Continuous Improvement

It's been 4 months since I have updated this blog. We were back in the States - 7 of them to be exact - to attend weddings, visit family, and plant a pumpkin patch.

Costa Rica is as green as I remember. The 5 banana plants that went in the yard before we left are already approaching 12 feet high. Three of the papaya trees I planted are each about 3 feet high. A fourth papaya is growing in the planter in front of the house - it already has the beginnings of 4 papayas fruits on it - and I don't even remember planting that one!

Our new "project" on this trip has been a kitchen update and remodel. And, of course, if you remodel one room it ends up affecting several others as well. So, the living room is now larger thanks to repositioning of the entertainment center/bookcase, which opened up the wall between the living room and kitchen. The kitchen has a new, sleeker sink and new shelves. Plus the refrigerator and stovetop cabinet have been repositioned. We're not quite done - still need to tile the work counter, finish the tile behind the sink and replace the old storage shelves with the larger ones we varnished today. It's so open and roomy - I love it! One of the photos shows the "old" version with concrete sink. The other photo shows an in-progress shot of the "new" kitchen. I hope you can tell the difference.

Back to everyday living

The number of "gringos" seem to be growing in these parts and they are all more than willing to share tips, tricks and "insider information" on the art - and ease - of "everyday living" here.

Thanks to information we have garnered from several friends, we now have a local bank account which allows us to pay our bills online from anywhere there is internet access. And, speaking of the internet, we have discovered, finally, how to use dial-up internet from our home telephone with no additional "service provider." We have also gotten a local post office box to make it easier for family and friends to send us things from the US (hint, hint). We've just gotten connected to the municipal water system (we also did this in Arizona right before we left and the comparison between the cost and the process is VERY interesting). And lastly, we have shipped a car from the US to Costa Rica.

Following are details, links and "how tos" for accomplishing these tasks. We are not quite done with "shipping the car" so that story will come soon - I am hoping later this week!

Water from God vs. water from the Municipality

Since we have lived here our water has come from a spring about 1/4 mile up the mountain across the street from us. A garden hose crosses the creek on the side of our house then connects via pvc pipes. The water is clear, delicious and free. However, various components of this system sometimes fail during heavy rain storms. Leaving us with rain water capture and muddy repair work. This past week we added another water source to our home - municipal water. It took me 2 trips to BriBri (like a "county" seat about 15 minutes by bus) to find out what paperwork I needed to sign up for the water then another full day in Limon (like a "state capital" about a 1-1/2 hours by bus) to get everything signed off, copied and executed.

Two working days later the crew was in front of our house, a new meter was installed and the water was flowing.
Total cost including installation and deposit (not pipes on our side of the property) - less than $60.00 USD.

We decided to also connect to the water company in Tonto Basin before we left Arizona. It's a private water company but it's the only other option we had to our well which has been less than reliable in the last couple of years. Someone came out within a few days and deemed our property "acceptable" to recieve their water. It then took several weeks for a crew to come out and install a meter and connect to their line. We were then required to install a specific back-flow preventer on our side of the property line and of course install pipes to connect to the house. A few more days and they were back to inspect that everything was kosher. Finally, just a couple of days before we left Arizona, we finally had free-flowing water, dependable water.
Total cost including installation (with backflow preventer) and deposit (not pipes on our side of property line) - about $725.00 USD.

That makes it about $665 less to install water in Costa Rica than in Arizona. A good example of the types of things that cost so much less in here.

Gearing up to head back to AZ

Hard to believe that it is already time for us to return to Arizona. We've got a Sedona wedding to attend in October followed by the traditional family holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. So here we go again, "rainy season proofing" the house in Costa Rica. Of course, the native trees and plants will take care of themselves, but we've got several varieties of hot peppers as well as tomatoes, arugala, tarragon and some assorted medicinal herbs growing in planters that we need to supply water to. So, here you see Gordie, using his Costa Rica adaptation of a "ladder" to install a rain catchment/plant irrigation system for the planters. We've tested it and it looks like we should come back to some fresh veggies after all.

Not to be neglected are the plants we have in window boxes. We've got them all grouped and positioned in an open spot in the yard so I am also hoping they will be ready to hang back up when we return.

Next we will get to see what effect the long Arizona summer has had on our fruit trees and miscellaneous plants up there. Always something to look forward to.

Payback

This past month has gone by very, very quickly. As a matter of fact, the past 3 months have flown by. I am waiting for a bus to take me to Panama to meet my 90-day visa requirement. Even with the recent changes to the immigration laws in Costa Rica, it is still necessary for North Americans to leave every 90 days. 90 days. I can’t believe I have been down here that long already.

While we were in the States a “beach” friend of ours from Puerto Viejo, made sure all of our utility bills were paid and paid on time, while another , a “jungle” friend from Carbon Uno aka Hone Creek, kept an eye on our house in the jungle. So, when we came back down it was “payback” time. The beach friend went to the States for 6 weeks to visit family and the jungle friend became ill and left for a month as well. As luck would have it, these times overlapped so Gordie spent his time at the beach watching a house with 2 dogs and I spent my time in the jungle watching 5 dogs. We'd meet during the day and enjoy a swim and sometimes lunch, then back to our respective "jobs." Both friends are back now so it's back to “normal” in our lives as well. So, you can expect to see more stories in the days to come. It is so nice to have friends you can count on. We consider ourselves blessed.

Discovering Hone Creek

I remember when we started to look at properties on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. most of the properties near the beach, were out of our price range. The ones that seemed most affordable seemed to be located in a place called Hone Creek. Trouble was, we couldn't even find Hone Creek on the map! Sometimes we would find a place called Hotel Creek, sometimes a Home Creek, but very rarely Hone Creek. So here it is, 3 years later, and Hone Creek is turning into one of the "hottest" areas in this part of the Caribbean. The epi-center, if you will, is at a "Y" in the highway. One fork leads to the north to Limon and San Jose, the other fork leads to BriBri and Panama, and the last one leads to the beaches of Puerto Viejo and the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge. Buses are frequent in all directions along this route and taxis are becoming plentiful as well. This strategic location has made Hone Creek the perfect spot for the area hospital/clinic, large grade school, 2 large grocery stores, and a modern, well-supplied hardware & building supply store. This was all here when we left in October. Now, 6 months later, there is a multi-bay service station (see ohoto), an internet cafe (that's Gordie sitting outside using their WiFi), there is a bakery, a new soccer field with adjacent restaurant, a clothing boutique, and a delivery Ital-Tico pizza place. There is now also municipal water available to the homes along Carbon Road (our road). So, although we will probably keep our water connection to the mountain spring, we plan to hook up to the municipal water as well so there will always be a water source. Now that's what I call progress.

On my way to San Jose

On Monday I had planned to leave for San Jose to meet Gordie's arriving flight from the US. I was able to purchase a ticket for the 11 AM direct bus in Puerto Viejo a few days in advance - quite a bargain at less than $10 for a 4-1/2 hour ride. Shutters closed, bag packed and off I went to walk down to the bus stop. I really love the walk down our road. It's peaceful, lush green, birds and animals chirping and whistling along the way. Great way to start another pleasant day. About half way down the road I came upon a neighbor and her daughter. We continued walking as we exchanged "bueana dias" and "como estas." As I turned to face forward I realized I was on a collison course with a young boy on a bicycle. Before I knew it I was flying over the top of his bike and heading straight for the road below. My face hit the dirt and the blood started rushing down. I will leave the gory details to your imagination to focus instead of the outcome. The mom called her brother, a taxi driver, who was there in nothing flat. They took me down to the clinic where I was rushed right in to the doctor. No one asked my name. No one asked about my insurance. The only question I was asked was about existing conditions that might affect my treatment. The nurse came and cleaned my would. The doctor, who spoke perfect English, came in and stitched me up. After I was patched up I was sent out to fill out paperwork. I showed them my passport and asked if I couldn't come back on Wednesday as I was trying to catch the bus to San Jose. No problem. My new taxi driver friend had waited for me and drove me to Puerto Viejo - for free - so I would catch the bus on time. Believe it or not, this whole ordeal, from accident to delivery at the bus stop took only 45 minutes. I made it to San Jose on time. Gordie arrived, 2 hours, using a cane. What a great couple we make!

By the way, I did go back on Wednesday to finish the paperwork and get my perscriptions. The total bill was about $60 usd, which included the emergency room, doctor, 7 stitches, 2 perscriptions (an antibiotic and a pain pill) and the follow up visit for removing the stitches. At least accidents are affordable here.

Looking for a house in the jungle?

As many (make that all) of our friends in Arizona know, we decided to sell our "little house in the jungle" and move to the very far end of Costa Rica. We bought a lot in Manzanillo which is literally where the road ends. It's a very small town. Close to the beach but still in the jungle (there were monkeys in the trees over our heads when we looked at the property). It's about the same distance from the "major" resort town of Puerto Viejo as we are now just in the opposite direction. And far fewer buses to get there but we'll deal with that when the time comes. We'll be starting from scratch - assuming all of the paperwork goes through - this is sometimes a challenge down here. I will keep everyone posted - until then we will continue to enjoy our great neighbors, quiet surroundings and continuing adventures here outside of Hone Creek. Wish us luck!!! Oh, we're asking $45,000 for the house, furnished, in case you're looking for a relaxing place to vacation or retire to.

New neighbors

The neighborhood has grown since we were last here. Construction is underway on a gas station on the highway. This will save us from driving 45 minutes to get gas and 45 back as we now have to do. There is also a Palí market on the highway where the old Hone Creek Super market used to be. Palí is a national food store and is 51% owned by Walmart. The locally-owned Hone Creek market has built and opened a new store on the same road a short way down from its original location. There is also a new clothing store next to the market. Any day now I expect to see Hone Creek listed on maps. Not too much has changed along the 2-1/2 mile un-named road we take to get home. The jungle is greener than ever (Gordie has already spent many hours cutting down plants so we could find our burn barrel and front porch). All of the cats have left and most of the bats left once they realized we were back. There are still 3 dogs hanging around, Brownie, Tiger and the mom, Stripe. Sadly, my favorite dog, Spot, passed away a short time before we came back. Life can be difficult for animals in the jungle. We were happy to see we have new next door neighbors – a Tico-family that formally lived 3 houses down. Geese, chickens, puppies and kids are all part of the entourage they brought with them. They will make great neighbors and we are looking forward to the next 3 months down here (even though it has rained since we arrived – another day, another story).

Heading back to Hone Creek

We landed at the airport in San Jose on Sunday night only an hour or so past our expected arrival. Not bad. In addition to 4 bags of luggage plus carry-ons we brought two friends back. The rental car man was waiting for us and gave us directions on how to get from the airport to Highway 32 which heads out toward Limón and Puerto Viejo – our destination. But, we didn’t like his route and decided to rely on instincts and past experience. On our new route we found a beautiful park, a striking church and a working girls’ neighborhood. But, our best “find” was the taxi driver at a gas station who let us follow him to the highway entrance. Weather was also not on our side. The low, dense clouds through the mountainous Braulio Carrillo National Park kept us at a snail’s pace. When we hit the other side of the mountain it was approaching 11 PM. We decided unanimously to spend the night in the first town we hit, Guápiles, at the Hotel Talamanca Pococí (see photo). The hotel was only $44 for a 2 room suite, which slept 6 and included a delicious “typical” breakfast of juice, eggs, rice and beans, tomato, plantain and of course coffee. Can’t beat that. As a bonus, it is adjacent to Lucky’s Casino where we stopped for a few well-deserved beers and a little extra spending money.

More home improvements

We have added window planters to each of the windows and are experimenting with which plants grow best in this environment. So far we’ve only had to move 2 to new locations. Also finished the 2 large planters in front of the house. One is filled with tomatoes (now flowering), squash and a few assorted other plants. The second will have jalapeno peppers (almost impossible to find here) and additional flowers. The other exciting “improvement” is the addition of “window pane-frames” to each of the windows. NO there is NO GLASS. You really want all the fresh, cool air you can get. And, YES, we have added some very lightweight curtains to act as bug netting when we sleep. It looks great and seems to have reduced the bat and bug population at night without eliminating the fresh air.