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I wanted to give an update on this topic, at least what we found. We were always under the impression that organic food taste better. When in Atenas we did both Organic and the Friday market non organic market. Both my wife and I found no taste difference to our surprise. Back in NC, we know that the organics taste better then the non organics. So we thought that maybe its how they ripen and are shipped. So we did this experiment a couple of times, we had local non organic vine ripen vegetables and got California organics which are not vine ripen as they have to ship a distance. Our findings was the local stuff that was not organic but vine ripen tasted better. By the way the local stuff was the same price of the organics. Typically when we buy organics its locally grown and doesn’t ship far. But to us based on taste, organics makes no difference, its how its ripen and shipped.
With all that being said we still will take Organics, even if it’s shipped from a distance over the local grown non organic stuff. We rather be Chemical and GMO free and give a little in taste.
The Atenas Organic coop works well. You order and pick up your stuff on Fridays and its really worth it, if your in the area check it out. It isn’t that much more expensive.
F__K Monsantos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even though you can’t import or buy a gun, I hear you can import a Nuclear Thermal Device……..of course there’s that little import tax of 10,000 rads 😆
[quote=”costaricafinca”]I highly recommend Charles Zeller, at shiptocostarica@racsa.co.cr
Other contact info:
in CR . . . . 506-2258-8747
fax. . . . . . 506-2258-7123
Alt ph . . . .1-866-245-6923 (toll free from US & Canada)[/quote]Thanks costaricafinca, We heard a lot of good things on this site about Arden, thus we plan on to continue with them.
I will post how the whole process went though and will post the end cost of shipping of a 2010 RAV4 4×4 with import taxes and all. I’m guessing some may be interested. but here are some rough figures so far:
The cost of the car to buy it in Costa Rica (from a local toyota dealer in CR) was $37500, I am not sure if there would have been any other charges above that, we were not told about (I’m betting there would be). In NC it costs us $21,500, $1200 for shipping etc., and estimated import tax of $12,900 for a total of $35,600. A saving of about $2000 but more importantly we felt very comfortable with the car dealership we got it from as we have other toyotas in the family and know exactly what we are getting. I have also been told that the same car model sold in Costa Rica may be different then one sold in the states. What that difference is? I have no idea. but for us, even if it was break even we probably would do it this way.Thanks again costaricafinca for your response!
[quote=”ardenbrink”]HI! Arden Brink here. VERY sorry you’ve had trouble — we had strange internet problems last week, and I’ve also found (and heard of other’s experiencing this) that emails in Costa Rica simply vanish in cyberspace now and then — but, George, I don’t have anything in my inbox unanswered by you. Can you send it again and I’ll keep watch? I’m definitely here and certainly NOT “non-responsive” intentionally!![/quote]
Thats okay, I was just a little worried there. We really didn’t want to rent a car again!
Actually, I was going to post something here asking for help about this topic this morning. Does anyone know another shipper other then arden@shipcostarica? When we first contacted them about a month ago to ship in a car, Arden was quick to respond (same day), now that its time to ship the car, She has been non responsive, perhaps she is on vacation or something, I don’t know but its now been over a week. We are coming back into Costa Rica in about 4-5 weeks and want to ensure the car ships and is there when we get there. Thus my question is, does anyone know another reliable shipper that they had a good experience with?
Thanks!
Since we have a house in a gated community in Atenas, I may be able to help on this question. We have had the house since Feb. And have lived in it for several weeks. In Atenas like all areas in CR (too my knowledge) you need some type of security. No we don’t have bars on our windows in the gated communities in Atenas, however you still probably should have a security alarm system and friends, neighbors watching the house when your not there. When we were looking for houses in Atenas we also saw some houses not in gated communities that didn’t have bars. I’m not really sure if its safer because you have a gated community with a 24 hour guard. Folks could and have argued both ways, in the end if you have a good security plan which includes friends, neighbors and alarm system, you should be fine.
As far as the website, there are many out there, there is no MLS or really realtors per say. just unlicensed folks selling real estate. Of course someone that sells a lot of it with knowledge of the area is very helpful. There are 3 different realtor groups in Atenas to my knowledge.
Oh by the way, some one was talking about the high humidity in San Ramon (low fog, etc.), When we were doing our search last year, we found a website, don’t recall now but it lists the average temp, rain and humidity for many cities in CR. San Ramon actually has lowest average humidity compared to Atenas or Gracia. Grecia has the most extreme rain months, while Atenas is slightly warmer.
“Chances of being Mugged??”
Lets see now?
Perhaps if you pick a good time and place your chances will be great, pick a dark night in a very isolated area, perhaps by the coke cola main bus station in San Jose. Of course you should fill your pockets with dollars, you may want to have a couple hanging out of your pocket book so they can be seen. You should carry dollars as colonies take up too much room. And don’t forget to dress up like an ugly American. I would estimate your chances of being mugged at 79.75%. but then again I would say do the same in Charlotte NC and your chances are probably higher.Sorry I just couldn’t help myself 😆
….as far as safety goes, well your probably right that bigger cities have more crime issues (San Jose). It appears that all towns have some level of petty crime, I’m not sure there is any place in CR that you can leave stuff in your car and leave your windows down. With that being said, I think (this is from my very short time in the area) that Atenas and San Ramon are probably safe from hard core crime.
There are many great places to choice from, We too are from NC, Chapel Hill area. The central valley has a great temperature/climate. We are in Atenas, it has a nice small town and is located right near the new highway enabling you to get to the beach quicker (less then an hour to Jaco), while only being less then 25 minutes to the international airport, Hospitals (CIMA) etc. We also really liked San Ramon. It is a little further north then Atenas and at a higher elevation meaning its cooler. It has a much bigger town then Atenas but still small. There is a University and Hospital there. It may take a little longer to get to the beach and perhaps 40 minutes to the airport.
When we bought our house in Feb. we did consider these two areas. Why we picked Atenas; The location was a little better as far as getting to places but most importantly we thought based on the location etc. it was a better investment and easier to sell, if we wanted too. I’m sure Atenas Real Estate is more expensive then San Ramon but it’s probably more sellable too because of that location. Perhaps if I was moving with children and was thinking more long term and really was not going to move around too much, I would go with San Ramon for its cooler weather, more ameneties in town and its closeness to the rain forests.
Anyway this is just my 2 cents, I’m sure you could get a dozen other views here. There are so many nice areas here that it is very hard to zero in on one area. Before we bought, we came down several times but the truth is unless you spend months here and move around alot it’s very difficult to settle on a single place. The approach we took was, we picked a place we really liked that we knew had a good resale value, that way if we find a “dream area” we could always sell it and settle down there.
Hope this helps!
[quote=”gkbiz”][quote=”costaricafinca”] He was very upset because he had been denied the opportunity to purchase a gun to protect his family, because he is not yet a Permanent Resident of Costa Rica due to the change in rules.
What are the penalties for having a gun without a license in CR? If one had such a gun and used it during a real house intrusion and the intruder was shot, what would happen when the police came and found that your gun you used was not licensed?[/quote]
Actually Gringos are allowed to buy guys, legally via the back door. You can just have your corporation buy the guy, the corp. is considered a CR citizen. At least this is how my neighbor got his.
I have been doing a little homework on this, With VoIP it clearly the quality and speed of your internet connection that makes the difference. Magic Jack you need to have your PC on, Vonage and some others plug directly into your router, thus you don’t need your PC on 24 x 7.
Since connection quality and speed is the most important factor, I found a great website that will predict your success with VoIP by testing out your speed and quality of connection.
http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php
click anywhere on the map then click on a green tac. (this will take you to a server)
Next click on start test.
The results will show your download speed, upload speed and Quality of service.However perhaps the best test of all is the VoIP test, this test is located on the top right of your screen under test type. It actually measures the jitter of the line. Our home connection in NC (it is satellite) showed the speed was okay but the line was too unreliable for VoIP due to Jitter. You probably would want to run this test several time at different time to really get an accurate view of your connection.
If you try the test, perhaps you will be kind of nice to share your results and the kind of connection you used.
Thanks
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]We’ve just installed a MagicJack. So far, it seems to be virtually perfect. For $20 per year for unlimited calling to the U.S. plus a number in the U.S. for incoming calls, it’s hard to beat. And if you sign up for five years of service, the price drops to a guaranteed $14 per year.[/quote]
Very interesting, I just checked out the website, It is voice over IP but according to them if your using a regular phone it is much better quality then talking through your PC. It appears you only need 128kbs upload speed. Wonder if the CR network is consistent all the time or are their major outages or even brief ones. Of course during one of these outages you will lose the call
Please keep us updated, I would love to hear the progress on this.
We get paid about an average of $30 a month from a grant from NC Green and from our electric company after our total usage. We have a solar house and produce our own electricity and hot water. It’s nice not to have an electric bill and also get money back. However, in our part of NC you pay about 12 cents a KW. There is only a small increase in price (less then a cent for more usage) Of course you have to pay $15 month just to be hooked up to it.
We have our own well, thus have no water, trash or any other utility bills.
Go Solar!
[quote=”koty”]Personally, I know many Costa Ricans who live in poverty and are honest, caring individuals. What is happening is they are being threatened as well to keep their mouths shut by the thugs that are doing the crimes. The locals who have come into some money are also getting targeted. Imagine that, you finally get somewhere and a neighbor steals your things. The lack of an adequate police force and ways to punish criminals are what is causing this problem. By crime wave, I mean that it is increasing as more people see those getting away with crime, as the criminals become more powerful, they threaten even more and get away with more. It is very negative and increasingly violent cycle that needs to be stopped. Ticos and gringos alike need to work together in their diverse neighborhoods. People are scared both gringo and tico. In the area where we go most often in Costa Rica, the gringos have done much for the local community. They have rebuilt the school, they donate time and energy for life guards, they re-routed the river so that it stops flooding the village, they have started a local library and even given christmas presents to the children in the school. The community is strong there, both gringo and tico. It is the thugs that ruin this relationship. It is tragic.[/quote]
This post says it all!!!
Sounds like a great community, do you mind naming it?
Obviously a little police enforcement will go along way in such a community.Thanks!
[quote=”maravilla”]who would buy anything anywhere if the truth were told about local crime? oh, yeah, it’s a nice neighborhood, but you’ll get robbed eventually. that’s a good sales pitch. if you don’t ever want to be robbed, move where there are no poor people. [/quote]
Of course I can’t agree with such a statement.
Honesty is always the best way to go, Wouldn’t it be proper if the seller or realtor not only tells you the great points of why CR is so great but also the down sides or perhaps that is just being too honest. Instead we could just lie about the crime, and let the buyer beware, that way the buyers will have good thoughts of us. I guess some folks haven’t heard of full disclosure. In any event it’s just being a good citizen to alert folks to the crime issue, even if its just petty crime (which in most cases in CR it is). It probably won’t change many peoples’ minds but it shows your good character and you will be building honest relationships.
“if you don’t ever want to be robbed, move where there are no poor peopl” …..again this is not a statement I agree with. Just because there are some poor people in an area doesn’t mean they are criminals. There are also rich criminals too. In fact perhaps you should check out areas of NC as a prime example. You will see in many areas trailer homes nested with expensive homes. Some of these areas have basically no crime. On the other hand try living in Hollywood cal. an extremely rich area that needs private security everywhere.
