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Fabric softner sheets, they are here but they are super expensive, cornmeal, grits, file, poultry seasoning, sage, corriander seeds, crisco, Hershy Coco, marshmellow creame sauce, powdered ready whip, Old bay seasoning, Lowery season salt, BBQ spices, whole cloves(come in very small packages), pickling spice, crab broil, Zandervan sea food seasonings. Pack tons of air freshners, deoderizers for the house, liquid plumber, goo be gone, Baking Soda deoderizer for pets. Most of these things are real cheap in the US and they are expensive here.
If you use a lot of Equal, or other substitute sweetners, pack a bunch of that because they cost an arm and leg here.
Most of us load up when we visit the US. Make sure you pack you good pots and pans, stainless steel cheap ones are expensive here. Bring bath towels, kitchen towels, kitchen utensils large forks and spoons used for cooking.
Ive replaced 3 mixers and 3 toasters since living here. The electric appliances can be a problem, they get seconds. Good quality linen, bring it with you.
Example, airwick solid deoderizers cost almost $4.00 here but in the US you can get them for about $1.00 or less just according to where you purchase them. I am sure others can add to this list.
Oh, yes ladies bring a man with you if you can. Costa Rican men dont know anything about equality. They think it is a mans world, believe me.
For those of us that have gray hair bring shampo for gray hair. It is almost impossible to find here. Good quality dyes are here but they are expensive. So load up that container. When you pay customs they barely look at those things. Their interest is primarily in electronics.
Some people would tell you that air fresheners do nothing except damage the environment and your health.
We have brought many types of food products for friends over the years. As long as it is not fresh fruit or fresh meat, I don’t think they care. We travel with a lot of our own “special” items. We have not had a problem. (yet).
We’ve brought in cocoa and chocolate and butterscotch chips with no problems, and friends have brought Miracle Whip, cold cereal, dog treats, and lots of other foodstuffs. In fairness, however, I must add that our baggage has never been searched at this end.
I have moved baby formulae by the case as well as Jiffy Cornbread mix by the case across the border and I have never had a problem.
The X-Ray machine busted a lady last week. They picked a banana in her luggage and pulled her aside and confiscated the contraband.
Buenos Suerta
Bill MaesI just brought stuff in that was in plastic (granola bars, fruit snacks, nut mix etc.) for my son and we did get searched at the airport. No problem with what I brought. I think they are really looking for fresh fruit as I saw someone with apples get them taken away. I got my son’s apple juice taken in the states on our way to CR (my stupid mistake) and in Costa Rica on the way back (my intentional mistake).
Koty
Every year I return home and every year I get on the air plane with boxes of everything that is possible to carry. The will allow anything to come threw but cow (smile)and some people have managed to bring that. I am a suspicous person and they always check me. It never fails, we bring everything, just everything. If you like chocolate, bring it with you, if you like cake mix bring those 75 cent boxes of cake mix with you.
They do not have cake flour, Calumate Baking Powder is expensive here. Borax for ants, pack it. I dont even know what they call it here. You know the 20 mule teem stuff. Jerky, if you like jerky, bring some, sausage such as smoked polish or other seasons sausages, you can bring it, cheeses, bring them. Cajun seasoning that I need, bring that. You can bring it and it is worth paying extra weight, you will still save money. Bring some good corn seeds, collard green seeds, swiss chard. The las trip I purchased grass seed, I needed grass that grows in the shade. If you use support hose, bring them, if you use blood pressure machines and all that stuff, bring them because they are expensive here.
I have got to go to bed, it is late and I am sleepy. Just bring everything, if you bring meat pack it in hot ice. Many people do that and they never bother them.
Poultry seasoning, this time of year.
Why would you bring a banana to Costa Rica. No fruit, most countries will not tolerated you bringing fruit in.
Boy i’m glad 80% of my diet is vegetarian and the other 20% is fish, because I am in “hog” heaven in Costa Rica!!!Lol. By the way Jenny I saw your B&B on line and it looks fantastic. I can see your business model is to make Americans, Canadiens etc…feel at home and have the things they are use to.
Does anyone have the link to Jenny’s B&B?
Thanks,
Tom in Portland, Oregon
cancertomnpdx@comcast.netAir fresheners are petrochemicals and contribute to allergies in some people. Same with fabric softener sheets. Better to use dryer balls. They actually work better. I read a report recently that indicated that some of these chemicals are actually carcinogens. Crisco is a hydrogenated transfat, and interferes with the bodies ability to produce certain enzymes and contributes to heart disease and high cholesterol. Be that as it may, when I come down to CR, I always pack things such as organic quinoa, germinated short-grain brown rice, organic green and white tea, good bed linens, towels, down comforters, kitchen utensils, and whatever else I can cram into my 100 pound limit.
Dryer balls work better than fabric softeners, most of which contain harmful chemicals that are suspected carcinogens. The dryer balls fluff your clothes, cut down on drying time thus saving energy, and do not coat your items with oily chemicals. You can get them on e-bay for about $5.00 a piece with free shipping in the States. Two are recommended for maximum benefit.
I wish that we could have a section dedicated on what to bring to Costa Rica for the big move. I have learned a lot from this forum among others. We are already putting together a list of things that we will need to bring. For the most part it will be kitchen stuff and linens. We do LOVE to cook! Jenny, we also love to do a lot of spicy food and Cajun cooking, so we get a lot of our spices from a store that originally opened in Wisconsin. We have lived in Florida for 12 years and they are not down here, so when we make a trip back up north we either stock up or order online. They have everything! A lot of gourmet blends. We rarely use salt in cooking! They even have seasonings for making your own sausage! After trying to buy Italian sausage when we were in Costa Rica in Oct. for a dish we were making, I know we will be making our own when we make the move. So if any of you use the mail forwarding service their website is http://www.penzeys.com
Big ice chests(coolers) I have also heard are expensive. I do have a question on peanut oil. Do you know if they sell it in Costa Rica, in the BIG 3-4 gallon size? Did not have a need for it when we were there in Oct., but thinking of bringing our turkey fryer, for deep fried turkey, among other things it can be used for. Well, I just got hungry so time to go LOL!
Thanks again for all the info!
Debbie
p.s Scott, Anyway that you put something dedicated on this website, on what to bring? I promise you will be invited for some of that deep fried turkey!
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