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Published: June 28th 2007
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I remember when I first moved to Costa Rica, it seemed as though every week brought a different problem: washing machine breaking down, leaks in the roof, telephone line going down, and so much more! I seemed to have re-lived my early days in Costa Rica over the past few weeks, with violent thunderstorms causing all kinds of problems with electrical equipment. In less than 10 days storms have blown my satellite television box, fried a lamp, zapped my portable phone and killed two of the outlets on a supposedly “top of line” surge supressor. And to top it all off, lightening did extensive damage to the new receiver on my roof that brings me high-speed Internet!
Everything has been fixed, thankfully, except three days ago my phone line just went dead for no apparent reason. The good folks from ICE (the government monopoly that handles phones, electricity and Internet) did show up finally but after figdeting with numerous lines in the front of my house and down the road, they left abruptly and the phone line still isn’t working! Thank God I have a cell phone and my Internet is working!
If I was still living in
Love this tree!
If anyone knows the name, please let me know. the states “Mr. A-type” would have had someone—actually many people—pay, and pay dearly. Surprisingly, I’ve been taking it in relative stride. It remains frustrating, though, getting people here to do work. I have numerous projects from road repair to roof leaks to plumbing to electrical work that needs to get done, but I figure if everything is completed in the next 4-6 weeks I’ll be doing well. Patience is a true virtue in Costa Rica.
Back to the Caribbean…
After nearly eight months away, I finally make it back to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. I really enjoy visiting this area, especially Puerto Viejo, as it is so different than the rest of Costa Rica. Even compared to the Pacific Coast, it has such a laid-back feeling to it. Life moves more slowly than in the Central Valley and people there seem to be very happy just idling away their days. Someday, I hope to “retire” to the Caribbean and while I’d love to move there now, I worry that I’d get extra lazy living there. I’m not sure what it is, but whenever I’m there, I don’t feel like doing much of anything. Swimming in the
Friend's hotel in Puerto Viejo
He started with three rooms less than two years ago, now he has 12 (I think). ocean and taking naps daily seems to be enough for me.
The real purpose of the trip was for my friend Mike and I to find a nice piece of beach property for a friend of mine who seems to have an addiction to land. He’s already bought 1000 acres in Uruguay and another 1000 acres in Argentina (complete with a huge lake), and now he wants a beach property in Costa Rica. Thankfully, he doesn’t want 1000 acres of beach property in Costa Rica as I’m quite sure we cannot get that, at any price. I haven’t figured out, though, what he wants to do with all of this land though I suspect owning huge piece of land near the beach is the “chic” thing to do—at least for him. For me, just give me an half acre and a shack with a hammock on the beach and I’d be perfectly content!
As developers here in the San Ramon area it makes it fun working with other developers and real estate agents. They quickly learn that we’re not “deer in the headlights” gringos any longer. We actually know something about evaluating land, asking the right question, the
ins and outs of the buying process, getting electricity and water to a piece of land and quickly identifying good deals from bad ones. One realtor had several very reasonably priced properties on the beach, so low it made me suspicious. What I learned is that none of the properties had electricity or water anywhere near the property and very few had road access. In fact, for several a boat was required to get to them! In any event, it was still fun looking at all types of properties and one of these days will hit on the right one for my very particular friend/client!
More people….
I’m not sure what is going on, but the low season hasn’t been as low as I expected it would be this year. Compared to last year, we seem to be getting more very last minute B&B bookings for the June to September period, but also, we’re getting more high season bookings eariler this year. I suppose that is a good thing so I won’t be worrying about it as December approaches.
More art….
Our Tica neighbor Etilma is quite the woman. She’s an amazing cook and a great artist.
In this sleeply little town of Los Angeles Sur she almost seems out of place. I could see her doing quite well in the trendy cafes of Paris, going to book readings in New York, or trapsing through Tuscany with easel and paint brushes in hand. She leads a quiet life here, though, and seems to be quite happy with it!
The other day, Terry, the B&B manager, mentioned that he would be talking to her about putting some of her paintings in the B&B so we could create an art gallery and hopefully try to sell a few of her paintings for her. I returned to the B&B after my Caribbean trip to find the walls of the B&B completely transformed: she loaned us about 15 paintings of all sizes and types. What an incredible gesture and what a transformation of the B&B (for about the 10th time since I’ve owned it!). If you make it to our area, please stop in and take a look! I’ll try to take some photos and put them here in my next blog.
There isn’t much else to report this week. Since I’m traveling for much of July it may take some time to update my blog but if something interesting happens—as it always does during travel—I’ll definitely post it here.
Thanks for reading and for your comments.
Pura Vida!
Andrew
andrew4cr@gmail.com
www.CRCommunities.com (real estate and more!)
www.BoomersInCostaRica.com (4-day/3 night relocation/retirement/real estate tour!)
www.CostaRicaRealEstate.typepad.com (Boomers’ Real Estate & More Blog!)
www.AngelValleyFarmBandB.com (the B&B!)
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Paul M.
non-member comment
What is this tree?
Hi Drew, The photo shows Ravenala madagascariensis, commonly known as 'the traveler's palm', which it is a popular landscape item in sub-tropical areas such as Florida. It is not a true palm, rather it's related to the bird of paradise and the banana family. The most distinctive freature is that the leaves all emerge in one plane. Its name derives from the fact that there is a bit of water that can be found in the leaf axils, a boom to a lost, thirsty traveler. There is more pertinent info at this URL: http://www.floridata.com/ref/R/rave_mad.cfm Hope this is useful for you. Cheers! Paul M. Tampa, FL ==