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I stick out like a sore thumb wherever I go in CR anyway, so I might as well be comfortable in shorts. Your best bet is to get those pants with zippers on the legs that convert to shorts. The temperature changes are extreme as you go up and down in altitude, and you never know when you’ll need them (I know people who have altimeters in their cars – sometimes more useful than compasses). Also, if you go some place where shorts are not allowed, like the Courthouse, you won’t be turned away.
Carpenters routinely work with inches & feet in Costa Rica. Pretty much everything else I know about is officially metric if they can get away with it. “Varas” is definitely not an official term. I didn’t know manzanas were derived from varas. Just one more measurement scale born from floating roots I guess, like poverty & literacy rates, crime indexes, and the concept of time in Tiquicia.
Thanks for the post Rahul. I don’t care what they say about you! But tell me Doc, how many square varas is an average stomach after ingesting 6 fingers of guaro Casique (Black label, I’m high class…)?
There’s pretty much only one road, and anyone will be happy to tell you how to get there along the way, including in Limón. Giving directions is one of their national pastimes. While I don’t generally recommend traveling anywhere in CR at night unless you know the road well (as you know, it’s enough of a challenge driving in CR during the day), sounds like you’ve already done it and survived.
5-6 hours would probably get you there from San José, 6-7 if you’re a slower driver. Leave yourself another 1-2 hours to rent the car and get out of San Jose, more if you’re coming from Alajuela (Airport). Make sure you take the “Pista de Guápiles”, as going through Cartago would be a much longer drive.
The sun sets around 6:00 p.m. in the winter, and 6:10 p.m. in the summer. It’s only 10 degrees North of the equator, but that didn’t stop them from instituting daylight savings time for a short while many years ago…don’t ask me why.
That article is about the “Caja”, or the national health care system for people who want free service. Private health care is a different story, and remains “quite good and accessible”.
In La Caja system, (if you’re in it) you get there at 4 am and stand in line for 2-3 hours. When you get to the head of the line they give you a number, then you wait another few hours. Then you see a general doctor who will spend 30 seconds with you, give you some free medicine which may or may not help, and refer you to a specialist if needed for an appointment 6 months later. All free, if you have many hours to kill, and waiting won’t kill you.
Or you can go to a private clinic, pay $15 and see a doctor or specialist that’s just as good as any doctor in the US or Europe, who will give you personalized and professional attention. The meds will costs another $5 (the $ amounts are estimates, but you get the picture – it’s cheap).
If you’re older and or have serious/chronic health issues, you may want to look into an international health insurance policy that’ll get you back stateside (or EU side, whatever the case) for really specialized care. The docs in CR are as good as anywhere, but they lack the tools and technologies available in Gringoland.
I was going to say Punta Uva – more quiet for you and your 4 year old, until you said “funky town with a Caribbean pulse”. Cahuita and Puerto Viejo fit that bill perfectly. Puerto Viejo attracts the younger party crowd more than Cahuita, and they’re both closer than Punta Uva. Leaving Alajuela, or San Jose, at 2:30 pm is too late to make it there by dark, although you should hit the coast by then. If you have reservations, driving along the coast in the dark isn’t too bad. The highway from San Jose to Guápiles can be treacherous at night, and I wouldn’t recommend it. Add a little fog (a nightly occurrence there), and you can barely see the yellow line between the road and the precipice.
Both towns have hotels with pools & that all-important a/c for us Wisconsinites. I honeymooned in Guanacaste in April 20 years ago and hugged the a/c more than my wife!
Try La Nación, the largest newspaper in CR. Look under “económicos” (classified ads). You might have to sign up for access, but it’s free.
Frankly, I’m not sure why people are so interested in Osa. To say it is HOT and HUMID is an understatement. If you visit, seal your cloths in plastic until you wear it to keep mushrooms from growing.
Of course, I’m from Wisconsin, so I turn into a puddle whenever the sun comes out…
It was expensive because I lived in a remote area, and I bought the line from a private party (it was a free market price). You can get a phone line cheaper and faster in a less remote area. The important thing is to look into the feasibility of obtaining the line prior to selecting your home. If you can get it directly from the ICE, it’s cheap.
You bring up a good point about people not caring about being prosperous. This gets into one of the root differences between Costa Ricans (and Latin America in general), and the developed world (particularly the U.S.)
Many, if not most, Costa Ricans live day-to-day. Refrigerators are still new conveniences there, and even now most families buy their food daily, usually from little “pulperias”. Gringos have double refrigerators & stand alone freezers, and buy bulk at Sam’s Club or Costco to hold out for a month before returning. Gringos are excellent wrappers, famous for saran wrap, tin foil & burping tupperware (even though the Tupperware family lives, or lived, in Aserrí). Ticos many times leave food out overnight without refrigeration, and still use wax paper (not to seal – just to keep the flies off).
This state of mind translates to their jobs – when they made enough colones for the day, they can stop working. Tomorrow, they’ll make what the need for that day.
I’m generalizing. Costa Rica and Costa Ricans are changing, but this is where they’re coming from.
Gringos are also famous for working themselves to death to get ahead. This, of course, is also a generalization – I know plenty of lazy gringos. But again, it is an important part of our cultural character. Because of our drive, greed and initiative, we often work overtime, travel more for business, and move away from extended family to pursue better jobs in other cities. As a result, we separate ourselves from our extended families, and spend less time with our spouses & children as well. This is one of the things that make us so productive economically. The price for this success is a poor family life, and no time to smell the roses, or live in the “Now” (we live in the future).
Ticos live more in the “Now”. They can’t move away, because there’s no where to move to. In older, well-established communities the entire extended family lives on the same block. This large family support system lasts a life-time. 18 year-olds are mot expected to move out. On the contrary, many Ticos live in two houses during their lives, the one where they were born, and the one they bought when they got married. They go from complete dependency on their family, to complete dependency on their spouse, with no opportunity to be on their own in between.
We gringos are expected to make it on our own. That fierce independence and “frontierism” runs through our national character. It took us 100 years to settle the US from coast to coast. The Ticos – they did it in a couple days.
Costa Rica comes from an agricultural-based economy, with a year-round cultivating season. More food will be ripe tomorrow. The US comes out of an industrial-based economy with a long winter. We need to get to work on time to be ready when the machines start up, and if we don’t store enough for the winter we’ll starve.
Then there’s the religious factor. I hope I don’t insult anyone, but here goes…
Latin America is almost totally Roman Catholic. Gringoland is more Christian. Roman Catholics are taught that their life on earth is something to suffer through, waiting for the after-life. Christians, in the spirit of Martin Luther, are taught that they don’t have to go through the church to get to God, they can do it on their own. They are more in control of their own destiny. Many think that this splinter in the church is one of the factors that led to the renaissance, the scientific method, and maybe even market economics.
There are exceptions, but just look at the economic strength of the US, the UK and Germany (Christian-based), vs France, Spain and Italy (Catholic-based).
Added to all this is the fact that is was much better to be a British colony than a Spanish colony. England invested in their colonies, while Spain just took and took.
An even more controversial, and some would even call racist, factor, is the Arabian equation. Arabs, unfortunately, are known for getting ahead by defeating their superiors (Saddam Hussein being one of the best, or worst, examples). The Moors occupied Spain for 800 years, and some say that this trait rubbed off. In Costa Rica this is called ceruchando el piso sawing the floor out from under someone. Once a Tico told me that if 10 Ticos were stuck in a can, they’d stomp on each other trying to get out. Put 10 Gringos in the can and they’d made a human pyramid to help each other get out. We see this in US politics as well. One of the reasons Hispanics have little political power here is they tend to undermine each other during the campaigns. Hispanic women, in particular must endure a backlash from their own community when they run for office, particularly their macho husnads and brothers, who try to tear them down.
In conclusion, there are many root causes of our divergent cultures. As always, one is not necessarily better than the other, just different.
Again, all generalities, but with grains of truth running through it. My intention here is not to criticize, but rather to help people understand the basic differences between our two cultures, and help them come together. In the end, it’s ying & yang. Let us celebrate our diversity. Those of us who live in both worlds can only try to take the best of each culture, and discard the worst.
By “residency” I meant that you live there, not that you have residency status. Poor choice of words. From the thread it sounds like even if you don’t actually live there, it’s possible to bend the rules to open one, although I think it is part of the national banking regulations that you do live there, as evidenced by a utility bill in your name, or other such proof.
The regs apply to both public and private banks. The national banks do have FDIC-like guarantees, but the private banks don’t.
I had to provide proof of residency (not resident status) to open accounts at Banco Nacional, and Banco Anglo (before it imploded – and paid off its account holders), both national banks, as well as Cuzcatlán, a private bank.
Again, for the perseverant, there’s a way around everything.
Scott asks all the right questions. If you don’t know the answers, don’t do it. I’ve done it, but I can tell you that it’s the kind of thing you only do once.
I can’t address the pet issue, but the duty on your vehicle may be the deal breaker. You won’t need the residency to enter, just to stay. The same is essentially true for the vehicle. I believe you must either pay the import taxes (which can be onerous), or remove it from the country for at least 3 days every six months. If you remove yourself from the country for 3 days every six months as well, you get around the residency issue as well.
BTW, this may be old information – make sure you know the current rules, particularly the vehicle taxes, as these rates change considerably over short periods of time.
Also, if you’re towing another vehicle behind, you’ll either need a second driver with you, or you’ll need to pay for, feed and house a chaperone through México.
Sometimes it’s hard to delineate between “freedom” and “convenience”. The ICE can be and extreme inconvenience. It can also create a formidable barrier to a successful business. However, when I was faced with a 10 year wait for a home phone line, I had the freedom to pay someone $1,000 for an existing line.
In Costa Rica I always felt much freer than in the US. The State has less enforcement powers, and less resources. Getting stopped by a “tráfico” is entertaining. Getting stopped by a U.S. police officer is highly stressful.
But there are two side to every coin. The same freedoms afforded to me by a weak State can also make for a less secure environment. You’re free to fall into a volcano – no signs, personnel or fences will stop you. You’re free to trip over large curbs or badly deteriorated sidewalks – there’s no OSHA or Americans with Disabilities Act to protect you. Criminals are freer to prey on their victims.
Ying & yang – life in balance. There is no Nirvana, only a series of compromises.
The good news, Oscar Arias may be the influential president they need to change the constitution to allow for market freedom in the area of communications, as well as energy and insurance. We can all hope!
The answer is complex.
1. You have to figure out if you can live there legally. If you have kids, you’re probably not retired and can’t become a “pensionado”. The other option, as mentioned, is the “pensionado rentista” program, whereby you must run a certain amount of dollars through a state-owned bank every month.
2. You have to figure out how to make an income. If you already have investment income from abroad, there are no worries, and indeed that’s what the pensionado rentista program is for. However, most families with kids aren’t in this situation.
3. Pensionados and Pensionado Rentistas can’t be legally employed in most situations – you’re a wetback down there. Yes, you can start your own business, or consultancy, but doing business in Costa Rica is extremely difficult for the average North American. Most foreign entrepreneurs fail within the first 3 years.
4. If you’re married to a Costa Rican, you can get residency and a work permit. However, most jobs won’t give you the income you desire.
5. If you beat the odds and find a way to live, and make a living, in CR, your kids will enjoy actual childhoods. There are no “cliques” in the schools, new students will have 100 new friends on the very first day of class, classrooms are actually civil, use and rebellious children are much less of an issue, and the opportunities for outside sports and recreation abound (pick-up soccer games in every plaza).
5. Foreigners living and working is CR must take the bad with the good. It is difficult for many to adapt. You must be able to tolerate rampant beaurocracy (after our phone went and standing in line for two hours at El ICE – the nationalized phone company, I was told I had to call that in), underdeveloped infrastructure (potholes that will take your axle off), and omnipresent thievery (if you have anything of value, you cannot leave your house alone). These are the 3 biggies. Once you get past this, it can be a paradise on earth.
You forgot cholera.
While dengue is obviously on the rise in CR, so is West Nile Virus in the US. Use bug spray, but don’t obsess.
The most likely areas which may expose you to Malaria and Dengue are in the lowlands, particularly on the banana plantations and in the poorest rural communities. My understanding is that dengue is not serious unless you contract it a second time, when it becomes hemorrhagic dengue.
Unless you stay in a mud hut, I wouldn’t worry too much about Chagas. That’s about the only time I would use netting.
I’ve slept outside in the middle of the jungle on the Pacuare River without getting a single mosquito bite. Northern Wisconsin is MUCH worse than anywhere I’ve been in CR.
There are active campaigns against dengue in CR, including education to eradicate standing water and fogging to kill the eggs. There is also excellent medical care in CR, and outstanding water quality. These are all conditions which mitigate the potential for the spread of disease.
I remember 20 years ago or so when someone contracted cholera in South America and flew back to CR before getting sick. There were actually news articles, complete with maps, following the course of her offending turd down the river from her house. There was no outbreak.
Yes, many rivers are open sewers in CR, as well as in most underdeveloped and developing countries, but then again so is Lake Michigan after a heavy rain.
Authorities have been working on this road, called “La Costanera”, for at least 30 years now. Who knows when it will be done. However, when it is, it will certainly be quicker and safer than the existing road, and will also finally open up the Pacific coast south of Quepos to major development.
Yeah, life is, and hopefully will remain, slower in Tiquicia. But those of us who remember the torturously long and switchbacked drive through Turrialba to get to Limón appreciate the new “Pista a Guápiles” through El Zurquí. Also, the new bridge to the Nicoya Peninsula is terrific.
Someday, they’ll finish La Costanera, and that will have an equally positive impact on the economy and tourism.
Unless the rules have changed in the last 2 years, in addition to opening the account in person, you must prove residency as well. This is normally done by presenting a recent utility bill with your name and address on it.
The important thing to understand is the legal system in the US is based on Common Law and jurisprudence, while in all of Latin America it is still basically based on the old Roman Codes. These old codes have been patched over the decades, and have pretty much become a complete jumble. This is why petty corruption thrives. Adhering to the letter of the law, especially in business, is nearly impossible.
The day-to-day effect of this reality is that there are many ways the government and its institutions can treat you unjustly. On the flip side, it also means that those who understand how the “system” works can find all the loopholes they need to operate successfully. This knowledge does not come quickly.
