By Ivo Henfling

Now that most of you are on holiday, and I am not, you might have some more time available to enjoy the work of Isaac Martinez. Isaac is a panoramic photographer and does panoramic photos and virtual tours.
I met Isaac the first time in the year 2,000 when I was marketing and sales manager at a Costa Rica real estate project in Tarcoles, on the Central Pacific Coast, with the name of Lomas de Carara. Today, the resort is called Nativa Resort.

I had to market this incredibly beautiful development with nothing in it, but the beauty of the views, because there was nothing built yet. The human eye has a panoramic view of things but the lens of a camera doesn’t. That’s how I found Isaac.

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 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 Ivo Henfling

I really enjoy my time off and my vacations. My wife Dany and I love to travel and get to know new destinations and when we like one very much we might repeat, once. This time, we went to Las Vegas and really enjoyed it. Impressive city, great shows, lots to do. We even went to see Rod Stewart, who still sings and dances. The food is fantastic, and while we’re not big eaters, Dany and I enjoy the Jumbo shrimp as big as two fingers, Oysters Rockefeller, New England Clam Chowder, Steamed Clams in White Wine & Garlic, King Crab Salad Sandwich, all under $15. Or the all you can eat dinner for $25 each, where you can eat yourself silly with crab legs, all kinds of sea food, Asian, Italian and a ridiculous amount of desserts. You're right, we are both seafood lovers. Meat we can eat in Costa Rica.

By Ivo Henfling

In last week’s blog I left you standing in line at the Orotina toll on the highway, so we’ll take it from there now. As soon as you get past the Orotina toll, you have to be careful not to miss the Jaco Beach turnoff on the right. If you do, you’ll end up in Puntarenas. From there, you’ll enjoy a one lane easy going drive for the next 20 minutes until you get to the Tarcoles bridge.

Once you drive down the hill toward the bridge, you can enjoy the view of the Carara National Park right in front of you. Slow down when you get to the bridge because many tourists park their car and walk on the bridge to see the crocodiles for which the Tarcoles area is so famous for. They do this awesome crocodile - birdwatching tour at the river, next time I'll go do it again and I'll tell you all about.

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.

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By Ivo Henfling

Many of you might not know about the renewed traffic restriction/prohibition into San Jose as part of a new Costa Rica traffic law. You can read all about this in this AM Costa Rica article  but to give you a short answer, all vehicles, have a one day prohibition, by license plate number, into San Jose. With the renewed restriction though, passenger cars with 4 persons, to promote car pooling, will be able to drive from 6 - 8 am and from 4 - 7 pm. A Tico solution to a worlwide problem. And why not re-invent the wheel and copy other proven plans by cities 20 times bigger than San Jose? Don't we love to invent our own solutions here?

By Ivo Henfling

Costa Rica Real Estate,The Catholic Church, getting dunk during Easter and confession. You´ll ask yourself what this is all about. Well, real estate in Costa Rica went on vacation as all city realtors were at the beach and all beach realtors in San Jose. I tried to get hold of an couple of real estate attorneys for clients on Monday, but to no avail.

I'm born and raised Catholic, but that's about all the religious effort I will ever make. During my first years in grade school, the teachers would keep track of the Sundays we would attend mass. I've found early in life that religion doesn't do anything for me. I'm happy without, though I believe there's a God, whatever his name is. My first wife spent her days praying, while forgetting about her husband and children, so I got enough of that. I like eveyone to have their own believes and not to bother me with it. I'm sure religion does a lot for many and I'm happy for them.

By Ivo Henfling

Everyone is talking about how much tourism got hurt with the 2009 - 2011 world crisis. Surprise! Costa Rica does not seem to have any problems as San José shows empty and everyone seems to be at the beach. During most of Easter week, San Jose is like a ghost town.

This means there is still money in Costa Rica, unless everyone is using his credit-card. Dany and I used to go to our apartment in Jaco Beach during holidays like this, but since real estate developers Joshua and Jerry ten Brink of Desarrollos Naturales got slam dunked by the banks, we have not been able to use our apartment for exactly one year now.

By Ivo Henfling

Great service, delicious food and easy to find location

When you plan to do your Multiplaza or Pricemart shopping around lunchtime, you need to take the time to stop by Sole Mío, an Italian Restaurant located 500 meters south of Multi Plaza in Escazu (that means going toward the Paco, or my office).

Dany, my wife went several times with her group of girlfriends, so I asked her to invite me the other day and she did.....

By Isabelle Jones

Now you finally retired and you have all this time on your hands. You've already been to the Farmer's market on Friday and you go twice a week to the gym I've recommended in another blog. You can of course go play golf every day as Shell recommended but you also need to do something for the mind, body and spirit now that you have the time to do so. If you are living in Atenas or the surrounding areas like Grecia or Palmares, we just found you some entertainment. Even Escazu is only 20 minutes away.

Leah MacLauchlan hosts and guides yoga classes on her open air platform on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday mornings from 7 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. She has been a yoga certified instructor for 3 years but has been actively involved in yoga for 10 years.  It is a beautiful way to begin your day in a breathtaking setting.  Leah incorporates breathing, yoga postures and exercise in her 90 minute classes. Drop-in classes cost 2,500 colones per class or 20,000 colones per month.

By Ivo Henfling

Only 3 weeks to go and its Easter Week vacation again. Easter is known to be the hottest week in Costa Rica. So you don't want to stay in the Central Valley though for sure the valley will be nice, quiet and empty during the week. You will need to book now as time will run out on you if you wait too long.

Some of you don't know that most of our Beach affiliates in the American European Real Estate Network also offer beach houses and beach apartments for rent by the week, which we call Costa Rica vacation rentals. This is a lot cheaper than going to a hotel. We have beach properties for rent in the Caribbean, around Dominical and Flamingo Beach. Make sure you take your beers and hard liquor with you because during Thursday and Friday, you won't be able to buy anything anywhere.

By Ivo Henfling

Now you can go see this famous play originally played by Elizabeth Taylot and Richard Burton, now  in Costarican version y The Little Theatre Group fo Costa Rica.

From April 29th - May 2nd this famous play, directed by Noel Montagano, is a must see. A bitter aging couple with the help of alcohol, use a young couple to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other.

In the play, George and Martha are a middle aged married couple, whose charged relationship is defined by vitriolic verbal battles, which underlies what seems like an emotional dependence upon each other. This verbal abuse is fueled by an excessive consumption of alcohol. George is an associate History professor in a New Carthage university where Martha's father is the President, which adds an extra dimension to their relationship.

By Ivo Henfling

Today and tomorrow, the 12th and the 13th of March 2011, its a party time in Escazu. Its "Boyeros" day and with boyeros day goes the well known ox cart parade.

This is special and different and one of those things that make living in Costa Rica fun. 

The parade will start at 10:00 am this Sunday, the 13th of March, at the Municipality of Escazu and finishes at the church in San Antonio.

Make sure you go in time and find a good spot because there are going to be lots and lots of people.

By Brooke Bishop

If it is time for your 72 hours out of the country, Bocas del Toro Panama is a good option.

You cross the border into Panama in Sixaola Costa Rica, a sleepy border town in the Southeast part of the country surrounded by banana plantations.  You can drive your car there, park it, go into Panama, or get a shuttle from one of the popular beach hotels in Cahuita, or Puerto Viejo.  If you are going to drive it into Panama, make sure that you have spoken with your lawyer, and have all of the necessary paperwork.  The shuttle is about $28 a day, and the parking is $7 a day.  

By Ivo Henfling

Nature Air will be flying from Costa Rica to Nicaragua from 3rd of March 2011. I doubt most Nicaraguans that live in Costa Rica will be worried too much about this news, because they can't afford it, but more and more business people seem to go to Managua constantly.

For those expats without residency in Costa Rica, the so-called perpertual tourists, this flight will not be for you as the passengers flying from Managua into San Jose will have to carry printed proof of onward travel from Costa Rica (a flight or bus reservation departing within 90 days). The Costa Rican Department of Immigration requires passengers to present their travel documents in the airport in Panama to guarantee boarding (vice versa).