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would agree completely, using a wire transfer is the simplist and safest way of transfering money. As to the expense, it typically is no more than $40 to $50 for a wire transfer fee. If that is out of your budget then I might suggest you rethink a lot of things.
There are plenty of inexpensive places in Panama, it depends on where in Panama you want to go. We go to Bocas Del Toro quite often and stay at a small place right on the water for $28 a night. Bocas is relatively inexpensive to get to also if you want to travel on a budget. We use the bus system which is very efficient. We catch a bus in Jaco which is about $2.50 each to San Jose. A 1000 colone cab to the Caribbean bus terminal. $9.50 bus ticket each to Sixiola at the Panama border. $10 cab to the water taxi. $6.00 each for the water taxi to Bocas. So we travel all the way from Jaco on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, to the islands in Panama in the Caribbean for $49. You do have a $5.00 tourist card that each of you have to purchase when entering Panama, so keep that in mind as part of the expense as well.
Glen and Christina, you say, “If we can answer questions for anyone, to help answer our titled question, please just ask.”
Ok, fair enough. My first question would be…..Have you ever been to Costa Rica? The second question, depending on the answer to the first……If you have been to Costa Rica before, how long were you here?
Now lotus, usually when someone says “I guess we can agree to disagree” on an issue, that is it. You want it both ways though. You say basically….ok, we agree to disagree on this, let’s stop here, but then you go on another rant using hypotheticals. Executions in TX have nothing to do with a particular level of crime in TX versus another state. There are more excecutions in TX because they are more willing to carry out what the justice system has delivered. Whether or not you disagree with the death penalty is another debate, it doesnt apply here. Crime stats may be similiar between TX and Ca, I don’t know because I’ve never seen those stats. If you are going to make an argument using statistics then you really should offer the proof of those statistics. Just as there are no stats to back up the previous statement that when responsible people arm themselves for protection that it causes criminals who were never armed to suddenly arm themselves. Criminals will typically take the path of least resistence. Those arming themselves are doing so because that is their method and level of violence. There is nothing to back up the statement they are arming themselves because law abiding citizens are arming themselves.
Skype will only work well if you are at a computer and have highspeed internet. The whole idea of a mobile phone……is well……it’s mobile. If you are on a short stay and must have a phone it doesn’t make sense to buy one here. It’s not like back home where you just walk into any kiosk outlet at the mall and grab a free phone for signing up and walk away talking. It is a little more of a process. I’ve never rented one, but I would think that renting would be the way to go for a short stay.
Most ex special forces guys I know, and I do know a few, don’t brag about what they have seen or done, nor do they use their experience to place themselves above someone else in an opinion, and most of all they are typically very respectful of others opinions and can have an intelligent conversation. Your arrogant display and insulting manner speaks for itself. You come on this forum and throw out what in my opinion is an ignorant statement accusing the US government of causing the nationwide blackout in order to force a yes vote on cafta. In my opinion, that is ignorant. By the way, myself and any other member on this forum is entitled to their opinion whether they have served in the armed forces or not.
perhaps you don’t want to hear about oppresive dictatorships because it then supports at least in part the policies of the country. That is getting off the subject of the OP, so leave it at that. Another discussion for another forum. the topic was crime, violence, and gun control. You want to talk about history, gun control has not curbed gun related violence. You can have all the Polyanna beliefs you want, but it doesn’t change the facts. Guns in law abiding, responsible citizens is a deterrant to crime at least against that individual. Of course you will always have the person who blames the gun owner for their neighbor getting robbed because if he didn’t have a gun the theif would have robbed him instaed of the neighbor.
Lotus if you want to have an honest discussion about the other topic, e-mail me….would love to.
Good God Almighty, how ignorant can you people be? The conspiracy theories are rediculous. Yeah, the US government caused a nation wide black out in order to force Costa Rica to pass Cafta. You know what…….truth be known, the US government could care less if Costa Rica passes Cafta or not. In the over all scope of the world, Costa Rica is a small blip on the map. Other than the natural beauty and things most of us love about Costa Rica, if it ceased to exist tomorrow, on a global scale, it really would not be matter one bit. Again, other than the natural beauty and wonders it holds it really offers nothing else to the rest of the world. Ok, bannanas and coffee, both of which if push came to shove we could do without. A lot of you people really do need a life. Find another scape goat for your misery.
Sven, the alternatives are either anarchy or communism. Both of which are abismal failures. I personally would shoot someone and ask questions later. If I killed someone that was only breaking into my house to steal my microwave that would be tragic, but I would feel totally justified and 100% of the responsibility would lie on the thief. You do not have the luxury of sitting down with the person breaking into your house to analyze his motives. If it’s my son that is trying to steal someones property I would be very saddened by his death, but it would be his responsibility and I would not hold the person shooting him responsible. Pacifism is also proven by history to be an ibismal failure. So what is the alternative? I would rather see law abiding citizens defending themselves and unfortunately killing a thief than the other way around. Owning a gun does not breed violence or inheritantly cause criminals to arm themselves. For the most part, violent criminals will arm themselves first, and not because of any other reason.
The vast majority of crime in Costa Rica would be described as non-violent. That being said, you still have the right to defend yourself and your family and protect your belongings. My experience here in the Central Pacific area is if the criminals know you are armed, they are not willing to risk their life to get your stereo and your microwave oven. To say that arming yourself only causes the criminals to arm themselves is a rediculous and unsubstantiated statement. Most crime here is local. Most people know who the criminals around a community are. The key to lessening the problem of crime is exactly what was previously said, better trained police, freeing the police to actually do their job, etc. Also their needs to be radical reforms in the judicial system that continually puts criminals back out on the streets, sometimes within 24 hours of a serious crime. In the mean time though, I have no problem with someone arming themselves to protect their property and their family, as long as they are first and foremost responsible gun owners. To accuse the original poster of acting outside the laws of Costa Rica is wrong. You admit you have no knowledge of the gun laws here, but take it upon yourself to accuse him of breaking the law. A foreigner can infact own and use a firearm here. There are certain steps you have to take, but it is not uncommon and is within the law.
Definitely good advice by David. If you want to come down and earn a living in a regular job, that is going to be tough. I’m defnitely not an expert there and consulting with an attorney is paramount. Typically though you can not work a job. There are exceptions to that, but as far as I know they are few.
I can give you a little insight about a single woman that moved here a few years ago. She was a good friend of ours, so we were able to observe fairly closely how things unfolded for her. She was in her early 40’s, but did not come down expecting to get a job. She had made enough selling her house in California that she made some investments and turned those over and was living comfortably that way. I think her biggest issue was that she was a very strong willed woman and very oppinionated. That does not go over well in a Machismo society. While Costa Rica is not as much a Machismo culture as Mexico and some other Latin American cultures, it still has many of those elements. Our friends first problems were when she was remodeling a house that she had bought. She hired her own crew and basically acted as the general contractor. That in itself is not neccessarily an issue with most Tico’s but when her personality started coming out in the way she talked to the workers, that was the problem. You typically don’t even hear one Tico yell in anger at another Tico. So when she yelled at one of her workers, the whole crew stopped and really stared her down. The worker that she yelled at immediately told her good bye and that he was no longer working for her.
I think when people are considering a move like this, more than any other time in their lives they need to be honest with themselves. It can be an incredible adjustment. Having lived here now, if our friend was planning a move now I would probably try to talk her out of it knowing her personality. She did not fit in well at all. She made a few friends, but pretty much kept to herself. After three years she has sold her house here in Costa Rica and moved back to the States.
We know another single woman living here that is very much a radical feminist and thinks she is going to teach the Tico women about their rights. Needless to say, she is not fitting in great either.
A lot of things have changed for women in Costa Rica. I believe I read where over 50% of the university population is women and it is not uncommon to see women in politics, management positions, and owners of their own businesses. That being said, it is just something to consider evaluating your own personality and expectations as a single female of what you might expect of yourself and from others if you moved here.
No, in fact our vet in the U.S. advised us against sedation saying that the drug itself might freak them out more than the travel and unusual experience. They were both obviously scared, but they traveled really well. We had no issues at all. That being said, animals have their own personality just like people, so each might act differently under the same circumstances.
We moved down with two cats. We were able to bring them both on Continental as carry on luggage. We had soft sided carriers for them. Continental only allows to animals in the cabin, so you want to book that way ahead of time if you have more than one. We heard a little girl comment when she saw our two cats with us that much have been why they couldn’t bring so and so in the cabin with them because there were already two animals.
It was $100 for each cat even though they were considered our carry on luggage. I thought that was a rip off, but Continental is recommended by a lot of people and for us it went very smoothly.
All you have to do is have a health certificate from your local vet done within 30 days of your arrival.
There is no quarentine. You simply show the health certificates at customs and you are on your way. Customs officials didn’t even look at our cat carriers. It was no problem
dawntr, To try and get this back to your original question… the main thing you have to remember is that this is a foreign country and you have to be more vigilant in being aware and understanding your surroundings. It is awesome that Scott and others have been here for several years or more and have not been a victim of any type of crime. I dare say though, that is not the norm, but that should not neccessarily be a discouragment for you. That also is not to say that Scott, Maravilla and others should not tell thier stories of a crimeless experience living or visiting Costa Rica. We need to learn from everyone’s experiences. I agree with Maravilla that integrating yourself into your community is a vital part of being and feeling more secure. However, it doesn’t matter where you live in Costa Rica, you typically will stick out as a foreigner and almost without fail, most Tico’s look at you as a rich Gringo, and that makes you a target. My wife and I are friends with all the locals around our house. We used a local Tico builder for our remodel and have Tico friends we have over to the house for dinner, drinks, etc and are invited to thier homes as well. My wife volunteers two days a week at the local elementary school here teaching art and an adult English class. That has not prevented our home from being robbed, our car being broken into, my sister-in-laws rental car stolen during the night from inside our locked gate, and the kicker, someone broke into the local school and stole 18 computers from one of the only computer learning centers on the Pacific Coast. They stole their own kids education. The police typically will say “oh it’s the gangs coming down from La Loma. If true, then it’s not the locals who we are friends with, it’s outsiders coming into town looking for a target,and that can happen anywhere. We now have security bars and alarms. We don’t have the security bars for protection at night or while we are home, but we feel much more comfortable having them when we are away for the afternoon or overnight. It simply is a fact of life here that you have to take more precautions to protect your belongings. My feeling is, the harder you can make it for a potential thief, the more likely they will go looking for an easier target. All of this may very well be a factor in determining if Costa Rica is for you. My wife and I are always honest with people in saying first “This is not for everyone”. First and foremost you have to have a somewhat of a sense of adventure to make a move such as this. Our personal feelings are that the positives far out weigh the negatives, but it doesn’t mean you should not keep the negatives in mind and do what you can to protect your self and your belongings.
Getting residency does not effect your US citizenship. Until you decide that you want to live in the country for more than a few years, there really is no reason to apply for residency. The catagory you are talking about is depositing a specified amount of monry into a 5 year account. You are required to take out each month a certain amount and convert it to colones. In the case of a family of 4, you would be required to deposit $60,000 per adult and $30,000 per child. So, $180,000 in a 5 year account and withdraw $3000 a month. Buying a car is not a quick process, so renting may be the best option if you are looking at only 5 to 6 weeks. Rentals are expensive. You will be looking at $350 to $450 per week depending on the type of vehicle. You do not need a corporation to buy a vehicle. If you are going to rent a place and stay primarily in the Grecia area it would problaby be cheaper in the long run to use taxi’s. Every minute that rental car is sitting it’s costing you money. You might try renting a car for the first week and then decide after that if you need it full time. You will have to leave the country every 90 days if you do not have residency. A lot of people go to Nicaragua or Panama for short 3 and 4 day trips. That is typically much cheaper than flying back to the states. In any event, if you are traveling back and forth for business or what ever you just have to keep in mind you have to leave again within 90 days of your last entry stamp into Costa Rica
Edited on Mar 26, 2007 13:25
