Tag Archives: Costa Rica

Touring the Nicoya Peninsula

Posted on August 19, 2008 | 2 comments

Normally when I travel I like to stay put for a few days (at least a few days) and not keep repacking and moving to another place. I personally don’t find that very relaxing and that’s generally the point of vacationing, IMHO.

This past spring when we went to Costa Rica we (my friend Mark was with me) didn’t sit still. We moved hotels almost every night and probably saw an additional town or two each day while we traveled. Not exactly my preferred way to travel but that’s because we had a mission for this trip…

I love the small town Montezuma, located at the south end of the Nicoya Peninsula (just above Cabuya on the map to the right), but the mission was to find some other towns that I might like. I wanted someday to spend a few months in Costa Rica, my concern was that I’d rent a place for a few months and then realize that I liked the next town over since I hadn’t done much exploring from that perspective.

So we drove around like cRaZy checking out towns and staying different places and checking out different areas to see if there was anything I liked better. Montezuma was still my favorite but it’s definitely more isolated than some of the other towns. Tamarindo was a large town but a lot busier than I was hoping for but it pretty much had everything you need. Samara was a medium to small town that I didn’t get to explore enough. But comparatively Montezuma was a tiny town, but for some reason seems to fit me just right…

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Posted in Costa Rica 2008, The Costa Rica Plan

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The Tico Times

Posted on August 17, 2008 | Leave a comment

The Tico Times is the english weekly paper from Costa Rica. For the last eight months I’ve been subscribing to the paper edition of The Tico Times. I’ve mentioned my Tico Times delivery issues before, it usually takes a while to get to Michigan but it’s much easier to read on paper than on the screen (they also offer a PDF subscription).

I’ve wanted to see what’s going on in the country when I’m not visiting. I’ve been paying attention to opinion pages, letters to the editor, classifieds and more local ads. Of the five times I’ve been there it’s all been in April or between the end of November and beginning of January (and really only covering half-a-dozen different weeks) so I’ve really only seen a portion of the year while there. So I’ve been paying more attention to the non-tourist type articles; when I’m there traveling I’m generally looking more for what’s going on there at that time.

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Posted in The Costa Rica Plan

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How I’m doing on my 101 in 1001 list…

Posted on August 17, 2008 | 1 comment

I’m about 17 days from needing to complete my 101 in 1001 list, I haven’t been working on it much so it’s time to revisit and cross a few things off. I’ve only completed 52 of my items. Looks like I’ll complete about 6 more. As resolutions go I’m still above average as I’ll have done more than 18 items a year :)

So I love my 101 list but some things just didn’t get done. I thought I’d have done better. Things I could have done to ensure I accomplished more:

  • Don’t pick bands to make an effort to go see if they might not actually tour.
  • Don’t pick a location to travel to when your interests might change (instead say “visit a country overseas that you haven’t been to before”)
  • Don’t pick something to go to (like SXSW or Burning Man) that doesn’t ever fit the schedule of the job you have.
  • Some items should really be two or three items.
  • Don’t have too many items dependent on other items.
  • Don’t make them too much work and not fun (I think I created some to just fill the list)
  • Don’t pick so many vacation items, you might want to go somewhere else (especially when you consider I’ve gone to Costa Rica 4 times in the same period).
  • Don’t pick such complicated items (do ______ once a year) that should have been separate items

    If I would avoided the above I probably could have easily accomplished anther 20. Some were just are impossible to do based on the items I picked.

    A few items I’ve just recently finally crossed off (but I might have actually done them months ago)
    Take Mom to England
    Get something for my car to integrate my iPod better
    Move somewhere else local?
    Go one week without using any cash
    Change all exterior bulbs in my car

    I’ve got a few that I did make some progress in the right direction so I’ll credit myself a few points. But I’ve got a bunch that didn’t get touched.

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    The Costa Rica Plan

    Posted on August 16, 2008 | 1 comment

    So I’ve had thoughts for a plan for Costa Rica, I’ve had it for a while but haven’t specifically verbalized it very much. I think maybe the closest I’ve gotten to verbalizing it is in my 101 in 1001 list, the item that says “Decide if I might actually want to live in Costa Rica” the result has been blank but as the plan proceeds you’ll get the gist of which direction I’m heading…

    A few of these will be long posts and some will be short, some might just refer back to some earlier posts that fit in with “the plan”.

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    It’s Mother’s Day in Costa Rica

    Posted on August 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

    I knew Costa Rica didn’t celebrate Mother’s Day on the same day that we celebrate in the U.S. but I didn’t know why. It’s celebrated on Assumption Day the day when the Virgin Mary (Jesus’s Mother) was “was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”. Antwerp (Belgium) also celebrates Mother’s Day on on August 15th which falls on a Friday this year.

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    Gary and Mark in Manzanillo

    Posted on April 27, 2008 | 4 comments

    Manzanillo-CostaRica-Gary-Mark-Pict2359So on the left is my buddy Mark, I think I’ve been on four vacations with him and I think this is only the second picture of us at a destination. I’m pretty sure this is in Manzanillo, Costa Rica on the Pacific side of the Nicoya Peninsula (if not, it’s pretty close to there); it’s the fourth town from the southern tip.

    I used my cool new QuikPod to take the picture. Last time we got Carla the waitress to take the picture; it was in a little bar in Jaco that doesn’t exist any more. Since there was no one else around, QuikPod to the rescue. It’s a kind of a stick with a tripod mount and a little mirror so you can take pictures of yourself.

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    Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – It’s not my paradise

    Posted on April 27, 2008 | 3 comments

    So Santa Teresa is supposed to be this beautiful place in Costa Rica (I’m referring to the town in the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula) and while the beaches are beautiful (it is just sand on the ocean) so are a million other areas along the coast. The beaches are great for surfing too, that’s really the appeal for some people. I think there is a few surf camps and lots of lessons when we were on the beach.

    Santatesesa2008Img 7758But the town is mostly just a bunch of spread out stores spaced out along a very very very dusty road. You can see from this Santa Teresa Map how everything is spread out (that main road is a “city block” or two from the beach).

    We stayed at the Beach Break Surf Hotel, nothing fancy on the inside (2 beds, A/C , TV and a bathroom) but perfectly clean and functional with a nice porch (I think we got it at a good rate), I’d definitely go back. This was the hotel with the great staff that came around with flashlights when the power went out in twon. Actually, the only reason we stayed in that town was it was the day we had to backtrack because we hit the river that we didn’t know how to cross ()read that as we didn’t know where to drive to get across the river).

    I’m sure there are a few more hotels on the beach if you drive down a driveway, but I need a town (even if it’s a tiny one) to wander over to to eat and do some people watching. Some people love Santa Teresa but so far, it’s just not for me…

    But I will give it another try next trip, it is just “around the corner” from Montezuma….

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    Sunday already!

    Posted on April 20, 2008 | Leave a comment

    I had such good intentions on getting more Costa Rica blogging done (especially some more photos) the past few days and it didn’t happen…

    And here I am getting ready to head out to East Lansing to catch a performance of Avenue Q so I expect I won’t get much done today either…

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