We're Moving - Take 1

Well 5 months later and it's official! We sold the house, threw out the shit and are moving in the beginning of January to COSTA RICA!! I am going to try to document the process for us, the good and the bad and also our lives once we get there. A little background, my fiance is Costa Rican, he has a house there which I don't really love but think I can tolerate. I don't love it because it is in a residential area that is not, well, let's say it is not what I am accustomed to here so it seems kind of shabby. By tico standards, from what I saw on my brief trip, it is lowish middle class. But the house is kind of private and set back from the main road (which is sort of paved) so I think I can do ok there. We maybe looking for something else if we don't like it there, but who knows when and if we can find it. He likes flat and city, I like hilly and country. We are a match made in heaven lol.

I speak quite a bit of spanish, so I have an advantage in that I can communicate. I am the gringa-est of of the gringas and will stand out like a sore thumb so I doubt that I can just meld right in. I am very nervous about making friends and fitting in. The area we will be living in does not seem to have a large influx of Americans like the north, so I am going to have to adjust quickly and learn customs. Thank God my Mario is patient and understanding!

We are bringing a dog. My little love Diego, so there is another hurdle. Mario and his family like dogs as long as they are outside and don't come anywhere near you. Mario still wipes the seat down if Diego rides with me in the car. He is very worried that his family will never understand that Diego lives in the house and has his own bed, etc. let alone that I give him kissies. Oh and in case you were wondering he came named. It's Dora's cousin the previous owners had kids and couldn't keep the wild man anymore.

Well that's it for now. Next step is plane tickets, I am getting round trip because without a cedula I need to have a return flight when I get there. Mario is going one way. Diego, I think can be carry on luggage. We'll see......

Our Last Fun Day

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Club Fred. Fresh fruits and cereal and great coffee. We hung out for the longest time not wanting to leave and hoping to see a macaw or 2. I was talking with Ely when I heard them! I have a macaw and can recognize that scream no matter what country they are in. They flew in over the river, yelling like only macaws can and looking like they were having a blast. Mary shot a bunch of pictures,, but they look like little red dots. And then they were gone, but wow they were beautiful. To see them flying wild is something I will never forget.

We opted to drive the Costanera up to Manuel Antonio. I was nervous (of course) to go over the rickety bridges, but again Mary's sense of adventure prevailed and off we went. It turns out I was nervous for nothing. The road is being paved and for the most part is flat and easy to travel. It is only underlayment, no asphalt so it is really dusty, but way less scary than the mountain roads. We were able to go along at a decent clip until you hit construction. Which was the oddest thing, there seemed to be little rhyme or reason to where you would hit construction. We kind of thought that you would start at the both ends and pave to the middle, but it seemed that they were working closer to the middle and then sporadically out to the ends of the road. Anyway, most of the bridges are done, nice wide bridges. We only had to pass over one that looked like the ones you see on youtube.

As we went North, I liked it less and less because it looked more and more like here. There are developments with bigger homes and more traffic. Jaco had a really big multi-story hotel that loomed out of place in the Costa Rica we had come to love. Fittingly right after Jaco we got stopped by the police. There was a little guard house and the officer saw our shining white faces and blonde hair and motioned us to stop. Ugh. Stupidly, I spoke to him in spanish, in retrospect I should have played dumb and not understood what he said. Anyway he informed me that they strongly enforced the seatbelt laws in Costa Rica and we were not wearing ours. We would be issued 2 tickets at 15,000 colones each ( a little more than $26.00). I told him that I did not have colones, all I had was $20 would he take it? He was thinking for a second when helpful Mary - understanding part of the conversation - piped in with "Wait! I have colones!" lol you could see the dollar signs in his eyes. Well Mary had 20,000 colones which he accepted in addition to my $20. Of course we got no paperwork, no receipt, nothing. He invited us back to Costa Rica though!

Poorer and no wiser we sped off, seatbelts on, to Manuel Antonio. Thank God we had the belts on! As we were discussing the things we coulda, shoulda, woulda, the road ran out. Now there may have been signs, we weren't really paying attention, but all of a sudden on this wide road there were cement baracades and we were barrelling towards them at 50 miles an hour. I don't know how Mary managed to stop the car, but she put it sideways and didn't hit anything! Whew heart pounding moment!

We arrived in Manuel Antonio after that. We ate in a restaurant made out of one of the planes from the Iran Contra Affair. It was pretty cool. The bar was in the plane and you walk under the wings to get into the restaurant. The food was excellent and so was the view. We went to the national park after that. Manuel Antonio was a let down after our experiences in Hacienda Baru. As you drive around town people shout to you from every parking lot, AMIGA AMIGA park here. We finally parked right next to the entrance and the guy said it would be 2 dollars and he would watch our car and make sure nothing happened to it. Of course I was convinced we would come back to no car, especially when he told us to pay when we returned. There were tons of tour operators at the gate trying to convince you to take a tour. We opted not to. We went into the park and followed behind a tour. Everytime they stopped we could see what they were looking at so it was the poor gals tour lol.

We heard tons of howlers but didn't see any. Oh it costs $10 per person to get into the park. It is worth it because the park is really beautiful. The beaches were more crowded than Hacienda Baru (ok so we were the only ones on the beach there so 1 more person would have made it crowded lol). We walked the shorter trail and saw an iguana and this really silly racoon. Then it started to pour so we headed on out. Unfortunately we wound up on the other side of the park so we had quite the hike to get back. All was not lost though cause we bought a pipa from a local vendor on the beach and wound up in the street vendor section. I got a few dresses and shirts there for the folks back home.

On the road to the car we finally saw our monkeys! There were all these white faced cappuchins in the trees outside of the park. lol We apid and didn't see them in the park and here they were for free laughing at us. We watched them for a while, it's incredible how they go from tree to tree without falling, even the little guys!

We finally found the car and sure enough the guy had kept it safe! Somethings are so surprising lol. From there we went to look for a hotel close to the airport. I really don't recommend driving at night. I was soooo scared, the roads are curvy and dark and of course it was misting so they were wet and visibility was poor. Mary drove really slowly, but I was in tears coming down the mountain. It's not like they would see you dive off of the cliff, who knows when you would be found. But we made it. We drove all around Alajuela looking for a hotel. Boy I loved that GPS program, I am going to have to buy it before we move.

The hotels were really expensive in comparison to what we were used to paying. we finally opted for the Hotel Aeropuerto at $90 a night. Well sort of $90, see they quote the price in dollars, then they convert it to colones using a higher rate and charge that to your credit card, which then converts it back to dollars. So you wind up paying like $95 dollars. Anyway we were exhausted, there was a shower, TV!!, and internet so we coughed up the money and had a great night.

Sadly, we left for home the next day. Boy I miss Costa Rica. Can't wait to go back!

Day 5 The tour and Club Fred

Day 5:

Ok it's been a month since we were in Costa Rica and I still haven't finished the blog, sorry!

So we broke down and coughed up $20 a piece to do a tour on our last day at Hacienda Baru. Well worth it! We should have done more than one. We had two wonderful guides, Nicholas and Christian. Both were fluent in English (and really cute). We went trekking through the forest with them and they would stop, point up to nothing it seemed, set up the telescope and low and behold there was a sloth, or a toucan, or monkeys, I never did see any of it with the naked eye (except the monkeys), but it was really cool looking through the scope at them.

Christian would grab my crappy camera and take pictures through the telescope that were nicer than the ones I took straight on. That's why all the pictures you are seeing here are from Mary's collection. Anyway it was lots of fun and very informative.

After the tours we went back to the cabin to pack up and leave. We were really sad to be leaving such a wonderful place and were thinking about our poor Sammy, when poof there he was. It was like he came to say goodbye! We had never seen him during daylight hours. We figured he was afraid of the other Baru dogs and stuck to night, but he came said goodbye, got some last loving and left. Too cute!

So on the road we went, we stopped again in Dominical but not for long, and then continued on the way to Club Fred. We had wanted to get lunch, and got a taste of Costa Rican culture instead lol. It was probably 10:30, and we were trying to get this humus sandwich we had seen on our last trip in, We found the restaurant, but it was closed. I went to the tour place in the next shop and asked when they opened. The guy says 11 and comes out screaming for the café owner lol. She's not around so Mary and I decide to go shop for a bit and come back. We come back at 11:15 but still no owner. Now we were too hungry to wait, resigned ourselves to not having the hummus and went on our way.

We stopped at a beach in Bellena and it was really cool. Instead of sand there were all these rocks which made the waves reverberate. The view, like everywhere was really spectacular.

We made the climb to Club Fred, Mary got really good at 4 wheelin', and we checked in. Fred and Ely's kids were doing their homework. What an incredible way to grow up, living in paradise. We chatted with them for a while and decided to go find a waterfall to swim in. We were looking for a waterfall called Vagina since it was formed by a split in the rocks and apparently a large rock jammed its way in and it looks somewhat like a woman's private part.

We didn't find it, but we did find a place called Cascada. I was starving and they had a sign for Tilapia. So we go in, and when I say in, it's not really inside, it seems there are no real structures in Costa Rica when it comes to bars, restaurants, etc. The weather is so wonderful; it's more like a roof over a floor. This teeny woman comes out with a few dogs and says we can walk to the waterfalls but it's a little dangerous, she calls for her husband to come help us old biddies out but he is not around. We order tilapia, it's all that is on the menu, and decide to set out for the falls. Oh wait, the woman wanted to know if we preferred to catch our own dinner. There were these little ponds where the tilapia live and apparently you have the option to fish for dinner. Not being real fisherwoman, lol, we opted to let them provide the fish.

The falls were pretty, not like we had expected though, more long than high. You couldn't swim since it was rainy season and the water was running fast and deep. When we got back we had a great dinner. We were a little surprised when she served it, being the connoisseurs we are we figured tilapia = filets, not so, we had little fishy eyes staring up from the plate at us. It was really good though! Mary the vegetarian tried to get every bit of meat off of the bones (avoiding looking the poor lil fish in the eyes of course). I don't know what spices she used but it was the best fish ever! They had a little parrot named Paco who tried to eat Mary, and various dogs came in and out while we were there. The neighbor from up the road came with 2 more dogs to visit, a very colorful place. Oh yeah and there were chickens everywhere too, but they stayed out on the grass. I talked with the husband, who finally showed up and he told me he was selling off 1 acre lots and I should tell all my gringo friends. He is selling them at $100,000 a piece and doesn't know why they aren't selling. So my fellow gringos, make sure to look him up if you are in town!

We got back to Club Fred right when the rain hit. WOW what a storm!! The rain came down in buckets and there was tons of lightning! Fred and Ely decided to go out to dinner and left during the storm. Wow I couldn't do that, the road is really step to get to the hotel and it is clay and stone. To them I guess it's an everyday occurrence but I was nervous for them. Lol they are so laid back, as they are leaving they tell us there is another guest who has no key, make sure to let him in when he comes. We told him we would try to rent out the other rooms as well. So about a half hour into the storm here comes, Ed I think his name is, his son and a California surfer-dude named Rama. We chatted with Ed til he went upstairs to pass out. Rama stayed downstairs with us, he was a nice guy, and when Ely and Fred came back he made us all Rama Bamas from the fruit and liquor in the fridge. I think we drank everything poor Fred and Ely had.

Oh during the storm we were out on the porch with the lights on. Yes it attracted tons of bugs, but after the bugs come the geckos and the frogs to feast. Who needs TV? Mary got some cool shots of the frogs hanging out in Ely's flower vase on the shelf lol. I really recommend staying at Club Fred we had a blast. It was a nice homey atmosphere and views to die for. I got to talk at length with Ely about relocating to Costa Rica. She has a group of local woman who are trying to preserve the area which is really great. I will tell you about the North of Costa Rica later but it is sad. I think that the Ticos have an opportunity to make a lot of money on their properties because foreigners would like to come in and live, but they are plowing up the land to put in developments with little regard to the wildlife around them. Ely's group is working to develop in a more eco-friendly manner, and it's so cool that it is woman doing it. I wish her luck!

Day 4 - the Borucan Village

It's incredible how early we wake up here. I don't know if it's the time difference or just being glad to be here. We decided to stay here another night because we love it so much. Mary wants to go to Ojochal to see some hotels there this morning so we are off for another road trip.

The trip is incredible. The intercoastal winds along the ocean and you are up pretty high so you overlook the some beautiful scenery. We stopped at a hotel, well cabinas, there really aren't a lot of US traditional hotels here. The climb was too much for these old legs and although at one point there may have been a view it was overgrown now and you couldn't see much.

We wound up at Club Fred. What a wonderful place. The pictures of the river and ocean are taken from the patio outside our room. Fred and Elly were great, very laid back. We decided to stay there for our 5th night.

We ate at this cute little restaurant called Exotica in Ojochal. The food was great and Mary was able to have something without cauliflower and broccoli! I had ceviche and she had a dish called the seashell. It was a shell covered in mashed potatoes, containing shrimp and a creamy cheese sauce, deliciosa! We stopped in this little line of stores and found a shop where the woman made the clothes. They have these serapes made of what I think is rayon, very light and soft material. She makes dresses, shirts and pants from it. Mary and I are both large women, me being larger, but she found a shirt and it didn't quite fit right. The woman said she could alter it and also make pants to match by the next day! So Mary ordered it, I think it was less than $30 in total for the outfit and it was handmade and fitted. The woman did not speak English, she was French, and so we communicated in Spanish, what a country lol.

From there we decided to visit the Borucan reservation. In almost all the shops in Dominical and San Isidro you can find these woven purses and painted (or unpainted) masks. The Borucans make these in their village. We had been told not to go there in the rain because the road is clay and steep. It was nice so we headed off. Steep is not really sufficient of a word, maybe straight up is better? The road was clay with gullies from the previous rains and of course rocks of various sizes. It was a mountain so it was curvy and you couldn't see what was coming down at you. With that type of road who would be coming down right? Well apparently everybody! And quickly too.

But we made it up the mountain and it was well worth it. What a view!

We felt like we were on top of the world. As we were climbing the road we kept seeing a dirt road up higher and guess what - that's where we were heading! There was not much to see at the village, we met a few nice people, chatted a while and bought some masks and stuff at the same price they charged in the hotel. Then it started to thunder so I got scared and we left.

 On the way down we passed a little bull calf that had strayed outside the fence. What a cutie! We also saw cows grazing wayyyyyy up high on the mountainside. We barely made it down the mountain when it began to rain. It seems to be a nightly occurrence during the rainy season, but our days were filed with sunshine! We headed back to Hacienda Baru and started hearing a horrible noise from the car. It sounded like giant cicadas. I tried calling 4x4 Rentals but I couldn't figure out how to dial locally in Costa Rica from my cell from the states while I was in Costa Rica. To dial home I just called normally, 215-xxx-xxxx, and about 50% of the time it connected. I tried dialing internationally, locally, but nope didn't want to connect. I got messages in English and Spanish so God knows how much this is gonna cost me. We found that driving less than 30 mph eliminated the noise so we took a looonnnnggg leisurely drive back to the cabin. Boy did we piss off some Ticos! Luckily the intercoastal is pretty flat and they could pass.

When we got back, Jack nicely let us use the phone to call. Diego explained some complicated series of steps to disengage the hub (we had used 4 wheel drive in the mountains). Mary tried it and it worked, something like put it in 4 wheel drive, then reverse, then back up but not too far, then out of 4 wheel, you get the picture. I have no idea how she remembered the steps but we had to do it pretty much every time we used 4 wheel drive.

After another great dinner and our evening talk with Sammy we went to bed.

Day 3 - Hacienda Baru and Dominical

Our cabin at Hacienda Baru

We woke to the sound of birds. Everywhere and loud, wow what a greeting. There were hummingbirds coming to the flowers near the screened porch and black and RED, really red, tanagers flitting from tree to tree.

We went to breakfast at the café, no sign of Sam, we figured he's nocturnal. We had a delicious breakfast and trotted off to the butterfly garden.

Jack had told us there was a baby owl there; he had apparently fell out of his nest and wandered into the reserve. They are trying to make sure he can fend for himself so they can release him. He was perched on the ladder and we got really close to him. It was so tempting to try to touch him, but we knew it was not in his best interest.

The butterflies were gorgeous, there were signs telling you what was there and we found all of the ones they described.  After the butterflies we opted to walk the short path to the beach. The entrance to the park is included with your room too, what a bargain! We walked really slowly looking for monkeys and sloths and whatever else we could see. We saw nothing lol.

 

Oh we saw leaf cutter ants, everywhere. These ants travel far to find leaves, we still don't understand why since there are leaves everywhere, and cut the leaves into manageable pieces about twice their body size. They then cart the pieces back home so they look like a train of little leaves walking down the path. Cute.

The beach was indescribable. We were the only people on it for as far as you could see. The water was warm and shallow.

There were holes all over the beach like someone had poked it with a pole. If you waited quietly they exploded with a flush of red crabs until they saw you and then they dove back into their holes. There were iguanas running over the sand. Paradise. Mary took tons of pictures. I sat under the palms not burning and just enjoying the breeze and the atmosphere. We went in the water for a bit but some guys came by to clean the beach and told us that there was a strong undertow and to go up the beach to swim. We opted to wade and enjoy it where we were.

On the way back we came upon a couple staring into the trees. Mary whispered, "What do you see?" The woman whispered, "monkeys". Sure enough there were white faced capuchin monkeys jumping through the trees right above our heads! Mary got out her camera and focused. All of a sudden she grabs my arm and starts dancing all over. Lol she accidentally stood in the trail of the leaf cutter ants and they called out the guards! The guards are big black ants that have big pinchers and come at you on their hind legs. She whipped off her shoes and started beating them on the ground trying to rid her feet and shoes of biting ants. The monkeys scattered and the people looked really annoyed. I could feel my face flushed with embarrassment! I made a quick get away and Mary stayed behind. This is why I love her, she got the ants out, the monkeys came back, she got great pictures and made friends with the people. I need to learn not to feed into my emotions and go with the flow. I really regretted running off and missing the monkeys. At least we have the pictures.

When she finally emerged from the jungle, we went back to the room and decided to drive into Dominical. Dominical was disappointing. The beach is nice but crowded, very touristy. The hotels which were mostly hostels were not picturesque, they were run down and dank looking. We bought some towels and serapes from a charming Costa Rican couple at a roadside stand. Their son was there and spoke perfect English. He said he learned it from the kids that come to Dominical on vacation. Mary took pictures of the most incredible sunset on the beach. We ate at a little restaurant that had gotten good reviews online. It was OK but nothing to write home about. Poor Mary is vegetarian, apparently in Costa Rica that translates to broccoli and cauliflower. They had it in eggs, pasta, burritos, every way you could imagine, lol, she was so tired of it by day 3! We stopped in a little market and bought some supplies for the room (beer and chips). I spoke Spanish with the girl and they charged Mary double, speaking Spanish has its advantages.

When we got back to the cabin Sammy was waiting for us, we shared our chips and he hung for a while. Bedtime.

Day 2 - Mario's Family and Perez

Note: Due to the lack of internet and great times these entries are written after the fact.

The night was a noisy one! There were people in the park until the wee hours of the morning.

It was kind of cool sleeping with the noise of the city. I live in the burbs of Pa, so this may be a normal occurrence for a night in the city. The church bells also sounded marking every hour, lol I don't know why I thought they wouldn't go off in the night. We woke early and I went down to breakfast in the café. I thought that the coffee would be delicious since they grow it here, but it really was no better than the coffee we have at home. I am not really a coffee aficionado so maybe there was some subtle difference. The bacon was incredible though, I don't know what was different but it was really good. I also had pinto de gallo for the first time and I really liked it, though you need to like cilantro since that was a strong taste in the dish.

After breakfast we went to church, the church is the main feature in downtown San Isidro. Everything centers around it. It is a beautiful church and I liked that it was humble, not filled with gold. The area is not a rich area and it always bothers me to see poor people and rich churches. The church was beautiful but not ostentatious. The ceremony was really nice, they sang and prayed and there was a reallllllly long homily, and at the end all the children run up to the priest and he blesses them. Really sweet. We had me Mario's parents at the entrance to the church, they are really nice people and seemed to like me as well. What a relief! We also met his brother Juan for a few minutes. We packed up and followed them to their house in the Los Angeles suburb of San Isidro, about 15 minutes from the center of town.

The roads were fine getting to the house, paved and in no worse condition than here. The people drive pretty crazy, they pass whenever they fell like it, curves, mountainous roads, rain, whatever. Mary did great though and we made it to the house.

The house is beautiful, it's weird they tile the patios, outside. We had a great dinner that his sister made and we spent the afternoon talking and looking at the pictures we had put on the digital frame. I met his niece Tatiana, her husband, Walter, and their baby, Angelica. Mario's sister Surlai (I hope the spelling is right) and her husband were there too. We saw Mario's house, it needs repair but I know I can cute-ify it. The neighborhood was run down and definitely on the poorish-city side, not my kind of neighborhood, here or there. We are talking about living there for a short time and looking for a place more in the country.



After we visited for a while we left and went to visit Mario's sister-in-law, Marta. Her house was very beautiful too. Much more modern and americanized. She was justifiably proud of herself for fixing it up. We spent a short time with her and her family because it started to pour and we had to make it to Hacienda Baru that night. We had a great visit though and it was nice to hear her perspectives on living in Costa Rica since she is a successful single mom.

We then took off for a hair-raising ride through the mountains again. I don't know how Mary was able to drive with me gasping and whimpering in the passenger seat. The road to Dominical was paved and nice but really curvy and steep and the rain made visibility poor. We made it though! The GPS was a godsend! It got us right to the front desk at Hacienda Baru. Jack Ewing the owner greeted us much to our surprise. I don't know why I figured he was a man behind a desk in the back room but he definitely was not! He is a really nice man and makes Hacienda Baru a wonderful place to stay. He called for Maricio from the kitchen (he's one of the chefs) to escort us to our cabin, and they gave us umbrellas so we didn't get wet. The cabin was incredible! 2 bedrooms, mine had a double bed, Mary's had a double and a single.

There was a bench and a chair on the front screened in porch and a bathroom with a shower with hottish water.

Really clean and cheerfully painted. We had a sitting room and a kitchenette too. The price is really incredible for all you get and breakfast is included, not continental breakfast, real eggs and meat or a casado breakfast. Just wow.

We settled in, changed and went for dinner. As we were walking down the path we heard something behind us. We turned and this really scruffy little dog froze in his tracks. We walked, he walked, we turned, he froze, lol we were hooked. Mary named him Sam, and of course we brought some dinner back for him. 

We settled in, changed and went for dinner. The restaurant was cute, al fresco so you need bug spray. The food was good and reasonably priced. We ate well and were exhausted so we returned to our lovely cabin, sat outside with Sam for a while and then went to bed at around 10, not the wild woman vacation we had planned but really nice.

We made it!!

OMG we are here!!! I am writing in English and Spanish (badly) so my bf can read too, so skip down for English.

Hola mi vida te amo!! Estamos en Perez, en el Hotel Chirripo, gracias para decirme sobre este lugar. Es barato y enfrente del parque y la iglesia. Estoy nerviosa por hoy porque voy a conocer sus padres por la primera vez! Ojala les caiga bien. Yo gano porque manejemos aquí anoche sin problemas. Yo se que estuviste muy preoccupado pero hacemos bien. La gente puede entender mi español entonces no tenemos problemas hasta ahora. El carro es bastante bien, un poquito viejo y chocado pero corre y eso es que es importante. El país es increíble! Tan bonito! Me gusta muchisimo! Adiós y cuidate.

I won’t bore you with the flight details, although one is worth mentioning. As we flew into CR we passed over 2 volcanoes, wow what a beautiful sight! I am putting up pictures but they don’t do it justice. Actually none of the pictures do CR justice, what a beautiful country!

We landed in San Jose, the entry process is really easy. A travel tip, bring a pen on the plane, there are forms to fill out and Continental would not lend pens. Anyway, we breezed through customs and quickly had our luggage. We forgot to get colones (the money here) so I ran back into the airport to exchange some. Bring your passport everywhere you go! I needed it to get back in and to exchange the money. I went downstairs first and the were giving $515 per dollar, $516 if you change $130. lol big discount! Luckily I needed a passport so I couldn’t do the exchange because I ran into a guy outside who directed me to the bank upstairs that gave the current rate of $570.

Gustavo from 4 x 4 Rentals was right at the door as promised. He was really nice (and cute) and went through everything involved with the car. The car is OK, it’s a slightly beat up 4 x 4 Tracker. We went for cheap so it’s nothing to look at and runs a little rough, but it made it from San Jose to Perez with no problem. It was a little scary coming up the mountain because it wouldn’t accelerate quickly, but a lot of people had that problem.

 Our Car

The drive to Perez is breathtaking. The valleys with the clouds in them , the plants with leaves as big as a table, the lush greenery, just WOW!

We used the GPS to get out of San Jose and come here; it was a godsend. I figured we would need it to get out of the airport, but once on the Intercontinental it would be useless because you stay on the one road. Mary referred to it constantly since it showed the curves in the road and we could anticipate what was coming. The road was fine, not anything like everyone described, we thought maybe it’s been repaved? Yes you need to watch the curves and people pass you on them, but it was not bad at all.

It took about 3 hours to get here with rain, slow trucks and cow crossings included. We are at the Hotel Chirripo in the center of Perez Zeledon (San Isidro del General on all maps). The guy at the desk here is fantastic, and speaks perfect English. The room is tiny and musty, but has a balcony that overlooks the park and church. The church bells ring for every hour and people were partying in the park until the wee hours of the morning, but it is still a great place to stay. Cost: $27 for a room with 2 single beds and a private bath.

Less than a week to go! (previously posted on 6/23/2009)

Less than a week to go! Boy has the time dragged! I haven't updated 'cause there's nothing to tell yet. I will be sending the link out today or tomorrow to friends and family so they can stay "in touch" while we are away. What's new? well I bought or rather rented I guess a GPS map of Costa Rica from a company called navsat. You can get a 10 day trial and then if you decide to buy it you only have to pay the difference in price. I think this is good because when I researched the maps they started at $25.00 and went way higher. What I found was some of them are just electronic maps that can track where you are, while others are actual GPS units that can guide you to your destination. This one is the GPS kind. It should be interesting to see how this works in Costa Rica since my understanding is there are no addresses, you live like 100 meters from the church going south or some such reference. So I have no idea how we are going to use the GPS. At least it will help going from San Jose to Perez (I hope). So anyway the deal is that you pay, tell them when you are going, give the serial number to your GPS unit (which took me 3 go rounds, who knew it was the numbers on the UPC bar?) and they send you the program to install on your GPS a few days before you leave. It is good for 10 days and then deactivates. I like the idea because I get to try it while we are vacationing and if I like it I can buy it for when we move there, you have 6 months. If it sucks I am only out about half of the full price. I will post how it goes.

So I am going to try to post a picture of my future house now. It's not much, but it's paid for. It's one of the reasons I am going down early to see what it is like and see like if I have indoor plumbing and stuff. My Mario laughs at all my fears and my family eggs me on. Who knows what's in store in Costa Rica?

Well that's it for now! I am nervously awaiting Saturday morning and the beginning of the adventure!

This is Mario's house.

Can't wait to leave! (Previously Posted on 6/5/2009)

Wow my first blog, what a way to start a new adventure.

It's finally June, the month we leave for Costa Rica. I am starting this blog so that my friends and family (and anyone else that cares) can see where we wind up and the pics before we get home (providing my laptop makes the journey and we have internet access). I created a map of the trip up until we hit Uvita, that is as far as we have agreed on.

I am going to CR with my friend Mary. Her original mission was to point out all the bad things. I am thinking on moving there with my fiance in the near future and am petrified! She knows me though and is well aware that I tend to look at the world through rose-colored glasses prior to making a decision and then see things in a harsher light once the decision is irreversable. Neither is actually reality, so she was supposed to be my reality check. I say supposed to be because I think she is more excited about Costa Rica than I am!

Anyway, our plans are to rent a car in San Jose (we have a reservation with Rent a 4x4 in Costa Rica). They are supposed to pick us up at the airport. Mary is then going to drive us over the Cerro de la Muerte, ignoring my screaming in terror in the passenger seat, and into Perez (or San Isidro del General). We then are going to find a hotel and spend the night.

In the morning we are going to church in the center of town with my fiance's parents. Yeah I know it may be struck by lightning since I can't remember when I was in church last, but good impressions are everything and Mary wants to go.

We are then going to visit with his family at his parents' house and I will check out the house he owns where we will live when we move there. It's rented now and in need of a good paint job (at least).

After that fun-filled day we are heading off to Hacienda Baru for 2 nights and from there we dont know.

Well that's the plan - cya later!!