Category: Atenas

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Waterfalls, Great Kiskadee, and Sickness

This morning’s veranda tea included watching two Great Kiskadees land in the tree next to my neighbor’s apartment along with hearing a flock of parakeets and many other birds, most small and hard to see, plus speed will make it difficult at times as with the speeding toucans yesterday.

I’m staying in bed 9 to 11 hours each night and trying to rest. There was surely a public clinic open over the holidays, but the English-speaking doctor my neighbor knows about is not open until tomorrow morning  (Monday), when I will take a cab to see him.

The first three days I walked up the steep hill to town for groceries and to eat. I did not yesterday nor today, though the fresh air and sunshine might have helped. I did walk across the big yard in front of the apartments to the Rio Cajon, our southern boundary, and photographed some of the waterfalls in our yard.

The first two photos are inside the property and the third just outside the gate on the landmark Rio Cajon Bridge in Barrio Fatima, our neighborhood name, which helps taxi drivers find us. There are not house numbers here, no street addresses, no home delivery of mail. And oh yes, I know better than to photograph in midday sun, but did anyway.  🙂

This is upper part of the one below,
seen from a different angle.

Plunge pool view of above double falls.

The double falls at our entrance gate by the public bridge over Rio Cajon
Last night the Quebec couple invited me to go to dinner with them and then invited to local girls who of course had a big SUV, one being a doctor’s wife, the other her twin sister. The place they wanted to take us was not open (they take holidays seriously here!) so we ended up at Antano just off the main plaza downtown which is where I had eaten lunch the previous day, but well worth a repeat! 
A fun evening even if I don’t feel well. I did not try to go to church this morning because I was feeling worse at the time and pretty lousy right now. It is sore throat, some coughing, some sneezing, runny nose, and achy body all over. It started before I left Nashville. I’m taking Tylenol and two kinds of throat lozenges Millie Goodson got for me the night before leaving. Thanks Millie! They help!
Today I met another resident from Switzerland who is married to the girl from Spain. We are a pretty international group in these apartments! And oh yes, last night in the restaurant an American looking woman came over to our table and said, “I just must find out where this southern drawl is from!” I smiled and said “Nashville” and then learned her and her husband are from North Carolina and have lived here for 9 years. She still works as a photographer, doing weddings and children portraits. Got their phone numbers to call if I ever need help. So it is starting to happen like I expected even without going to church yet. 
Well, this first long post just wore me out. Pray for a quick resolution of my cold, allergies, flu or whatever!

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Dos Toucans, Uno Parrot!

Raphael, my driver from the airport Wednesday.

I’m still not well and the nearest clinic I found today was not open, but my neighbors swear that if I take a gin and lemon juice tonight it will make me well overnight. Not sure I’m brave enough to try, but Jean Pierre said he would make it for me. (Note next morning – I declined their gin treatment and will stay in and rest today and go to clinic Monday.)

Jean Pierre & Elizabeth live next door and are from Switzerland. They speak good English. Then above me (I’m in a 1st floor apartment.) is Ivan & Eloise from Quebec. French is their language, but they do a little English. They let me share a cab to town this morning for them to get some stuff at a health food store and for me to get my cell phone activated at the ICE store, but alas, ICE was closed. It is Christmas week Saturday. Ivan cannot walk well using a crutch, so they go everywhere in taxis. It cost about a $1.80 (800 colonnes). They invited me to join them in a cab tonight to eat at Carreta’s, a popular expat hangout cafe, if it is open!

The apartment is fine, needing some maintenance which they are working on little by little. The setting is beautiful and while drinking tea on my veranda this morning I saw two toucans fly into the the trees down by the river and one green parrot fly into a tree next to the apartment building, plus many other small birds. Just not been up to trying to photograph birds yet.

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I’m Here!

View out my front window.

I arrived sick which is unusual for me. Cleaning out my cottage at McKendree stirred up a lot of dust which is one of my worst allergies. Sore throat and coughing on the plane trip which was otherwise uneventful! Once here yesterday I starting opening bags, took the 8 minute walk to the Super Mercado for some basics like cereal for breakfast. Came back and went to bed at 6:30 PM and slept until about 6:00 the next morning, gently waking to the songs of tropical birds and the view above from my front window/door. I sipped hot tea watching the hills opposite ours.

Today I went back to the nearest Super Mercado which is a Farmer’s Cooperative that includes a little cafe. For lunch I had a ham & cheese sandwich because that was the only thing I knew how to order in Spanish. 🙂 This afternoon I did a load of laundry and had to use my Spanish English Dictionary to read all the dials on the washing machine.

The coughing and sore throat is mainly gone now, but my nose won’t quit running. So maybe another long night’s rest will help that too! At least all my bags are unpacked! But nothing exciting to report. Unless you call finding a millipede in my shower exciting! And everybody is celebrating Christmas until January 5 which may be when I start taking care of business. It is rest time for a week or so.

Millipede looking for water in the bathroom.
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Two Weeks from Today!

Yep, two weeks from today I fly to Costa Rica and spend my first night as a new resident! After going to a small church Christmas Eve Service. It doesn’t photograph like the Catholic Church on the Plaza which I hope to go pray in at times. Here’s two shots of it with part of our tour group crowding around.

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A Testimony of Living in Atenas

A Rural Road Near Atenas, Cost Rica (copied)

I’m guessing she is a 30-something girl who wrote this descriptive testimony of living in Atenas where I will live in less than 8 weeks.

Check it out to get a different description than I have shared yet. One of her photos is a road outside of town which I expect to find near my apartment. We’ll see!

This morning’s activity was another “Moving Sale” day in the McKendree Village Treasure Shop. I did fairly well, a little better than last Saturday.

This afternoon I will be doing laundry and culling down my files to what I really need to take with me to Costa Rica. And I saved one of my books from sale or disposal which I thought I might read first, Richard Foster’s Freedom of Simplicity (click for excerpts) then I discovered it is available on my new Kindle Fire which I got to avoid carrying so many heavy books to costa Rica. It was just instantly loaded on my Kindle – how cool this is! I’m going to live in the rainforest while building my new library electronically!   🙂   As usual, I’m as excited as a little kid about all of this!

And as has happened before, my post on His Spirit Blog today relates directly to this, the removal of stress by depending on God and simplifying my life as getting rid of all this stuff is doing already!

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Atenas Listed as #1 Place to Retire in Costa Rica!

Central Plaza of Atenas
My photo of us walking through in August
I’ll live 8 blocks from this plaza.

Today’s edition of InsideCostaRica Newspaper in an article by Jason Holland,  International Living Costa Rica Editor, lists the five best towns in which to retire in Costa Rica and my choice, Atenas, was ranked #1. It is also interesting to note as the headline says, none of the top 5 are on the beach!

Also see my September 21 Post on AARP listing Atenas as one of the best places in the world to retire. I also included several links to sites about Atenas in that post where you can learn more about my coming new hometown. I’m excited to be moving to such a highly rated place! Just 11 weeks from this Wednesday!

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A Few Steps Closer

Phons sent me his photo of one of my future neighbors, an iguana.
Hope I get photos this good! I think he and I will get along fine!

I’ve made the deposit and it is confirmed that I will be moving into an apartment at Hacienda La Jacaranda in Atenas, Costa Rica the end of December. It is run by a lovely Dutch couple and he, Phons von der Bom, has been corresponding with me and sent the above photo plus one of a butterfly earlier.  If you zoom in on a Google Map of Atenas enough you can find the name of the apartments on the map, just north of downtown within about 8 blocks of the Central Plaza and a Super Mercado and of course the weekly Farmers’ Market every Friday. And the Map Link above includes a map pin for Helados POPS, the best ice cream in Costa Rica and some of the best I’ve ever eaten. I had my first Fig Ice Cream there!

 Birth Certificate has been returned with an Apostille on it, thus one more document ready for the residency application. I earlier printed out my filing with the U.S. Embassy (State Department) of my intentions called a “Smart Traveler Enrollment Program” which Jose wanted on file. But I am still waiting on a letter from Social Security proving a minimum income for residency. Even though the last guy I talked with said he would do it right then, I really expected it to take a while. I just called our Metro Police Department and for the “police report” Costa Rica is asking for on me, they say they call it a “Background Check.” I simply go downtown to the Criminal Justice Building to the Records Window and for $13 they will provide one while I wait. So maybe tomorrow. When that is done, I will only lack the Social Security letter.

And the next step soon is to order my one-way airline ticket to San Jose, Costa Rica and I’m hoping I have enough air miles for it and they have space on their planes for an air miles ticket! If not, one way should cost less than round trip. Then the main job is to clean out this house, decide what to take, what to store, and what to sell or give away – the biggest job of all! 

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AARP: Atenas One of Best Places to Retire

“El Mejor Clima del Mundo”: the best climate in the world says NatGeo
Image from AARP Website
Read what AARP says about the town that is about to become my new retirement hometown:

Also this real estate website has capitalized on the AARP’s proclamation with an interesting site of their own & good photos, one of which I copied below:

We Love Costa Rica  Just be aware that they are selling real estate! 
Oxcart Parade in Atenas


OTHER WEBSITES ABOUT ATENAS: 
YouTube 1 Minute Video
International Living Description
Atenas City Guide on “Visit Costa Rica” site
Google Images (Not all made in Atenas, like the beach photos.)
Costa Rica.com Description  (View slide show & Oxcart Video)
Wikipedia Description
MapQuest Map of Atenas  (Just zoom in)
Vista Atenas B&B  (Instead of my guest room? – for more privacy maybe?) And their site has photos, video, & info on Atenas & check out these hotels:
Eden Atenas  Boutique Hotel, Atenas
Barons Resort  Boutique Hotel, Atenas
El Cafetal Inn hotel in Atenas
Hacienda La Jacaranda (apartments where I will live)
Poco Cielo Resort in Atenas
RE/MAX Real Estate in Atenas
Properties in Costa Rica – Atenas Real Estate
Atenas on “Anywhere Costa Rica” site (3 photos, no info)
Vacation Rentals in Atenas
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An Apartment is Arranged!

Beautiful apartments with valley & mountain views

Pool from patio and BBQ area where I’ll entertain you
on your visit

I now have an apartment that will be waiting on me when I arrive the last week of December, the one I told you about earlier, Hacienda La Jacaranda. 
Click the link to see photos of the property, the apartments inside, and even the waterfall on their property under their “Amenities” tab. Most of their photos cannot be copied. A Dutch couple operate it and he wrote me today with this fun message reminding me that my neighbors will include monkeys & iguanas:
  

Dear Charlie,

Thank you for your reply. One unit is reserve for you. We are working on our paypal reservation payment in our website. Might be done tomorrow then I will let you know. You can stay here upon arrival.

You will love Costa Rica since you are a nature lover. Atenas also has the best climate. We will have several  of mangos trees in the property and during mango season the monkeys visit here to eat the fruits. Iguana’s are just also in our premises. Right now, we have flowers in the garden so different kinds of butterflies is visible here. Good subject for photography. Here is one photo for you.

Regards,

Phons van der Bom

         Hacienda La Jacaranda
         Contiguo al Rio Cajon Atenas, Alajuela,Costa Rica

Phons’ photo of a butterfly in his garden
And in case you wondered about the name of the place, here is the Wikipedia definition:

Jacaranda is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Central America, South America, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and the Bahamas.  Wikipedia


And by the way, I’ve decided to continue blogging here since several people are following this blog and not my Adventures Blog. At least until I get there. Tomorrow will be the good and bad news about interim medical insurance. 
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I’m “Sleeping On It”

When friends ask if I’m going to Costa Rica, I say “I’m making myself sleep on it for a week before I begin the paperwork, but I’m pretty sure I’m going.” The tour was very helpful both for what we saw and getting know the other 16 people who may move to Costa Rica. Our very knowledgeable guide, Chris Howard, mentions me and tells about our tour eating in his blog post today: LIVING AND EATING IN COSTA RICA which you might enjoy reading. The food was great with wonderful views at most meals!

View from Atenas

One of the couples on the tour with me had come to “try it out” for 4 to 6 months before they totally move to Costa Rica. They did a better job of apartment hunting than me and are now living for at least four to six months at Hacienda La Jacaranda in Atenas.  (click to see how nice it is – they don’t allow copying their photos)

My driver did not “have time” to take me to Atenas which was one of the places I wanted to see apartments. I’m sorry, because I really like the look and feel of this place and they have a waterfall on property! And it is a 5 minute walk to the central plaza, groceries, bust stop, etc. An office for printing from my laptop, gym, pool, and more! So it will be one of the first places I will look when I return or might trust my friends recommendations and try to make a reservation in advance for the last week of December or first of January when I tentatively see myself going to live without moving furniture yet (if ever). It doesn’t have to be permanent, but a great start on my newest adventure! Pray that I make the best decisions and that God is in on whatever I do. That’s important to me!

Colonial Church facing Central Plaza, Atenas 

Central Plaza, Atenas

And oh yeah! National Geographic says Atenas has the best year-around climate in the world! It gets to a high of 80 in the day and a low of 60 at night, all the time. Great sleeping without a/c and great daytime activity weather.