Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

The very famous Manuel Antonio National Park, where some of the most beautiful Costa Rica beaches are besides Guanacaste has closed its doors during this weekend. Manuel Antonio is the second-most-visited park in Costa Rica, attracting thousands of visitors every year, it is one of the most precious ecological reservations in Costa Rica, providing home to several animal species and plants.

Closure order for Manuel Antonio National Park was issued on February 12^th, providing 10 full days for the Environment and Energy Ministry to correct a terrible waste water problem that was affecting the beaches nearby, the problem was not solved therefore the park was closed until further notice, the first step to have the Costa Rica biological reserve open will be building a wastewater treatment plant.

Administrative personnel of the Manuel Antonio National park claimed that although the problem was identified a year ago, they had not allocated enough money to deal with it, causing the closure of the park.

I personally have been at the park twice since I have been living in Costa Rica; it is a splendid ecological reservation, in Costa Rica, probably one of the top three if you ask me. The whole closure is really sad and I certainly hope they can find a way to come up with the money to build the treatment plant soon, otherwise the beautiful “mirador” and the five unique beaches of the area will be out of reach for a long time.

According to the park managers admission fees to Manuel Antonio National Park totaled $1.81 million during last year and were used mainly to pay salaries and provide basic services. Again the financial crisis hits Costa Rica.

The former Pizza monster in Costa Rica Domino’s Pizza has now appeared and has promised to pay up the 122 former employers that left out on the street a couple of weeks ago.

People in Costa Rica were furious with the way the company closed its business by fooling employees into turning their restaurant keys due to a Health Ministry check up that was supposed to take place the next day, unfortunately the next day all employees arrived to their workplaces to find a dismantled location and no one to provide explanations at all.

Apparently they have set up a pay up system: former Domino’s employees that are owed less than 200 000 colones will receive all their money today, those who are owed more than 200 000 and up to 400 000 will get their money in two monthly payments and those who are owed more than that will receive their money in three payments. Thank God there is not a Domino’s Pizza in Guanacaste.

The way these people handled their financial crisis is really unprofessional, workers in Costa Rica don’t make as much money as workers in the US and they deserved to be treated fair and with dignity, hopefully all these people can find a job soon, although in Costa Rica, financial crisis hasn’t really meant loads of lay offs, some companies are cutting out on expenses and hiring is really not one of their priorities right now.

In my opinion they shouldn’t trust Domino’s Costa Rica and should get everything in writing, I foresee that the ones receiving all their money are going to be the ones that get paid up in full today; the rest will not see their full amounts. Domino’s Pizza really went far hear, the majority of businesses in Costa Rica are extremely serious and wouldn’t pull such a low blow to their employees. 

And again China comes to the rescue in the economic trouble Costa Rica gets into, apparently a total of $300 million in internal debt bonds were purchased by China as part of agreements to open diplomatic relations, after San Jose in broke 60 years of relations with Taiwan.

Don’t get me wrong, these are great news for Costa Rica, San Jose especially since most of the benefits will be going to that province. At this moment there are hundreds of Chinese workers living in San Jose temporarily to begin the construction of the Estadio Nacional in La Sabana. Also, China helped built the long boulevard that goes all the way trough San Jose downtown and will develop some sort of China town in Costa Rica near the Paseo Estudiantes, where there are already several Chinese stores and restaurants.

I actually think a China town is necessary anywhere in the world: the culture is colorful and the food is amazing, so Costa Rica is winning with that inclusion; another thing is that San Jose was becoming a dark, smelly and boring place and after all these changes take place the view of the Costa Rica capital city will improve a lot and it will no longer be the hideous place it was a few years ago. Another positive thing is that with the free trade agreement Costa Rica – China will mean that a lot of more products will be accessible to low income families and that is always a plus. 

According to the Banco Central de Costa Rica (the main banking entity in Costa Rica) the country has officially entered recession times and people should start taking stronger measures not to be affected by the financial crisis. This actually makes me proud of the country that has accepted as a citizen…while the United Estates fell hard in to recession Costa Rica financial status maintain itself floating nicely for a lot more time the financial entities in Costa Rica actually alert the citizens before hand, I wonder which is the developed country now?

Everything started actually this year when some of the biggest companies in Costa Rica started making small lay offs, some Guanacaste hotels did cut off some expenses but that was not an issue caused by the recession at all, it was just the beginning of the low season in tourism only, anyways Guanacaste beaches have always been one of the favorite tropical destinations so, I find it really hard to see them go down anytime soon.

I have actually been telling you that the real estate market in Guanacaste, well, in Costa Rica has been doing good on rentals mostly for the past few months, people are not getting home loans, and also some of them have been losing their homes, probably not as often as they are in USA but they are and investors are making money out of this everyday.

I really hope people listen to the recommendations the BCCR is giving, it would be really sad to see the beautiful people in Costa Rica struggle as much as the North Americans are right now, they had to see it coming so hopefully they will do ok.

The first major Hollywood production filmed in Costa Rica was Jurassic park many years ago, after that there were several small films that used Costa Rica beaches as filming locations, mostly action movies and low budget films. Costa Rica production in movies was low and had a very poor quality, survived mostly on sponsorships so the entire movie was a huge publicity poster for big companies.

Today the view is way different: there are actually production schools and Hollywood itself has accepted Costa Rica as a viable option to film high budgeted movies: Sylvester Stallone, the Italian Stallion himself is filming his most recent movie in a location in a beach in Costa Rica and now, another action movies legend: Steven Seagal is meeting with the president of Costa Rica and has told him that he wants to help with the filmmaking industry because of the dramatic landscapes and use them in big Hollywood films.

That is actually something great for the newcomers such as Miguel Gomez and his Cielo Rojo movie, in my opinion the best movie made so far in Costa Rica. Hernan Jimenez is releasing his own movie this year and judging from his trailer, it appears to be a very good and touching movie, Costa Rica is actually taking advantage of its resources, and Hollywood has noticed, they want a piece of the action for sure.

Guanacaste beaches and jungles are also in the spotlight for several projects, Costa Rica is beautiful, there are very well trained professionals and it is a cheaper destination that other tropical locations, If you ask me, it took them long to realize all these.

After living in Costa Rica for a while now I have noticed that ICE and the telecommunications subject always has material to talk about, to be honest I have never seen a services company so unprofessional and yes childish is the word I find to describe it: the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad is like that misbehaved child every parent fears to raise.

The good thing is that with the implementation of the TLC (free trade agreement with USA) Costa Rica will have the monopoly and “reign of fear” set up by ICE removed and citizens will now be able to chose which telecommunications services company they want to work with: Hurray Costa Rica!

So far there are a total of 6 companies looking for a spot to compete with ICE: Ticom, Amnet, ICANN, WorldCOM, InterTel Worldwide and R&H Internacional Telecom these companies sent their offers to be reviewed by SUTEL a few months ago and now all of Costa Rica is patiently waiting to see what kind of changes they are going to experience with this. The ICE spokesperson has declared that they trust de fidelity of the Costa Rica people and believe that at least 90% of the current users will stay with ICE.

To be honest, I hear Costa Rica citizens so tired of putting up with ICE’s tantrums that I wouldn’t be so optimistic with those numbers, specially when they raise rates without any type of approval from the Costa Rica government and intimidate people with black outs and what not if they don’t get what they want.

Guanacaste for example could use a better offer of telecommunication services, the one we have right now is kind of mediocre and to be honest I know companies that would benefit a lot just offering better telecommunication services in Guanacaste alone. 

Taking advantage of my weekend in San Jose, I bought tickets to enjoy a motocross show taking place on Saturday night: X-Knights. We arrive a little early and had great seats, the adrenaline was rising up and we were hoping to enjoy a very extreme show, and the heck we did.

Only a few minutes after the X-Knights show began the famous motocross driver Jeremy Lusk had a terrible accident and after flying up on his motorcycle he fell on the ground right on his head and was rushed to the hospital immediately. This was not the first time the X-Knights visited Costa Rica and although every safety measure was taken, extreme sports are called extreme for a reason.

Reading the newspapers I now find out that the motocross driver is still in the hospital, in coma and according to official statements from his publicist: -Lusk, of Temecula, is in Calderon Guardia Hospital in San Jose, in stable but critical condition with swelling of the brain. His coma was medically induced.-

It is really disturbing to see an athlete fall extreme sports in Costa Rica are very common and that is probably one of the reason the X-Knights show is so successful here, our prayers go to Lusk’s family and we hope he gets better in no time. Back in Guanacaste my kids are still talking about the accident, we did stay for the whole show; yet seeing such a moment live has them a bit altered.

Regarding my housing development project, business went great and all I have to do for now is wait and try to remove Lusk’ image falling from my head.

It has been the two worst days of the year weather wise, I am in San José right now running some errands and the temperature is so cold I regret leaving the other jacket back home. As I explained yesterday Costa Rica is right now going through a very cold stage and although in Guanacaste all we felt was a chilly breeze other provinces of Costa Rica are really having a rough time.

In Alajuela, Costa Rica just suffered a terrible earthquake and all the refugees that are living tents are having a terrible time due to the strong cold winds. A lot of help is needed there.  As per the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, weather has brought strong rains and so far there is known that some towns are flooded.

San Jose and some downtown areas are experiencing temperatures below 15 degrees and strong winds. Some friends I have in San José were telling me that last night winds were so strong they thought their rooftops were going to fly off; so far there hasn’t been any news about such situations anywhere in Costa Rica.

I have to spend the weekend in San Jose; Costa Rica is such a lovely place but definitely has the weirdest weather I have seen in my life. I am off to buy a warmer coat and run my errands, I am meeting with the real estate finance people today to continue the process for my housing project in Guanacaste, have a lovely weekend everyone.

Yep…bad weather hits Costa Rica once again and in February nonetheless. It is not raining or anything but very strong winds and cold temperatures are striking most Costa Rica areas since Tuesday. People in Costa Rica were forced to take out their winter clothes once again due to extreme cold winds.

Here in Guanacaste weather has been a bit chilly but we are still experiencing nice sunny days, which are great for all the tourists visiting, it makes it less warm and easier to enjoy all the fun activities in the area, however the people from Alajuela living in the refuges after the earthquake Costa Rica experienced a few weeks ago are not having such good luck since the strong winds have been dismantling their tends and their children are getting sick because of the low temperatures.

Apparently this bad weather will stop this weekend, but so far, all I can say is that if you are going to be in San Jose during the next three days, remember to bring a warm jacket and do not try to walk around just wearing sandals. Costa Rica is definitely a paradise like location but since it is located in the middle of the tropics, Costa Rica is bound to experience sudden temperature changes all the time.

As for and my family, we are getting ready to go have a nice lunch in on of the nearby Guanacaste beaches and run some errands.

Major international pizza franchise Domino’s Pizza has pulled a very low blow to its employees in Costa Rica and the Work Ministry as well leaving 135 employees out of work without previous notice and under very false excuses.

It all began last Friday during closing time, all employees with keys to all 9 Domino’s Pizza restaurants in Costa Rica were asked to leave the keys to all facilities with the excuse that personnel from the Health Ministry will be arriving early in the morning to run some check ups due to costumer complains. The employees came back to their work places on Saturday morning to find the restaurants dismantled and no one to give them any reason why. All the 135 Domino’s Pizza employees were out of work, without any excuse whatsoever.

Early Monday morning they were supposed to meet with Domino’s Pizza managers to see about the vacations money, aguinaldos and all the law guarantees they are supposed to receive but again no one from Domino’s Costa Rica showed up to the meeting they planned for the employees. These types of situations are not very common in Costa Rica, given the fact that the work law is quite dependable and detailed, yet it some textile companies left hundreds of employees hanging in the past decades.

As for the Domino’s Pizza ex-employees, they are now getting advice on how to sue the company and prevent them from taking any work materials such as ovens, freezers and machinery out of Costa Rica since the sale of those items might mean they will get the money they deserve. If anyone knows a way to help these Costa Rica workers please feel free to leave a comment.