The Jungle Made Us Do It

From survival mode to jungle joyrides.

When we first moved to Costa Rica, we went without a car for three months. It was manageable since we were in Spanish school and could walk to everything we needed. On a few weekends, we rented a car to explore other parts of the country.

At one point, we almost bought a car through a dealership that caters to expats—but after a little research, we realized they were overpriced, and many of the imported vehicles had rolled-back mileage.

DeWayne was itching to have his freedom back, so we decided to use a car broker we’d met during the How to Move to Costa Rica retreat. It was a leap of trust—we were too far from San José to test drive anything ourselves. That’s part of why we went with a Mazda. We’d had one before and were familiar with it, even though Toyotas are the most popular (and practical) cars here.

That red Mazda 5 served us well… until it didn’t.

Many car companies depower their engines for Latin America, and even the features are different. For example, we couldn’t unlock all four doors with a single click. That was pretty annoying.

And, of course, when we bought it, we had no idea we’d end up building a home in rural Costa Rica, on land with roads that require real power. Thankfully, it was all-wheel drive with all-terrain tires—otherwise, we would’ve been in even bigger trouble.

There were some sketchy moments. But one day sealed the deal.

We were hauling rocks up to the future labyrinth site on our property—a steep road, too steep for comfort. Normally, DeWayne gives the car enough gas at the bottom and we make it up. But this time, a large rock blocked the road. He had to move it, which meant losing momentum.

Still, he backed up, gunned it… and halfway up, the car stopped.

Then it started sliding backward. Fast.

DeWayne let off the brake so he could steer and somehow maneuvered us between two trees and toward the side of the mountain. The very rock he’d moved minutes earlier stopped us from slamming into it.

If DeWayne hadn’t reacted the way he did… we likely would’ve launched off the cliff and into the jungle. And to be honest, I don’t think we would’ve walked away from that. It’s these kinds of moments when you realize how vulnerable you really are—two people, deep in the jungle, in another country, with no one knowing exactly where you are.

But in this version of the story, we walked away. With hardly a scratch. It took some effort to get the car off the rock, but we were able to drive home.

It was really the best-case scenario… well, except making it up the hill with no incident. 😉

After that, we knew: we weren’t going up that road again in that car.
And we needed concrete on the hill. That is non-negotiable.
And it was time to prioritize our Costa Rican will. (Which we have now.)

So the car search began again.

A pickup? A Toyota? Most of them felt underpowered—or just… uninspiring.

For a while, we even entertained the idea of getting two cars. I fell in love with a square, Jeep-style G-Wagon that could go anywhere and do anything. It was so fun—I named her Gypsy Soul and I already had stickers picked out to make her more me. My inner girl was having a blast. And I loved the idea of having my own car again.

But cars are crazy expensive here. You can expect to pay at least double what you would in the States. That G-Wagon? $60,000 for a 2007. New ones go for over $300,000 here.

At first, I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel safe, powerful, and playful. But eventually… I came to my senses. Still—it was a fun flirtation.

For some reason, I started looking at Land Rovers. And just for kicks, we decided to test drive one.

I’d had an old Discovery before, back in Alaska and Canada. I loved it—but we had also sworn we’d never buy one again.

And yet… this one had everything we wanted and needed:

Power. Air suspension. Seven adult-sized seats. Plenty of cargo space. Plus a whole lot of fun.

We loved how it felt and we loved it’s boxy design.

So we bought it. Thankfully we were able to trade in the Mazda which simplified the entire process.

My heart is happy. I no longer dread driving to our land. I hadn’t realized just how much anxiety I was carrying every time we made that trip.

It’s been a month now and we LOVE this car. DeWayne’s enjoying the power and all the techy features. I see myself taking it to the beach with my paddleboard and eventually camping on our land once the road is complete and the rainy season is over. I am giddy thinking about being able to pick up retreat guests at the airport.

It feels like our forever car so I’ve added my signature touches with a few hand-picked stickers. And yes, DeWayne had to put a limit on me.

Now DeWayne has his eyes on a mini-excavator. 🤣

🚙✨ The Land Rover is officially on the road—stickers, crystals, and all.

Name ideas still welcome. Jungle puns encouraged.