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Marvella, we did all the things you suggested. One of the buyers even went to their main office in Florida before investing. As I said before, while it is only on the internet and I suppose that could be faked somehow, we have been down here twice. YOu are right, no buildings anywhere. But, huge pipes being laid all over the place, 2 lakes now present which weren’t there before, and curbs and paved road being prepared. Yes, this could turn out to be another Paragon but we have seen with our own eyes the changes taking place. Speedy they are not and I have been concerned at times at the slowness of the building. However, the infrastructure can’t be fixed once the roads are paved over. I am not encouraging buying there, I am just saying we are seeing what is going on and progress is being made. http://www.haciendamatapalo.com. can be seen along with 22 videos. I can attest to the truth of those videos as we have been our there several times on just this visit. My husband came last year and the differences between then and now are evident. But again, I would do all the due diligence as you suggested before investing in anything.
We bought at Matapalo about 2 years ago. We are down here now watching the construction. They have the infrastructure in and are in the process of building the first house which will be an example of the Bali house. It is taking a long time to put in the roads but I would suggest you go to http://www.maapalo.com which has something like 22 videos showing everything.
We have been here since June 15. We initially rented a large van to get the dog, his carrier and all the luggage where we were going. After that, we just got a Toyota Yaris, a small sedan that has been perfectly acceptable. We are driving all over CR but not into the forest so we haven’t needed a 4wd. Also, insurance will kill you-rental cheap, insurance-awful.
By the way, I should have included this, the above info comes directly from the Embassy of the US, San Jose, CR. Good luck.
1. you will need a certificate of good health from your vet in CR and an authorization issued by the Cost Rican Ministry of Agriculture. (SENASA) Departamento de Cuarentena Animal)
2. Normally, your CR veterinarian can take care of all the required authorizations. If he/she does not, you will also need to visit the Ministry of Agriculture directly to obtain the authorization. The Ministry (Senasa-Cuarentena Animal) is
located in Barrial de Heredia, Jardines del Recuerdo, 2 Km West 400 meters South, Heredia. Phone 2260-8300 EXT 2024 or 2093 or 2260-9046
3. You will need to take with you to the Ministry the following stamps, which can be purchased at most book/stationary stores: one “fiscal” stamp of colonies 25.00 and one “archivo stamp of colones 5.00.
4. To pay the required fee, you must deposit colonial 4,717 (please confirm the correct amount with SENSA before depositing since amounts change frequently. A list of banks follows this info. If you will let me know where you bank, I will send you the info regarding that particular one. It takes approximately l to 2 working days for the Ministry of Agriculture to issue your authorization. This should be done within 30 days of your trip to the US. More info, contact Costa Rica Aphis Office. tel 506-2290-4548, fax (506)2296-3556.I figured this question was going to ruffle feathers and I can see it has. If you have really done right by your son, I don’t see why you should have to pay away any chance at retirement. My husband, who is a lawyer here in the States says your best bet is to go back to court, even though it is expensive, because the judge just may decrease or end your support. Nobody can expect to be supported forever, especially if one is able bodied and can do something.
Here’s hoping you and yours are OK. We are in Alabama and went to Tuscaloosa last week to visit friends, drove around the damaged areas-looked like a nuclear weapon had been deployed. Stay safe.
There is no PHYSICAL difference. The cargo hold, checked baggage are the same exact place. Temperature must be the key since Delta doubles the price between May 15 and Sept 15. Those are the months where the price doubles because it must be cargo if it is not in the plane with you. The flip side of the coin is that if you fly the other months and avoid the double fees, your ticket costs more because it is the high season for CR. I have contacted the broker and he has responded so am going to pay all the fees regardless. But, I have learned a lot and will not fly him again until we actually ship some of our stuff for the move down. We will be part time people as we are going to maintain a condo here in B’ham as well. We read Scott’s book about buying CR real estate but we really have no idea if we made a good decision or not. For sure the dollar is on the wane and we felt it wise to get some of our retirement money out of the US which we did thru our 401K. If the pensions and SS dry up we are in big trouble. We have left savings in the 401K but the money could turn out to be worthless. I just have to hope that doesn’t happen. I hate digging in the dirt and so have no desire to grown my own food or anything else. That’s why we bought a 3rd floor condo-we love looking at the beautiful trees and flowers but don’t want to have to grown them. Life is just uncertain no matter where you life or what you do.
Many thanks for all the replies. We chose Delta because they have a direct flight from Atlanta and it is only about 3 and a half hrs. I am concerned we may be turned away the day we are to fly out because the temp has been in the 90’s here in Birmingham and we are about like Atlanta. We at first consulted Continental but they had no direct flight. They did give us the name of a broker whom we have tried to contact in CR. He answers the phone but when I speak in English he hangs up. There was no other name offered. We have no problem with all the vet issues, shots, etc. Our vet is familiar. I just don’t know what to do about the broker issue. The Costa Rican Consulate in ATlanta said we didn’t need a broker if we were bringing in a family pet. Continental said we did. Delta says we don’t. Can anybody offer the name and phone number of a broker who speaks English? There are always lots of different rules when it comes to CR no matter what. And, they are never the same it seems.
They probably wouldn’t. We are on the same flight as our pet. I talked with Delta last night and they say the reason all the extra fees are attatched is because he is flying cargo and not checked baggage. He can’t fly checked baggage because from May thru September 15 they only allow larger dogs into cargo. CR will probably charge all sorts of extra fees and we will just pay them. What kind of problems can we expect when we book for the return trip? If we had booked after Sept 15 he could have flown checked baggage. Thank you for your help.
It probably would be cheaper. We had no idea this would be such a problem. However, we may go to Atlanta where the CR consulate is to ask for a letter saying our dog came cargo because there was no choice and that the fees don’t apply. Do you think they would honor that? I looked up the word “broker” and it is somebody who is between two parties who want to conduct business. Makes no sense to me at all. However, I have come to understand that this sort of thing is common in CR and one must have patience. I have a lot but I am really worried about this. Many thanks for your help. The vet is OK.
We are in Birmingham, Alabama but have elected to fly from Atlanta because Delta has a thru flight so it only takes about 3 and a half hrs. (give or take) We have no broker. The Costa Rican Embassy in Atlanta told my husband we needed no broker because our dog is the family pet. We are not breeders or sellers of animals. Believe me, if I had know then what I know now I would have arranged our 3 months in CR for the times when he could fly excess baggage. We were left with no choice because our flights were booked. The cost for the dog (l way) was $840.00. Absolutely shocking. God only knows how we will book him out of CR when we are ready to leave. The will not let you book a pet round trip. A pet service was $2300.00. I may end up wishing I had paid it. We spent some time before in CR and left the dog-I spent most of my time worrying about him and it is just not worth it no matter how much they cost, I think. I am not rich by any means but we just couldn’t leave him again. We also have 2 cats but we are leaving them with our daughter so no worries. Our vet is knowledgable and we hope up to date. I tried to call the consulate in Atlanta again today but they close at 1pm. But, to some degree I know the officials at the airport are uncaring and you really have no recourse no matter what THEIR consulate says. I am really worried to death about this but I feel helpless. Have tried to get in touch with the broker whose name I was given but never answer.
Thank all of you for your replies. According to the US regulations (for Costa Rica) you don’t need a broker if you are bringing in a family pet. We have no broker. He has to fly cargo because June, July, August and September it is too hot for them to fly as checked baggage. We have our vet, who is knowledgable but my nightmare is the refusal to give me my dog. We are flying into San Jose due to distance to where we are going. It is my understanding the CR’s don’t care what the regs say, they can do as they please. We are flyiing Delta (which was more expensive than Continental) because they have a direct flight from ATlanta which keeps him confined much less. He is 65lbs and sweet. I guess we will just pay thru the nose at the airport because I feel sure they don’t want to keep the dog. This broker stuff is just BS=money. If it was a cooler month he could fly checked baggage. This is what I have learned so far.
