Clearing the Way

The last few days have been spent clearing the other lot next to the house. When we got the lot it was full of Cacao trees that had seen their better days and provided a resort for the local mosquito population which allowed them much free time to feast on the local human population, us!  The other reason for this clearing was to create space for plants we want to grow such as fruit trees and flowering plants to attract the birds and other fauna.

  

This is what the lot looked like before, very over grown with Cacao that really did not produce  anything worth while.

Here is the work in progress, if you notice I am not the one doing this work, Pedro, who does our garden is along with his helper.

So after a couple of days of hard work, the cacao are gone and now we can start to plant the plants we want.

Here is our first lot resident, she is taking a nap after eating leaves all night.

This will be our first real bunch of bananas in about a couple of more days, I hope Clive and Lori like bananas!

Side Trip

Well we had our first official visitors from back home since we have moved down, not counting last August.  Bill and Betty came down from Spokane and they were glad they did.  The weather has been perfecto and yesterday was amazing,  about 83 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  We took a side trip to Cahuita  National Park just a few Km’s down the road.

Here is the arrival of our guests as they drove all the way from San Jose by themselves.  Way to go!!! 

Here is a shot of the park where we stopped to look at the sights.

These guys where hanging out high above us.

There seemed to be a lot of resting going on with the animals that day since it was nice and warm.

Here is a picture of the trail.

Here is the end of the trail.

We ended up in Manzanillo to has have lunch and passed this house along the way.

It’s Official

Mother Nature gave us the sign yesterday that the dry season is finally here.  How do we know that, you might ask?  Well in a tree behind our house we saw two iguana mating and they only mate at the beginning of the dry season.

I do believe it is true since it really has not rained hard like it was in December and most of January.  So thank you Mother Nature for providing us with this sign.  Hopefully many more sunny days to follow.

Building In Costa Rica

This has to be one of the most fun things you can do in life.  First off if you ask a contractor to build something, he builds it.  You don’t know how much it will cost but none the less it is built.

I wanted a car port built to keep the rain off the car, since we live in a rain forest it rains quiet a bit at times.  The other times the sun is burning it up and when you get inside your glasses fog up from the heat.

So anyway I asked the contractor who built this house how much it would cost to build this 10 foot by 15 foot car port.  Next thing I know is the wood is being delivered and it is about $650.  Ok so I pay that and the next thing I know is I owe $240 for the roofing material.  So after about a month see the contractor and he says do you want to start tomorrow?  I said sure.

The next day we sent the post for the structure.  Mind you this wood is all hard wood from the rain forest, like steel.  Then the next day we start putting it all together.

The interesting thing is that you still need to provide all of the hardware to put this together, nails, screws, concert, etc.  Also you need to provide equipment for the job too.  Ladders, hammers, etc.  It really is different than building in the states where the contractor provides everything.

So when all is said and done, I get this hand built car port built from hard woods to protect my car from the rain and the sun for a little over $1500. I don't think I could have the same thing built in the USA for the same amount considering the wood. That would have to be imported.

The other cool thing I didn't tell you is I get to buy everything to correct any mistakes or errors, how cool is that???? But I am lovin it!

Finally In The System

Just to let you know we were notified the other day that Immigration has received all of our paperwork for our application for residency.   It took a little over two months from the time we handed our lawyer our documents for them to get them submitted to Immigration.   A little longer that I expected but none the less it is done and now all we have to do is wait about a year or so to hear if we can be residences.  The really good news is that we don’t have to keep leaving the country every 90 days to renew our visa, even though we are still considered tourist.  Should additional information be required we need to be in country.

With that step out of the way we can breath a bit easier for a while at least. 

Getting your Driver’s Licenses

As part of the process of becoming a resident you need to get your driver’s license in order to drive legally since after a while your visa stamp will expire and you will no longer be valid using your US licenses.  We wanted to use the services of ARCR to help us out but could not get a time when they could get us in during the times we were in San Jose.  After reading many other blogs I had an idea of how the system worked but had no first hand knowledge.

We decided to bit the bullet and do it on our own since our visa’s will expire next month.  Since we do not plan on leaving the country for a while (hopefully if we get our papers submitted to Immigration) we had to take action.

So this is how we did it. 

We booked a room close to COSEVI in an area we knew was safe and got up early that morning and took a taxi to COSEVI.

Room with a view

Upon arrival we went straight to the Medical Exam place and had our blood type taken and did the medical exam (lots of questions, quick eye chart and blood pressure).  That cost us about $40/each.  Next we took our medical paperwork over to the famous line up area but shot to the front of the line and waited with other foreigners in a separate line by the front door.  We got there about 8AM and waited until about 820AM when they started looking at our documents.  We had everything (medical, blood type, picture page of passport and visa stamp page) except a photo copy of our US driver’s licenses (both sides).  So I had to go back out down to the medical place again (where they also will make photo copies for you) and got copies made for 400 colonies.  Once I returned we were told to take a seat in the back row of chairs and wait to be “called upstairs”.

Stairway to heaven

After a about an hour waiting we got the “call”.  Once up stairs we presented out documents to the lady at the desk that hand wrote everything down in a spiral notebook (no joke).   When I was done I had to go see this other guy who then entered you into “the system”  You are assigned a number.  After answering many instant messages, you are finally handed a piece of white paper with this number at the top and allows you to go to BN and pay your 4000 colonies for your license.  With your yellow receipt in hand you go back to the office (passing the long line of people now waiting to renew theirs) show them the receipt and wait on the chairs up front to be called in and have your picture taken.  Once your picture is taken in a few more minutes you are handed a brand new CR Licencia de Conducir.

Final Product

So here is the break down:;
Cost of room - $100
Cost of Medical - $80
Cost of Taxi - $10
Cost of License – “Priceless”

Rainy Season

I just took a look at the national weather here and it seems like the rainy season isn’t quite over as of yet, except for the far northern part of the pacific.  All those who have come hoping for a sunny and warm Christmas might be a little disappointed this year.  Forecast calls for more clouds and rain tomorrow too.  Since we do live in a rain forest you kind of have to expect that at some point in time.

With the rains comes the wind; which happens to whip the waves up a bit, making it not so nice for swimming. Surfing is good and you really don’t mind the rain since you are wet anyway.  Umbrellas and rain jackets are the main wardrobe garb during these days.  Since most people who come here don’t have a car, walking or taxi are the only options for most getting around town.  Standing in line at the ATM machine this time of year can be trying to some also since the line can extend down the road a ways.  That’s why I get up early in the morning and not  have to wait, usually everyone is still in bed sleeping off the night before.

PV is like the tide, when it goes out it is calm and quiet, but when the tide comes in it is a whole different story.  People cram the little main street making it almost impossible to drive any where.  The good news is that they paved all of the back streets in town so you can go around main street without loosing your teeth bouncing up and down and by pass the crowds.

Well it is the season to be jolly and so I’ll end on a jolly note,  NO SNOW!!!!! in the forecast.  Pura Vida, gota love it.