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[quote=”CritterHill”]Dan, yes I would like to be Facebook friends and keep up with your adventures. Facebook name?
Dori[/quote]
Dan Coble…..let me know if you have any trouble finding me!
[quote=”vmc”]Hi Dori and everyone….
Dori, the rookie mistake I spoke about was not having a credit card…..Made renting a car a tough proposition, but Mapache took care of us, and tho we had to tie up $900, we got it done……I returned the car yesterday.
Which brings me to the NEXT subject…..We have MOVED. We found that while we LOVED being at the beach, the conditions were just too primitive for us, the inability to escape the heat was a big one. The house, while beautiful by Tico standards had NO WINDOWS…just large openings with a heavy mesh that stopped any air-flow, so the heat was miserable, especially at night. And the places where the mesh was torn made way to a constant flow of BUGS, we had to hide everything in the fridge, that is, until the fridge died on us….we lost a bunch of food and had no way to keep ANYTHING cold.
So what did we do about it? Well, we got lucky there and now we have MOVED. We found a really nice house above Puriscal for less money and one with REAL windows and stuff….no need for A/C, because it just doesn’t get that dang hot….LOL
NEXT came BN (Banco Nacional) and their money-keeping ATM…we lost $500 to it the other day that we just couldn’t afford to lose. Not to worry, others have had this same problem, it seems the ATM’s run out of money and the system isn’t sophisticated enough to NOT deduct from your account if you don’t get money..LOL? Tomorrow (Monday) we’re taking an interpreter and going to the bank and make them review their security tapes and review the ATM accounting…..we’ll probably get our money back tomorrow…..we hope.
It’s a beautiful place with the most incredible views you can imagine. We have a pool and jacuzzi and NOW we have found our home.
I wish I could post pictures here, but if you want, you can find me on Facebook and see what we have been up to so far.
Chapter ONE is still being written….more to follow.
Let me know if you want to find us on Facebook and I will be glad to help and accept any friend requests!
Pura Vida![/quote]
Seems like “Chapter ONE” is over, after roughly 2 weeks on the beach. No more heat, no more bugs, no more LOLA’S! I’ll say this for you – you’re a fast mover, literally!
Did you actually move to the house at Playa Negra without ever seeing it? Or spending time on the beach? Or experiencing the heat – or bugs?
I know it is a slightly different climate there than we have here in Samara, and we are back a few hundred meters and up 150 meters so the breeze (more) and bugs (less) are different, but still, if you are going to live “on or at the beach” in the tropics, you have to expect and accept the heat, humidity, etc. of being close to the ocean.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the cooler weather in the mountains as well, as long as those mountains are in the tropics![quote=”costaricabill”][quote=”vmc”]Hi Dori and everyone….
Dori, the rookie mistake I spoke about was not having a credit card…..Made renting a car a tough proposition, but Mapache took care of us, and tho we had to tie up $900, we got it done……I returned the car yesterday.
Which brings me to the NEXT subject…..We have MOVED. We found that while we LOVED being at the beach, the conditions were just too primitive for us, the inability to escape the heat was a big one. The house, while beautiful by Tico standards had NO WINDOWS…just large openings with a heavy mesh that stopped any air-flow, so the heat was miserable, especially at night. And the places where the mesh was torn made way to a constant flow of BUGS, we had to hide everything in the fridge, that is, until the fridge died on us….we lost a bunch of food and had no way to keep ANYTHING cold.
So what did we do about it? Well, we got lucky there and now we have MOVED. We found a really nice house above Puriscal for less money and one with REAL windows and stuff….no need for A/C, because it just doesn’t get that dang hot….LOL
NEXT came BN (Banco Nacional) and their money-keeping ATM…we lost $500 to it the other day that we just couldn’t afford to lose. Not to worry, others have had this same problem, it seems the ATM’s run out of money and the system isn’t sophisticated enough to NOT deduct from your account if you don’t get money..LOL? Tomorrow (Monday) we’re taking an interpreter and going to the bank and make them review their security tapes and review the ATM accounting…..we’ll probably get our money back tomorrow…..we hope.
It’s a beautiful place with the most incredible views you can imagine. We have a pool and jacuzzi and NOW we have found our home.
I wish I could post pictures here, but if you want, you can find me on Facebook and see what we have been up to so far.
Chapter ONE is still being written….more to follow.
Let me know if you want to find us on Facebook and I will be glad to help and accept any friend requests!
Pura Vida![/quote]
Seems like “Chapter ONE” is over, after roughly 2 weeks on the beach. No more heat, no more bugs, no more LOLA’S! I’ll say this for you – you’re a fast mover, literally!
Did you actually move to the house at Playa Negra without ever seeing it? Or spending time on the beach? Or experiencing the heat – or bugs?
I know it is a slightly different climate there than we have here in Samara, and we are back a few hundred meters and up 150 meters so the breeze (more) and bugs (less) are different, but still, if you are going to live “on or at the beach” in the tropics, you have to expect and accept the heat, humidity, etc. of being close to the ocean.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the cooler weather in the mountains as well, as long as those mountains are in the tropics![/quote]I agree with you, and honestly, we moved in sight un-seen…..the house would have been PERFECT if only we had the option of A/C, but there was none…..I think that killed it for us as much as anything, PLUS the schools didn’t want to take non Spanish speaking students, so we HAD to make a move….Lesson learned, and we’re happy, I just hate moving out without having a tenant to move in so there wasn’t a gap.
We can check that off our list, and TRUST me, we miss the beach and the friends we made there, but it’s not such a big Country…we’ll see them again.
😀
Your beach house not having had air conditioning may have been a blessing in disguise. Friends have just moved to Atenas from Jaco where they suffered through the heat eighteen hours a day. From midnight to 6:00am they did run the air conditioning. Their monthly bill was around $700US. (That’s not a typo.)
Unless you’re among the uberrich, it seems like living in Costa Rica’s hot coastal climates gives you the option to air condition or eat but not both.
Here is a news flash–the beach is hot (anywhere in Costa Rica)! Living near Playa Conchal, the most oppressive months are March and April. I love May as the rainy season kicks in. The beach is not for everyone. It was not for my parents, who decided to settle in the Central Valley. You are either a beach person or you are not. I lived in Tampa before here, so Guanacaste seems much better to me in terms of the humidity factor and overall temp. It also takes time to get acclimated. If you have a well built home or condo here, there is absolutely NO need to run the A/C 24/7. I run it at night only (and not all year long). Otherwise fans and keeping the windows open keeps it cool enough to be comfortable. Puriscal is a beautiful area and I wish you the best of luck!! For those thinking of moving here–come visit FIRST, then decide if it’s for you.
The optimum temperature range for human comfort does not exceed 85 degrees. This is not the beach. The beach is a great place to visit, briefly, but I would not want to live there.
[quote=”sprite”]The optimum temperature range for human comfort does not exceed 85 degrees. This is not the beach. The beach is a great place to visit, briefly, but I would not want to live there.[/quote]
That being the case, tHen there is a substantial portion of the world’s population living above “the optimum temperature range”. As mediatica says, “the beach is not for everyone” but there are a whole lot of us that enjoy living at the beach, even with the heat and humidity. It all depends on who you are, where you came from and what you are used to. Being from Houston and living 23 years in Tampa, I don’t find 85 degrees uncomfortable at all
So tell me Spite, what is the “optimum range” on the lower end? And exactly how do you determine the optimum range for the rest of us?
I have lived in Miami for the last 30 years. The firs 5 years were enjoyable as a novelty. But the oppressive heat became a negative. Initially, I intended to settle on the CR pacific coast until I visited there and realized that the cooler mountains were more comfortable. I am 62 now and I crave comfort over the adventure of living with humodity, heat and lots of bugs.
[quote=”sprite”]I have lived in Miami for the last 30 years. The firs 5 years were enjoyable as a novelty. But the oppressive heat became a negative. Initially, I intended to settle on the CR pacific coast until I visited there and realized that the cooler mountains were more comfortable. I am 62 now and I crave comfort over the adventure of living with humodity, heat and lots of bugs.[/quote]
So please tell us – where do you live now…… in the mountains, near the coast, in CR, in USA …. all we know for sure is that it is NOT a gated neighborhood!
And, by the way – even though we are at the beach in the oppressive heat, bugs and humidity – you are a welcome guest at any time! The beer is cold and I have 6 A/C units with almost 20 tons that will keep you at a comfy level of 85 degrees or less! I am sure we could have some wonderful late night conversations as we watch FOX News in A/C comfort!
We use the A/c units very rarely, but the reason we have so many is because it “zones” the house and guest house – – – and (unfortunately) because the CR mechanical engineers used the wrong input for their calculations, using 4″ exterior block rather than 8″ exterior block.
Unfortunately I did not discover that until well after the installation started, but fortunately we have not experienced any electric bills that we consider “excessive” recognizing the number of guests. family and friends, etc! Most of them are from Texas or Florida and enjoy our cool nights and pleasant breeze …… by the way, my patio thermometer is currently reading 76 degrees!
And by the way, in the main house we have 4 Carrier central units – and 2 of them have less than 10 hours on them after 3 and a half years! The other 2 have less than a 100 hours, even with the 6 grand kids visiting twice a year!
So, from an A/C standpoint, and a gated house standpoint I am ready for the criticism – – but that is the how it happened. We are inside a community of 8 lots and we have no control over what and how the other 7 “partners” decide to do. They have been partners for over 30 years, so I have very little influence with them having only purchased out property 9 years ago!
THE LAST WORD – we are here, we love it and wouldn’t change a thing, especially our weather!
I think it’s great that some people thrive in hot, humid climates. I am not one of them and I suspect most people are not.
What I think happens is that many gringos come down to CR and set up living at sea level because they haven’t yet thawed out from northern cold. It may take a few months or even years but I’ll bet many of them eventually realize they really do not like the intense heat and humidity at 10 degrees latitude at sea level.
This is not difficult to understand. A comfortable temperature would not exceed 90 degrees. Besides having access to the sea for immersion, what advantages pertain to living there?
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