My "take" on Costa Rica

I subscribe to International Living Magazine.  I've enjoyed it for years for its descriptions of far-off places where we might retire, as well as to simply read various travelogues and impressions of the authors.  Many wonderful things have been said about Costa Rica for several years: the low cost of living, the stupendous panoramas, the girgling streams, the volcanoes and wild life, indeed, the calm and relaxed lifestyle that makes Costa Rica one of the few countries on earth where people's lives are the longest.  But ...

We took our first trip to Costa Rica two years ago.  Granted, it was at the height of the real estate bubble, even there.  We stayed at a pleasant-enough B&B in San Jose, the capital, from where we took a few side trips.  We went to the celebrated volcano Arenal for some R&R, as well as to view properties, and so to gauge Costa Rica's potential as our retirement haven.  We were pleasantly surprised when a developer's agent personally picked us up in San Jose and drove us to the development in Arenal, a full 3 hours away, through winding mountain roads that were, frankly, gorgeous, lush, tranquil, majestic -- the very adjectives that Costa Rica has enjoyed for lo these many years.  But ...

When we finally arrived at the development, an exclusive cluster of 21 estates on a hillside overlooking Lake Arenal (unspeakably stunning vistas), we were granted an overnight stay at one of the smaller villas, which was still a full 2000 square feet, with a fully equipped kitchen and elegant bathroom.  The villa had all the bells and whistles, everything a human could desire.  But the villa was the only home occupied in the development, and although we enjoyed our overnight stay, it was clearly not a good sign.  Our 2000-square foot villa was priced at $210,000.  I'm sure that was supposed to a bargain.  The other estates ran in price from a minimum of $600,000 up to $1.2 million.  They were unoccupied.  All of them were unoccupied. 

But our biggest objection was the distance between that development and the nearest grocery store.  If we wanted to go for a pizza, we would have had to drive 45 minutes on a dirt road.  Once at the village, the only amenities included a pizzeria and another small Costa Rican restaurant with plastic tables and chairs, and a small grocery store. 

To be sure, that is perhaps the very appeal of such a place -- its remoteness, its peace and solitude, which resonates with city slickers tired of the rat race.  But I suspect that even those poor souls who move to such a place overjoyed at first about no longer having to shovel snow soon find themselves bored to tears when they cannot find a cinema with the latest English-speaking movies, or when simply grocery shopping is an all-day event.

We did enjoy Lake Arenal.  The day following our stay at the development, we were graciously brought by our host to our next stop, a hotel at the foot of Mt. Arenal, from where we went on a zip line adventure, complete with horseback riding, hiking and a ride on a tractor.  That was fun.  And since we cannot control nature, nor place a special order, we had our zip-line adventure in roaring rain! 

[caption id="attachment_15" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Ziplining at 400 ft in a blinding rain"][/caption]

Zipping at 30 miles per hour 400 feet above the canopy, we had to keep our eyes shut tight because of the stinging rain, and therefore could see very little of the canopy.  We wore ponchos, but the rain was so strong that it drenched us down to our very underwear.  That was fun.  I swear, it was fun!  That is definitely not something we would do in our "regular" life.  Coming down from the zip lines required that we ride horses, some of whom were frisky -- and kicked up mud as they clip-clapped down. 

[caption id="attachment_16" align="alignright" width="232" caption="The rain and fog sure look romantic!"][/caption]

Dirty, soaked to the marrow, cold and hungry, our next stop was the local hot-springs spa at Arenal.  Since my husband is Japanese, I have had the supreme pleasure of enjoying the Japanese "onsen," or hot-spring baths in the mountains, so the prospect of another such delight closer to home exhilarated me.  But whereas we were promised a voucher for a visit to the spa, no such voucher was honored.  Be that as it may, we were on vacation, and so we paid our way cheerfully.  The experience was not as it was in Japan.  But of course, one must guard against making comparisons between countries and experiences, even though such comparisons are inevitable.

We took a van back to San Jose where we also saw some potential properties that might be in contention for retirement.  But their prices were not the bargains we expected.  In fact, many of them cost more than a similar property in Tampa, where we currently reside.  The most discouraging aspect of what we saw in San Jose -- and I suspect that is the case throughout Costa Rica -- is that all houses have bars on the windows, all front doors and driveways are heavily fortified by steel bars, and all roofs have foot-wide rolls or barbed wire around their perimeter.  That does not speak well for the level of safety in that country.  We met an American gentleman who had actually purchased a house in one of the most desirable areas of San Jose.  The day after the closing, the house was burglarized.  I asked him about property insurance, and he replied that he bought it, but the company would not pay.  I don't know any more details than that.

To be sure, Costa Rica offers a tantalizing array of outdoor activities, gorgeous weather, mountains, beaches, wildlife and dreams to the adventurous souls.  But it was not a place that we would consider retiring to.