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Published: September 23rd 2006
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After spending the past few weeks heading down the coast, enjoying small beach towns along the way, Mike and I have come to realize that what had appeared to be insect and spider bites is now a serious case of poison ivy. I can’t tell you how many people have said they didn’t even think Costa Rica had poison ivy. Let me assure everyone that this lovely little plant is alive and thriving here…grrrr…
I have to say though that dealing with the pharmacies directly (as is custom here instead of going to the doctors) has been decent. I have been given the proper antihistamine and lotions but have basically been told that it will be a slow recovery and that nothing will really stop the constant itching. Both legs, from my knees front and back to mid calf, are completely covered.
On a lighter note, we have definitely been exploring the pacific coast as we had originally planned to do. Our journey has taken us through Playa Panama (very non-tourist town with only a few large hotels), Playa Hermosa (more of a surf town with a few hotels and restaurants however we didn’t get the best vibe
here), Playa Flamingo (very high end place with lots of sports fishing. If you are looking to spend some money, this is the place to go) and Playa Brasilito where we spent most of our time.
Playa Brasilito is just north of Tamarindo and south of Flamingo so it serves as a nice central location for folks wishing to visit both beaches, plus enjoy the beaches offered at Brasilito (Playa Conchal and Playa Brasilito). We really liked this little town and spent a few days enjoying the quiet beaches and laid back restaurants. However, after speaking with some realtors we quickly came to realize that we were grossly out of our price range. Apparently, even though this little town doesn’t feel overly touristy, people have started to catch on that if Flamingo is high end and Tamarindo is high end, why shouldn’t the little town in between be ridiculously priced as well. Bah! And on we went….
We then moved on to the town of Sámara. We have visited this little beach community before while in Costa Rica on vacation and always felt that there was a healthy mix of Ticos and Expats. It is currently bustling with
tourism even in the rainy season but is not built up like Tamarindo. This place still has that laid back Costa Rican feel to it and beautiful beaches to boot.
The only thing lacking in Sámara is high speed internet and good old dial-up just doesn’t cut it when trying to post pictures to the travelblog, hence the lack of updates recently. After spending a week here and getting a bit comfortable with the town, we have decided to move on. We are trying to stay true to our original plan which was to travel all over Costa Rica first, before making any major decisions.
One thing we have come to terms with here is that buying property is a really scary concept and building isn’t exactly easy. We hear horror story after horror story of scams that occur with no recourse. The real estate industry is not regulated here in CR so anything goes. Once again, it’s a buyer-beware situation and you seriously need to do a lot of research before ever exchanging money. We know someone in town that recently bought a small plot of land (and this person has lived here for 2 years) only
to find out last week that the plot she thought she bought is not the plot at all. In fact, she bought a cliff just up the road. Once again, there is no recourse for her. She is simply out the money. Ouch!
After leaving Sámara, we coasted through Carillo and Coyote while trying to find our way to Montezuma. We made it through 2 major river crossings but the last river was truly “full” and with no way across, we headed back inland in the hopes of taking the main road around. Considering there is little signage here in Costa Rica, we accidentally ended up on the northern end of the peninsula at Playa Naranjo (famous for its ferry crossing). The next day we made it down to Montezuma, a cute hippy town, where we spent a few days recuperating in the air conditioning, enjoying some cable TV.
Mal Pais and Santa Teresa were quite dead this time of year and did not present any opportunities for us so we have opted to head south through the Punteranas province. We have now made our way all the way to Manuel Antonio, south of Quepos for those of
you tracking our travels on the map.
Manuel Antonio is full of wildlife and seems to be a very active town, even in the rainy season. Here, you don’t get the quaint feeling of a town center like you do in Sámara. Manuel Antonio is a series of hotels and restaurants built into the cliffside. We plan on taking some tours while we’re here and enjoying the area as tourists. Setting up shop here is not in the cards.
The plan from here is to continue down the coast, ending in the Osa Peninsula, home to Corcovado National Park in the heart of the rainforest. I’m hoping by then that my legs are healed a bit, but who knows at this point. After we explore the country, we will most
likely decide where we want to spend some time and get into a long term rental situation. That way we’ll get to know one community more intimately. Who knows where we’ll end up!
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