Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

The Costa Rica Zoo Africa Mia, located in the beautiful province of Guanacaste is celebrating a first in Latin America: Roxi, a giraffe weighing 50 kilos and standing 4.9 feet tall, was born at Africa Mia Animal Park. This is the first giraffe to ever be born in Central America. As you probably know tourism in Guanacaste is one of the main businesses in the area and the fact that the animals brought into the Zoo are reproducing marvelously has everyone excited.

Both Roxi, who was born this past Sunday and her mother Adriana the giraffe are doing well and recovering perfectly. Africa Mia can now move on to have more and more species reproducing and help these animal species continue their legacy. Guanacaste’s weather somehow resembles the weather in Africa with a few minor differences and the animals seem to be doing really good there.

Park officials have also said that Roxi could soon have company since another female giraffe, Amapola, is pregnant. Animal species in Costa Rica are always taken care of since the whole country strives to maintain and ecological friendly atmosphere. If you are interested in visiting Africa Mia, you can arrive either at the Liberia Airport and the Zoo is located only 20 minutes away; if you arrive at Juan Santa Maria Airport, Africa Mia is located in the Pacific coast province of Guanacaste, 124 miles west of San Jose.

Either way this is a trip worth doing, since all animals are let to run free in the Zoo and people can just appreciate them by riding in Hummer trucks and walking through the several trails inside the property. Guanacaste has many other ecological reservations and national parks that are open to the public all year long.

This weekend I went on a Costa Rica road trip to a place I heard a lot about but hadn’t had the chance to visit with enough quality time: Cartago. Costa Rica has 7 provinces and Cartago is apparently the oldest one, there is definitely a lot Costa Rica history in the place and the architecture of some places is just stunning.

The main thing that attracted me was the incredible cheap real estate in the location: huge lots and farms set at ridiculously low prices. There was even a sign stating that you could separate a lot for only 50 000 colones which is less than $100!

Costa Rica real estate is definitely cheaper than real estate back home; this really surprised me, especially because the entire place has lovely views, good soil and overall nice weather. Properties in Guanacaste, although they are not expensive, are priced way higher than in Cartago, and even knowing that it is because of the proximity to the beaches in Guanacaste, I have to admit that there is also a lot of beauty in Cartago as well.

In Guanacaste, lots for sale can be found costing at least twice as much than a Cartago property, this makes me think that maybe in Costa Rica don’t know how impressive this area is and that maybe it is under priced, if only the Tourism Chamber of Costa Rica showed a little more of the beauties inside the country these locations could be a lot more appreciated by visitors. The inside of Costa Rica is full of green valleys, lagoons waterfalls and awesome forests, why is it that they only advertise the beaches in Costa Rica?

So yesterday we spent the day at Tamarindo beach. Guanacaste has incredible beaches, this one in particular is very well developed and has many awesome hotels in the surroundings, there is even a Golf course nearby, massage parlors, souvenir shops and stores, restaurants and a couple of beachfront bars.

There were a lot of people enjoying the day: surfing, sunbathing, doing exercise there were even people trying to fly kites, it was quite nice to see whole families having fun and enjoying the day. I do own a small lot in Tamarindo, I am not so sure what to do with it but some real estate investors in Guanacaste have contacted me to develop villas for rent. Costa Rica has many of these types of villas for rent in most beaches; people seem to prefer these because of the privacy and the price, which is definitely lower than staying at a hotel.

Tamarindo beach in particular is a bit crowded for my taste, there are several other beaches in Costa Rica a lot more secluded and way more peaceful, but we decided to spend the day here because of the easy access to commerce, grocery stores and because I had to check on my property in Tamarindo. I am going to give it a thought about the Villas for rent idea, who knows, it might be an interesting business after all. I wouldn’t move to Tamarindo just because I like my house where it is, but the drive is quick and I could just hire someone to take care of the property for me.

One of the most damaging activities has been banned in Costa Rica: logging to develop building projects. A government decree authorizing the logging of coastal forests for eco-tourism projects in Costa Rica was approved in 2004 allegedly to benefit a hot shot entrepreneur who needed to remove a partial piece of forest to build a hotel.

According to Alvaro Sagot, an environmental law professor: “The decree had a first and last name…It was made for someone in particular that needed to cut down forest to build hotels”, yet he would not name names since his main concern is not to look for people responsible but to take care of Costa Rica forests.

The decree was set by the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAE) back in April 2004 and basically what it stated was a regulation for eco-tourism, calling these projects “tourism developments that simultaneously promote environmental education in Costa Rica, the conservation of natural resources, the socioeconomic development of the inhabitants that reflect an environmental conscience and identity”. The decree also limits definition to coastal projects that fell within the first 200 meters inland from the ocean, which is state-owned land known as the maritime zone.

Lately a lot of people around the world have been saying that Costa Rica natural resources were disappearing because of several development projects, yet the problem was not really there until this decree was found, and now completely annulled to prevent any damage to Costa Rica forests and other natural reservations.

The decree was actually a terrible decision made the government back then since it was signed by former Costa Rica environment minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez and former President Abel Pacheco. The decree allowed so called “eco-tourism” projects to get concessions on forested property in Costa Rica and build over as much as 15% of old growth or primary forest, and 25% if the forest is second growth.

Today is one of those days I feel a little nostalgic living in Costa Rica. In this country, since the main religion is Catholic, Halloween is not such a big celebration as it is back home, especially in Guanacaste where people just don’t to celebrate it all, all there is are a couple of Halloween parties in some bars and that is it: no decorations, no trick or treating, nothing.

In Costa Rica, San Jose does have a few more celebrations going on, just this past week I received pictures of the decorations set on a friends neighborhood, so I am guessing that the do have more of the Halloween spirit in the Capital city of Costa Rica. As I informed to you in another entry there will be quite a few celebrations tonight: the Halloween fund raiser, DJ Max Graham in Heredia, a band that only appears in Halloween called the Goat Killers and even and Irish Celebration for Halloween is scheduled! Adults seem to be a lot more into Halloween than youngsters in this country.

However, Costa Rica Halloween celebrations seem to be some sort of different tradition: Mascarade Day! In Costa Rica carnivals there are always these special costumes, completely hand made that resemble people and in some cases the character of the Costa Rica urban legends such as La Segua or el Cadejos and these are called Mascaradas. So today there will be a few parades celebrating this lovely art form.

The Mascarada in Costa Rica was originally celebrated in the City of Cartago, where along with Escazu in San Jose, are two cities with the most horror stories in the country. The Mascarada was celebrated in tribute to the Virgin Mary. So there you go in Costa Rica traditions there is also something that can be related to the Halloween we know.

The beautiful Costa Rica girls have again the opportunity to represent their country in one of the most important beauty pageants nowadays: Miss Hawaiian Tropic. The selection of the 12 finalists to represent Costa Rica will take place on November 15^th between 12 m. a 6 p. m. at Mall San Pedro, in down town San Jose, Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica, women are definitely beautiful and very educated, so far it has been really hard to find a woman in their 20’s without college education and most of them also work, don’t have children too young and don’t seem to be in any rush about getting married. Costa Rica high rates in education are definitely real, since I have to admit that most Costa Ricans: women and men are very well educated.

Regarding the Miss Hawaiian Tropic Pageant, the 12 finalists that will be chosen on November 15^th will compete against each other in Playa Flamingo in January and the winner will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada in May, 2009 to represent Costa Rica among the most gorgeous girls in the world. This year, during the Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant 2008, the girl participating for Costa Rica, Kimberly Zúñiga actually won the pageant and hopefully this next year will be just as successful.

It is actually not uncommon that girls from Costa Rica are somehow recognize in the pageants they participate, most of the times they come back with recognitions and not empty handed. I certainly wish them all good luck and we can just sit and enjoy watching beautiful Costa Rica girls in the meantime.

To anyone interested the exact location for the casting at Mall San Pedro will be announced in the next few days, so just be patient and keep looking, so far the only confirmed info is the date (November 15^th). Good luck!

While doing my daily research yesterday, I came across a blog very similar to this one where a woman who has apparently traveled the world her whole life writes about Costa Rica. I often read those articles since the blog shows up every time I look for news about Costa Rica in Google but yesterday I was beyond surprised with her article.

 This woman, who claims to have lived here in Costa Rica for over 16 years claims that Ticos do not have artistic talent and that probably it is not part of the Costa Rica education to be artistic. I was talking to a Tica friend of mine and she felt insulted for the article, given the fact that she is a photographer and painter herself. Also, I may have only been living here for a few months but I have to admit: Costa Rica arts are quite impressive. Almost half the people I meet play at least one instrument, I have also read 2 books that were simply wonderful, written by Costa Rica writers and I have bought paintings made by locals as well.

There are a least 6 concerts advertised every week for local bands that play anything from Cumbia to Heavy Metal, all with original material, not to mention Maria Jose Castillo who got 2^nd place in the Latin American Idol competition just last week. So I wonder how is it that someone who has lived here for so long hasn’t been able to check how creative people are in Costa Rica. Tourism itself is also embraced on culture: ocarinas, glass figurines, accessories paintings and all sorts of hand made sculptures are displayed and on sale everywhere.

Actually every time I go to San Jose, I always notice a small fair with local artists on some park, where they paint; right on the street, circus shows are presented as well and musicians are always part of those little celebrations. I think this woman is definitely seeing a different side of Costa Rica; arts are everywhere, so I wonder where exactly she hasn’t seen creativity in the people for 16 years.

If you are planning on visiting the lovely Costa Rica during the holidays you better hurry up, there isn’t so much room and reservations are running out.

Costa Rica experiences its best weather from December through April and people (locals and visitors) do take advantage of this at its maximum. If you wish to spend a quality vacation in Costa Rica during December you will need to begin making your reservations now, otherwise it is going to be very difficult to find a place later, especially if you are planning on visiting Guanacaste. Costa Rica has many different choices: luxury villas, regular rental homes and hotels that vary from small cabins up to celebrity status accommodations.

Since I lived here for a while now, my recommendation is to get a rental villa, Guanacaste has too many beaches and they are all pretty close from each other so a villa in Guanacaste, no matter the location will give you different choices and you can use your time to its maximum: visiting natural reservoirs, volcanoes, beaches and getting into fun activities such as ATV, Canopy and snorkeling; also costs are lower, therefore you can also save some money to buy souvenirs and rent a car a for example.

Tourism in Costa Rica is one of the biggest products, sort of speak, it is one of the few countries in the world that haven’t compromise their natural resources to include technology and nowadays development. Vacation packages in Costa Rica are also not expensive at all and once you come here, you definitely fall in love with the place, I can’t begin to tell you how many people I have met that came here for a short vacation and decided to stay for good.

Another good thing about renting a Villa during you Costa Rica vacation is that you can get an actual taste of what living here is like and trust me, you cannot regret it. The peaceful ambience, the liberty of going wherever you want and the easy access to services, grocery stores and fun activities makes a huge difference, while staying at a hotel may not be so suitable for exploration of the area.

Is it to hard to live in a trailer? Talking to some people about how really expensive real estate in Costa Rica has become for Ticos (yes, I know I am becoming annoying with this, but trust me I have a good point) One the locals introduced me to a new a very useful way to build a home: Containers!

Apparently, in some other locations worldwide, building a home inside one or several containers has become one of the easiest and cheapest ways to own a home and not spend ridiculous high amounts of money. In Costa Rica, container homes have not been used so far, but I hear that it is a topic under study.

Finished Container Home: A Solution for Costa Rica Homes?

These container homes can be built in only 4 weeks and they can be as big as you want them, even have multiple floors. The very well known Fort Bragg in the US Army is already using one of these constructions as an administrative command center.

Costa Rica is a wonderful, place and if these container homes project is taking into further consideration maybe the issue of unaffordable prices in real estate will be fixed. These homes can a nice solution in Guanacaste for example where the climate is too hot to work a property for several months or in Limon where it rains most of the year. So far, this container home conversation was only in our table but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Costa Rica government or even the people start testing these container homes.

It would be a lot easier to provide housing projects for families with low incomes; young professionals might be able to finally afford their Costa Rica home and stop wasting money on rent; space can be used wiser in the residential areas located near the National Parks in Costa Rica, definitely a win/win situation.

Today Costa Rica celebrates one of the most important holidays they have: Independence Day. Costa Rica was officially declared an independent country on September 15^th, 1821 and although they received the news on September 14^th, they celebrate receiving the news with a parade of paper lanterns at 6:00 pm sharp. Costa Rica Independence Day is celebrated on the date the news was officially received however, the independence document was not signed and official until October 29^th, 1821.

Since that date Costa Rica became a Republic and began living under their own laws and duties, no longer under the jurisdiction of the Capitania General de Guatemala which was actually ruled by Spain. Costa Rica wanted to have this opportunity since as we all know their beliefs are very different from the rest of Latin America and besides being the “odd man out” Costa Rica is, in some areas, a role model, starting with the fact that they are the only country in America without an army since 1948. Also they based all their laws with the principle of peace. Costa Rica also tries to prove that knowledge can be the best weapon making education mandatory and free for everyone up to high school and including 3 public universities to support their very high rate on literacy.

Costa Rica may be hated by their closes neighbors, mostly because Ticos do tend to appear clueless and as if they couldn’t care less about the rest of America, yet their efforts and assistance provided to other countries is not always taken into account mostly because they don’t make fuzz about it. Also other countries think that since they are not willing to fight in a battle or war, they just don’t care. They do oversee the fact that Costa Rica provides asylum to thousands of immigrants and gives them everything from social security to education for free, so in a way they help by doing tasks other countries won’t do.

Costa Rica land is rich not only soils but in people and I am very proud to be a part of these country. Its people have opened up to me as if I was a Tico myself and I am also celebrating Costa Rica Independence Day since they helped me with my own search for peace and good living.