This weekend there are a lot of activities planed and some will even last all night long. It is a great opportunity to check out the true Costa Rica party spirit and enjoy traditions and celebrations like you never have before. Costa Rica typical music, food and arts will be also joined by international artists such as Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy from Nicaragua, Infected Mushroom from Israel and Los Pericos from Argentina. Trust me, this will be a nice opportunity to enjoy yourselves and check out the scenery and real estate. Costa Rica has a very warm way of celebrating and being part of it is quite an adventure.
Don’t be surprised if you see one or two “Topes” going on this weekend.
Most of the activities will take place either in Liberia or the NicoyaPark, so make sure you swing by during your stay. There will be dancing, food, shows and a nice variety of entertainment. If you live in Costa Rica and have not had the chance to see how the traditional celebrations are, this is your chance. In Guanacaste, Costa Rica history will be portrayed by the music and the joy of these celebrations.
One of the most happening parties of the weekend will occur at Las Delicias property; Costa Rica is still a small country and this finca proves it, since it is hosted by one of the most opulent families in Guanacaste: The Espinar Brothers. Although it is quite an event, it mostly a party for youngsters and it lasts all night long, so if you are planning on going wear comfortable shows, there is going to be a lot of dancing.
A few years ago I decide that I was no longer going to put up with the crazy lifestyle of the U.S and decided to look for a place to rest and spend my golden years. After much research I found what I call now my home: a nice Costa Rica Villa in Guanacaste. I didn’t know being here was my dream until I actually came in the front door. When I first heard of Guanacaste, Costa Rica seemed like a huge rain forest to me and I honestly thought I will not be able to find good real estate. Costa Rica seemed like a dark hole with lovely beaches, but not a place to actually live in, wasn’t I wrong.
At this moment I can tell you that there are many housing projects in all of Costa Rica: San Jose is being remodeled, sort of speak, and tall apartment buildings are being developed in La Sabana surroundings, providing lovely housing arrangements downtown. Also, if you take a quick look to real estate listings, Costa Rica is including more and more residential projects on the Alajuela and Heredia provinces. Cartago, especially Tres Rios, has been developing lovely residential areas for the past ten years and getting a big house near malls and offices is no longer a dream for anyone.
This could be your backyard….
But in Guanacaste, real estate choices are better, cheaper and so much nicer: A villa, like the one I live in, has beautiful sceneries surrounding the property, trees, palm trees, the ocean; fun loving animals of the area are part of your neighborhood and everyday life. The peaceful breeze and the fresh sea water smell cannot be compared to anything. Getting relocated can be quite stressful, but once you see that Costa Ricais in fact that dreamland you had always on your mind, you will see the effort paying up. Right now, there is a boom in Guanacaste, housing projects are all over the place and the prices are worth to look at. Most of these properties are built due to the fast development of the Liberia area, and since the industry is cleverly locating properties where the natural resources are not affected, you can be at peace and still enjoy Costa Rica nature close to your new home.
This weekend, while I was reading the newspaper I came across an article about some massage parlors that are actually sex businesses. Since the article was not so clear about the reality of the problem in Costa Rica, I decided to explain a little bit relaying on what I have seem myself.
In Costa Rica, prostitution is a huge problem just like it is anywhere else. Yes, it is true that those business pose a massage parlors to provide sex services, but there are also regular massage parlors and they are really easy to recognize. Most of the “fake ones”, meaning the ones that offer sex services, try to advertise their services emphasizing the kind of girls they have and related items such as private bathrooms and how “frisky” the girls are. The professional massage parlors will advertise regular spa treatments. Costa Ricais a relaxing place and it is normal to look for spa services.
In Costa Rica, child protection law is very though on offenders so, if you think you can come here and have a wild “sexcapade” as it is advertised on some websites, you better think twice, even taxi drivers will drive to the nearest police station if you are planning on breaking the law. Be careful when you see websites offering young girls or similar types of trips, most of them work illegally and you might get in trouble.
Costa Rica services many types of industries: tourism, agriculture, crafting, technology and more and although there is a false idea about it, Costa Rica economy is not based on sex services. If you are planning to come to Costa Rica: vacations, business, extreme sports, fishing and related activities is whatyou should be looking for, not only it is bigger help to their economy but you will have a nicer time enjoying yourself with all their adventurous activities.
The article did not show that difference at any moment, so if anyone was doing any research about Costa Rica, activities, services and such and found that article, might have gotten the wrong idea.
Today I have learned that the telecommunications in Costa Rica will be a lot more reliable. According to the Sun Herald, Global Crossing Limited, a company that provides computer networking services worldwide and legally domiciled in Bermuda, has joined forces with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and Radiografica Costarricense (RACSA) to develop a fiber-optic submarine cable will facilitate the expansion of ICE’s international network to the rest of the world through Global Crossing’s network.
In Costa Rica, services for electricity and telecommunications are handled by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and in the past few years the entity has been struggling to upgrade their services and walk and in hand with the technology available in the rest of the world. Although the services they provided have had some minor difficulties through the years, the new cable connection, which is an extension of the Pan American Crossing (PAC), which connects the United States‘ west coast, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands will make things easier for Costa Rica telecommunications and their connections world wide.
This change is great news since it would be possible to have faster and better internet connections, phone services and such everywhere in Costa Rica, properties will increase their value due to better services offered in every area. Costa Rica is now part of a bigger technological channel and can provide top notch connectivity for everyone. With this change, the new bandwidth will enable the transmission of approximately 185 million e-mails per second, assuming an average e-mail of 20KB; allows 2.5 million people to watch a video online, assuming 1.5M per connection; and can handle 60 million phone calls, which is way bigger than what we have been using.
This is a huge step for the country and I am glad to actually be a witness of the positive changes made in the country. Costa Rica is going far and that is just another excuse to move here.
Yesterday I was admiring the view I get from my house and got the idea of sharing with you some of the very peaceful sightings you get in Costa Rica, especially in Guanacaste. I am not so talented on the photography field but, fortunately we have the World Wide Web and it is full with amazing photographers that have capture Costa Rica sightings the way they are and feel like, so here it is:
Yesterday I was talking some friends I have made since I move to Costa Rica and they let me in into a very interested subject: What are people in Costa Rica afraid of? I don’t even remember how we got to that subject, yet it is quite impressive to see what troubles the minds of my neighbors.
The main thing as always is money. In Costa Rica economy decreases each and every day and with the raise on the price of the US currency their own currency goes way down, making their salary worth much less. Also, they seemed to be afraid having the utilities services prices go up because of this, so they are now taking extreme measures to be affected a little as possible: walking more, turning off lights and changing light bulbs to fluorescent ones, changing their diet and so on.
It is quite impressive to see how much Costa Rica struggles to continue having the peaceful life they know and to see they are willing to do so much about it. In Costa Rica, properties are not always linked to the same companies for utilities: while some people get their power from the ICE, others have contracts with different companies, especially in rural areas. I bring this up because these small companies are actually doing more to encourage saving that the ICE itself and it surprises me a lot.
Another thing they take very seriously is education. Costa Rica has one of the highest rates of education level in Latin America. Young people often work and study at the same time and it seems to be part of the traditions. Costa Rica does not accept mediocrity on this matter which something lots of countries could benefit from. Just the fact that every where I go I can easily find someone who speaks English fluently is remarkable.
Last but not least is real estate: Costa Rica has amazing architectures and lots of homes are works of art. They like to take advantage of the area, the sightings and location and often buildings are thought out to comply with nature and the surroundings, which is always a plus.
This morning the price of the dollar in Costa Rica was extremely high and although my first thought was: Good! I can go shopping for household items today and spend less! I also thought about how this issue affects the Costa Rica people; either it is in a positive or negative way, even if my money is in dollars most of the time, whatever changes are made, will be affecting me too as a citizen.
As I said it before, my first thought was the fact that I could save lots of money by going to the market today, but that is because all I have in cash right now is dollars, if I had only colones I would be in trouble. In Costa Rica, housing is often charged in dollars, meaning that if you are renting and your salary is in colones, you will be paying more for your rent today, those are really bad news.
Now, on the other hand, for us “gringos” this is a real good chance to take advantage on getting real deals in Costa Rica real estate since prices will be cheaper to those paying in dollars or getting prices in dollars. Getting a home in Guanacaste will be cheaper now for those earning money in dollars and trust me, getting any type of Guanacaste properties is an amazing deal, either it is for moving to Costa Rica as it is for business.
The bad thing for Costa Rica is that their currency becomes an issue for those who have loans in dollars since their debt increases and their income lowers, this is something very disturbing for middle class and low class citizens. The only good thing is that their tourism business increased a lot this year, meaning that their economy may be less affected if more dollars come into the country.
My advice to US citizens still hesitant about purchasing real estate in Costa Rica is to take advantage of this currency changes and go ahead with it, this is the opportunity you were waiting for.
If you have decided to move to Costa Rica as I did there are a few things you should get as a must. The first thing I noticed was that the warm weather in Guanacaste gets a bit too hot at night, so make sure you get an air conditioner or plenty of fans for your home, you will be needing them.
Be aware that in Costa Rica, weather does change a lot and because of this bugs tend to move around depending on the hour of the day and the season. Around 4:00 pm you need to make sure you have a repellent near by because mosquitos come out hungry and unfortunately we are all new meat to them.
If you are moving to a rural area, you will find cheaper vegetables and legumes but some other items might be a little hard to get or a bit expensive. It is better if you go to the market as little as possible and get everything you need on one trip, that way you won’t have to spend gas every time you need something; this rule also applies if you move down town, not so much for the distances but because of the traffic. Remember that Costa Rica has more cars that people.
Costa Rica living is quite peaceful, you can get all services everywhere including water, electricity and even satellite TV, so If you are one of those people that think they will be living on a Tipi in the middle of the jungle, maybe you need to reconsider. Costa Ricais not a forest, nor an island, it has many forests and natural reservations but it is a city like any other.
Another thing you need to get as soon as possible is a cell phone line, this you will need to get from someone who is leaving or selling one on the side, cell phone lines are very few and the ICE which is the company that handles telecommunications only releases a few lines every so often. Costa Rica telecommunications will be changing in the next couple of years and there will be a lot more choices, not only for cell phone lines but also, internet connections, in the meantime, all we can do in the meantime is wait until the negotiations are finalized.
At the moment, most of the real estate Costa Rica has to offer will include utilities already yet, it never hurts to ask. If you are getting a car, get a 4X4, might be a little more money but in the long run you will be thank me. Costa Rica roads are not always in the best condition and you will save money.
One of the nicest perks you get from living in Guanacaste is the fact that you can be surrounded by the most characteristic Costa Rica traditions and experience each one of them at their best. Since Guanacaste is still a rural area in spite of the fast development that has been going through for the past years, people still keep their values and traditional activities, which something very admirable.
Among my favorite traditions I can mention the typical dances: Costa Rica dance is actually very colorful and joyful, they have a designated outfit to dance with which resembles the outfits used by agricultures of the yester years, I got so impressed with this that even bought myself a “chonete” which is some sort of hat they used to work under the sun. The main they dance is called “Punto Guanacasteco” and is very delightful and funny, the song has many bridges where the music stops and people say some sort of rhymes they call “bombas”, I can’t really understand them much but after they finish the rhyme everyone laughs and continues dancing. Costa Rica is a very artistic country, so all of these performances are very well thought and practiced; also they are a very big part of Costa Rica culture.
Necessary items to dance “El Punto Guanacasteco”
Now, my second favorite thing is of course food. Costa Rica has one of the richest soils in America, so they grow many different types of legumes and vegetables. One of the most incredible dishes I have tasted is the “picadillo”, the picadillo is a dish made with chopped vegetables, three types tops, ground beef and local spices: just delicious! Specially with a very refreshing “agua dulce”, trust me you cannot top that.
Another good thing is watching the cattle pass by, Guanacaste has many cattle farms and to be honest, I never thought that watching cattle pass by could be so relaxing. Costa Rica has many different things worth to experience; so far I am happy that I have taken my time to get to know everything slowly.
These past few days I have not been able to keep up with the weather changes we have been having: one minute the sun is shinning like we are in the middle of summer and the next we are having a rainstorm.
Because of its location, Costa Rica weather changes drastically and constantly. This is due to the location it has on the earth. Although it is a geographically small country, Costa Rica has many different weather types: from cold windy places up in the Alajuela mountains to extremely humid and hot in the Caribbean Coast, Costa Rica has what I like to call “wild weather swings”.
Atenas is a town in Alajuela, Costa Rica’s best weather can be experience there, although I have also heard that, that weather is the best in the world and not only in Costa Rica: very sunny and a fresh breeze blows all day long.
