“P EOPLE REFER to a corner shop, a bar, a tree—even a tree!” exclaims Rolando Granja Enríquez, a postman. For a place with well-developed publi

Why is it so easy to get lost in Costa Rica off the beaten path?

submited by
Style Pass
2021-05-15 10:30:53

“P EOPLE REFER to a corner shop, a bar, a tree—even a tree!” exclaims Rolando Granja Enríquez, a postman. For a place with well-developed public services, Costa Rica’s addresses are a conundrum. Nearly everyone uses vague places, distances and compass directions, rather than street-names and postcodes: 200 metres west of such-and-such juice bar, 100 metres north of the house with the pink fence, and so on. Worse, sometimes the landmarks used as reference points have long gone, says Mr Enríquez.

This archaic method may be quaint and infused with local history—indeed neighbouring Nicaragua has a similar system. But it has a high economic cost, says Geovanny Campos, the head of logistics at Correos de Costa Rica, the postal service. Exactly how much is unknown: the last study, over a decade ago, estimated a toll of $720m annually.

The lack of clear addresses obstructs the smooth delivery not only of letters, but of other public and private services, too. Police, for example, may be slow to respond to calls for help if they cannot find the caller. Food takes longer to deliver, resulting in lukewarm chifrijo (pork and beans). The past year has been particularly troublesome, as many Ticos (as people from Costa Rica are known) have stayed at home and ordered goods online.

Leave a Comment