO
A temporary crossing has been put in place to restore traffic where the Playa Negra Bridge had been recently damaged. It is open to all vehicles, including buses, delivery trucks, and passenger vehicles.

MARGARITA ROAD OPEN COCLES - MARGARITA
Margarita Road, the alternate back route between Cocles and Margarita, is open. See map.

SIXAOLA ROUTE OPEN MARGARITA - SIXAOLA
The Sixaola Route is now open and buses are running regularly.

SIXAOLA BRIDGE - BORDER OPEN SIXAOLA
The Sixaola border crossing is now open again.

PANAMA ROUTE OPEN ALMIRANTE/CHANGUINOLA - DAVID - PANAMA CITY
The Coastal Highway between Almirante/Changuinola and David/Panama City is open to all vehicles, except tractor trailers. There is one lane in some areas.

BOCAS DEL TORO PANAMA OPEN
BOCAS SERVICES:
Airport, Internet, Cellular and ATMs services: Restored and functioning.
Water taxis: Due to the lack of fuel some companies are closed while others have limited service.
Bocas Marine & Tours is open, running every 90 minutes or whenever full.
Taxi 25 is running hourly to Almirante only.
Jampam is open and running when full.

Click here for Current Weather Conditions

NOTES and Disclaimer: This information is presented for references only in helping you plan your trip, we cannot be held responsible for it’s validity. Although we do our very best to insure the quality of these reports, we make no guarantees regarding their accuracy. The report is compiled from several sources, including the Costa Rican Transito Police web site (which is not always current at any given hour), our communications with the public bus authorities and eye witness reports. Road conditions in Costa Rica can change very quickly during heavy rains, etc. When landslides, washouts, vehicle breakdowns, etc. occur, it can be some time before anyone is notified. To double check if the major routes are open at any given time, you can call the bus company: Transportes Mepe: San José : (506) 2257-8129 • Limón : (506) 2758-1572 • Puerto Viejo : (506) 2750-0023

IF YOU KNOW OR HAVE WITNESSED that any current road conditions are different than what is shown here,
PLEASE SEND US A COMMENT and we will update this page as quickly as possible.

ATEC, The Talamancan Association of Ecotourism, is coordinating local relief efforts in the area to aid the victims of this week’s flooding. They are establishing drop off points throughout the area, including the ATEC office in downtown Puerto Viejo, and several places in the the area (see list below). The communities in Sixaola and the Yorkin area have suffered greatly - over 30 inches of rain in one week - they have lost of all their crops, their water supply, their lodge, septic systems, their community kitchen, etc. and are in DESPERATE need of non-perishable food items, water, medicine, tools, educational toys, school supplies, clothing, holiday gifts and cash. These supplies will be picked up at the local drop off points and transported this week via the ReciCaribe recycling truck, and again in December as long as ATEC keeps receiving cash donations to provide gasoline for the trucks and other needs. All transactions are accounted for in a transparent manner as posted on their site.

CLICK HERE to make an online international monetary donation,

or donate directly to the Yorkin community in Banco Nacional:
100 01 112 000021-1

or donate through ATEC in colones Banco Nacional:
200 01 112 037434-2

DONATION DROP OFF POINTS - Donation Boxes

• ATEC Office, Puerto Viejo 2750-0398 (next to the hardware store downtown)
• Pulperia La Violeta, Playa Negra
• Super Buen Precio, Puerto Viejo
• Super Pirrilpli, Cocles
• Cafe Miss Holly’s / Aquas Claras, Playa Chiquita
• Duende Gourment, Playa Chiquita
• The Mariposario, Cahuita - contact Leda: 2755-0108 or 8844-8032
• ANAI, Hone Creek 2756-8021
• ANAI, San Jose, 2224-3570 diego@anaicr.org
  

Let’s band together and HELP those who need it NOW!

For more information see the Green Coast News Bulletin

Or contact Alaine at:
atecmail@gmail.com
(506) 2750-0398

This is a map of the alternate access back road, via Margarita Road, going from Hone Creek towards Bribri, then towards Sixaola to Margarita, then to Playa Cocles. It is usually open when there is no heavy rain. A 4×4 or dirt bike is recommended but not always necessary, especially in the dry season. See DRIVING NOTES below.

Click the image below for a detailed map of the route:

Margarita Road - Alternate Route to Puerto Viejo - Click for wider image

Points of Caution:

Please bear in mind that during heavy rains this road becomes impassable, particularly at two points (illustrated below). Although there has been recent private efforts to improve the road, and it’s been built up and fortified ( a big thanks from all of us to Ned and Josh who spearheaded the project), when there’s extreme flooding as we had in November of 2008, the creeks and rivers themselves overflow and nature will take it’s course. This is very rare, but when this type of flooding occurs here, sometimes Margarita Road is the only alternative link to the outside world. If you are considering driving it during these types of conditions, please see the detailed driving notes below.

Margarita Road Points of Caution

Margarita Road Rainy Season Driving Notes:

There are narrow bridges which, when covered with muddy water, become invisible and it is easy to misjudge where you are, especially at two particular river points (see photo below). At both of these areas the water can overflow at the creeks and cover the bridges or even become too deep for vehicles to pass through without engine flooding. Proceed with caution during heavy rains.

NOTES ON THE ROUTE: Coming from the entrance of Margarita road on the Margarita side, driving towards Playa Cocles, the road starts at 20 meters elevation, rises to 95m elevation at 2.3 kilometers in, then starts to drop to 36m at an old wooden bridge 3.5km in (the lower caution point on the map), and continues to drop to 28m 3.8km in. The road stays an average of 30m elevation until 5km in, then begins its descent to the sea.

At this point you will see a long hedge on the west side of the road, and a place called Las Casas on the right. This is approaching another area of caution (the upper caution point on the map). There are two very narrow bridges here. The bridges are only 2.5m (7-1/2ft) wide, and have erosion around them. The second bridge is about 100 meters past this, at Dave’s Valley Apartments (on east side of the road). About 200 meters past this is a point in the road where water frequently flows over the road, just past Casa Farmer, a wooden house up on the east side of the road. From here the road goes down a rather steep hill out to the main road at Playa Cocles. Turn left for Puerto Viejo, right for Punta Uva/Manzanillo.

Online PayPal bookings integrated with the Tropical Reservations tours database will be available Jan 1st, 2009. This will be the most complete, state-of-the-art reservations booking service available in the Puerto Viejo, Caribbean coast area of Costa Rica!

Tropical Reservations has been hard at work building the most complete, online accommodations database for the Puerto Viejo, Caribbean coastal area of Costa Rica. The database contains hotels, resorts, cabinas, and vacation rentals and will be available online as soon as we are done testing it! Stay tuned!

ATEC, the Talamancan Association of Ecotourism and Conservation, a self-sustaining non-profit working with various NGO’s, community groups, schools, and rural community ecotourism projects throughout Talamanca put together this list of suggested items to donate when you’re in the area. Might as well fill up that little bit of extra space in your luggage.

Safety issues:
• Reflectors for bicycles
• Flashing light for back of bikes.
• Safety vest
• Flashlights
• Reflector tape
• Helmets for kids.
Garden projects—we’re doing some small vegetable plots with various schools:
• Gardening tools
• Clippers
• Gloves
• Hand shovels
Painting projects—again, mostly at schools:
• Paint brushes
• Rollers
• Wire brushes for cleaning the surface before-hand
Education projects:
Click here for a list of shool supplies needed by each student.

• School Uniforms
• Note books
• Kids picture books in English or Spanish.
• Pencils/Pens
• Art supplies
• Computers or computer components (mouse, keyboard, Etc)
• Color pencils
• Chalk
• Educational toys
• Sports equipment
• Rules–Metric,
• All kinds of schools supplies for the teachers as well and the students

Computers and Parts:
• RAM for old Computers—PC100 and PC 133
• Any parts that still function
• Printers & ink
• Mice & Keyboards
• Old Laptops
Art Projects—
• Carving tools (we do gourd carving here)
• Paints
• Artistic paint brushes
Books—In Spanish preferably:

• DICTIONARIES -Spanish English
• Any Kind of Resource Books
• On Ecology or Wildlife
• Kids Picture Books
• Conservation
• Climate Change
• Education
• Sustainable development
• Tropical gardening
• Story books—Español o English
• Construction
• Latin American history
• Sex Education

Clothing:
• Rubber boots
• Shoes
• Kids clothes
• Clean used clothes
• Umbrellas
Sporting:
• Surf Boards
• Skate Boards (there’s a new non-profit skate park)
• Skate Boarding equipment
• Soccer balls and equipment
• Baseball equipment (it’s the national sport of Nicaragua, we have lots of Nica friends)
• Binoculars

Medicinal:
• First aid kits. They are expensive and hard to find here.
• We can get them here, but people really need regular treatments for flu, cold, cough, headache, body ache, toothache, body-aches, fever, diarrhea, cuts, infections, eye or ear infections, cramps, yeast infections, funguses, intestinal parasites, leishmaniasis.
• Band-Aids, thermometers, blood pressure tester, cotton balls, vitamins, aspirins, etc.
Other:
• BIRDERS—check out the wish list on www.kekoldi.org click on Giving to KSC . http://www.kekoldi.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=67
• Cameras –Disposable or re-usable
• Bicycles
• Condoms
• Rechargeable batteries and chargers.
• A photocopy machine—could be at a school or could be at ATEC and ATEC could then donate copies to the schools and non-profits.
• MONEY! —For emergency situations (food, water, transportation)
— For buying trees to reforest
— To buy construction materials for schools, NGO’s
— To pay a construction manager to manage a volunteer project
— To buy school books and uniforms for low income families
• Your time—we are working up some options for volunteering in Talamanca (check out www.mytropicaladventure.com or write ATEC at atecmail@gmail.com)

Tropical Reservations supports community organizations which in turn directly help the local community. Here’s some organizations which all are working to make this Christmas a little nicer for local children and indigenous communities:

El Puente (The Bridge)

www.elpuente-thebridge.org

El Puente is a local organization which provides school supplies, microloans, free kitchen program, and more for the local indigenous community.

Click Here to MAKE A DONATION

They also have beautiful hand crafted greeting cards and prints (on eco friendly paper) which you can purchase to support the organization’s work.

ATEC - The Talamancan Association of Ecotourism and Conservation:

www.ateccr.org

ATEC is hoping to sponsor at least two different communities this Christmas. They have a wish list of gifts which you can donate for the cause:

ATEC Christmas Wish List

If you’d like to donate cash, 100% of that donation will go to buying school supplies. Just bring, or send, items in to ATEC’s office in Puerto Viejo and they’ll disperse educational toys and all non-school related items in late December.

Please write or call (506) 2750 0398 to get more info or to get involved or just start bringing items to ATEC on main street in Puerto Viejo.

ATEC mailing address:
ATEC
Diagonal de Soda Tamara
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
Limón
Costa Rica
Centro America
7304