If you have to stop somewhere during your travels but don’t want to get caught up in local culture so interesting that you miss your next bus, you should sit down for a moment of relaxation in Palmar. This rather unremarkable village is at the gateway to the Peninsula de Osa, in the Valle de Duquis, where the Río Grande de Terraba cuts through it. The small city has hotels, restaurants, banks, buses and airstrips for travel, but it is dusty, hot and uneventful.