hola from costa rica

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Permalink Reply by Raw Rebellion on May 23, 2012 at 12:36pm

Hola Paxkey,

I used to live in Costa Rica and some of the places you might enjoy are on the Nicoya Peninsula.  You could check out Malpaise or Cobano/ Cabuya.  They are touristy but plenty of friends to be made and alot of the locals speak english.  Definitely don't have to worry about a lot of high traffic, very lush and tropical, waterfalls, white sand, the works. 

I used to rent a nice one bedroom in Monteverde for $300.  Since you are a gringo and don't speak Spanish they will totally try to fleece you.  Try and negotiate because it should be cheaper than staying in a hotel.  You shouldn't have any problems, I had a lovely time and stayed close to seven months.   ~Chloe

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Permalink Reply by Paxkey * on May 23, 2012 at 1:47pm

considering my location that seems like a good place to start. thanks for the advice

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Permalink Reply by Stina Beans on May 23, 2012 at 3:09pm

We spent a month in a neighborhood called Delicias halfway between Cobano and Montezuma last June.  Let me know if you have any questions :) I would recommend  Malpaise over Montezuma, especially if you don't have a car.  Cobano has a farmers market, I think it's on Monday, and Montezuma used to have an oraganic farmers market on Sunday but it was pretty sparse.

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Permalink Reply by Stina Beans on May 23, 2012 at 1:20pm

I LOVE a little place called Tilaran.  It is a beautiful, lush green town next to Lake Arenal, not too hot I would recommend a hotel called Cielo Azul at the edge of town, has a pool, comfortable beds and an incredible view and the owner is very nice, though I'm not sure if he speaks Eniglish.  Hotel Tilaran has a lot of English Speakers, and somewhere near Arenal the town I know there is a big sustained living farm with a lot of English speakers, I will try to find the name.  I would strongly suggest finding a work-study program involving agriculture (try craigslist) You pay a $15 - $25 per day to stay and work and they usually have pretty good accommodations and includes food. And if they have fruit trees on the property it is just heaven to eat your meals ripe off the tree.

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Permalink Reply by Paxkey * on May 23, 2012 at 1:57pm

thanks for the advice. just spent a week on an ex-monastary in Nicaragua on isla de ometepe. woke up each morning and feasted on perfect cashew apples right of the tree while staring in awe at concepcion volcano. having virtually no people around got tired fast so i decided to head south as i was not impressed by the fruit at nicaraguan markets. crossing the border immediately yielded much greener landscapes and trees as far as i could see compared with nicaragua's more barren terrain. the super pali in liberia has yielded nice watermellon at about $.66 a pound. roughly triple the price of nicaraguan markets but much tastier melon. otherwise the market produce was not impressive. i am optimistic i will find better results as i travel around.

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Permalink Reply by Stina Beans on May 23, 2012 at 3:01pm

I love Ometepe, although my last experience there was a bit odd. Did you get a chance to hike Conception?  It was one of my favorite experiences ever. Have you tried Pitaya (dragon fruit)? Mmmmm (drool)  :)

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Permalink Reply by Paxkey * on May 23, 2012 at 4:00pm

i am trying to fix an old knee injury so no hiking. i found more exotic and better quality fruit at the whole foods market in Toronto. had dragon fruit many times there, have not even seen it at a single market in nicaragua. it is the end of the dry season to be fair, but it seems obvious that all the good stuff is either obtained from farms or it gets shipped to other countries. quite sad really. i was really hoping to roam around and find good stuff at the markets but just ain't gonna happen that way. i did get to stuff my face on perfect bursting with juice cashew apples and that was a unique experience.

i may have a great opportunity to work with a land owner who owns an ex-monastary and wishes to turn it into a retreat. its located on ometepe and he has given me carte blanche to try and plant whatever i can dream up on his 40 acre property by the water. i just will need a motorcycle to get around on the island though and before making the investment i decided to give costa rica a look around. i may even continue going south from there. just looking for a good spot to root down for a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Stina Beans on May 23, 2012 at 4:26pm

Sounds amazing.  My dad is from Nicaragua and I have an Aunt in Managua so we have thought about getting a place there.  I love San Juan Del Sur and Granada. Managua is pretty gross though.  If you go back to nicaragua you should check out La Joya, it is 7 miles north of the Border on the HWY halfway between the border and Rivas.  It is run by a lovely American couple with a little boy, the wife is several years raw, not low fat though. Dr Cousins actually owns a lot on the property there. 

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Permalink Reply by Ryno on May 23, 2012 at 1:49pm

Hey, you also might like the area around San Isidro.  I found the Nicoya to be beautiful but more expensive and less fruit.  Loads of fruit around San Isidro and they have a huge fruit market on the weekends.  This area is also home to many likeminded sorts.  You could check out Finca da Vida for this sort of thing.  If you talk to the expats that gather at the Friday morning market you could get a handle on renting something just outside the city or if you take the road out towards Dominical there is a small town where you can rent houses real cheap.  You'd be able to live on the fruit stand there and trips to the market.  There are buses that go everyday and hitching is easy.  The village is called, Alfombra as I recal.  Near Tinamaste I think.   It's been a few years since I was there.

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Permalink Reply by Paxkey * on May 23, 2012 at 2:20pm

gracias amigo. i love the instant feedback for this topic. i arrived in Liberia around 5:30 pm and i may stay tomorrow night as well considering how uncomfortable i find road travel. found cheap hotel. tiny but clean. i 'splurged' (a relative term) for the tica bus from rivas to liberia but all i got for my $29 was a bus with broken a/c and a broken toilet. they showed two movies each of which was cut off half way through. lol. i am just happy to be off the road at a good hour and i found sufficient fruit to get me through the night. cheers.

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Permalink Reply by Stina Beans on May 23, 2012 at 2:54pm

"I found the Nicoya to be beautiful but more expensive and less fruit"

So true.

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