If you speak Spanish this post may be slightly more helpful to you but google translate and amaizng pictures are worth a thousand words in any language!
There once was a boy named Wady and a girl named Sindy...well you can guess most of the background but they got married and started a company with the intention of helping people to travel in Costa Rica for less. To help them see wonderful things and say in special locations that they may otherwise not be able to afford at typical prices.
I met Wady one day after having misunderstood a bus map and gone 2 hours out
I my way only to end up at the intersection that would eventually bring me up to Monteverde where I had studied and had friends and family! I had a hungry and tired companion and there would be no bus for another 3 hours. Hitch hiking would work better if we weren't still over an hour downhill from where we we're headed...and as desperation set in, Wady! He pulled up in a shuttle bus and offered to take us for about $25 if I remember correctly...the taxis had all tried their tricks but I know better than to pay $50-$60 when I left home at 6 am to save money by taking buses.
A note: I am blonde and very pale...I can easily expect prices to double if they are not written down as fixed in a visible location. And it doesn't help to have a Tico (Costa Rican) with you unless they negotiate and then you magically appear from the brush. But in THIS case being blonde helped Wady to recognize us as backpackers and not your typical bus stop patron.
Wady to the rescue, and the two weary travelers up up up to the cloud-laden Monteverde that I love. Wady shared his dreams of having his own tour company that he had just begun. He told us about his wife Sindy and her unending desire to satisfy the wanderlust of her customers. "Call her anytime" he told us. He took our picture to put on their Facebook website to share with their customers and to get reviews.
We called Sindy. And she WAS available anytime for anything. When our plans fell through, she came up with a tour on horseback through a family-owned organic farm that lasted nearly 4 hours...and it was inexpensive. They picked us up from where we were staying and picked us up at the end (a real treat and time-saver if you've eve driven unknown roads in Costa Rica).
Sindy and Wady successfully saved our trip to Monteverde and continue to exude the service that Wady prided himself on those 4 years ago when we first met. They write me to ask how I am as to let me know about their new accomplishments. Hopefully, I'll even be able to help them translate their website so it is more accessible to non-Spanish speakers.
...And now they have activities and hotels and transport all over the country!
So if you're headed to Costa Rica, check out their website. If not to book anything with them, to see all of the amazing options that you may not hear about otherwise! Appropriately named, you can find them at
SinWaTourDreams.com.
