I love following Irina and Jim Just’s blog, called “Just Costa Rica, living la pura vida” because they both always have interesting things to say in their blog.  In all my years selling Costa Rica real estate, I hardly ever saw a couple retire in Costa Rica one day and feel totally comfortable with their new home country the next day. Few expats are able to “mingle” so easily in their new environment as Irina and Jim and I’d like you to learn from them.

With Irina Just’s permission, I am publishing her last blog about the Blooms in Costa Rica, another way Irina found to meet new people and to enjoy her retirement in Costa Rica. FYI, Blooms is not an old ladies club, they’re just a bunch of women enjoying themselves. Thanks Irina for allowing me to use your blog to show newcomers another way of mingling and enjoy living in Costa Rica.

by Ivo Henfling

Costa Rica retirement vacation properties and bird watching go together well, the reason so many have decided to retire or buy a vacation home in Costa Rica. When you retire to a country like Costa Rica, you must love nature and in particular birds. If you don’t, why even bother moving to Costa Rica. The best part is that no matter if you buy your Costa Rica retirement or vacation property in a town like Atenas, you get the birding for free. Just make sure you bring a camera that can take high resolution photos just like our client Peter Boyer did and you’re up for a good time and a better lifestyle than you had ever imagened.

Thanks Peter, for finding such a great hobby and sharing it with us. Your photos say so much more about the beauty of Costa Rica than any text that I can write. Just like you and your wife Edie took the decision of buying your retirement home just outside Atenas, many others can now get a much better feel what it must be like to crawl through the grass of your neighborhood to take these awesome photos.

by Ivo Henfling

Some might think otherwise but there is great music and entertainment in Costa Rica. A client told me he met a gringo in the hotel who was complaining there was nothing to do in San Jose and he was bored to death. In less than half an hour, I showed the client at least 20 places where there is plenty to do. No need to get bored in Costa Rica, of course depending on what you are looking for.

If you enjoy classical music, you can go to the philharmonic orchestra in the National Theatre several times a month but today I am going to tell you about the Jazz Café Costa Rica. The 3 owners started Jazz café in San Pedro in 1999 and the Jazz café in Escazu was started in 2008. If you have any questions or reservations, you can call them directly at 2253-8933 in San Pedro (next to Banco Popular) and 2288-4740 (across from CIMA hospital on the other side of the highway). Find both Jazz Cafe's by going to this Google map.

by Ivo Henfling

Thanks to Liz & Tony, I got to know the best Asian restaurant in Escazu - Costa Rica, right across the street from where I live……..yes, it was right there and I didn’t see it. They say “see further than the end of your nose” and I have a big nose. The name of the restaurant is Banzai, a traditional Japanese exclamation meaning "ten thousand years". I hope they will be there at least as long as I live.

Their Sushi is bigger than it is anywhere else and the best Nigiri, Sashimi and Maki. Unlike most Sushi places, their Japanese food is also out of this world and at incredible prices. If you are a fan of Asian food, you really need to visit Banzai and be attended by owners Cassius and William and their staff. Cassius takes care of the Oriental cooking like Indonesian, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese, and William does the Sushi.

by Ivo Henfling

Every time I go to Jaco Beach, I need to stop over for lunch at the Taco Bar Restaurant downtown, across from the Pops ice cream parlor. This first Costa Rica Taco Bar has some incredibly awesome Tacos and at very reasonable prices and it’s a quick in an out as it is set up like a fast food restaurant.

In December last year, my friend Pete Scott called me to say they opened a restaurant in Santa Ana (he’s friends with the owners) and they were giving free lunches away. A real Dutchman would have gone because it was free but I was just too busy. I guess I’ve been here too long and I am losing my Dutchness.

by Ivo Henfling

Our neighborhood gang used to play baseball in some construction site near my home when I was 12 years old. The owner of the building under construction invited us to keep visiting after the building would be done.

That was when I was first introduced to 10 pin bowling, the first one in Holland (Europe). When I moved to Costa Rica, I was soon invited to play the American League in the Boliche Dent in San Pedro, the only bowling alley in Costa Rica at the time.

That was before the only terrorist act in Costarican history took place. Tico terrorists (can you believe that?) placed a car bomb against the American embassy downtown San Jose. Since most playing in the American League were US marines, people working at the US embassy and a few teachers who worked at Country Day School and The Costa Rica Academy (now International School), we were not allowed to play for the rest of the year. This was in the beginning of the 80’s.

By Ivo Henfling

In November 2009, I was introduced by an old client, who by the way didn’t buy Costa Rica real estate from me, to a very unusual couple. I mean unusual because they were much younger than most of my clients who come here to retire because they’re over the age of 60 and this couple was barely in their 30’s. Husband Ethan, the 7 month pregnant wife Antoinette and their 1 year old son Sir were moving to Costa Rica and were looking to purchase real estate. Antoinette and Ethan had been looking at properties for quite a while with different Costa Rica real estate agents and had one complaint: the agents didn’t listen to what the clients were telling them they wanted.

Now Antoinette and her family live in Alajuela happily and work hard at adjusting and learning Spanish. And I love ’em to death because they try so hard adjusting and trying to become full-fledged Ticos.  Antoinette even writes a very interesting blog that she calls Pseudotico - Trying to be a decent Costa Rican! Everyone thinking of moving to Costa Rica should read her blog, I definitely recommend it.

By Ivo Henfling

I am sitting next to Belize and I am in Cancun. Rudy Matthews and I are promoting Costa Rica living and Costa Rica real estate to future retirees, mostly from the US and Canada.

I think Obama will be doing us a favor by winning the next US elections, which will send lots of US citizens our way, just like it happened in the 2nd Bush administration.

So there are lots of people here in the Casa Magma Marriott in Cancun to check out Costa Rica because living in Costa Rica is the way to go.

By Ivo Henfling

When you move to Costa Rica, you will be making new friends in Costa Rica and I can assure you’ll enjoy so many different people from different places, different backgrounds and different interests. Most of us leave the family back home and though communications through email, Skype and Facebook are easy now, you will be away from most friends and family. Most of the friends you have are those you grew you grew up with or from the baseball team or the parents of your kids friends. And now you have to start all over.

Making friends with the Ticos

Most of us come here with the idea of making friends with the Ticos. Let me tell you a secret: you’ll have a hell of a time to become buddies with the locals.  I am married to one, and another Tica before her and I still don’t have Tico friends, even after living here for 30 years. Oh, if you invite the locals to your house, they’ll all come, don’t worry about that. But they will hardly ever invite you back. Sorry, mistake, they DO invite you back but don’t tell you where they live. Most will not get any further than the acquaintance stage.

Have you ever heard of bouldering? Well, they do it in Providencia de Dota. Where the heck is that? It’s a beautiful little town tucked away in the Los Santos mountains, near the National Park Los Quetzales. Most of you have never heard of El Valle de Los Santos. Well, we have a real good Costa Rica real estate agent there, Tony Warren, who has lived in the Los Santos area for some years now. He was the one who told me about bouldering.

I am writing the Spanish version of our American European Real Estate Group’s website in Spanish and in his description about the area of Los Santos, he mentioned something about bouldering. Last time I saw the word, I probably didn’t have time to call him but now I needed to ask him what the word in Spanish is. Well, today you’re going to add another word to your Spanish vocabulary as it is Escalada de Bloque.

By Ivo Henfling

I would like to share this funny story with you, just to show you that when you think you’ve seen it all, you find you haven’t. This is not a fairy tale and though all the actors involved in this novel thought about suing the writer, we decided that this seller either has a serious psychological problem or he is just a great writer, wasting an opportunity to become famous and make a lot of money. When things like this happen, I always think about how boring life would have been if I would have stayed in Holland and wouldn’t have moved to Costa Rica.

Let me tell you a bit about the author first and how I met him. Many years ago, our GoDutch Realty office sold a property in Escazu to a North American client. The single man lived there for quite some years, remodeled the home and then one day called us again that he wanted to sell.

By Ivo Henfling

On New Year’s Day 2012, it was such a beautiful day, Dany and I decided to take a day trip to Poas volcano. As usual, because we never use a sweater in Costa Rica, we forgot to bring any and I was cold for the first time in years.

It is normal that instead of snow, we get a lot of wind in December and January and the weather was no different on this 1st of January.

I always find the trip to Poas one of the nicest daytrips in the Central Valley, no matter if you live in Escazu or anywhere else. Even after 30 years living in Costa Rica, I still enjoy the beauty of this country.  I drive to the courthouse in Alajuela and from there, drive up to Fraijanes de Alajuela (I marked it on the Google Map below).

By Ivo Henfling

Many of you might remember Catalina, who was my assistant for quite some time. When I hired Catalina, I didn’t know that she is Manuel Obregón’s sister. Manuel is one of Costa Rica’s most talented musicians and Laura Chinchilla’s government’s Minister of Culture and Art. Manuel Obregón is a verty talented artist who found a way to combine Costarican nature and Costarican music. Simbiosis, piano and rainforest, is just one of many of his cd's that are worth listening to.

About 10 years ago, Dany and I were invited Cora and Marianela to a piano concert by Costarican musician and composer Manuel Obregón and we were surprised by how good he was. If you are not really involved very much in the Costa Rican cultural life, you don’t realize that Costa Rica does have great musicians and artists because they are not very well advertised.

By Rudy Matthews

This past Thanksgiving I went to Jaco Beach with my son, sister and niece. My sister and niece were visiting from Florida and their two favorite places here in Costa Rica are the hot springs and spending time at the beach. Playas de Jaco is located on the Central Pacific Coast, between Puntarenas and Manuel Antonio.  Jaco is the closest beach to the Central Valley area. The new highway from San José  to Caldera makes Jaco a favorite for tourist and locals.

Jaco beach and the nearby Hermosa Beach are known for surfing and Costa Rica just won its 6th consecutive title at the 2011 REEF Central American Surfing Games. My surfing days are behind me but I still enjoy body surfing and the waves are great in Jaco.

By Ivo Henfling

Costa Rica real estate agent Margaret Sohn told me she was invited by a friend to go to the Nutcracker ballet by P.I. Tchaikovsky and sent me an email after the show "It was fantastic last night.  And interestingly, the woman I was given a ride home by had spent a lot of time in Russia and said the male lead was the best male dancer she has seen. We are so lucky here to have quality artist (especially the symphony) basically cheap."

Costarican ballet choreographers Patricia Carreras and Maria Amalia Pendones have auditioned 150 children for the Nutcracker ballet from all over Costa Rica in the Classical Russian Ballet School in La Uruca, San José, to be able to put together the 2011 production.

By Rudy Matthews

I remember ten years ago when I first discovered Costa Rica, which is when I decided to relocate to this beautiful country. A friend invited me to join an outdoors group in Florida and they planned a tour to Costa Rica. The tour was strictly outdoor activities such as white water rafting, canopy, hiking, horseback riding and anything else that was active. The nature of Costa Rica made a lasting impression on me and I always told others that Costa Rica was probably like Florida use to be many years ago. The beaches in Costa Rica are still mostly natural and do not have the rows of condos covering any view from the street to the ocean. There are plenty of palm trees and natural plants and flowers along the coastline in Costa Rica.

By Shell Johanson

Being a Costa Rica realtor in Cariari is never an easy job. There are twists and turns in every deal. Patience and nerves are always on edge. It means putting up with a lot of things from the buyers as well as the sellers, without the other party finding out about it. It’s part of the job.  

But there’s one thing that I wish I could do something about, I’m going to call it the ‘Busy Bee’. We all know this person because we all have one near. It is usually a family member, a friend or a neighbor who thinks he/she is a fountain of knowledge and loves to share his/her opinions. Never short for words, that’s for sure. The ‘Busy Bee’ is very good at screwing up real estate deals.

By Andres Henfling

Sometimes we need a break from the tedious day to day routine, so we decided to take a weekend trip to the beach. In this article, I would like to show you how you can take a full weekend vacation, enjoy a Costarican beach and spend no more than $300 for a weekend.

Saturday morning I went with my girlfriend Melissa to Jaco Beach by bus and arrived in 1 hour and 30 minutes from downtown San José. Fortunately, the bus took the new highway so it is not a tedious or uncomfortable trip. We arrived at 9:30 am and went to get a simple but centrally located hotel where we had all the facilities and places to relax the weekend.

The hotel, Villa Nazua, is located at 200 meters from the Jaco Beach main street and 300 from the beach. The hotel offers a pool and a nice terrace to have a great time. The condo of 3 bedrooms is only $60 a night, it is pretty nice, clean, air conditioned and there were only 2 more condos with families so we enjoyed the peace and tranquility.
 

By Rudy Matthews

My son plays on the Alajuela youth soccer program. He is 11 years old and really looks forward to Saturday practices and games on Sunday. There are eighteen players and he has two coaches.

I have never been around Costa Rican parents a lot and the team has given me a chance to observe and get to know the parents more. Most of the parents do not have cars and you will see them walking to practice with their son or getting off a bus and in some cases a taxi.

The point is they make it to practice with their son one way or the other.

By Ivo Henfling

For several months, our friends Robert and Silvana Craig have been inviting us to visit them in Nativa, Tarcoles. Tarcoles is located in the Central Pacific, just before you get to Jaco Beach, for those who don't know the area. Robert and Silvana live part-time in Nativa Resort and I hadn’t been there in a long time. We have 4 dogs, just like having kids, are a problem to make more than just a daytrip. So yesterday we hit the road for a daytrip to Nativa and since Monday is some kind of a national holiday, the traffic was heavy though moving along. The Ticos love to complain about the highway and because it is so expensive but I paid like ¢1,500 ($3) toll to get to Tarcoles.