We were excited to be moving into our new "home" in Roca Verde, Atenas. We rented the lower unit of a duplex for 3 months since our plan was to go to Ecuador in May for 4 to 6 weeks. We are exploring different countries in order to determine where we would prefer to spend 7 to 8 months of the year.
Our new home is small and perfect for just the two of us. We have a pool and the view is great! We are happy that it is walking distance to the center of town.
We also have a nice terrace and a rancho with a BBQ.
Hotel Kekodi, where we were staying, includes breakfast. They offer a small breakfast buffet including beans and rice, toast with butter and jam, cereal, fruit, coffee and juice. You can order eggs and other items "a la cart" if you wish to pay for it. The outdoor breakfast area was in the courtyard.
The view of the gardens from the tables was picturesque.
Before visiting Granada, we heard there was a popular market in a nearby city. We couldn’t remember the name of it and when speaking with another couple who were also in Granada for their 90 day Costa Rica "visa run" not only did we find out the name of the market, but we were invited to share a taxi with them since they were planning on going to the market that morning.
The market is in the town of Masaya, about 20 or 30 minutes from Granada. Although it is a very large market, many of the items being sold are household items including beautiful pottery, etc, and since we no longer have our own home, we are not in the market for these types of items. We managed to get a great deal on t-shirts since we purchased 15 of them to give to someone in Granada who distributes them to the street children.
I tried on some clothes and didn’t find anything I liked. Change rooms are generally squeezed into a back corner of a stall and are very basic. I’m behind the red curtain with the yellow flowers.
I managed to get a picture of Randie at the restaurant in the market where we had lunch.
Before hopping in the taxi to go back to Granada, Randie took a picture of the entrance to the market.
On our way back to Granada, we took the same taxi since the taxi driver waited for us. The car was in very rough shape and as we were travelling on the highway, one of the ties blew. Thankfully, the driver was skilled enough to safely pull over at the side of the road. Since there wasn’t much space and the road wasn’t flat, he was having a very difficult time jacking up the car because it kept slipping in the ditch. All the guys where trying to keep the car from sliding. In the end, another taxi driver was flagged down and he had a much better jack that made it easier for the tire to be changed. When you see a close up of the replacement tire, you’ll know why the one on the car blew.
Once we were safely back in Granada we decided to go for a walk around the town. We noticed there were several horses and carriages to transport tourists who didn’t want to walk or who wanted a romantic experience. We chose to continue walking.
On one of the side streets we saw a place where young people were taught how to make hammocks. This was a center that was working to keep children off the streets by teaching them a trade. The hammocks are beautiful and there are rows and rows of different colors and designs.
Here is a video of some of the young people making the hammocks. They work very fast.
Granada is known for its colonial buildings.
We ended the day by going for dinner near the center square where there are several restaurants to choose from. The poverty in this country was very apparent as we had about 40 people (children and adults) come to our table during our meal either trying to sell us something or asking for food or money. We gave one young boy money in exchange for a rose he made out of palm leaves. We also invited another young boy to sit at our table to eat some rice. It’s hard to see so much poverty and even though we contributed to a few people, we know we can’t help them all.
We’ve been in Costa Rica since the beginning of November and we had to leave the country since the maximum amount of time you can stay is 90 days. The amount of time you need to be out of the country is more dependent on the custom’s agent you end up with than the laws. We’ve heard about people who crossed the border into Panama or Nicaragua, for example, and then walked around and came right back into Costa Rica or had lunch across the border and then came back. We’ve also heard about people who tried this and were told they had to be out a minimum of 3 days. Since our new rental home would not be available until February 1st, we decided to stay in Nicaragua for 5 nights. We chose to take the executive TransNica bus that left at noon from San Jose. There is also an economy bus that leaves at various times throughout the day. We were told the executive bus had larger seats and more legroom and it also included a meal. There is another bus company that people use to go to both Nicaragua and Panama called TicaBus. They also have economy and executive buses. From what we heard there isn’t much difference between the two so it depends on the time you want to travel.
Since we wanted to go to the Canadian Embassy before the bus station, we took a bus from Atenas to Sabana Sur (west part of San Jose) and then took a taxi to the Embassy a few blocks away. We took another taxi to the TransNica bus station…not a fancy place.
We heard so many horror stories of long line ups at the border to exit Costa Rica and then more long lines on the Nicaragua side to get through customs. Many people told us how uncomfortable it was to wait so long in the heat and several people told us they waited in lines for up to 3 hours. We were very fortunate when we got to the Costa Rican border since there was no line up and everyone was processed within about 20 minutes.
It’s true what people say about money changers trying to sell you Nicaraguan currency called the "Cordoba"on the Costa Rican side. When we got off the bus to get our passports stamped to exit the country, we had to walk through about 20 money changers who were flashing money and crowding around the door of the bus. We just kept saying, "No, gracias" and kept walking.
We learned in advance not to exchange money on the Costa Rican side since the exchange rate is usually not as good and the U.S. currency is accepted everywhere in Nicaragua, even in the outdoor markets.
When we arrived at the Nicaraguan border we had to get our luggage from under the bus and put it on long tables that were lined up outside. We had to open our suitcases and bags and a custom agent looked very briefly at the contents before telling us we could go. We also had to give our passports to the bus driver who took them inside to get them all stamped. We waited around until someone came out with all the passports and as they called your name, you picked up your passport and then got on the bus. Again, we were fortunate that our time at the border was not long (about 45 minutes) and since it was later in the day (around 5:30 pm when we got there) it was cooler and comfortable standing outside.
We arrived at our hotel in Granada around 7pm. After checking Trip Advisor and asking everyone we knew in Costa Rica about places to stay, we chose Hotel Kekoldi. They offered good rates, had good reviews on Trip Advisor and we heard from people we knew that it was a clean and nice, (not fancy) hotel that was walking distance to the center of town. It also had hot water and air conditioning. We heard it was very hot in Nicaragua and unless you really like the heat it would be best to have air conditioning. Our rate also included breakfast.
Here are a few photos of the hotel. Once you walk inside, there is a large foyer and then a courtyard in the middle with rooms along the sides. Our room had 2 queen sized beds and a TV and wireless Internet. We were very happy with it.
I was delighted when my friend Grace decided to come and visit us during her Christmas break. This was her first trip to Costa Rica and she was the first person to take us up on our offer to come for a visit and to stay with us. Another person we met recently while in Toronto also arrived in Costa Rica the same day as Grace and since he was on the same flight, I went to the airport with Jurgen (the owner of
Here is Grace walking out of the airport in San Jose.
Since we only had room for one guest and since I’ve known Grace for about 30 years, she was given our extra room and Bill didn’t mind booking another room at the same hotel. He was only planning on staying for one night since he wanted to tour around the country.
Once Grace and Bill got settled in, they decided to come with us to see a potential rental. We were still looking for a place to stay from January until May. Although it turned out that the place we looked at wasn’t available for the entire time we needed it, we took photos for future reference. There were two rental units, one was a one-bedroom unit and the other one below it was a studio apartment. It was next to the owner Vera’s beautiful house and if we rented it, we would have access to her pool. The views from this place were spectacular!
This is Vera’s house and the rental units next to it.
Photos of the inside of the upper one-bedroom unit are below:
Here are photos of the lower studio apartment:
From Vera’s home we all went for dinner at La Trilla restaurant. Cynthia, someone we met recently in Atenas joined us.
Since we made arrangements to look at a house rental in Vista Atenas, we decided to drop by our favourite B&B in the area and visit the owner, Vera and the manager, Jonathan. We were happy that Vera was home and disappointed the Jonathan was not around. Achilles, their dog was happy to see Randie.
Vista Atenas B&B has a breathtaking view and is a great place to stay. They have regular hotel type rooms, each with a bar fridge, 2 efficiency apartments and a 1 bedroom house for rent. We’ve stayed here a couple of times over the last few years and loved it. Not only are the accommodations great but both Vera and Jonathan are very friendly and helpful.
Jonathan went out of his way to go to San Jose before we arrived in Costa Rica last month to purchase a bus ticket for us leaving within 90 days of our arrival in Costa Rica. He then sent us a scanned copy so we could show it if required at the airport. I don’t know what we would have done without his help. We would have chosen to stay here again during this trip, however since we are staying much longer than in the past, we really wanted to rent a house with 2 bedrooms so our friends and family can come to visit and stay with us.
We are enjoying our time here at Hotel Colinas del Sol. Although it is called a Hotel, it has more than the standard hotel rooms. As I mentioned before, we are renting a 2 bedroom house on the property and there are also efficiency apartments available (rooms with a kitchenette). We finally took a photo of the entrance to the property from the main road and also of Jurgen, the owner.
Here is a photo of a beautiful tree located near the reception area.
We were very sad to see another very old tree chopped down because it was damaged by a heavy rain storm.
Here are a few more photos of the grounds at Colinas del Sol. You can see some of the accommodations in the background of the pool. Our house is a short walk to the pool although it is not visible from the pool area.
We were planning on leaving San Jose the morning of November 4th. While having breakfast, we were informed by the hotel receptionist (who booked our taxi the previous day) that the road to Atenas, our next destination, was blocked by mudslides so it would be impossible for us to get there. We were also told there were no rooms available for us to stay another night at
El Sesteo. Just after booking another place to stay that was recommended by our friend Barbara (who we met the last time we were in Atenas), we were told the roads were now open again and we could now go to Atenas.
Talk about living in the moment. Our situation was changing quickly giving us many opportunities to practice staying in a place of peace no matter what was going on around us. We ended up leaving for Atenas around 10:00 a.m. and went to the home of our friend Barbara who graciously invited us to stay with her until we found a more permanent place to stay.
Later in the afternoon, Andrew, a Real Estate agent working with Re/Max in Atenas took us to look at a few possible houses to rent. He graciously dropped us off atHotel Colinas del Sol so we could look at a 2 bedroom house that our friend Barbara found and thought we might be interested in. We loved this little house and although it is only available for November and December we decided we would move in the next day, trusting we would find another home when we needed it.
We actually stayed at Hotel Colinas del Sol a few years ago when we first visited Atenas. We only stayed for one night since we were looking for a place with a kitchenette and we were told they didn’t have any. We now know that they have a variety of accommodations here ranging from rooms that would resemble a typical hotel room, to rooms with kitchenettes to various houses. When we were told there were no rooms with kitchenettes the person speaking with us must have meant those rooms were already booked.
Here are some photos of the house we are currently renting:
Here is the view from our living area and terrace:
We are loving it here and will continue to post all of our experiences.
Now that we’ve been back in Costa Rica for awhile, let me begin to share our experiences so far. We left Toronto on Monday, November 1st. We were very happy that we arrived 2 hours before our flight was departing since getting through customs was not as smooth as it has been in the past. First of all, since we made an error while trying to get my boarding pass online the day before, I had to get my boarding pass at the airport. I did not know until going through the final security check that my passport was marked "SSSS" flagging me for a thorough search. Every zipped pocket of my backpack along with my personal items were opened up and checked.
While I was undergoing the "search" Randie was being questioned about the contents of his carry-on luggage. It contained our new, portable water filtering system that creates Alkaline water. We did not want to leave it behind. Since there were traces of water in the tubes inside the unit, Randie was told he could not bring it on board as a carry on and he had to go back out to the check-in counter and check the bag. We got to our gate just as they started the boarding.
Once we arrived in San Jose and got our bags, we looked for the ICE counter where we were told we could get a SIM card for my unlocked iphone. This turned out to be easier than we expected and we were very happy to get a SIM card along with minutes installed, activated and ready to go, all for about $20.00. (We heard it was much easier to get SIM cards and cell phones at the airport than anywhere else in the country.)
We previously arranged dental appointments for later in the afternoon with Dr. Castro (crown and implant specialist) and for the next day with Dr. Anglada (implant specialist) who arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport and take us to our hotel. We had work done with both of these dentists during our trip to Costa Rica earlier this year and they are both excellent and well trained dentists who speak English.
We chose to stay at Apartotel El Sesteo rather than the House of Connections where we stayed last year because we expected to stay for only one night and we could walk from the hotel to the dental clinic across the street. The House of Connections is a better place to stay if you want to be closer to shopping and if you want more personal care while undergoing medical or dental treatment.
Our first night we had a nice room on the second floor overlooking the pool and jacuzzi. We ended up staying 3 nights since Randie needed more dental work than expected. At first we were told the hotel was booked and we would have to look for another place to stay. In the end, someone cancelled their reservation and although we had to change rooms, we were grateful to be able to stay at the same hotel.
Dr. Anglada performed my implant surgery on November 2nd. I was given regular strength pain pills that I was told to take 3 times a day for about a week and was also given some extra strength pills, just in case the pain was more severe. Since I prefer alternative solutions rather than pharmaceuticals, I only took the regular strength pain pills the day of my surgery and chose to use our Energy Healing Wand several times throughout the following days. Not only did I not feel any pain at all, I also did not have any swelling or bruising.
We’ve been enjoying our regular morning walks around Roca Verda. Yesterday we met a couple from Toronto, Carlo and Sharon, who recently purchased a home in this development and are currently furnishing it. This is a vacation home for them since they are not in a position yet to move out of Canada. We met them again during our walk this morning so we all walked together.
During the walk we shared information with one another about the work we are all involved with. When we told them about the Energy Healing Device we’ve been playing with, Sharon told us that she had a pain in her shoulder since before they arrived in Costa Rica about a week ago. At the end of our walk they came to our rental home and since they didn’t have a lot of time, I gave Sharon a short “wanding” session that lasted less than 5 minutes. Before the session Sharon said her pain level was at about a 7 (10 being the worst). After the session she told me her pain was gone. I wish I recorded the whole session on video so I could capture the surprised look on her face.
Later in the day we had the opportunity to look at the house that was for rent that Ron told us about last week. Although it is a wonderful house (with a pool) the rent was higher than what we wanted to pay (asking $1200/mth for 8 month term) . The house is also for sale. If you have an interest in purchasing or renting this h0me, you can contact the owners Sonia or Albert at: albertandsonia@comcast.net
Here are some photos of the house beginning with the 2 bedrooms and TV room upstairs
Roca Verde Development was built in two phases. Our walk during the last couple days has been around Phase 2 where our house is located. We can start in one direction at the end of our driveway and walk up and down and around Phase 2 and end up at our house coming from the opposite direction.
Today we decided to check out Phase 1. I wasn’t sure if I could walk all the way around Phase 1 since there were much steeper areas to climb. I was willing to give it a try and see how far I could go. I was very happy to not only get through all of Phase 1 (with several stops along the way) but we also walked around Phase 2.
We met another couple living in the area who are from Montreal. They said they go for walks every morning and every night. Perhaps one of these days we’ll also go at night. For now, our morning routine is enough for me.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
