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Is This My Colonial Town?

We started at our day of looking for rentals at 9:30 AM and went to 5:00 PM. My driver/helper is Alex Palma who drives a cab, serves as a concierge mainly to tourists, Realtors and for tourist transportation (506-8846-6868) and was very helpful after I finally made it clear I wanted to see furnished apartments only and got to his computer to show him what I had found online. He was pushing his town of Santo Domingo partly because he lives there and then I found he has what we call a “Mother-in-law’s Apartment” in his house that is available. Nice but not what I wanted. I did fall in love with Santo Domingo though.
We looked at a very nice condo in Santa Rosa neighborhood of Santo Domingo that I loved and it was right beside the INBio Park which I see myself volunteering at sometime in the future. It was wonderful condo for only $600 a month but not furnished! I may later get an unfurnished place because I like to decorate, but not for a year at earliest. So we move on!
 In another adjacent community (all suburbs of San Jose) named San Pablo we saw a wonderful furnished condo with pool for $900 which is more than I want to pay at first and it did not include utilities beyond water. We saw a brand new simpler and modern condo in Belen that was $750 plus utilities but it was another unfurnished one even though listed with the furnished ones. I could easily live there but I must start with a furnished apartment.
Finally our contact was able to meet us at 4:00 PM to show us a two-bedroom, one bath apartment just 5 blocks from the Santo Domingo plaza and church where everything is located and just what I wanted to be near. It is a colonial Latin American town that centers around a full block plaza with a big Catholic Church facing it. There are several needed businesses including a supermarket, the weekly farmers’ market, and a smaller 7-day a week fruit and vegetable market. There are several Sodas for a variety of lunch choices (we ate at one) and my favorite, a POP’s Ice Cream right on the square. I felt I had found my place! It rents for $600 a month furnished and with all utilities except electricity which will probably cost $40 month even with some a/c use says Alex.
I’m going to sleep on it a few days and then may offer a retainer if they will hold it for me until January to begin a 12-month lease then. Pray that I make the right call. This could be the first step in the decision to really do it! To really move to Costa Rica!
Earlier in the day we got ice cream at POP’s and ate it on a park bench in the Plaza. I hastily took a couple of photos on my pocket camera that are not very good, but must show them now!   🙂
Iglesia del Rosario, Santo Domingo (built between 1838-1844)
In another part of town there is a larger church, Basílica de Santo Domingo de Guzmán (built in 1856)

Central Plaza, Santo Domingo, Costa Rica
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The Missed Sunset

Photo I made on my 2010 Caravan.com tour from a Guanacaste beach south of Tamarindo. For more on the best tour of Costa Rica see Caravan.com

We would have seen something like this on our south beach tour had it not been raining each evening. And I’m also including the Caribbean (Atlantic) sunrise photo also made on that trip. Both beaches are quite appealing to me, but I will probably start out in the Central Valley while I check out the whole country then decide on a more permanent place to settle.

Pacific Sunset in 2010

Caribbean Sunrise in 2010

Wherever I live, I will get to see both of the above as I travel about the country. TODAY Alex Palma is showing me rentals in smaller towns 30 minutes + from San Jose. His favorite he has already told me is Santo Domingo de Heredia which looks good online and is home of the INBio Park. We are also going to Atenas and some other places and will eat lunch in a Soda. (If you don’t know, “Soda” is the Costa Rican name for a little Mom & Pop Cafe where you can eat lunch for $3 to $5 and is on my radar as my dining out choice.) Well, time to go. I’ll report back tonight!

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Focusing Day

Hotel Autentico, My Home Base for Two Weeks

First thing after breakfast this morning was walking the 5 blocks to the ARCR office and meeting with my new Costa Rican lawyer, Jose Pablo Carter. He helped me put together the important items from the seminar and create a checklist of what I need to do to gain residency and get moved to Costa Rica. I will include it below. I walked back to my hotel (above) where they know me by name now and the waiters are trying to teach me Spanish. Fun! I did a review of it on TripAdvisor last night. Worked on list and had a sandwich.

In the afternoon I walked down the street again to two banks and only one of them had English as a choice on their ATM for the cash withdrawal I needed to make. Got to learn Spanish!  Then at 3:00 my two-day driver came to show me the city and learn of my housing interests for our all day trip tomorrow to look at apartments and rental houses. I’m not renting now, but I want to see what they look like in different areas and get a feel for what I will try to nail down in 4-6 months maybe. Howard’s tour only showed expensive houses and tourist condos which was my biggest disappointment with his tour. We stopped for afternoon tea at a little neighborhood Soda, a small Tico cafe. Before and after this I typed up my checklist of things to do and had a bowl of mushroom soup and Tres Leches for dinner. Here is timeline:
Step by Step Timeline for Costa Rica Residency
As I understand it from ARCR Seminar and personal conference with Jose Pablo Carter, Lawyer
At Association of Residents of Costa Rica, September 1, 2014
COLLECT NEEDED DOCUMENTS
Send to Jose. I must then arrive within 6 months of earliest date on any of the following documents.
1. Authenticated Birth Certificate with Apostille from State of Arkansas
2. Apostille letter from Social Security proving lifetime pension over $1,000 a month
3. Police Report on me with Apostille and if possible fingerprints
4. U.S. Embassy/State Department Online: Do a Consular Registration for Costa Rica, then save as a PDF file. Print one for this packet of documents & email the file to Jose.
JOSE & ARCR WILL DO ALL THIS WORK IN COSTA RICA FOR ME:
1. Provide Spanish translations of all the above documents as required
2. File my application with the Caja Office
JOSE/ARCR WILL DO AFTER I MOVE:
1. Review my rental contract
2. Get my fingerprints and physical exam that can be turned in after the Caja application is filed
3. Help me open a local bank account
4. Prepare a Costa Rica Will and powers of attorney from copy of my U.S. Wills, etc.
OTHER THINGS I CAN DO BEFORE MOVING
1. Contact Juan C. Calero of Pricose to start INS insurance policy by day I arrive
2. Contact the young doctor from Metropolitano about my sleep apnea and meds
3. Get budget worked out
4. Contact mover, Charlie Zeller
5. Learn more Spanish
6. Get online business settled before the move and ask lots of questions about doing it from Costa Rica
7. See if X or X will let me establish a U.S. physical address with them for my TN Driver License, maybe mail forwarding, and maybe something else.
8. Renew TN Driver License which now expires in 2015
9. Rent PO Boxes from ARCR in San Jose & Miami before I move.
P.S.
NOTE: I ended up not getting an address with ARCR but signed up for Aeropost.com and got a Miami address directly with them and use it now for all shipping and internet orders. I use postal service for most letters but new credit cards can be sent to the Miami address.

 

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Central Valley Day 2

We are all tired at the end of our full week of touring Costa Rica and considering a move here. It ended today with a stop at Pop’s Ice Cream Shop in Alajuela, a Costa Rica chain that has some of the best ice cream I have ever eaten! Today we went west and north of San Jose in several towns that would make great places to live: Santa Ana, Atenas, Grecia, San Ramon, and Alajuela with visits inside two nice homes, a Realtor talk, and some of the sights. I particularly like the smaller towns for the traditional full-block plaza with a Catholic Church facing it, a tradition all over Latin America thanks to Spanish colonialism. I’m only showing the plaza in Grecia here with the most unusual church in the country both by being red and by being made of metal. It was made in the mid nineteenth century in Belgium and shipped here thanks to some rich coffee growers. But I’m particularly proud of my photo of the church greeter this morning dressed as a clown for some kind of festival going on. You see, I’m a greeter in my church in Nashville and it is fun to imagine being a clown there!

 Iglesia de la Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes
Grecia, Costa Rica

August 31, 2014 Greeter at
 Iglesia de la Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes

Plaza in Grecia, Costa Rica
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Central Valley Day 1

Whew! Sitting in a seminar for two days was tiring, but a full day of touring was just as much so but more fun! We circled through all the neighborhoods and important places for living of San Jose then into suburbs of Rohrmoser, Escazu, Santa Anna, Heredia, Barva, and San Rafael. We saw a large house with a grand view (photo) that is now a boutique hotel plus inside a North American style suburban neighborhood home with two-car garage that was for sale. At the hotel we had tropical fruits and a short Spanish lesson. Then we had lunch at a place where the chicken is roasted over a wood fire using coffee tree wood. Nice! We had our “farewell banquet” a night early tonight and exchanged emails. And oh yes, we went to one of the largest Saturday Farmers’ Markets near Escazu in Rohrmoser and a big Walmart that had marimba players entertaining. Great! Here’s just a few of the photos from today:

The August 2014 Live In Costa Rica Tour Group of 17
Group at Hotel Posada el Quijote
Autopista from Escazu Walmart
 The multi-lane is only in the city and to airport with rest of country two-lane highways.
Marimba Entertainers at Escazu Walmart

View of Central Valley from Posada el Quijote
And oh yes . . .
Rohmorser Saturday Farmers’ Market
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Meeting and Eating

The two day seminar is over, my head is full and maybe spinning, and we went out to eat again tonight. There are some fabulous restaurants here in San Jose and back on the beach. Tonight I had El Chicote Salmon Steak with veggies followed by the best Coconut Flan I’ve ever eaten! Didn’t photograph tonight’s food, but here is one from Jaco. Tomorrow we begin the two-day Central Valley Tour which is probably where I will start out if I do move. The seminar has been brutally honest and I now know how difficult it can be to make the move – meaning the decision is not made yet! We leave at 7:30 in the morning for another full day, so off to bed! (Hoping the guys singing in the bar will finish soon!)  Pura Vida! On Friday night!

A Shrimp Salad
Someone ordered in Jaco Beach.
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Meetings and Memories

Today was the first day of our two day seminar. Today was a lot including residency, real estate, ARCR services, laws, moving, customs, learning Spanish, culture and a guy my age telling about his experience. It was mostly helpful and interesting, though tiring and a little dizzying. In addition to the 4 new people for the rest of our tour we have several here just for the seminar with a group of about 27 representing all sections of the U.S., Canada, Israel, and England. All kinds of people are considering a move to Costa Rica. No photos made today, but I still have memories of the beaches. (And extra photos!)

Playa Bejuco, Costa Rica

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Beach Properties & Back to City

Another beautiful day of sunshine until late afternoon, rain for dinner and sleeping!. And if this is the way rainy season is most of the time I will like it! In both Gambia and South Florida it was usually in the afternoons and they say that is true here sometimes, but not this week so far.

We looked at two beach condos at Jaco Beach with one on another empty beach seen below and the condos are like really nice condos in South Florida. They are tempting to buy because some, like the one in the photo, have been slashed to less than half the original asking prices because they are not all selling or maybe have overbuilt. This could mean I might get a good deal later on a rental, though the guy said an investor-owner can make more renting in season to tourists than he could on me year around. They can get as much per week in season as I would pay per month, so I’m not likely to end up in one of these. The ocean view is from an area of properties where you could build with just the lot selling for $160,000! You pay for these views! I’ll look at poor man’s property on my own next week.

Click to enlarge photo and note that these are web-sized. Please contact me to use one and I will send you a larger file.

From building property looking over the mouth of
Tarcoles River where it flows into the Pacific

“King of the Mountain!”
Crocodiles in the Tarcoles River

 Another near empty beach! This one by condo below.

Lobby of one of two condos we visited. A Vacation Condo mostly..
Reminded me of South Florida! Very nice!
For two days after our two-day seminar, we will be looking at properties in the Central Valley area, closer to more services and shopping, medical, entertainment, etc. I’m back in San Jose and Hotel Autentico for a week now. It will be nice to stay unpacked for awhile. Tomorrow our two-day seminar is led by ARCR, the Costa Rica Resident’s Association where all our questions will be answered by lawyers, movers, doctors, and expats who live here. Then I do my own thing for 4 days. A full two weeks! But fun! And educational!
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Our Third Beach Sunset Rained Out

Today was the third and last night on the beach and about thirty minutes ago would have been the time for a beautiful Pacific Coast Sunset and just like the last two nights that was when the downpour started. But you know what, it is rainy season and yet we have has mostly full days of sunshine with either late afternoon or evening rain, so very fortunate for the tour! We visited three more really nice houses today, one near Quepos with an infinity pool and deck overlooking the Pacific, just not what I can afford – see bottom photo. Then at Bejuco Beach we saw two really nice houses in a gated subdivision of 127 lots with 73 houses already built with every amenity possible. Several are for sale at $189,000 up into 5 and 6 hundreds, most with private pools plus the community pool, etc. Again I can’t afford to buy there and probably not rent, though it is closer with a few smaller ones for rent at $800 to $900 a month plus utilities. It is a two hundred meter walk to the empty beach below which is also where the folks are riding horses. We are staying in a nice hotel right on the beach in the quaint Key West like town of Jaco where we also had a gourmet lunch at the marina. And note that last night my connection was slow and I started reducing photos to 800 pixels on long side, but you don’t need to be stealing my photos anyway!  🙂  But ask if you want to use one and I’ll send the larger file. Time for dinner! Adios!

Playa Bejuco with miles of empty beach and it has the
very nice gated community of upscale modern houses.

While at Bejuco Beach some horses came by.

Our very nice hotel is on the beach where I walked today
in this quaint seaside town of Jaco – nice but more touristy
than Bejuco!
This shot is from the deck of a very nice house with infinity pool
overlooking the Pacific, between Quepos and Jaco.
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What Makes Costa Rica Appealing?

BEAUTIFUL VIEWS
Of the Pacific from an available lot at Partasol,
An Ecological Development we visited today.
BEAUTIFUL BEACHES
Playa Hermosa on the Pacific Coast South
ACTIVE NEIGHBORS
A surfer at Manuel Antonio Beach today
COLORFUL NEIGHBORS
This morning’s Toucan is so much better than last night’s I think!

INTRIGUING NEIGHBORS
White-faced Capuchin Monkey

And all of this was just today’s visits and photos!
There are 13 of us on the Pacific tour with two more joining us for the Central Valley Tour and Seminar. We are all seriously considering a move to Costa Rica, mostly for retirement. A fun group and great food!