Homes for sale and homes for rent in Santa Ana, San José, Costa Rica | Newsletters

Weather:  We continue to have a dry "rainy" season. The recent Tico Times article said this is the dryest year for the past 20;  we have received less than half the average rainfall.  And last year set a 60 year record for being the wettest year.  We are irrigating nearly every day.  

Granada:  Granada was its same, wonderful, laid-back self.  Good restaurants, relaxing, and quietly fun.  Since we were with two other couples, neither of whom had been there before, we did some touristy things---one of which we had not previously done---take a boat trip around the nearby islands on Lake Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua).  Very nice....many of the islands had homes on them, some very elaborate homes.  Living on an island is a romantic notion but not very practical for most people, including us.  In addition to the private island, one island had some monkeys on it (Monkey Island) and one had a restaurant as well where we stopped for lunch.

The next day (Sunday) we hired a mini van from the hotel and went to various artisan towns, did our shopping, and ended up at the Masaya artisan market.  Great if you like shopping (I don't) but others did and they got some nice things--which the guys, of course, had to lug back.

The whole trip was uneventful (other than me nearly loosing my computer).  The hotel was busy with a CR karate group--Lita had fun with them--The downside was that they were a bit rowdy at night so some in the group had sleeping problems.

Granada seems to chug along.  Not much new construction or evidence of change or growth but it seems to be holding it's own. Shops and restaurants come and go.   There were a few tourists around. No power outages.

Residency Application:  I've been putting this off for several years hoping that a new, more streamlined system would be approved.  It wasn't so am now biting the bullet but have a negative assessment of smooth process.  The problem is that one has to pull together disparate documents from all over the world which must be issued by government bodies, reviewed and "authenticated" by the CR consulate responsible for the geographic area the document is issued, collated, and sent to (in our case) Ottawa, Canada, for processing.....and this all has to be done within not more than 6 mo.  It took us 8 mo. to get our marriage certificate from Canada and that was not "authenticated" by the CR consulate.  It took a similar time for Lita's citizenship card to be produced and returned to us.  We have all the documents but they are all out of date.....why a birth certificate has to be issued not more than 6 mo. from date of application is beyond me since the information never changes....but this is not a process one looks for logic in.  For 2 1/2 weeks I've been trying to contact the CR Consulate in Manila to see what the exact process is, who to contact, etc.  As of time of writing, I have had no response.....the published e-mail is not correct.  One of two phone numbers does not work.  The clarity of voice is such that I cannot understand a different e-mail address.  The fax contact connected 8 times but refused to accept a fax asking for a workable e-mail address......  This is just the beginning.  We may have gotten a break on this one, however, since a resident at Los Jardines is from Manila and has friends visiting in a few weeks.  We've sent everything to her friend who has recently undergone the same requirement.  Now it is time to focus on getting my birth certificate from Washington State and getting it authenticated by the CR consulate in Los Angeles.... and that is just the beginning... I searched for a company to do this since I couldn't develop a positive mind set.  A company specializing in this was slow to respond, incomplete in their responses, and VERY expensive.  I'll work through it myself with some legal assistance.  No one cares more about this than we do.  I just have be change my attitude from negative to "positive".

Cocooning: Since our return from Granada, we've stayed home--it feels great!!!  The cat has been sick, the car underwent significant work--rings, front brakes, transmission adjustment (a 3 year problem may be solved), and changing all the seals and master cylinder in the brake system--at some point in time, transmission fluid was added to the brake fluid---the braking system was not a happy camper.  The car was returned to me washed, waxed, motor thoroughly cleaned, inside vacuumed with a RETEVE sticker, it's good for another few years.  Added to this, a few beatings attributable to the adage that no good deed goes unpunished.......it was time for respite. .....and Lita had a hard week....an elder brother died and a niece seems to be developing the same eye disease Lita has...and we have recently befriended another person in mid stage of the same disease....and if that wasn't enough, we've had two close friends experienciemedical problems over the past several weeks......it was time for withdrawing and still is........

 
Brian, Lita, Hugo, irreverent Vicka, the pigeon toed parrot, and the newbies — Chico and Chica.

Brian C. Timmons, Newsletter Author
Residencias Los Jardines/Hacienda El Dorado - Developer
E-mail: brian@eldoradocostarica.com

For inquiries about availability of residences at Hacienda El Dorado or Residencias Los Jardines, contact:

Jan Kozak, Marketing Manager
Hacienda El Dorado
Rio Oro, Santa Ana
Costa Rica

Web: www.eldoradocostarica.com
E-mail: info@eldoradocostarica.com
MSN: jan.kozak.jr@hotmail.com
Skype: jan.kozak.jr

Tel (US) (+1) 647-477-5825
Cell: (+506) 8393-4666