December in Costa Rica

Sunshine Returns

It is been interesting to go through the rainy season, which some Ticos call “winter”.

Everyday we get a little more sunshine with less rain with each passing day. No more days of 10 inches of downpour with the following day bringing 8 inches! We do appreciate how those hard rains replenish the rivers and water tables though. And here in the Southern Zone, it always stays green. Now that we are coming near the end of our first year here, we know more what to expect of our new home of Costa Rica.

 

Jungle Waterfall and Swimming Pool

That really is us, not just a advertisement.

It truly is an adventure many days, sometimes just little things like a new critter comes across our path, swimming in a jungle river or unusual migrating birds showing up for the first time in our yard. Or we go to town and discover they are having a celebration and parade for events we are clueless about. Ticos love their parades! We are finding and using more unusual produce at the market and learning more Spanish. We hired a local young lady, a Tica, to teach us Spanish. She is happy to have the job and we are thrilled to have her help.  It has been frustrating to learn new Spanish words that aren't used here, so we are turning to a local expert!! 

We have a Tico friend that likes to take us to out of the way restaurants, always introducing us to new places worth going back to. These are places we would never find on our own because they are either very remote or hidden. Gratefully we have a Garmin in which we can save new locations so we can easily go back to gems.

Mini Vacation From Our Mountain Retreat

We were able to spend an impromptu weekend get-away at a gorgeous home about an hour away. This house is on the market for 1.4 million, way beyond our lifestyle. What a treat that was, we made new friends, the owner played his accordion after an amazing dinner on their incredible huge octagon veranda and the next morning we had a lovely breakfast in the jungle overlooking the Pacific with Norm, Gina and Victor.

Just one view of Victor's lovely home, Pacific in background

(hard to tell where ocean is and horizon starts)

 

"We Will Be Right There!"
The following week we got another call from Norm and Gina, saying to meet them at another special location and stay for the night in luxury accommodations. During those two days we discovered 2 great Pacific beaches, 3 excellent restaurants, 1 beautiful waterfall with a large pool for swimming below and swam in the warm water of the resort pool. Thank you to our friends to inviting us. It was an amazing time, great place to stay and incredible discoveries. We are just getting to know Norm and Gina, they were Rocky Gardens' farm members and when we announced to our farm members we were moving to Costa Rica, they started keeping track of our adventure. They too are preparing to move down here when retirement comes.

Jungle Retreat, Villas Alturas

 New discovery, a beach that is fantastic and close by

 Being from the Great Lakes area, it is amazing to us how warm the Pacific is.

  Truly incredible!  Next time we are taking boogie boards!

 

 

The end of a beautiful day at the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica!

Community Center

The Community Center is beginning to take shape nicely. We now can see where the kitchen, bathrooms, office/classrooms and large community area will be. It is huge!! We have new neighbors along with visitors renting in Serenity that have brought smiles, laughter and good party celebrations. Life is indeed Pura Vida. Oh yes, we are happy with our move to Costa Rica!