Category: Costa Rica

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Another Expat Trip to San Jose

Yeh! It is kind of like the senior adult trips we had at both First Baptist & McKendree Village when in Nashville. And a lot of fun! Focus this time was indigenous people art work that we were not suppose to photograph. I honored their rule (though some did not). Bought nothing!:

NAMU is the Bri Bri indigenous language for Jaguar and name of shop.
Not allowed to make photos inside. Lots of masks, baskets, carvings, etc.

Afterwards we stop at “Porky’s”
for a choice of 50+ hamburgers & 100’s of beers.

This was my second trip with this group, the other being a Central American Art show I shared about in one blog post. July 31 I’m going with the music lovers of this group of expats to San Jose for a performance of the opera La Boheme. That should be interesting since I have not generally cared for most operas, but think I will like this one. I’m reading the English translation of the script now thanks to Kindle! The men get together for dart tournaments but that has not interested me yet.

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Chrysina Beetle

Chrysina Beetle
On my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Chrysina Beetle
On my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

The identification is not certain but the closest name I could find for this guy who was dead for my morning sweep of the terrace. He appears to be one of the Scarab Beetles and the closest match photo online was a Chrysina. They also get upside-down or on their back when they are alive and it is funny to watch them try so hard to turn over. Sometimes they never make it. If I have the porch light on very long I get a lot of these and other beetles and other kinds of bugs. Beetles are the most numerous category of insects in Costa Rica.  
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After Much Effort – I’m Insured Again

My Carné card is what will get me all needed medical service;
including prescriptions, doctor visits, hospital, surgery, tests, etc.
at no extra cost to me above the $114 a month coverage fee based
on my U.S. Social Security income check deposited in a bank here. 
The instructions said bring the original of each needed document and
one copy. In my usual overkill I made 3 copies of all and took it with me.
He didn’t even want one copy beyond the originals, BUT . . .
He did not like the digital printed receipt of my electric bill and made be go for a
traditional paper bill mailed to houses with no email. Very difficult to get!
But with help of my amigo Jason Quesada & landlord, we finally got it in time.

I still have to go back to Immigration 28 July for my Cedula or residential ID card, but I am legally a resident now with full medical coverage. An American Tico? Well, more secure anyway! 🙂  

Next week I will schedule my initial appointment with the Caja doctor assigned to me, getting a physical and giving him my medical history. It will be interesting to see what they do with my Sleep Apnea and the recently discovered heart arrhythmia. For some specialists I may have to go to Alajuela or San Jose, just like with the more expensive private doctors. 

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Questions about renewing visa every 90 days

As I stated earlier this trip was primarily to renew my visa in Costa Rica. I get occasional letters from people considering a move to Costa Rica with questions of all kinds. Well, just today, a regular reader of this blog asked the following questions about getting the visa renewed every 90 days. The questions are in blue and my answers in black. Maybe you have had the same questions? These photos are not from this week’s trip, but a group trip I did December 30, 2015. This week’s trip was solo and much more than just getting a visa! This week in two days I birded in two reserves and photographed colonial churches in Leon. A lot more fun than just a border run! But both give you the 90 day visa needed:

Has the 90 day visa situation worked okay for you? 
One of several “Visa Run” groups I was a part of – at border.
It has worked fine for me for a year and a half now, but I’m kind of hoping today’s is the last visa I have to get as I am completing residency requirements and will then be able to get a CR Driver License. I do not have a car but rent one occasionally, mainly for birding trips. You have to have residency before you can get a Costa Rica Driver License, so I have to use my Tennessee Driver License which requires a current Visa. Once my residency was in process I could have lived here without renewing the visa, but could not drive (legally). It is interesting to note that there are actually a lot of expats who, for whatever reasons, do not want to fool with residency application red tape and elect to be permanent tourists, living here legally on tourist visas. There have been rumors about the government “putting a stop to that,” but since it brings money into the country I doubt they will. If we could just get a Tico Trump for president of Costa Rica, he would put a stop to these damn yankees! 🙂  Fortunately, Ticos love Americans and Canadians and are all very welcoming of us and all foreigners, all races and all religions. 

A reasonable wait in line coming out of Nicaragua.
How many times have you had to leave and return? I think this week was number 6. The first 4 times I used a local tour operator who organizes “Visa Runs” for local expats. We left at 5 AM, stopping for breakfast and then in Liberia for the exit tax certificate. At the Nicaragua border town of Penas Blanca we cross over and then turn around and come back. About $25-$30 of border fees plus tipping a local Nica expediter. We payed the tour guy $150 for the drive, technical assistance and two meals enroute. It was a 12-14 hour day with some good fellowship, but I got tired of that and for two times now I have made it into birding trips.  

Did you ever have any problems returning (as some online sources say you are at the mercy of the agent and the agent doesn’t have to let you back in for a full 90 days). I’ve heard of that and agents do have that power, but it has never happened to me (or anyone in our groups). Well, one time a lady was given 30 days and our tour leader went back and talked to the agent and he changed it to 90 days. I always get 90 days. Now you do have to show proof that you can leave the Costa Rica within the 90 days and that is easy by purchasing an open-ended bus ticket at the border for just $25. It is good for 12 months.  

I also read that you cannot depart to the same country two times in a row. Not true. It is funny to hear rumors like that and wonder how they get started. 🙂 I just departed Nicaragua 6 times in a row with 90-day visas every time. I go there because it is closer from Atenas than Panama or other country further away. If I have to do it again, I plan to go to Panama next time, which I will do anyway at some point. Birding is very good in several spots along the canal which I have done, but I haven’t been to northern Panama yet or seen Boco Toro which is mainly snorkeling I think, but sea birds I’m sure. 

Many of the “Snowbirds” only stay here 3 months or if longer take one trip out. And there are Americans with a lot of family who go home to the states every 3 months or so, which gives you the visas. So there are many angles, but if you are really going to make it your retirement home, I recommend getting residency. It will make life here easier. And of course I already have a bank account with debit card, have my SS check deposited here, attend a local church, joined clubs and made friends; all of which makes it more like home. 

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I’m back home from the Nicaragua trip but too busy to process photos, so this little break in my photo blog by answering questions. And remember that the SEARCH box top right will help you find answers like this somewhere in my blog! 
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Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
My Garden in Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
My Garden in Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

This is another “first” bird for me which I saw today in a Yellow Bell Tree by my terrace. I had to share it first! Tomorrow I will explain why I went a week without a post. Then some more catch up!

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Living in One of 10 Most Peaceful Countries in the World

While my former home continues to become one of the most violent, gun-slinging places in the world it is nice to live in one of the most peaceful countries! Read this article on the blog of the guy who led the relocation tour I took before moving here:  Living in One of Most Peaceful Countries

Yeah, sometimes it is embarrassing to be an American, though so far not as bad as those days in Gambia when Bush was president. But if you guys elect Trump I may go for citizenship here and renounce my American citizenship. Hope not!  🙂

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Smashed Fer-de-Lance in My Street

The markings are very similar to a deadly Fer de Lance snake. Not positive.
On a walk through the neighborhood we saw this on street in front of my house.

Thought you would like this post the day after my”Al fresco Living” post!   🙂

Panic over a snake does not help anyone. Generally they are more afraid of people than we are of them is my belief. This is only the 4th snake I have seen anywhere in Costa Rica in 18 months! And I have been in several national parks where they are known to be more common. Common sense caution is my preferred way to react to something like this. So far no problem! Hope never! And if one ever does get in my house I will be asking the landlord for a screen door on my garden door.  🙂

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Alfresco Living

Simple Definition of alfresco
·     : in the open air
Source: Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

And that is how I live in Costa Rica – in the open air all of the time! 

The terrace is my favorite room, totally outside with roof, so good in rain!

Living Room Dining Room is always open air during the day.
The sliding glass doors stay open all day when at home. I close at night. 

Inside all windows stay open all the time day and night, They have screens.
Every room in the house is like living outside.
And my “front door” or really garden door stays open during the day.
There is no screen on it. The sliding doors have sliding screens, seldom used
except at night, after dark to before bed when I lock both outside doors. 

Yes, I get lots of bugs! You learn to live with them if you like alfresco living! I’ve had three birds inside the house and they eventually fly out. No other animals yet and I will not worry about snakes. Neighbor dogs are a bigger nuisance! And I have had two of those come in my house.

I sleep at night with two windows open in my bedroom with screens. I have ceiling fans, but do not need at night. They feel good in warm afternoons but not needed when raining. In Fahrenheit it is in the 60’s every night year around and in 70’s and low 80’s in the daytime year around, one reason I chose Central Valley over the coasts. It is always hot and humid on both coasts! We never need air conditioning which I do not have, but on the coast you really need it! The apartments I was in for 4 months had a/c but really not needed. Most houses here do not have air conditioning. ¡Mejor Clima del Mundo! The best weather in the world, the PR slogan for Atenas. A perfect place for alfresco living!

“I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.” –Henry David Thoreau


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One of 270+ Species of Dragonflies Here!

Dragonfly resting on my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica.
I looked through hundreds of photos online and could not identify.

“Costa Rica is home to more than 500,000 species, which represents nearly 4% of the total species estimated worldwide, making Costa Rica one of the 20 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world. Of these 500,000 species, a little more than 300,000 are insects.

“Costa Rica is considered to possess the highest density of biodiversity of any country worldwide.[3] While encompassing just one third of a percent of Earth’s landmass, approximately the size of West Virginia, Costa Rica contains four percent of species estimated to exist on the planet.[4] Hundreds of these species are endemic to Costa Rica, meaning they exist nowhere else on earth. These endemic species include frogs, snakes, lizards, finches, hummingbirds, gophers, mice, cichlids, and gobies among many more.[5]

“Costa Rica’s biodiversity can be attributed to the variety of ecosystems within the country. Tropical rainforests, deciduous forests, Atlantic and Pacific coastline, cloud forests, and mangrove forests are all represented throughout the 19,730 square miles of Costa Rica’s landmass.[6] The ecological regions are twelve climatic zones. This variation provides numerous niches which are filled by a diversity of species.”
Copied from Wikipedia      (Emphasis in red is mine.)

“In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.”   –Ralph Waldo Emerson