Category: Costa Rica

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Pastoral Hills of Atenas

On the walk through my neighborhood I just couldn’t include all the images, so here are two more that a few of our homes have as their vista, the pastoral farm hills around Atenas. And the third is a similar view from my bedroom and office/guest room.

 

Some have farms, cattle, coffee, or other use while other hills are investments.
Hopefully they will not all be developed as the wildness around us disappears!
Some have roads over them like above, for what reason I know not.
Some of these hills are coffee farms or were in earlier times.
And from my office/guest room before I added fishtail palms for privacy.

And how appropriate that on the day I post these pastoral scenes Sarah Bartlett at McKendree sends this link to a visual version of Ode to Joy by Beethoven. 

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Dina Yellow Butterfly

Dina or Leuce Yellow is a new name to me but that is the internet ID on this guy.
Yesterday and today are my first times to see him in my garden.
Similar to a Sulphur; found in Caribbean, Central & South America.

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Sailor’s Delight?

“Red sky at night, Sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.”
Last nigh’t sky from west end of my balcony through the trees.

 

Last night’s sky from the driveway above my roof a few minutes later.

Well, sure enough, it did not rain yesterday and has not so far today and it is after 4:00! I have to go water the new plants! I was enjoying the rainy season shower every afternoon! But regardless, I’ll keep my new trees and flowers alive with hose water!  🙂  And then look at this beautiful image:

 

And looking northwest toward Central Atenas a gorgeous pink & blue!
I love seeing what God creates!
The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.   ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Ash-throated Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher is a rare migrant in Costa Rica.
Here one is in my Yellow Bells Tree at end of balcony, at end of rain.

Zoomed in a little you see the hint of yellow on breast like the other flycatchers.

“The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” 
― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

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Great Neighborhood Project!

Except for Atenas Central, there are few sidewalks (like Donelson-Hermitage)
So in the neighborhood between Roca Verde and Atenas Central, the neighbors
got together and decided to build their own, since government isn’t doing it.

Today it was young adult volunteers mixing & pouring cement, other times
have had some older adult men doing it, at least a quarter mile finished now!
The orange roofs on hill at top of photo is a part of Roca Verde.

Today’s young men shoveling cement into the forms. Great!
I gave them a thumb’s up and said “Muchas Gracias” as I walked by.
Again you can see one Roca Verde hill in distance.
This is an earlier photo I took going down the hill toward our gate.
I feel much safer walking on a sidewalk than in narrow streets or very
rough shoulders if any! The closer to Central Park, the more sidewalks.
First shift leaving high school.
Almost all students walk to school here. 

It is interesting to watch how many people still walk in the street, possibly from years of habit, I would guess half. Of course further up you have no choice and that includes walking by the high school where there are no sidewalks. Gangs of teens leaving or arriving just fill the streets and cars wait (photo below or at right).

But it was sad to see in Tico Times recently that Pedestrian Deaths Outnumber Drunk Driving Deaths in Costa Rica.  Speeding and irresponsible lane-changing are the top two causes of road deaths here.

Maybe this one more sidewalk will save another life or two. Everything is not perfect in Costa Rica! Infrastructure is still lacking in many areas.

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Walk with me through my neighborhood

View from an available lot on top of my hill. You look over Central Valley to northeast, San Jose at left. Your home here?
This is the above lot for your dream home. A large, old-growth tree at entrance.
I can give you the phone number if interested.  🙂  Come be my neighbor!

Looking over my house which is below the orange roof, lower center.
The orange roof is my landlord Jean Luc & Nicole, brown roof is Richard’s.
You can see cow pasture in front of my house, central Atenas beyond that. 
Anthony’s house next door to me. He is a Spanish Class friend from Indiana, a
bachelor artist who has a clay bird I plan to buy and install in my garden after he
has it fired. His house is rented from Richard, is below brown roof, above photo.
Some neighbors can see church steeple at Central Park Atenas. 
A few homes are visible from the street, most are not. 

All have privacy/security gates & I think this the most creative one on this loop. 
All are lushly planted for our tropical weather year around.
It is like walking through a garden to walk through my neighborhood.

Come visit me and you can physically walk with me over this and other hills in Roca Verde. Some of you know that I earlier said I would never live in a rich, gated community like this, but people change their minds! Living in a Tico neighborhood has the closeness and familiarity with the people around you that is not what this old independent, private person is real comfortable with. Plus the closeness of dogs barking, roosters crowing, parties going on, constant music, highway traffic, motorcycles, teenagers, is just more noise than I prefer to put up with all the time. I have some noise here, but nothing like in town or at the apartments where I lived for four months. It is mostly birds singing which I love and the roosters and dogs are further away. 

Several of the large houses in Roca Verde have “casitas” (little houses) for either guests, parents, or to rent which is what I have. Some of the main houses are lived in by “Snowbirds” only in the North American Winter or dry season here. I am fortunate that this particular one was for rent by a year-round resident landlord on the hill above me. He is also one of two developers of Roca Verde. Though barely affordable for me (cheaper than McKendree Village!), this is the only one of this quality I was able to find within walking distance of Central Atenas, one mile. Not having a car was always part of the plan for living here. 
Walking to town most days is my exercise program and now I have several choice walks in my neighborhood for when I don’t go to town. The above loop is just 1.3 miles and of course I did not show all the views and houses. I am so blessed in so many ways at almost every turn of this retirement adventure. I feel so fortunate! Almost everything has worked out positively, even if slower than an impatient American wants it! Just two more main things to finish: a residency card and conversational Spanish. Both are on track for early next year maybe! I’m starting to relax more and be more creative. Life is fun! Pura Vida! Jubilado!

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Tonight’s Sunset on 5 Months in Costa Rica

Tonight’s Sunset from the driveway above my roof looking west.
Different from my balcony views looking north.

Five months! They have flown by and I’m still on vacation! Soon I will start traveling more and seeing new places, though I will always love where I live and every day is a vacation here!

In the first five months I moved here with 5 suitcases (one was all winter clothes shouldn’t count!), lived 4 months in a really good “starter” apartment with great views, just different than here. I have learned my way around Atenas, where to find things, how to ride taxis and buses. I’ve tried multiple churches and not found my place there yet. I’m in a Spanish class and making progress poco, poco (slowly). Have multiple new friends! I have a quick half day bus trip to Alajuela down pat for picking up my Aerocasillas mail from Miami and shopping at Walmart and Pricesmart (Costco) and sometimes trying a new restaurant. I know how to get to San Jose in an hour by bus, visit Association of Residents of Costa Rica, the U.S. Embassy, a hospital and doctors office for a physical, and to get a rental car at the airport. I’m even comfortable driving here!

My Residency Application is in process with a Cedula by early next year and earlier if I’m lucky. I now have private medical insurance here and just in time to cancel my stateside Medigap Insurance as it doubled in price. I have a bank account and learning to use it and maybe online banking soon! (In Spanish!) I have my SS Check scheduled for deposit here in this account starting in June to more easily pay my rent. Even with lots of extra moving expenses, I’m spending less money than I did living at McKendree Village Retirement Center. I have a good cellphone service and know how to use it and get service and even use it to read books with the Kindle App when away from home. Internet and TV service is better here than the apartments (different company, CABLETICA) and I’ve got auto-debit payment worked out for that. I get Netflix when I want to watch a movie which is seldom. I read more now. I’ve been in a new house for a month now with a beautiful flower garden and extra trees planted.

I’ve been to Nicaragua to renew my visa once and will again in June just so I can drive if needed with my Tennessee license. I will get a Costa Rica driver license when I am an official resident. I’ve visited multiple tourist places in Central Costa Rica and ready to show guests around (thanks to Kevin for helping me learn!). And I’ve started unpacking the boxes I shipped and planning to give away a lot more stuff! Retirement in Costa Rica is good! Pura Vida! And I have fun telling about it in this blog! More than 60 people get it by email and another 50+ are reading it online daily, so there must still be some interest in retiring in Costa Rica. Thanks to the encouragement so many friends have given me to keep writing this. So I will. But will keep trying to not be so long-winded!   🙂

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Blue-gray Tanager

Blue-gray Tanager in my Yellow Bells Tree
It is the fattest, bluest, and grayest I have seen of this species.

Singing for me! I’m surrounded by bird music all day!

If into birds, here’s a List of the Birds of Costa Rica (894) and of course they are not all big colorful toucans, macaws and parrots, but we have those too! This tanager was shot during lunch on a cloudy, gray, overcast day.

And oh yes, I forgot to tell you that a hummingbird got into my house the other day. I was so busy opening screens so he could get out that I didn’t get a photo before he flew away. They are occasional visitors in my garden, though not as many as the butterflies. And a some of the flower blooms are gone now for awhile, so it will be up and down. 

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Inca Dove

Inca Dove on my balcony at breakfast this morning.
Looks like a wood carving doesn’t he? 

Then when he flies you see the rufous wings. A fun new bird for me.

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The Central Sierra

The mountain range I watch daily from my balcony includes Grecia, Sarchi, and Poas Volcano. A five-shot panorama.
It is La Cordillera Central or in English, The Central Sierra (a jagged mountain range)
As always, CLICK PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW

 

I live in Costa Rica’s Central Valley (link is to a map) though if you visit you would say I live in the mountains. It is kind of both. I’m in the little mountains or hills of the big central valley surrounded by two huge mountain ranges, the big mountains with volcanoes and cloud forests, much higher than Atenas hills.

I chose to live here rather than some of the most beautiful beaches in the world because of the weather (70’s and 80’s year-around in Atenas while beaches are hot and humid year-around), the central location is also for me to eventually visit all the national parks, the closeness to San Jose and some of best hospitals in the world, and more shopping and entertainment possibilities nearby in San Jose and Alajuela. Also, the small town atmosphere and friendliness, laid-back way of life, no car required, just an hour and a half bus ride from a beach is perfect for me. I’m really not “a beach person,” as some here claim to be. I’m more of a “nature person,” if you please, and nature is everywhere in Costa Rica!

Once my nest is comfortably feathered in the central valley, I expect to be all over the country in some of the special nature places. Right now I’m enjoying the nature in my yard and nearby places, learning the language, and adapting to a new culture and government! Takes time! And I really enjoy sharing my experiences in this blog, whether anyone reads it or not! It is one of my creative outlets now. And yes, I’m living a dream! I consider myself one of the most fortunate persons in the world to be here and leave all the old junk of my life back in the states and my dim memories. It is a happy last chapter of a 74 year old living in Costa Rica!