Category Archives: Costa Rica 2008

Information on my multiple trips to Costa Rica. Specifically about exploring the Nicoya Peninsula and finding places I might like to live.

Assorted Photos from the first week.

Posted on August 29, 2008 | Leave a comment

Here’s a random batch of photos from the past few days in Costa Rica. These mostly have some titles or captions to go with them.

Just an assorted few that I enjoyed and I hope you will too!


 

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Relocation Seminar for Costa Rica by the Association of Residents of Costa Rica

Posted on August 29, 2008 | 1 comment

One of the things I’m doing this trip is attending a seminar by the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR). They offer this the last Thursday/Friday of every month (but December) for only $65. I’ve had this on my to do list for a while but it just hasn’t worked out previously, it is specifically why I chose now for this trip and not a few weeks later.

It’s pretty much what I hoped for so far a bunch of short little presentations (about nine a day). Of course everyone who does a presentation passes out their contact info, but it really is more of a presentation on the topic, not specifically selling their business (although they’re hoping). The one topic I hoped for, but didn’t really expect, was about working in Costa Rica. We have about 25 people in our group, mostly from US and Canada; mostly retirees or soon to be about five of us weren’t near the retirement range but want to relocate.

FYI: Really good snacks for break: OJ, coffee, some kind of pastry and little crustless sandwiches.

I talked to one of the people, Ray, a few times beforehand via e-mail and telephone before coming and he was very helpful.

I’d definitely recommend this seminar if you are thinking of relocating or retiring to Costa Rica.

I also used these folks for getting my driver’s license.

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Posted in Costa Rica 2008, The Costa Rica Plan

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Photos from the ferry ride…

Posted on August 28, 2008 | Leave a comment

I have some photos from the ferry ride from Paquera to Puntarenas uploaded.

 


 

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Catching the Paquera Ferry

Posted on August 27, 2008 | 1 comment

So I heard that the ferry from Paquera to Puntarenas was at 12:30 PM and but I also heard 1 PM so I decided I should get there by 12:30 just in case. The ride was taking me a little bit longer than I thought but I knew (unless it was full) I was going to make it. I went a few kilometers past Paquera and I was the only one on the road (everyone had been rushing past me) which made me decide that I went too far so I turned around. A few minutes later I realized I hadn’t gone too far in the first place and that it was too late for the 12:30 boat (the next was at 3 or 4 PM).

So I decided to go there and make sure I knew exactly where it was and get my ticket; then I’d go get lunch and see if there was and Internet access back in town. But when I got to the dock the ferry was still there!!! They must have just recently changed the time to 1 PM since I was one of the last cars on (I had gotten the 1 PM tine from a person, the 12:30 was from a June-December 2008 free travel booklet).

Had I realized that the Paquera Ferry was a location option in my awesome new GPS I’d have gotten there with no problem!! Duh!

FerrypaqueraSo this is how they work the queue, you get in line and they give you a “pass” that says there is room for you and you can get out of the car, buy the ticket and get back in the car (I think it was $13 for me and the car a little more than I thought it would be). When they went up to the car in front of me they must have told him to go around the vehicle in front of him so he starts to back up towards me (my car is parked and off at this point) and I’m beeping the horn like crazy (he had so much room) and he hits the brakes but he still hits me at least it was really slow and there was no damage. It turns out he wasn’t that great of a driver (at least not a stick) he had a heck of a time getting situated on the ferry.

It was the smaller ferry (the other one is way nicer and bigger) but it’s not very busy so there is lots of room in the people area (the car area is packed). It was drizzling on and off but there is (sort of) a cover up top so I’m up there, but I’m really happy it’s not a stormy ride. Looks like there might be sunshine for the end of the ferry ride!

I should get to the San Jose area in daylight so that’s a big plus, maybe even to the hotel. BTW, my hotel is in the GPS so I should not have any problem! I haven’t used the GPS for city driving yet so I can’t wait to try that.

I took some photos, I’ll try to get them posted tomorrow, the batteries are dying on the laptop…

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Much Nicer Day

Posted on August 26, 2008 | Leave a comment

It was a much nicer day today! It was mostly sunny but drizzly on and off but looked stormy so I didn’t want to walk up the the waterfall (a real hike) and get caught in a storm; later I hear the water that you walk next to (through at some parts) were pretty wild so some people turned around and came back, which must have been all the rain from yesterday/last night.

I got to spend some time at walking the beach and relaxing. It was nice to not be running around too much. I just walked for a while and read and talked to some people that I’ve run into more than a few times this trip. I started to go farther up the beach but it started to rain again and since there was a (fancy) hotel on the beach so I popped in there for a deliciou$ lunch (and stayed out of the rain).

I did try to catch the sunset but it just got cloudier and cloudier as I got closer so that was a bust. But on the way I did pick up a couple of guys from Argentina on the road and gave them a lift for a few kilometers they were interesting and spoke great english. Just to be clear, they were from Argentina, not on the road from Argentina…

It’s pouring out now but that’s okay since I’m inside and have nothing else to do but grab some dinner and sleep. If it’s nice I’d like to get up early so I can play in Montezuma more before I head to San Jose tomorrow.

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Rain, Rain, go away…

Posted on August 25, 2008 | Leave a comment

So this rain is making me a little crazy today. It’s been pouring on and off all day. I’d use it as a day to stay inside and catch up on the internet but it’s satellite and the rain goofs up the signal. So needless to say I’m a little bored today.

It’s to be expected as it is the “green” season but I was just hoping for a little less. Talking with a few German women in my hotel they said this is only one of three really rainy days that they’ve had and they’ve been here six months.

Although, it’s coming down insane right now and I’m in this restaurant with no walls and it’s really nice with all the rain noise and seeing the rain pouring over the edges of the roof. It’s not bright enough in most of the restaurants to read while you wait but the laptop lights itself so while it’s geeky it’s practical. Although a zip-lock bag would be more practical than the vinyl backpack I brought it here in…

I did get a chance to use faster Internet in Cabano today but it was so warm inside I didn’t stay too long or else I could have hung out there longer. I did use the internet to make a few phone calls and Mom was on-line so I got to video conference with her; for some reason it’s way more exciting to video-conference from Costa Rica than from 30 miles away.

With the rain it was too cloudy to go catch the sunset in Manzanillo, maybe tomorrow (I’ll probably go there and eat even if it’s raining).

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Penne Pasta with Tomato Sauce

Posted on August 25, 2008 | Leave a comment

So Chico’s Bar and Resturant has the best Penne Pasta with Tomato Sauce and it come with a small bowl of parmesan cheese. They were too busy saturday night and the restaurant wasn’t open when I came by yesterday so I wanted to get a chance to eat this again.

Again? Yes, I had this last trip and loved it. We actually saw the waiter eating it at a different restaurant and it looked so good and he looked like he was really enjoying it so much Mark & I both tried to order it so he had to confess it was from down the street. So we came here a few days later to try it out ourselves. That’s not how I usually get my restaurant recommendations but it worked.

I guess it’s like the old barbershop brain-teaser: “There are two barbers in town, one has a great haircut and one has a bas one. Who do you go to get your hair cut at?” And you need to say “the one with the bad haircut, because he’s the one who cut the other barber’s hair (the one with the good cut)”.

I just wished they had Fresca in a glass bottle instead of the can; I really like drinking out of a cold bottle…

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Posted in Costa Rica 2008, food + drink

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Sunset in Mal Pai­s, Costa Rica

Posted on August 25, 2008 | Leave a comment

One of the bad things about Montezuma is it’s on the east side of the peninsula so you don’t get any sunsets. So last night I dashed over to Mal Pais to catch the sunset; remember when I say “dashed” it might mean 5 miles an hours over some of the treacherous roads. But I was in a hurry because I couldn’t get them to bring me my “la quinta” (the check) where I had a late lunch (going faster didn’t help settle my meal).

Here’s a dozen photos of the Mal Pais Sunset.

The below map should show you where Mal Pais is. It’s near the bottom of the peninsula; you can click the “-” to zoom out an see where that fits in to the rest of the country (world). You can see Montezuma to the right and above it a little.

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