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Published: September 19th 2006
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I decided I would head to the beach this weekend to get a little R&R because things are definitely getting busy again, starting in October for the “high season” in Costa Rica and I didn’t know when I would be able to get away again. The bookings just seem to rolling in now for the U.S. winter (which I’m thrilled about).
So, I headed to my favorite beach area Quepos/Manuel Antonio. All was going well at first: the weather was beautiful when I arrived on Friday and my favorite hotel, “Hotel Manuel Antonio” (right on the beach near the national park), had rooms—and they always give me a good rate. Friday was a good day.
Saturday was a beautiful day as well but not a good day for me and my $!#$@*^@$*!$*%^%# car! I decided I would drive down a road to secluded beach I like which is in between Quepos and Manuel Antonio. You can park right on the beach and walk over to a beautiful white-sand beach. All was going well until one of my back tires got stuck in the sand. Usually, with 4-wheel drive, zipping up and down the beach is not a problem for
Sloth
Right outside my hotel room in Manuel Antonio! my usually trusty Trooper but this time it just pooped out in the sand and did not want to move (I also suspect my 4-wheel drive was not working).
Fortunately, several locals and gringos tired to help me extricate my car from the sand. One Tico, Javier, who sits at the edge of the jungle and watches people’s cars while they are at the beach, was particularly helpful. He found some rope to tie to another car to try to pull it out—the other car wasn’t strong enough however—and he watched my car while I went to get help.
I had two concerns: One, that my car would still be there when I returned and/or not stripped for parts; and, two, that I could get back to the beach with help before high tide hit and potentially took my car out to sea! On the second concern, luckily high tide wasn’t until 10pm that evening so I had plenty of town.
A terrific guy from a local real estate company, whom I happened to meet at café helped me find help in Quepos. So I went to Quepos, found the mechanic with a truck and asked for
his assistance. Of course, I caught him right at lunchtime. He was more than willing to help but said he needed to have his lunch first because he had “stomach problems” and eating on time was very important. In any event, after about a two hour wait, he came back from lunch and in no time we were at my car and he easily got it off the beach. Clearly, he had done this before because he brought a shovel, rope, chains and a whole assortment of tools.
By the time this whole experience was over, it was pushing 4pm and decided I’d just go back to my hotel and have a nap, hoping that evening and the next day would be much better. That night and the next day were much better except for all the rain! Luckily, I can visit the beach almost any time I want—it’s just a perk of living here!
On a more positive note….
While at the beach I was able to see a sloth very close up. There was one in a tree right outside of my hotel room no more than 10 feet from my balcony. He sat there
in the tree slumbering around, eating leaves and (I think) sleeping for about 3 hours. It was a thrill to see a sloth so close up! Only in Costa Rica!
Just how do we do take off sometimes?
Someone asked me the other day about our travels to the beach, the U.S, etc., and how we manage to take off a bit, and run a B&B, etc. Well, for starters, having a business partner and a terrific house manager makes it a lot easier. For example, while Beth and I were away for two months this summer (because we had rented out the entire B&B for two months), Karol was able to handle everything for us. When we got back it was as if the house had never been rented. Our rooms looked exactly as they did before we left and the house was as spic and span clean as we had left it. Hiring well is a keep ingredient to running a business in Costa Rica and we were very fortunate to have found a “God-send” in Karol (and her husband Ernan).
Part of the joy of living in Costa Rica and having a small business
with some excellent staff is the ability to take off now and again and see other parts of the country—indeed much of Latin America—and still make a little income to live on.
In other news….
This was also a very busy week as Alex and I launched our relocation tour company, “Boomers In Costa Rica.” The site is finally up: www.boomersincostarica.com. We also have a blog at: www.costaricarealestate.typepad.com.
Take a look when you have a chance! We would love to have some of you join us on our tours!
The B&B is also the proud owner of 10 new chickens! It has always been our intention to purchase new chickens and increase their production of eggs so we can be self-sustaining in eggs. We just didn’t get around to it until now. Back in June, we gave away our last three remaining, somewhat decrepit chickens to Karol’s (our house manager) mother and they’re now leading a quite life in Sarapiqui. Hopefully, the new chickens will start producing soon—we’re told it will take about one month—but if all goes well we could have up to 10 or more eggs every day. It’ll be great to use them
at the B&B but I also suspect we’ll have plenty of fresh eggs.
That’s all for now! Thanks for reading and for your comments! Keep ‘em coming!
Pura Vida!
Andrew
andrew4cr@gmail.com
www.AngelValleyFarmBandB.com
www.BoomersInCostaRica.com
www.CostaRicaRealEstate.typepad.com
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Debi
non-member comment
Beach Time
Andrew - I was just picturing your car going out to sea! Thank God you didn't have to wait for the guy to eat dinner! I am sitting here reading this and thinking about how much you have changed and become more laid back.....a few years ago (when you were my boss) if you needed something and the person who was able to help you needed to have a TWO HOUR LUNCH - and you had to WAIT - oh my God! You would have STROKED out! See how a beautiful, laid back culture can cure anyone - you are total proof! love you! I am SO proud of you!!!