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Costa Rica

FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
edited March 2012 in Strut Central
We're going to move to San Jose this summer... never been to any Latin American country before so we're very excited.

Have any of you stayed/lived there before?

I'll probably fly down there in a couple of months to look for a house or apartment, what are good neighborhoods to live in? I'm going to be away quite regularly so safety would also be an issue.

And lastly, is it possible at all to drive down there by car? Maybe go down the Baja California to avoid the worst roads through Northern Mexico or would this just be too much of a risk? There are few things I enjoy more than taking a long road trip and this one could be epic...

  Comments

  • minimini 880 Posts
    Good choice for a country to live in, was there 5 weeks in 2000 (only one night in San Jose tho). Nice people, nice climate and beautiful landscape.

    I have a friend who??s from Costa Rica (but has lived in Finland for 15+ years). I??ll try to ask some info from him.
  • AlGarthAlGarth 353 Posts
    Visited Costa Rica a few years ago. My recollection of San Jose was that it was not the best place to be (crime etc..). I'm sure it's just like anywhere else, good parts and bad parts. Be prepared for lots and lots of rain.
  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    Thanks for the input.
    I actually love tropical rain and just over 2.000 hours of sunshine per year sounds pretty sweet to me...

    I wonder what the digging will be like... I heard that all the Panama stuff was pressed in San Jose and Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama are al close by and relatively safe to travel (from what I was able to find out).
  • discos_almadiscos_alma discos_alma 2,164 Posts
    Frank said:

    I wonder what the digging will be like... I heard that all the Panama stuff was pressed in San Jose and Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama are al close by and relatively safe to travel (from what I was able to find out).

    Costa Rica is a fantastic jump-off place for digging in Central America, and I bet you will do quite well there with stuff from all over (Caribbean things included). Panama is quite rough in the digging department, as all the radio stations have been pilfered by now and the existing shops are basically garbage heaps at this point. However, I'm sure with your brazen methods you will be able to turn some nice things up from private collections. I'm looking forward to it!
  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    i spent time in tamarindo CR last year and i've been looking for a way to get back/move there ever since. seafood and surfing, and admittedly touristy because of that. wonderful place, pretty accomodating to the gringo, and the perfect speed of life. now is the time to get in and buy there if that's your plan. i've been following property values there for some time and i've watched a few potential investments jump back up in value already with the slowly rebounding american economy.

    travelling between countries is a little more difficult than you've been informed. it's super easy to get INTO a country like panama, but to get back into CR requires forking over a lot of receipt-free donations to guys carrying machine guns.
  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    vintageinfants said:
    i spent time in tamarindo CR last year and i've been looking for a way to get back/move there ever since. seafood and surfing, and admittedly touristy because of that. wonderful place, pretty accomodating to the gringo, and the perfect speed of life. now is the time to get in and buy there if that's your plan. i've been following property values there for some time and i've watched a few potential investments jump back up in value already with the slowly rebounding american economy.

    travelling between countries is a little more difficult than you've been informed. it's super easy to get INTO a country like panama, but to get back into CR requires forking over a lot of receipt-free donations to guys carrying machine guns.

    Buying a place to later retire to is not at all out of the question actually... this stay will be for 3-4 years though and we'll have to rent something in San Jose. My wife's job pays for this and we have a generous budget so we expect to get something decent.

    I'm not at all worried about crossing borders. I've spent years traveling all over West Africa, to a good part by land and not once paid a single bribe to any of the countless uniforms who tried to get paid. One of the big advantages of traveling with a diplomatic passport and having dipl. licence plates on your car, they can't even make you pop the trunk...
  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    musica said:
    Panama is quite rough in the digging department, as all the radio stations have been pilfered by now and the existing shops are basically garbage heaps at this point. However, I'm sure with your brazen methods you will be able to turn some nice things up from private collections. I'm looking forward to it!

    Yeah, I guess I should still be able to turn up something... after all I was told the exact the same thing about Ghana before I first went there...
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