As we walked in the small terminal, a uniformed customs agent informed us that only the Americans must purchase the entrance tax of $13 each(including baby). Cash only is accepted in the tiny office. We then take our entrance stamps to the official customs office where through a 32? door all the luggage in random order comes through at the same time as the travelers.

Our luggage was inspected as if the contraband was coming from Costa Rica to Panama instead of the other way around. The pleasant gentleman meticulously writing all the info from the passports on a carbon copy pad was impervious to the not so gentle nudging by a hurried set of travelers in our group. Even though as Americans we were the last from our plane to clear customs, our luggage was the first inspected. That little 32? door had more action than a flower shop on Valentine's Day. When they asked for my son's occupation for the carbon copy customs pad, the agent gave me a sneer when I said "baby." He instead listed it as " estudiante." (Student) We enjoyed our stay and found many adventures on which to send our clients. We were also able to secure a business relationship with two fine hotels for our future clients. The food was excellent at most of the places, but unfortunately our hotel was not one of them. Since the dollar keeps declining in value, I kept most of my money in colones(Costa Rican monetary unit) But Panama uses dollars and won't accept colones. I brought a limited supply of dollars and had planned on using my credit card for most meals, adventures and of course the hotel. As it turned

out, most of the eating establishments did not take credit cards. Therefore, on the last day, I needed to conserve the dollars for an emergency. I thought it prudent to check with the front desk and see if there was an exit tax at the airport. The local lady just chuckled and said, "No, they just charge you an entrance tax if you are American." Somewhat relieved, we used all but $20 in cash in eating the last day.

After taking the short taxi ride to the airport, we checked our bags at the Nature Air counter. The agent informed me that we needed to purchase our exit tax to leave the country. In another small office, I learned that I was $25 short of the $45 ($15 each) needed. They would not accept any credit cards, nor would they accept any of the $200 worth of colones that sat uselessly in my wallet. The agent just smiled and told me where the bank was about half a mile away. No one

in the airport was willing to trade $25 U.S. for $50 worth of colones. With 30 minutes before take off, all the cabs were gone and it was pouring rain. I said to myself, " This is my job. I go through this so none of my clients will ever suffer from a lack of information. I am blazing a travel trail." I situated the family in a safe spot and ran to the bank in the rain. The bank was closed. There was an ATM, but my pin number( I never use it) was in my address book in my luggage loaded on the plane. My savior came in the form of a clerk at a surf shop across the street from the bank. He charged my Visa $26.25 and handed me $25 U.S. I ran back to the airport and 20 minutes later we were in the air.

Landing in Limon on the way home, I was almost hoping for a nonexistent Costa Rican entrance tax. Those colones in my pocket made me feel wealthy. We deplaned and went through customs again. This time there was an intensive spot check of all of our luggage. Bringing

powdered baby formula from Panama is not the quickest way to get through customs. Luckily the supervisor was a mother and new the smell and taste of baby formula. We then were back in the air on our final leg. With the baby sucking furiously on the bottle, we cleared the mountains and glided home. As we toted our luggage through the small airport towards the car, an American tourist approached me . He needed to buy $52 worth of colones for the exit tax. I took great pleasure in pulling those colones out of my pocket.