Costa Rica is a small country, but it has a wide variety of climates and landscapes within its borders. Want to live on the beach? How about in the mountains...or the jungle...or in a bustling market town? Get all the details in this presentation.
Costa Rica is a small country, but it has a wide variety of climates and landscapes within its borders. Want to live on the beach? How about in the mountains... or the jungle... or in a bustling market town? Get all the details in this presentation.
When we moved to Costa Rica’s Central Valley, one of the things my five-year-old son said he would miss most about the States was going out for Saturday breakfast. In particular, the whipped-cream and strawberry-smothered Belgian waffles he always ordered. (Okay, I like them, too.) But our weekly tradition lives on. Just 50 minutes on a modern highway from our home in Grecia is The Waffle Place, in the San-José suburb of Escazú.
“Fish don’t live in ugly places” is Captain Ron Saunders’ motto. And that’s certainly true of his home of seven years, Lake Arenal, in the highlands three hours west of Costa Rica’s capital, San José. The 50-year-old former custom cabinet-maker from Las Vegas is living his dream here. A lifelong fisherman, he turned his passion into a business—charter fishing—that allows him to do what he loves each and every day.
Costa Rica is well known for its beautiful beaches, lush, wildlife-filled jungles, and ideal climate, not to mention low cost of living, bargain real estate, and low-cost medical care. “There was only one problem with Costa Rica,” says California native Joe Walsh. “No pale ale.”
When driving the road that rings Lake Arenal, Costa Rica’s biggest lake, keep your eyes on the road. Driving 101, right? But it’s hard not to get distracted. Blue morpho butterflies flit across the road, troops of raccoon-like coatis scamper on the shoulder, howler monkeys lounge in the high branches, and bright tropical birds wing it from tree to tree.
A delayed flight meant we got in late to San José. Our luggage barely fit into our rental car—I could have sworn roof racks were standard on Mitsubishi Monteros. And after taking the wrong turn out of the airport, we were hopelessly lost until we spotted a taxi stand and asked the way to the town of Grecia, where our rental house is. Not a great introduction to our new life as expats in Costa Rica’s Central Valley.
The Costa Rican beach towns of Quepos and Jacó can feel a bit like Daytona Beach. Themed restaurants, multi-story condos, U.S. chain hotels and resorts…