Our New Home (to be) in Costa Rica

We've taken the plunge and decided to buy some land in Atenas, Costa Rica.  Over then next 12-18 months we'll build a house on the property.  The land is on a mountain top that has been leveled off.  In the photo it is the plot to the left, higher than its neighbor (which also got sold this week).

Our plan is to build a one-story ranch type hows with an informal great room, a large patio (partially covered) and a master bedroom.  The plateau is very high up -- to the east you can see the Irazu volcano (thankfully extinct at this point).  To the west (which the great room will face) you can see the Pacific Ocean (about 30 miles away).  In fact, views are basically 360 degrees around.

We picked Atenas area for a couple of reasons.  First, the weather is perfect.  It's low 80s every day; low 60s every night -- all year round.  The rainy season does see afternoon thunderstorms but we can deal with that.  Atenas itself is a small town of 20,000 or so including all the surrounding area.  It has a few nice restaurants and a local farmer's market on Fridays.  It lacks some of the high end stuff we tend to enjoy (good wine, for example) but Escazu is about 30 minutes away -- and that place is almost like home.  Lots of malls, good places to eat, and even an jazz club.

We aren't planning on moving here full time -- but we do hope to spend much of each winter down here.  Of course, Paul will travel back to DC for work as needed.  And we probably will also come and escape the DC summer heat a bit too ....

Anyway, here is a video of our lot that shows the whole land.  It's taken from the southern end (the right hand end in the picture above).  Total area is about 7500 square meters.

Wish us luck on Paul & Katy's next excellent adventure ....

Market Day in Atenas

Every Friday is market day in Atenas, with our

 local farmers and produce.  Here are some photos including the fishmonger and some of the  fruits and veggies available. 

Prices are amazingly low -- on the order of $2 for bags of raspberries and less than 50 cents from avacados etc.  Tonight is corvina w/ grilled veggies.  Yum

 

A Typical Day in Paradise

We've been here in Costa Rica for 11 days now, and we are starting to settle in to a routine that will likely see us through to the end of the trip.  I thought I'd share a typical day (which we also share with two furry friends, the dog and the cat owned by the gardener, Jaime, who lives on the property -- they are frequent guests). 

We wake each morning more or less with the sunrise -- around 6 AM.  First step for the day is to start the pot of excellent Costa Rican coffee and sit in a chair overlooking the valley, reading the newspaper on our Ipad/Nexus.   After a bit of that, its time for breakfast al fresco (lots of great fruit around -- strawberries and pineapple in particular) and then a walk.

The walks are quite vigorous as we live in very hilly neighborhood that is at altitude.  Probably up and down

roughly 1000 feet each day in total.  Pretty strenuous.  Then Paul typically follows up with an exercise work out before settling in to work.

Working from Costa Rica is turning out to be pretty easy.  With Skype we can stay connected by phone or video and Paul's work usually doesn't require more than internet access.  About the only think that gets lost is his ability to be physically present for some meetings -- which is a cost but more in the nature of "out of sight; out of mind" than in actually missing any critical events.

Meanwhile Katy is spending the days reading, or learning Spanish.  She plans to do some painting too -- though she hasn't started that yet.

We break for lunch and then again for cocktails as the sun sets around 545 PM.  Dinner is either out at a local Tican restaurant or cooking in.  Fridays is market day for the farmers, so tomorrow we plan a nice meal at home with whatever we get fresh in the morning.

In the evening it gets dark -- very dark.  One of the few flaws we've found is the lack of bright lighting in Costa Rica.  So we read a bit, or watch a video on the computer and then its early to bed -- usually by 10 AM -- and start it all over the next day.

Of course, we vary the routine.  This Saturday we are going to go and look at some houses -- just on speculation -- to see what's available.  Yesterday we went down to the shopping mall in Escazu.  But by and large, its a nice, quiet existence.

NatsGnome in the Jungle and at the Beach

 NatsGnome went with us the other day to Carara National Park and Playa Hermosa.  Here he is with Mike Kunzer; living in the jungle; and enjoying a relaxing moment with Katy.

The Beauty of Costa Rica (and a bit of the Beast)

 Over the last few days, while Mike and Debbie have been here in Costa Rica with us, we've explored two of the national parks -- Poas and Carara.

Poas is a volcano park.  The volcano is "quiet" right now, but as you can see, it isn't really that quiet -- the fumarole's are letting off substantial amounts of  sulfur.  We were told that the circumference of the crater is the largest in the world and it certainly looks that way to me.  It has been a long while since we'd seen anything quite this impressive -- it lets you know the power of Mother Nature.

Then, yesterday, we drove down to Carara.  Carara means "crocodile" in Spanish, I gather.  The park is a small one -- we probably walked 5 miles in and out.  But the wild life was just stunning.  We saw macaws; toucans; lizards; blue morpho butterflies; spider monkeys and a half dozen other types of animals and insects.  We, wisely, chose to hire a guide (Armando) who was truly excellent at spotting the animals -- mostly by sound.   The photo with

the rim is one we took through his telescope.  Neat huh?

We finished the day at Playa Hermosa.  It's a beautiful beach of black volcanic sand.  But the highlight of that visit (sorry, no pictures) was the whale we saw.  Katy spotted the blowhole fountain of water and air first, but as we watched, the whale took a dive and lifted his big back fluke into the air to more or less wave goodbye.

So .... all that beauty has to have a bit of a beast in it.  We found two pieces yesterday.  The first was minor -- we had a flat tire.  All that required was a change (thank you Mike!) and then, today, a quick trip to the auto repair shop to fix the flat tire and remount it instead of the spare.  [And, I should add, the price was amazing -- $4 to fix and repair in under 10 minutes.]

The other "beast" was a bit more challenging -- while we were on the beach at Playa Hermosa our car was robbed.  Oddly, they took only some of the clothing -- which was no big deal.  But in Paul's shorts he had put the keys to the house we are renting and the "clicker" to open the gate to our little community.  So we are spending today fixing the damage -- we have the spare clicker and a new one will be coming Monday.  Meanwhile the locksmith is here pulling the locks to remake the keys.  Overall a real annoyance -- but more than that a bit of a disappointment.

Still and all, we can't complain.  The vistas at Poas and the fauna and flora a Carara were worth the trouble!  Just look at this handsome couple and the tree.

Travels with NatsGnome -- Atenas, CR

We are pleased to announce a new feature to the blog today -- "Travels with NatsGnome."  Over Christmas we got a gift -- more in the nature of a gag than a real gift, we think -- of a nice Nats Gnome.  Seemed like the perfect thing to take on vacation and post pictures of from time to time.  So herewith the first two photos of NatsGnome -- at his new home in Atenas, Costa Rica:

Meanwhile some more news from Atenas more generally.  The weather here is magical (sorry friends in the Northeast and Midwest!).   Each morning it starts out around 70 and warms to the low 80s.  It's sunny but with a nice breeze that is to die for.  In the evenings it cools, so we are down to roughly 65 or so -- just cool enough to take the sting out of the air.  This is the dry season, so we don't expect to see any real rain while we are here.

The house we are staying in is, likewise, a wonderful place.  It is actually three buildings, linked together.  First there is the master bedroom and bathroom with its own balcony.  The master bath has both a shower and a sitting tub (that we haven't tried yet) and a nice couch to lounge on.

The middle building -- accessed by a covered walk way -- is

the main house -- a large great room with dining area and kitchen and sitting area to hang out in.

But the star of the main area is the wrap around porch.  One side, facing south, looks out over the protected nature preserve valley [that's it behind NatsGnome].  The other side, facing west, has a small pool in it and, best of all, a hammock covered by a shade vine -- perfect for lounging.  There is also an outdoor dining table where Paul is working each day and where Katy and Paul are dining in the evening.

Finally, add a small guest cottage with a bedroom and an outdoor shower.  A bit small but comfy -- and who wants to stay indoors anyway.

We'll have more later on life in Costa Rica.  For now we are living the Pura Vida.

Sunset on Atenas

It was a great day.  Now the sun sets and we have wine in hand. Life is good.

Atenas Day one

My morning view