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Living in Costa Rica - A First Week of Adventures and Shopping by William Clanton
I am experiencing Costa Rica from the
ground-up - literally. Due to my semi-remote location and the
fact that I don't yet have a car means I am putting my soles to
the ground and hoofing it up and down a mountainside in search
of daily necessities. During my first week, all of my time from
waking to sleeping was spent taking care of little things to
make a new house and location feel like home.
We are living in Las Nubes de (the clouds of ) Coronado, Costa
Rica. To get to our location; start in the Central Valley of San
Jose, go Northwest up into the mountains past Guadalupe, through
Moravia, then through Coronado and finally up to San Rafael /
Las Nubes. For better reference, an online map is available
here: Las Nubes de Coronado, Costa Rica, C.A..
We're up here in the mountains where the weather is constantly
Spring-like, the hummingbirds attend daily to the flowering
trees, Junior picks from the trees nectarines and bananas and
from the bushes red and green peppers. 500 meters below us is a
working dairy farm complete with ox-pulled carts for moving
around feed grasses and while we walk by both milk cows and
chickens graze road-side. The nights are chilly, but we have a
great big fireplace that keeps us warm and cozy ... we just need
to find a source for more firewood (one of the many, many things
on my very, very long to-do list)
The bus from Coronado runs approximately every half-hour and the
last stop is 400 meters below our home. Junior and I have been
taking the bus down and back from Coronado daily at a cost of
310 colones ($00.62) each way for the both of us. In Coronado we
always spend time at an Internet cafe, eat a meal and do some
shopping for household items such as food and cleaning supplies.
Then it's back to the bus terminal to catch our bus for the ride
up. The final 400 meter hike up to the house with our back-packs
and bags of purchases can leave you winded.
One of our more memorable trips to Coronado involved my
perception that all ATM's are created equal. In the states I
never worried about how little money was in my pocket due to the
vast number and reliability of ATM machines. In Coronado there
are only two ATMs that I know of: one at Banco de Costa Rica (BCR)
and the other at Banco Nacional (BN). Without paying too much
attention I spent my way down to about 100 colones and when I
went to the ATMs for more money, I was denied access to funds by
both. Junior and I looked up at the mountain top, knowing that
somewhere close to the top was our house ... so away we went -
walking approximately 7 kilometers up & up & up & up .... and
up! About an hour and a half later we were home and sore - but
at the same time, it was kind of fun. After all, many travel
from around the world to hike the mountains of Costa Rica and we
had the high-class problem of needing to complete a hike just
for the sake of getting home!
Friday, February 29th we did get a chance to see a bit more of
the area thanks to John's friend Arne. This morning Junior and I
took a taxi to San Antonio de Coronado (an area below Coronado)
to meet with Arne for a little shopping. The closer you get to
the capital city of San Jose, the more shopping variety you have
to choose from. In our travels we went to stores in the barrios
of San Pedro, Guadalupe and Moravia.
In Costa Rica there is a variety of store (tienda) choices
ranging from tiny home-front stores (literally) to the huge
discount and club warehouse stores (similar to a Sam's or
Costco).
* Home-front stores often labeled as a "pulperia" or "abastecedor"
are usually located in the front section of a structure or
building that is otherwise a residence. A simple sign out front
or just a sign painted on the building denotes this type of
tienda where you can get a quick snack fix such as a bag of
Funions and a Coke.
* Grocery Stores can also be small proprietor shops up to larger
stores often referred to as "Mini" or "Mega-Supers". A grocery
chain consisting of mid-sized stores in many areas of Costa Rica
is called "Pali" (owned by Wal-mart, pronounced: pa-LI). Pali is
similar to U.S. based Aldi Food Stores in that they provide
basic staples such as milk, beans, rice, snacks, cleaning
supplies, etc. - complete with a bag-it-yourself service.
Grocery chains that more resemble standard U.S. grocery stores
are MasXMenos (another Wal-mart owned chain), Mini Mega Super,
Mega Super and others. In these stores you will find most
everything needed to stock your home - even Jif crunchy peanut
butter!
* Specialty Stores can again be small proprietor shops or chain
stores that sell a certain type of merchandise such as clothes,
furniture, electronics, pet supplies, etc., etc.
- I purchased a computer APC Back-UPS surge protector/battery
back-up (model # BE350R) for $40.80 from a computer/electronics
chain called Group3C (Grupo3C) that has stores in Costa Rica,
Nicaragua and El Salvador. The name of the Costa Rica store is
called COC.CO (I think :o) located in San Pedro.
- After shopping several discount stores (see below) I ended-up
finding a better deal on a microwave oven at a specialty store
called El Verdugo in Moravia. My purchase was a Haier 1,000 watt
stainless steel microwave (model # MWM10100SS) for $101.80
* Discount or Club Stores offer the shopping experience of a
Sam's Club or Costco. Hiper Mas (a wholly owned Wal-mart
subsidiary - seeing a trend?!) and Price Smart are two of these
types of stores ... but anywhere, shop these stores against each
other and specialty stores for price and product. Just like a
casino offering free drinks and comps, the way these
one-stop-shop stores do business is to lure you in for many
discounted products while charging allot more for other items.
In other words, if you're not careful - net gain goes to the
house.
- Price Smart club store example prices (Moravia store,
02/29/08):
+ Philips 50" Plasma - $2,600.00
+ Frigidaire Washing Machine (model FWS9333FS) - $475.00
+ comforter set (Queen comforter, bed skirt, 3 small decorative
pillows, 2 pillow cases - no sheets) - $70.00
+ blanket (a soft queen sized) - $38.00
+ sharp cheddar cheese - $13.00 / 2lb package
+ bed pillow (standard) - $10.60
+ couch pillow (small soft square) - $14.00
+ pistachios - $9.20 / 2lb package
+ hot dogs (large pack) - $8.00 / 37 hot dogs
+ trail mix - $7.40 / 2lb package
+ Land-O-Frost Honey Ham luncheon meat - $5.20 / 1lb package
+ Land-O-Frost Turkey Breast luncheon meat - $5.40 / 1lb package
As demonstrated, prices for certain items in Costa Rica may be
higher than in the U.S., Canada, Europe, etc. - but labor and
services are usually much cheaper in Costa Rica than elsewhere.
Foreign residents, retirees, etc. end up buying the expensive
washing machine and lawn equipment then pay domestic employees
to run them (ie: hire a maid/cook/gardener ... even on a modest
or retirement income).
* Private Bilingual Primary (grade) School - $200.00 / month
(with many included extras; soccer team, gymnastics, dance,
cheer leading squad, math club, etc.)
* Gym Membership - $13.00 / month (complete with Aerobics, Step
Training, Spinning, Tae-bo & antique weights and equipment)
* Hair Cut - $3.00 men & $4.00 women
* Meal for 2 - $10.00 including a cup of coffee or soda each
Due to the higher costs for many 'one-time purchase' items, many
foreign residents that live, have second or vacation homes or
just spend a considerable amount of time in Costa Rica choose to
make selective purchases of electronics, appliances and other
items elsewhere in the world and bring or have them shipped to
Costa Rica as a cost savings measure ... but be careful!
The single best way to bring anything into the country is to
personally carry it in your luggage when you travel. However,
Costa Rica has figured this out too. After arriving in Costa
Rica, your bags will be x-rayed for un-declared items (yes, I
said after arriving - as in, after you have retrieved your
luggage and before you leave the airport!) So use your best
judgment in filling out those customs declarations. You are
allowed a certain dollar amount of new items per every so many
months as well used personal items without any customs fees.
Knowing this, if you are bringing any new item into Costa Rica
and you don't plan on declaring it as new and taxable, it is
best to remove the new item from its original packaging prior to
placing it in your luggage.
As for shipping items into Costa Rica, it may actually cost more
to import an item based on purchase price + shipping cost + duty
fees, etc ... than it is to purchase the item in country. Do
your homework and believe half of what you hear from others as
to how much money they saved in Importing an item - after all,
many people can't admit they messed-up or they subconsciously
forget part of their expenses when calculating their total cost
'savings'.
After many years of traveling to and from Costa Rica, Bill and
his nine year old son (a Costarricense native) made the decision
to move permanently to the wonderful country of Costa Rica.
THE LOCATION IS AWESOME BECAUSE...
Surrounding Bella Tierra Development Where Land is for Sale, you will
quickly realize how amazing the natural beauty and how diverse recreational
activities are! For instance, Samara Beach offers perfect surfing
conditions, romantic nightlife, sports fishing, diving, reef snorkeling,
swimming, wind surfing, horseback riding, golfing, as well as awesome
restaurants. So, come and enjoy Costa Rica's irresistible white sand beaches
lined with beautiful tropical coconut trees, and consider building a home in
Samara, Costa Rica. If you are interested, please contact Coldwell Banker
Samara and ask for Angelina (contact information is listed in the footer of
each Webpage).
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ENLARGE MAP:
Bella Tierra Map
Samara, Costa Rica
Lots for Sale
Costa Rica's Monarch Butterfly
Costa Rica's Red Eyed Frog
Monteverde's Hummingbird
Blue Jean Dart Frog with Tadpole
Costa Rica has the most exotic wildlife.
They have such a large variety of breathtaking species!
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