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I agree with Kshaler about Don Lula’s and the Nuayaca Falls horsback ride (for a day trip type thing). That was a Total Blast. I also love to hike a lot and enjoy hirning a local guide to take me into the forest for a day or 2 (without a group of people). I did that in Gandoca Manzanillio and am planning to do that in Corcovado next year(probably spend 3 or 4 days hiking in the park).
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]There’s a small industry in Costa Rica reselling used American clothing. I suspect that people in the U.S. go into Goodwill or Salvation Army stores and buy up everything that’s worth selling and export it to Costa Rica for resale. “.[/quote]
Why bother wasting money by buying at Goodwill and Salvation Army??? Just drive around to garage sales…and there’s TON’s of them these days…and you could probably buy a nice piece of clothing for 0.50 cents what Goodwill Or S.A. would charge lot of $$$ for.
[/quote]Yes, I have researched all of the residency and labor laws. The labor laws look like they were written by a union boss. [b]Maybe I’ll meet a sweet Tico woman [/b][u][/u]and get married. That would make residency easier.[/quote]
I’d be careful about that….I’ve read a number of horror stories about Foreigners that have married “Ticas” only to get totally ripped off and mired in legal problems. Not to say that’s the “norm” but just “proceed with caution” and Good Luck:lol::lol:
[quote=”gzeniou”]
Perhaps Americans will now get a wake up call with off shore drilling, perhaps they will completely stop it, or maybe they will stop using as much oil, or go with alternative green energy.
[/quote]I’m not going to “hold my breath” for Americans to get a “wake up call”. We got a BIG “wake up call” just recently when crude oil prices ran up to $150+ and retail gas prices at some locations exceeded $4.00. Sure enough…everyone complained and moaned and then the markets turned south…the recession hit…crude prices fell way down and gas prices came down and Americans quickly forgot about the energy problem. So today…when I drive around I STILL see gas guzzling SUV’s..Trucks…Hummers ALL OVER THE PLACE. Funny thing is…I’ll see these huge TANK of a truck..a Surburban i.e. that probably gets 8 miles to the gallon and it will have an Obama or Gore bumper sticker on it…which just cracks me up. We don’t need to all by Pruis’s or Hybrids but given what happened not to long ago with oil prices and all the inefficient gas guzzling vehicles people still drive it’s apparent to me that Americans STILL aren’t willing to give up their BIG vehicles for something more efficient and economical. So yeah..Blame BP and the oil companies but…they wouldn’t be there if the DEMAND by consumers wasn’t there.
[quote=”redfish1223″]It is wonderful to live next to the Rainforest and enjoy the beauty and unexpected things that the happen here[/quote]
I just feel sorry for all the critters, wildlife etc. that’s being incinerated by this “beauty”.
Sounds like you have never even been to Costa Rica. Have you ever lived or visited for that matter a Third World country? If not than I would strongly encourage you to research such a move much further. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and can be extremely affordable but the lifestyle is very….very…different than what many people who have never been here think. As far as $1700 a month…that’s not really a whole lot…doable though but make a few trips and do some homework on what kind of lifestyle $1700 gets you.
If bugs are bothersome why did you move to Costa Rica? Seems kind of odd given that Costa Rica is famous for BUGS…BUGS…and MORE BUGS.
I have driven from San Jose to Puerto Viejo several times and when I drive through Limon to get there I accelerate on the gas pedal to stay clear from Limon as quickly as possible. Secondly, your initial post appears to suggest that there might be a chronic disease issue requiring some level of proximity to quality medical care. If that’s the case Limon is a long drive to San Jose in an emergency and I doubt Limon has the type of facilities that I would trust in the event of emergency. If you haven’t visited Costa Rica or Limon for that matter then it is imperative that you do so before making what could be a very poor choice.
[quote=”redelvis”]I’ll throw in my .02 just for the heck of it since I am into green/sustainable home building which often includes the words ‘modular’ and ‘prefab’ in its vocabulary.
Today in the US and Europe there is a growing industry of green and sustainable building. A lot of the front runners over the last 10 years or so have been builders and architects who are into the modernist movement with many of the homes being prefab, modular and/or made from ISBU’s (shipping containers) in addition to the typical built onsite homes.
These are not the prefab homes of old to be sure and are actually built VERY well. In fact they are built so well that many of them are being featured in countless architecture magazines with many awards to show for it. They incorporate renewable and sustainable materials and are by far WAY more energy and water efficient than their built on site counterparts. This is the new buzz in architecture and we will see much more of this as the economy rebounds with “green” being the new thing.
Unfortunately, with that being said these homes are generally NOT cheaper to build then their stick and brick built onsite counterparts. You will end up paying more upfront for the modular/prefab (or the green houses built onsite for that matter) then you will for a typical built less efficient house. This will change over time as more materials, systems and trades with green building experience come online but for now is an unfortunate reality as these are not homes where corners are being cut. Of course, over time you will save money in saved energy expenses and there is always the fact you are not harming the environment nearly as much as building the conventional house.
Here is the thing though as far as Costa Rica. I have been looking for years for people in CR who are doing this and who are doing this [i]right[/i]. To date I have mostly found only greenwashing. I see all the buzz words (prefab, eco, green, modular, sustainable et al.) but when the rubber hits the road it’s mostly fiction and marketing hype more than reality. That’s not to say they don’t exist in one-off cases but at the price point and level we are talking about… not so much. (There are some but they are very much luxury homes built by CR’s premier architects and as such are very expensive.)
My point is that the words ‘prefab’ and ‘modular’ today (as found in the US/EU anyway) typically have a different meaning than what we saw in the ‘military housing’ days so these words in themselves should no longer in [i]all circumstances[/i] convey a cheap or cheesy slap together product.
In CR though, I’m not so sure you can expect the same level of building or perfection with these types of products. Hopefully this will change… :?[/quote]
That’s all fine and Dandy for those that appreciate that kind of stuff. It just seems way out of character for the CR landscape. Sounds great for the US and Europe and Japan but I just can’t envision “Modular” amidst the CR Rainforests.
“[b]I don’t know if you have actually been to CR[/b][i][/i]”
I have been to CR 8 times in the past 6 years.
“[b]Pre Fab in CR is about having the basic concrete walls pre fabricated, to save time, energy and some money[/b][i][/i].”
This is what I’m talking about….When I think of saving time energy and [b]MONEY[/b]…to me the result of that usually means shoddy conxtruction…cutting corners and crappy construction. I realize that’s not ALWAYS the case but seems to me ;ike that IS the case most of the time. In any event…to each his own…
[i]Maybe I’m wrong about this but why in the WORLD would you want to buy a “Pre Fab” home in Costa Rica? When I think of “Pre Fab” I just think of the GARBAGE that is built pretty much all over the U.S. I sure hope the Costa Rica landscape never gets to the point where it begins to resemble the military barrack type looks of many of these “Pre Fab” homes that are just thrown together and put up here in the U.S. That would ruin the charm and character of a very nice country.[/i]
What’a amazing to me is that there are still people that fall for this kind of stuff and how few people spend the time and effort to take their time and do all their due diligence.
Those “tea parties” and “town hall screamers” is called Democracy. Absolutely no different then when the other side demonstrates against war or similar. We’re fortunate to be able to engage in that type of protest. Hate to think what the consequences would be if you tried that in Venezuela or Cuba.
