Folks in Town and a Change of Plans

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My parents decided on a whim to come visit Costa Rica. What a great excuse for Mike and I to continue our travels of the country and show my folks around a bit. We had planned on taking them to La Paz Waterfall, Arenal Volcano, Manuel Antonio and ending their visit here in Sámara. It wasn’t until halfway into their trip that I realized we simply wouldn’t have time to do everything and decided to cut Manuel Antonio out of our plans.

When we arrived at La Paz Waterfall Gardens Resort, we were completely amazed at the beauty of the rooms. The design was perfect, the craftsmanship breathtaking and the views something that we’ll be talking about for years to come. There was no amenity overlooked and many that came as pleasant surprises. We had a waterfall shower, private Jacuzzi on our balcony overlooking the rainforest and two blooming orchids cascading down the rock waterfall wall that led into the tub. This place is truly amazing. Hummingbirds frequently visited our balcony and allowed us to eat breakfast in their presence. My dad caught trout in the stocked trout lake. Nothing was overlooked.

Within the first few hours of arriving at La Paz, we decided we wanted to spend another night and quickly booked an additional day. This extra time allowed us to fully enjoy the trails that surround La Paz, the butterfly house, traditional Tico house complete with sugar cane drinks, orchid house, serpentarium, hummingbird gardens and of course, the magnificent waterfalls. I highly recommend La Paz for anyone coming to CR. This was definitely the most amazing place I’ve ever stayed and is a place we’ll be talking about for some time.

From La Paz, we headed off to another resort located outside of La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano. Tabacón Resort and Hot Springs was yet another amazing adventure. Staying at the resort gains you free access to the hot springs, much like at La Paz, where access to their trails is included with your stay. While the room interiors weren’t nearly as impressive at Tabacón as they were at La Paz, the hot springs were in a class all of their own. We took the shuttle to the springs just as the sun was setting and were amazed at the amount of trails and pools. The natural beauty here is difficult to describe. Yet another experience one must have for himself to truly understand. The springs are heated naturally by the volcano, some pools getting hotter than any Jacuzzi I’ve ever been in. The mineral rich waters are revitalizing and relaxing as many pools have built-in seats which allow you to sit under the waterfalls and immerse yourself in the rejuvenating springs. One spring even allows you to view the volcano’s lava flow at night. However, the night we were there, the cloud cover prevented such a spectacle. Another amazing experience that I highly recommend to anyone visiting CR.

We arrived back in Sámara the next day, relaxed and ready to not pay anymore hotel bills. Weather here was good, with the rain holding off each day until nightfall. The nightly storms cooled the air and provided a wonderful backdrop to playing cards out on the deck. My pop and Mike met up with a local fisherman and got to fish two days in a row. They came back loaded down with fresh lobsters and tuna and caught needle fish, mahi mahi and Spanish mackerel but managed to miss the rooster fish and wahoo. In my dad’s words, the captain was a true fisherman - one who truly enjoys fishing and has it in his blood. Mike found out that the captain is trying to break into the tourist industry a bit and take visitors out to fish, however he isn’t currently working with the local hotels. Should anyone be going to Sámara who wants to fish, my father and Mike have highly recommended Mauro, their captain, and we’d be happy to get you in touch with him should you be interested. Just let us know.

As for our change of plans…. Many of you reading the blog have already discerned that living in Costa Rica has been very different for us in comparison to simply vacationing here. We have learned many things that we simply would not have known without actually making the move. I researched coming to CR for two years before we actually made the move and I can attest to the fact that nothing will completely prepare you for living here other than actually making the move.

We have come to the conclusion that while we truly enjoy Costa Rica, it simply will not provide us with the lifestyle we are seeking at this point in our lives. We want to own our own business, be part of a community, be able to travel, have our organic farm and live a quiet life filled with positive vibes.

We have determined that the sense of community we’ve always felt here in CR has not necessarily been from strangers. It’s really been from the Delgados. They are a wonderful family and it’s been their openness with us, their lack of treating us as Gringos and their willingness to accept us as part of their family that made us attribute this sense of comfort with Costa Rica instead of attributing it to the family themselves. We have not felt that true sense of community since we’ve been out of their protective arms and we find ourselves feeling more comfortable among the expat community which is not the reason we came to CR.

We have learned that simply leaving CR to travel elsewhere is no easy task when living here. We have had people who hardly know us ask us to live in their homes for them while they travel to the states for a week because they simply cannot find anyone trustworthy enough to look over their belongings. We have another friend who was robbed two times in six days - and he has a Tico wife. We have a Tico friend who left town for a week and came back to find his drill and shoes missing. Petty crime here is a reality and while I knew about this before coming to CR, I wasn’t truly prepared to actually live amidst it.

Considering we do not feel comfortable spending our entire life savings on a property, our options for housing would most likely consist of living in a gated condo community which was exactly what we said we wouldn’t do here in CR. Our organic farm would be out of the question as well.

As for the quiet life… that is something you can definitely have here in CR. Cost of living is cheap, stress doesn’t exactly exist, you don’t have materialism shoved down your throat and there are no Jones’ to keep up with. However, Mike and I simply aren’t ready for the rocking chairs just yet. We have lists of places around the world we still want to visit, movies we want to see, music we want to hear, books we want to read. We find ourselves missing the cultural diversity available in the U.S.

With this in mind, Mike and I have decided to continue to seek out the lifestyle we wish outside of Costa Rica. We have determined that the place is unimportant; it’s the lifestyle that matters.

We have therefore decided to look at opportunities for us back in the states. We talked about moving somewhere we had never been before, like Oregon or Washington, but came to the realization that we wanted to be closer to family. If we were going to move back to the states, it would be a more permanent move. We would seek a house that was conducive to the lifestyle we want to live and that house would be ours for a long time.

My hometown of Cape May, New Jersey continued to come back to me. My folks will be retiring there, my brother’s family, including my two nephews, live there and my best friend and her family are there as well. The town has come a long way since I lived there as a child and the appeal to the area now as an adult is very different. We find ourselves there on visits stopping to look at the beautiful Victorian architecture, seeking out migrating birds, enjoying reading on the beach and of course, the amazing sunsets. The winters are not harsh, so no worries for me about lots of snow. Cape May would also provide us with a wonderful place for friends and family to come and visit. There is an amazing history there, lots of activities and something for everyone. We decided Cape May would be the place we would call home.

I put my best friend Jenn on the job of checking the internet and driving around to find us some places that looked promising. She would send them to me via Internet here in Sámara and would receive back a list of what we liked and what we didn’t. She took our “wish-list” and continued to narrow down her search to find us just what we were looking for. When I first saw the 1850 farmhouse located in Cape May Court House, I knew the house had amazing potential. It had everything we were looking for except decent square footage. Since it’s an older house, the rooms were small and it would need some work. Mike and I continued to look at other houses via the Internet and would send Jenn and my mom off to see the places in person and provide us with feedback. We continued to come back to the house in Court House. We decided it was time to fly home and see the house for ourselves. Mike also wanted to check out the area for himself since he never lived there before. We decided to head back to the states and see what we thought.

We looked at quite a few houses in different areas. I knew which towns I wanted to live in and which ones I didn’t, so it made narrowing down the area a little easier. Once we went through the house in Cape May Court House, we continued to compare everything else we saw to it. The only downfall was that it would require some work and a bit of an investment.

We have decided at this point, that the house, for us, is worth it. It’s an amazing place with a wonderful history that you can feel in its walls. Mike and I spent some time in the archives down at the County Clerks records department researching the previous owners. We’ve managed to trace it back to 1879 before the records became more difficult to follow. After some negotiating, our offer was accepted and settlement scheduled for the end of November.

We have thought a lot about what type of work we want to do back in the states. Mike has decided that he wants to go back into teaching, as that truly is where his passion lies. I have decided I still want to own my own business and have hopes of opening up a pet and house sitting company. We have a friend in Pennsylvania who has a great business in this field and she’s been wonderful in allowing us to pick her brain. Combining my love for animals and my zoo-keeping background, I’m really excited to try my hand in this industry. Considering the house is on an acre of land, I’m also able to do some organic farming and work with Jenn selling our products to the local B&Bs in town. I am happy to say that I’m also getting back into horse training which I have missed greatly.

My nephews seemed very happy when they heard the news that Aunt V and Uncle Mike were not only coming home but were going to live close by. My oldest nephew proceeded to tell me that the house we were looking at was very close to the skate park so maybe he could come stay with us when his friends wanted to go skateboarding. My sister-in-law and I have already talked about stopping over to each other’s houses just to say hello. Icing on the cake will be that the areas my folks are considering for retirement are only 15 minutes from the house and my best friend lives exactly 5 miles away.

The neighborhood consists of quiet farmland and the house is filled with gardens throughout the property. It’s relaxing just to be there. As I mentioned, however, the house needs work. With the help of our friend Zach, who is a general contractor, we plan on removing the back of the house and rebuilding a two story addition. The place needs new siding and a new roof. We’ll be adding a large open plan for the living room and kitchen, which will lend to having friends and family over for dinner. A new master bedroom and bath are also a must. We’ll finally have the mud room we’ve always wanted and be able to sit back and enjoy the backyard serenity when it’s time for relaxing. When the house is completed, it’ll be just what we want. We’ve been very fortunate to have Zach’s help evaluating the house and helping plan the addition.

We plan on coming back to the states for settlement and then continuing to travel back and forth from the states to Costa Rica through the end of the year. There is a lot left here in CR to wrap up and we plan on taking full advantage of our down time. After living here for half a year, we feel by the new year it will be time for us to be back in the states permanently, ready to start yet another adventure. We have had an amazing experience, have no regrets and are excited to see what’s to come in the following months.

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Photos

New Born Butterfly At La Paz
I actually watched this guy be born. His wings would straighten and harden within 30 minutes.

Comments

[Vanessa Badger. Yes!]

Love to hear the rest of the story.
Yes, we have the same name. Is your father's family originally from England like mine. (Cornwall) What an experience! But I can understand you wanted something a bit more meaty for the rest of your life! Now at least. I'm English and now live in Spain and even I miss things from home. Beautiful photos and reading your experience has been so interesting. Why don't you write a book and fill it with those wonderful scenes! Good luck for the future. [e-mail]