To Nicaragua we go again!

Where did the last three months go???
Once again we went with the Brinks to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. We asked Andres to stay at our house while we were gone. Not only did he look after the house but he took very good care of Raffy while he healed
This time we went in the Brinks van because it needed its’ paperwork updated. We shared a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite with them at the Park Ave Villas. The suite had a full kitchen, dining room, living room and a courtyard pool right outside our door. It was a nice accomodations even though Dave Brink didn’t get a chance to enjoy it. He was ill the whole time we were gone.
After returning from the three day trip, we decided that in the long run we are better off applying and paying for residency than leaving the country every 3 months. We started the process in August with Javier at Residency in Costa Rica. Read more Entry>>

Our car got 'nationalized'

We waited as long as possible hoping we would not have to pay to get the car nationalized. When we decided to ship the Subaru, we were under the impression that we would not have to pay the tariff on the car because of a law passed in 2007 that gave handicapped people a waiver. Unfortunate for us, the government had difficulty defining who is eligible under that law. By taking the car out of the country in April, it gave us a final 90 days before they either gave us the waiver or we had to get the car ‘nationalized’. As it happened, we ended up paying $5000 for the taxes, RTV, plates, inscription, registration and insurance on our 97’ Subaru Outback. Seems strange to see Costa Rican plates on our car with the “Sugarloaf” and “Brunswick Lacrosse” stickers on the back window! Read more Entry>>

Our first house guests

We had our first houseguests arrive today. We met Gail K. from California and Vicki B. from Texas on George Lundquist’s tour of CR in 2006.
Among other places, we took them to our friends high end gift shop the Iguana Tranquila and Poas volcano.We really enjoyed our short visit with them before they left to go on George’s South Central Tour. Read more Entry>>

Our neighbor knows what we have

Roxanne, our neighbor, stopped by late this afternoon. She stood outside the metal fence with her tea towel slung over one shoulder motioning to Dave (who was in the kitchen) to come out. She wanted him to cut and give her some fresh oregano off our plant in the front yard for her ‘carne y frijoles’ (beef and beans) she was making for supper. She is either very observant when walking by or was friendly with our landlady because we know she hasn’t been inside our gated yard before! Read more Entry>>