Retire In Costa Rica – Our robbers return!

No surprise, there’s no photos for the main tale this week so I’ll start with happier events.

We have a very hard-working and successful family of plant growers in town – the Quesada’s – most of whom have their own business or area of specialty, including garden centres, plant nurseries and tree production.

Sister Lilliam is an orchid specialist and invited us to see her collection – over 400, with many growing naturally around the garden and others, mainly stunning hybrids (enjoy the photos below), being bred in a huge greenhouse.

Lilliam is a real aficionado; a rare creature who can put a name to virtually every plant she has, and so generous with her knowledge. A jaw-dropping visit… I can’t believe she actually hand cleans all these plants with soap and water to keep them healthy and looking perfect! Of course we left with the boot stuffed with more plants, including this – Chlerodendrum Ugandisse – exquisite.

To the robbery! I wrote recently about funny people and someone having broken into our cabin, making a drink and going off empty handed. Well, our not-so funny man returned, this time with the vehicle, a buddy and a youngster small enough to get through the window. They carted off the cooker, gas tank, fridge, all the small electrics and pots and pans – all in, about US$700 in value. And really weird, they swept up the broken glass and tossed it into the garden!

We told the village police so they know what’s happening on their beat but ‘ordinary’ cops (the Fuerza Publica) don’t deal with robberies – we had to go to the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (Judicial Investigation Police) in town to file a report. Two burly CSI’s came out and got good finger-prints but whether or not they find the culprits remains to be seen. As an amusing aside, John and I had to be finger-printed too to ensure our prints weren’t the ‘evidence’!

All the officers pointed the finger at a family living near us – the one with the 9 kids I ferry to and fro to town, and who’ve been enjoying apples and mangos by the bucket-full over the last few weeks. Though there is no adult male around, there’s an extended family, with a reputation.

This is a really tough call – we’ve been warned ‘not to be friends’, but I like the kids and find it hard to contemplate being unkind to them because of adult ‘antisociales‘ – the polite term the police report uses for our invaders! Ah well, having discounted the electric fence and hidden hot-tar traps, we’re having an alarm system fitted around the property. We don’t want to live behind metal bars so it’s a small price to pay for better security and peace of mind.

A lighter note to end. Friend Krystel and I are having Spanish lessons – hard work for aged brains but great fun too. Our laugh last week – ‘hilo dental‘ is Spanish for ‘dental floss’ – and also for a G string! That could make for interesting shopping – Yep, Spanish is just about as crazy as the English language!

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Written by VIP Member Sheelagh Richards. Sheelagh is originally from Scotland and her husband John who is from Wales are two inveterate British travellers who fell in love with Costa Rica, the beauty of the Talamanca mountain range and the perfect climate of the Rio General valley where they have established a small Bed & Breakfast called Casa de Los Celtas. You can see a free online video interview with John & Sheelagh Richards here.

You can see more about John and Sheelagh’s very affordable B&B outside San Isidro here and photographs and prices here.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.