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I’ve had dental work done in Costa Rica — nothing serious — just a deep cleaning and a filling, for which my dentist here in the States would’ve charged me $575.00. Total cost in Costa Rica — $42.00. My girlfriend had a root canal on my last trip and the total cost was $220 — here it would’ve been a grand.
Costa Rica is 9 degrees NORTH of the equator. That aside, has there NEVER been a hurricane on the Caribbean side? I’ve never checked because I would never live on the coast anyway, but now I’m curious.
You need to check with your airlines for their guidelines on shipping animals. Some have an air temperature restriction, which may apply during the months of July and August.
Vivian, you’ve answered your own questions. I believe there is a thread farther down on this forum that addresses some of the issues people have had with this company. Ask yourself this: If a similar company were soliciting you in the States, and asked for a large deposit to first look at property, and made lots of promises that you can’t be sure they will honor, and you had the same information about them, would you do it?
There are some airlines that won’t let you fly your dogs in cargo when the temperatures are above a certain degree, and I believe only Continental has an temperature-controlled cargo section for animals. I also believe that you have to arrive before 4 p.m. in San Jose as that is when the animal inspector leaves and if you get there after that your dogs may have to spend the night in the airport. We looked into taking a freighter so we wouldn’t have to crate our small dog in cargo, but no freighter company would take animals. From Florida it’s a short flight to Costa Rica. Your dogs would probably be fine in the hold and you could just take a tranq for your nerves. We solved our problem with our 20 pound dog and had him declared a companion animal so he gets to fly in the passenger compartment with us and doesn’t have to be crated even.
Hmmm, I think I check out this route at one time and it wasn’t cheaper and it wasn’t shorter, plus you are then in Mexico City where all sorts of unpredictable things can happen. I also checked into flying one of the Costa Rica airlines (TACA maybe) that stops in El Salvador. In the end, the best routes from Denver were through Houston (total 6.25 hours traveling time, including a 45 minute layover to switch planes).
You’re right — you can’t get there from where you are nonstop. And neither can I get there nonstop from Denver, and no there aren’t any petitions that will change this. It’s just the way it is. Your problem is that you live in Chicago. If you lived in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Los angeles, or Phoenix you could go nonstop.
If CAFTA passes the worst is yet to come for Costa Rica. The big monoculture agribusiness goliaths will take over all the small farms, displacing the little farmer who will have no way to grow food for his family because his farm will now be growing some agricrop of GMO foods — like cotton — that he won’t be able to eat. This is what happened in Mexico with NAFTA and is partially responsible for the influx of farm workers to our country. I won’t even go into what we did in Ecuador or other Latin American countries that forced a migration to the north just in the name of survival. We leave an indelible stamp on the culture and civilization wherever we stick our greedy little fingers.
Chomsky is certainly a doomsayer, but for the most part he is pretty right on. And that’s why I’m leaving, never to return. Poverty is horrible no matter where it occurs. Here in the US we have 40,000,000 people who live below the poverty line. How is this any better than any other place? It’s ALL bad.
Manny said:
Stretched beyond limits by crescent debts with onerous interest rates on real estate loans (18.75% to 20.5%) and credit cards (31% to 47% APR.), the historically laid-back and friendly “Tico” (Costa Rica national) is rapidly evolving into the stressed and suspicious kind. Economy and Crime besiege him. Surveys show general distrust toward government and politics. Cynicism grows at the same rate than poverty and corruption.
hmmmmmmm, sounds like America to me!
With a private CR bank, you are on your own if they go belly-up. With State banks, you are protected much in the same way you are here with FDIC. I don’t know what the limits are, however, but Scott will probably know.
The problems in the banking system are instigated by King George who wants to keep tabs on all the people fleeing his regime. Yes,it was a week of jumping through hoops at the bank but I did get a corporate account, and this last time around when I went in to open a personal account at the same bank and filled out an application, what do you think I saw at the top of the application in teeny weeny letters (in English)? “This application is in compliance with the Know Your Customer program.” This happens to be a program that was instituted long before 9-11 to track a bank customer’s money going in and out of an account and requires that the bank report to the appropriate governmental authority any unusual or suspicious activity in the way of big deposits, big withdrawals. This program supposedly started in response to all the dirty drug money that got laundered through our banks in the 80s. So don’t blame Costa Rica; Big Brother is keeping tabs on all of us and knowing where our money is at all times is one of they ways they do this. And then there is the Treasury Department form that must be filed every year by June 30 that requires you to list every single account with an aggregate sum of $10,000 to which you are a beneficiary or signatory. Sure, you can NOT file this form, but if they catch you the penalty is $500,000 in fines or 5 years in a federal slammer. As a US citizen, you are not exempt from these laws, rules, punishments just because you left the country.
Go to Mexico, Argentina, or any other Third World country and you will find bars on the windows and doors, and sometimes concertina wire and broken bottles turned up-ended on high walls enclosing a house. Come to my neighborhood here in Colorado where the billionaires enclose themselves behind 8′ electrified fences, and live in houses equipped with lots of guns and an alarm system, just in case the security guard they hired doesn’t respond fast enough. Welcome to the real world. With the slow response of the local police in Costa Rica, providing there is any response at all to a report of a burglary or break-in, the Ticos prefer a pre-emptive strike by making it nigh impossible for the ladrone to get in in the first place. Come to Denver where urban crime is rampant, or how about parts of D.C. or New York? Overall, the crimes rates in Costa Rica are far below what they are in the States. There are crooks, thieves, murderers everywhere — not just in Costa Rica. I just built a home in Costa Rica and I equipped it with an alarm system. We also have a night guard. I think the number one rule is to not flaunt wealth, not pretend you are a rich gringo who has more than you need and thus can spare a toaster, microwave, or television. These rules apply to anywhere, not just Costa Rica.
I missed it too! By the time I figured out what channel was CNBC (I never watch that one!) I missed the whole program. Is there a transcript? Video clip? Summary? Do tell all!
Imagine my surprise when I opened my e-mail and found a solicitation from WWLI — they must be culling e-mail addresses from the web, eh? What I particularly like about their pitch is that they say I can “control” x amount of acres — sheesh, I don’t want to “control” it, I want to OWN it!! Here’s part of their opening ad:
You can control land that can be developed or kept as a PERSONAL VACATION OR RETIREMENT PARCEL. For $45,000 you own 5 acres with no additional payments. We have sold land that has appreciated 30 times in just 5 years. (Oh, yeah? Where is THIS land, and have they really been in business for 5 years?)
Prices Are Going Up Quickly!!!
This is the best investment you can make on your future. Please leave your contact info and click send, and one of our representative will get back to you as soon as possible!!!!
