www.CostaRicaTicas.com

TMG,
just out of curiousity what is your age, weight, height?? ( no , i'm not deciding if you are my type ) were you a little drunk?? Not trying to pass judgement, just wondering if they are going after a certain type of gringo or if it doesn't matter...
Thanks! and thanks for the heads up....hindsight is 20/20 and you are safe, so that is a good outcome

TheMadGerman:
Sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident, but thanks for reporting it so that maybe we will be a lil more prepared for a similar occurance. It sounds like you kept your head through-out the entire ordeal. That's great considering you must've been mad as hell. Staying calm and quietly deciding what the alternatives are, and what is the best scenerio for you at that moment, is the best thing you can do because if you lose your cool, you might really blow it.

Just curious: What did your chica do? Just take off, give you her phone # and then take off? Offer to bbbj for the cop so she could get to work on you?

Thanks for the embassy phone # suggestion. That makes a lot of sense, I will use that idea and I think It will work. I will also continue to repetedly ask for Nombre and Numero as well. Or at least I hope I have the balls to do that if put in a similar spot. No one really knows until they are there and they have sized the situation up in their minds at that particular moment. I do agree that this stuff should be reported to the policia (OIJ). To the US embassy at the very least.

Prolijo:
I'm not doubting your experience in Nic., but my Passport replacement experience in SJ was a little less painful than your description. Although, you're right, it was still a severe pain in the butt, and hopefully completely avoidable by keeping your Passport in your hotel safe whenever possible.
Prolijo wrote:
.

When I went to the US embassy in March "07 for a replacement Passport following a theft, I was never asked for a police report of any kind. I did report the incident at the OIJ and I did receive a copy of the written report. However, I went to the OIJ and did all of that during the afternoon, after I went to the embassy in the morning.

Prolijo wrote:


I arrived on a Monday morning at approx. 8:15 am. I was the 11th person in line (the Americans only line). I was finished and had a new temporary Passport in hand by 9:30 am. The cost was $96. or $97. Also, they take plastic without upcharging a percentage as is usually done in CR. The embassy really must be soverign (sp) property. I did have a color copy & was told that it might have taken a few days if I hadn't had said color copy. Futhermore, I was issued a form letter from the embassy with my replacement Passport. The letter was dated with that March "07 date using handwritten ink. The letter had specific instructions stating that the letter could be mailed into the State Dept. within one year along with my new tempoary replacement Passport and two new photos and it would be replaced with a new regular ten year Passport at no charge. Sure enough it was. Since I waited until the 11th month to mail it in, I should manage to get almost eleven years out of that $96. Passport. Not bad, for dealing with the US govt.

For those that may be intrested: I've asked the CR immigration officer to please date stamp my Passport color copy upon arrival each of my last three trips. He has stamped it all three times. Once I was told that he was not supposed to, but he stamped it anyway.

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Don't blame me, I can't help it! I'm just CRAZY about Beaver, and I remain Fraternally yours;
Best Regards,
GI Joe

PS: Who ever dreamed it would feel so good to be the hunted, instead of the Hunter. Pura Vida!!!!

GI Joe,
To be honest, I didn't need a copy of the police report when I went to the embassy in Managua either. I reported that part based on what I read on the CR US Embassy website http://sanjose.usembassy.gov/passports_stolen.html. Looking back I now see it actually said "if you have one".

The part about their limited hours I didn't make up http://sanjose.usembassy.gov/holidays.html. What I didn't mention is that there are a full 17 holidays during the year when the embassy's ACS office is closed, including days when many of us are most likely to be in CR. When I was in Managua, my incident occurred around noon on a Tuesday. I managed to get to their office before they closed and the nice gringa behind the bulletproof glass service window, made sure my application was expedited. Even so that Wednesday was a holiday and I couldn't pick it up until Thursday afternoon. Obviously, your timing was more lucky but it could also have been much worse. For example, if you get ripped off on a Friday morning, even without having to report to the police, you might not be able to get out to the embassy before 11:30AM, which would mean you wouldn't be able to even start the process until Monday (assuming you weren't down there for Labor Day, Memorial Day or some other holiday weekend) and wouldn't have your replacement passport until Tuesday (4 days later at the earliest). Granted that is a worst case scenario, but it is certainly possible. And if you were planning to fly out that Sunday or Monday, you'd have some serious problems.

I also conservatively estimated a couple of hours processing your forms at the embassy. You got there early in the morning shortly after it opened and it took you over an hour. It is true they handle US citizens much quicker (the Nicaraguans I saw waiting there appeared to have cobwebs forming on them). But having to deal with the bureaucracy for at least 1-2 hours is not an unreasonable estimate.

I don't remember the exact amount they charged me for my replacement passport. As before, the info that I reported above came from the embassy website (this time from http://sanjose.usembassy.gov/passports_fees.html). Interestingly, they also told me in Managua that I could replace my temporary passport with a regular one at no extra charge. However, I don't recall being given any form letter to that effect and when I called in about replacing my passport, I had to spend considerable time on the phone getting the bureaucratic run around before ultimately being refused any credit and having to pay the regular fee for my new passport.

The upshot of this all is, whether it costs you $175 or $96 (plus taxi and photo costs) or whether it takes you one morning going back and forth or more or whether you can get it back the next day or half a week later, like you said "it was still a severe pain in the butt, and hopefully completely avoidable by keeping your Passport in your hotel safe whenever possible. "

Just a point of clarification. Costa Rica allows you to drive with a license issued by a state for the first 90 days you are in the country. After that you need a valid CR license. Most tourists, even perpetual ones, are never in the country for more than 90 days in any visit so they do not need a CR license. The transitos will ask for your passport or photo copy so they may determine if your U.S. license is within that 90 day grace period.

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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

This thread and previous ones on the same subject,have made me rethink if there is anything else I can do to protect myself from muggers and more importantly the police.(the real criminals) First of all let me say that what The Mad German did was certainly reasonable under obviously great stress. A little preplanning would seem to be prudent especially if you live here as MG and I do. I don't stay out late at night because at my age,I'd just fall asleep anyways. lol When I go into town or especially when I return,I get directly into a taxi,usually one that has taken me home before. I just checked my passport copy and the stamps are clearly legible,but I will check it in the future. I don't drink to excess so I'm OK there. What to do if hassled by the police obviously for a bribe. All things considered I believe that I will discreetly check their badge numbers along with the plate number and car or moto numbers if available without making too big a deal out of it but making sure they see that I am doing it. If I am cooperating with them except for these motions I should be OK. I think that even if I don't have a pen and paper,the thought left with them is uncertainty as to whether or not I "might" cause a problem for them afterwards should be a deterrant. At least I have a plan to enact when under stress. I will also reach for a 10,000 col. when showing them my passport. I did this once before and it was readily accepted so I should be able to handle it again under stress. Lastly I have a problem with money.I gamble frequently when in town so I carry a fair amount of cash.This is my problem as I could easily be spotted cashing out at a casino. I think I will ask my casinos of choice if I can leave cash on deposit there and take markers when I play. Then I can just carry the requisite amout of colones for my day's and evening's musings.

The above won't totally protect me,but at least I will be more likely to think clearly when ATTACKED by the bad guys.....be they with or without badges.

Yeah - well I get very frustrated when bad shit happens here in CR - and - guys at home claim that "what if" and such and then allude to it being your fault for being careless. This has happened to me twice on this board and its complete bullshit.

MG - got robbed by police in SJ. There is probably very little he could have done but pay their ransom and get it over it. Had he resisted or called their bullshit, it could have played out really bad. They could have nailed him on some false arrest, beaten him, shot him and hid the body. Who knows???

Its a pity that guys like to flame when they don't understand the game. There are bad cops all over the world. In SJ, where the rules are looser, I only see downside.

The theme of this thread should be more like:

1. Gringo got robbed by police in SJ
2. This is complete bullshit and unacceptable
3. This is beyond the customary bribe for a speeding ticket (convenient for both parties)
4. What the hell do we do now? Can this get publicized???

I would recommend contacting La Nacion and AM Costa Rica. They would die for a story like this. If Nacion doesn't like it, go to Al Dia or something smaller paper.

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

They sure do amigo!

But they do out of concern for you and frustration over the situation. Self-preservation is always the number one motivator and you did what was appropriate for you, personally, at that moment in time... and guess what? You succeeded. Other guys are more comfortable with a higher level of confrontation and there's nothing wrong with that either, if they can save their $$. I doubt however a higher level of gringo resistance in general will have much effect on anything...and don't want to see anybody get killed for the greater honesty of CR policia! The value of this thread is that guys have shared ideas and options when finding themselves in this situation and I have learned a few things. The only thing I can add here is that if you live in Escazu you ought to be making the effort to learn the local idioma and rapidly IMO.

PR

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

I started to respond to this post last night....and then decided not to. I didn't want to offend anyone. I caught a little flaming a couple years back when I stopped 2 young thugs who were trying to mug one of the old timer Ex-Pats outside Hotel Morazon. You see, there are some of us who refuse to be intimidated....especially by the police. If you are the type to roll over and be played, well then I don't want you as my squad leader in Vietnam or my humvee driver in Irag. I also don't want you as my wingman in Costa Rica....because when things get tough; I know you won't defend yourself or me. If you payed those 2 costumed punks one hundred bucks for nothing.....well then you thought it was a good buy. Why are you whining now? To warn others? Warn about what? That the cops are incompetent crooks? We all know that. Please...from now on; make sure you carry a couple extra c notes with you, because I ain't paying and they are gonna have to get there rent money from you. Grow a pair or stay home.

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My life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming...." MAN....WHAT A RIDE!!!!"

Wow, I think you've been spending too much time in costa rica, you've adopted the defeatest attitudes that the ticos are so well known for.

No one deserves to have their money stolen, no matter how much they happen to have with them.

From personal experience, you'd be an idiot not to have some emergency cash tucked away somewhere on your person... Anything can happen in SJ at night, and having an extra $100 will help you a lot more in most situations, rather than making you a target for criminal police, and exemption you from complaining about the theft afterwards.

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heredia porn king

I don't mean to keep quoting you, but you're replying a lot in this thread and I keep finding stuff that I disagree with

If I'm going out for a night on the town, I don't leave the house with anything under $200. I'm not sure which San Jose you hang out in, but things just are not that cheap these days. If a strip club is on the itinerary I'll bring more than that, nevermind if we are meeting up at a halfway decent restaurant.

Oh and FWIW, transitos will demand your passport if you present a foreign drivers license. Also, the last time I had a passport stolen and needed replacement, the embassy turned me away and said not to come back without a police report. That was a fun day at the police station

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heredia porn king

Man, this thread has really taken a life of its own. I think TMG did what he thought was the least aggravation and made sense to him financially and for his safety. Also, if he went to jail and they somehow kept him, he said he would have made more over the weekend working. So financially it made sense. Plus, for all we know, he could be a millionaire and it's a drop in the bucket. I usually go out with about $200, sometimes more. I never use credit cards or ATM's when in country(except for the hotel). I do not want to deal with overcharging or double charging or card reader scams. I just pay cash so I bring a lot with me. And yes, I have been pick pocketed before. I now spread my money around different pockets and use a "hidden pocket" that attaches to my belt. A great $12 investment. I also leave all credit cards, etc in the hotel safe and walk around with a dummy wallet as suggested on this site many times.

I agree with Orange that it is easy for us to say what we would do "arm chair QB'ing" from our computer. However, these threads, to me, are the most important and help us the most. As much as I like the entertaining and chica and massage parlor threads, it is Safety & Security and topics like this that I scan for when I first log on.


TMG, CHI-TREKKER, JUNKYARD DOG, and CHILIMIKE'S harrowing event, and the many others who have relayed their experiences to us, a big thanks. It is from these stories, and I know they caused you pain, that I make and alter my own security plan when in CR. It could be something as simple as changing what side of the street I walk on or carrying a bunch of important phone numbers on my person to not walking at night, etc. Just b/c nothing has happened to me or you yet doesn't mean it can't. And thanks to such threads and being personally aware, I have averted some potentially disastrous situations in SJ, Quepos, PR, Jaco, and even Palma del Sur.

PURA VIDA, AND SORRY FOR THE LONG POST.

I'll leave that for you, PRO

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Livin' & Lovin' in Key Largo....oh....And the one in The Keys, too!

Wow!!! Why are so many people misreading what I've been saying. Fiirst TMG suggesting that I'm advocating resisting arrest and attacking the police or trying to flee from them on foot, and now this.

WHERE did I say ANYWHERE that anyone DESERVES to have their money stolen? What I did say was, first, that they shouldn't be surprised if their money is stolen, given the numerous reports of muggings and shakedowns that have occurred. Wasn't that EXACTLY the point of TMG's post? I did go further to say it would be idiotic to COMPLAIN about losing so much money IF they unneccessarily carry such large sums of cash AND they should know that there is such a real possibility that they could get hit (again wasn't the LARGE amount that was demanded also exactly TMG's point). The distinction between that and saying those "idiots" DESERVE to get robbed may seem subtle to you, but it seems quite significant to me. The term "idiots" may have been unduly harsh but other than that and I stand by the main thrust of my remarks.

Also, WHERE did I ever say you should not have some emergency cash tucked away somewhere on your person. I actually completely AGREE that you'd be an idiot not to have ANY cash on you. Where we disagree is over what constitutes having an ADEQUATE supply of emergency cash AND what constitutes having excess cash "tucked" away.

One SHOULD carry sufficient money to be able to take a cab back to one's hotel. That's 2K colones to most places we stay, but lets call that 4K. Another strong argument could be made for having "shakedown money". Normally, that would be another 10K. You only need $100 to pay off the cops if you have that much on you. Cops will and have settled for much less and would probably settle for nothing at all, once they think that's all you have (can't get blood from a stone). So what we're really talking about is more like $30 at most which is a far cry from $100. Having $100 won't do anything to keep you from being robbed. All that it will achieve is having you lose that much more.

Not only did I NOT suggest not having any emergency cash (triple negative, how's that JB ) I clearly actually expressed the need to have such emergency funds when I mentioned the need to keep "the bulk of whatever money I had stuffed down my shorts or some other secret place". IMHO, carrying that much excess "emergency funds" in a wallet along with one's passport copy where it can easily be found (or am I making another incorrect assumption), is not really providing for emergencies. It is really just making a bigger pot for the crooks to steal.

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There are others who seem to be selectively reading my posts and completely misinterpreting what I've been saying. There have been suggestions of flaming and smugness and there has been some bruised feelings. Well, I'm sorry that TMG took such offense at my interpretation of what happened to him, but I'm not sorry about anything I've said or how I've said it.

Did TMG make his post as just a bid for sympathy? Well, he's got all our sympathy INCLUDING mine. Witness my concluding remark from my very first post "Regardless of all the above, I'm still sorry to hear about your misfortune."

Or did TMG make his post to be instructive for the rest of us? If so, then let us discuss what happened to him freely and see what lessons are to be learned. To the extent I made unwarranted assumptions about his SPECIAL case, it is really besides the point if the point was to understand how what happened to him applies to the vast majority of the rest of us for whom those assumptions WOULD be valid.

Did TMG expect everyone to agree with all of his actions in this case? Again, I'm sorry to disappoint. I actually readily understand why he did some of the things he did, but I don't agree with all of it or at least don't think they were things the rest of us would have to do the same way, particularly the things he did or didn't do leading up to his getting in that police car. In all my posts, I was merely expressing my opinions and the basis for those opinions. I allowed for the fact that others could disagree. As I said in my last post to TMG: "I was just offering my own thoughts on what you should have done. Everyone else is free to agree or disagree." I should add, if I recognize that right for you, shouldn't you extend that same right for me.

Was I being smug and unfair in telling someone how they should react in a pressure situation? My concluding point in my very first post stated: "11) I realize that my advice is easy to give sitting safely at home in my chair rather than sitting in the back of some police car in some scary barrio." In another concluding paragraph a couple of posts later I wrote "Sure MG made a few mistakes that may have helped put him into that situation and should have known better about those. But we all sometimes slip up when we're on the ground and when we're in a tense situation like MG was it is anybody's guess how they'll react. Our posts on the other hand are made in the luxury of calm and reflection." As recently as this morning I wrote: " it is easy for someone like me to say how one SHOULD react HYPOTHETICALLY in such a situation while seated safely at home. How we'd ACTUALLY react if we ACTUALLY were in that situation is quite possibly another story. I actually acknowledged as much myself at least a couple of times already. IF I had a lot of money on me and was trapped in a patrol car in some strange and dangerous neighborhood and was being threatened with the things you were, I might have done exactly as you had done or even probably would have."

So I'm not feigning any greater intelligence or courage than anyone else here, but I do think calmly and carefully considering the alternatives (and preventatives) beforehand OUT of that pressure cooker could help prepare you to make more intelligent later on.

And finally flaming, apart PERHAPS from my use of the word "idiot" in just my last post, I have expressed all of my positions civilly and without any real name-calling and I've conceded that others might justifiably hold different views. I offered my views for serious discussion and not just to stir up controversy. How is that flaming? Because I disagree with some of you. You're disagreeing with me too, maybe I'm the one being flamed here for having the temerity to hold a different opinion and not just obsequiously say oh poor TMG, there wasn't ANYTHING AT ALL that you could have done to POSSIBLY have avoided this situation.

Shrug, maybe I misinterpreted, maybe I didn't. All I know is, almost every post in this thread I've read of yours seemed unrealistic and uninformed. This poor guy just got kidnapped and robbed by the police and all you can to is criticize the amount of money in his wallet.

You're allowed to share your opinion, I'm allowed to share mine

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heredia porn king

Me? I'm "listening" to what Prolijo is stating. He's only stating the truth.

Walking around with $200 in your pocket is dumb even if you got large money in the bank. You be in Costa Rica....not Kansas City.

It's very evident that a good number of posters have a rather dim view of CR. I don't: I see it for what it is: It's not the "progressive democracy" our USA gvt. would have us believe. It's just another banana republic with major, major problems and a thin....very thin....veneer of legitimacy. There's an oligarchy in place there and it ain't getting any bigger; it's getting smaller and desperation is setting in for the rest. I thought it might be a place for me to "retire" or at least have a 2nd home and I've concluded "NO WAY NO HOW"....not at this time and not in the foreseeable future. I have no desire to be prisoner in my own place. The "squatter" "laws" are but a mere example of shiit I have no inclination to deal with. I don't want to live behind bars and concertina wire. Bluntly, it reminds me of San Pedro Sula circa 1986 with a machine gun nest on each and every corner and "stink eye" looks from them in the uniforms. Iguana Six....we might want to talk. I was in southern Honduras in 1987, but I got a funny feeling you was one of the guys shooting at me!!! (Sorry....shoot at me....I shoot back...).

I know a Central America from the Contra/Sandinista days and it ain't changed. It may be a bit more subtle, but it is what it is.

As for saying the cops in CR are bad news, they ain't any worse than the shake downs I have experienced in Chicago, Detroit, Miami, L.A., or NYC. That "blue line" is every where you go, like it or not.

I'll continue to visit CR but that's what it is....it's a visit. I am not a high roller given I prefer to count rather than spend. There is a lot to see in the country and if nothing else, that's the food; the Central Market; the country side, all that is free for the delight of my ever so attractive blue eyes, blah, blah, blah!

Here's to having a CRT stash of peacekeepers in country. Of course, using one is going to lead to a bunch of headaches. I'm 5'5.5"; 195 lbs.; busted back; and 7.62mm bits in me from .....never mind....All this stuff forces me to re think how can I possibly "enjoy" myself without first having a peackeeper on my person? Than again, what am I going to do? Blast CR's John Law?

If you search my posts you'll find an incident I related with two motor cycle cops in CR. Maybe they were making an effort to "shake me down"? I dunno and don't care. It worked out. However, I'm not so silly as to understand I (and anyone else) could end up like MadGerman and get the shaft. However, I'm not walking around at 2am and I'm not carrying that kind of cash on my butt.

I hope I get a chance to meet Prolijo, Irish Drifter, and Jazz...(don't remember the rest of that complex chord). Also, all the rest of you at El Silencio's b-day thing at the SL. Still, it would be interesting to hold one of these "parties" at a local bar (like the CRT bar across from Hotel Thomas....). End of expose. Bring it on?!

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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

So what's the point of this whole thread ? If anyone doesn't want comments and or suggestions, then there in no point in starting a thread topic.

One Question? Are you here over 90 days ? If not , why not have the proper paperwork ? Why not have a very good copy of your passport including the entry stamp and the plane ticket stub with the arrival date?

If you have these, they are less likely to try to extort you.

Some of the cops live for the days when they catch someone doing something wrong so they can get paid.

The cops got a sense that you were an easy target. You said you "insinuated" a pay off. As far as they know, you overstayed your 90 days.

P.S. TMG, I'm not saying you did the right thing or the wrong thing. I'm wondering what are you going to do the next time you are walking a girl to the Asia.

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* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.