Brought to You by Package Costa Rica
March 2008
Traveling
Turrialtico Mountain Lodge and the Rio Pejibaye.
By: Scott Bowers
Editor, The Costa Rica Zine
I have written before about the amazingly beautiful area known as Turrialba (article appeared in the April 2007 issue of The Zine). Recently I had another great experience in this natural wonderland.
The place is known as Turrialtico Mountain Lodge and it is located just a few minutes from downtown Turrialba. I had stayed here once before, and this recent experience reminded me what a wonderful place this is to visit. I thought I had to share my experience with readers of The Costa Rica Zine. More specifically, Turrialtico is located on the slopes of the mountains that you must past if you are traveling from Turrialba to Limon, on the road to Siquirres. It is a small and rustic lodge with incredible views of the valley below (See photo above). The place is very affordable with rooms in the $60 per night range. We arrived late and I was starved. Let me tell you the food in the restaurant was delicious, as was the breakfast the next morning. Another thing that really stood out was how comfortable the beds were.
The management of this little place really knows how to make you feel at home. While eating breakfast we were watching Montezuma Oropendulas flying about. These are beautiful tropical birds that have a very unique nest (see photo at left). I would highly recommend Turrialtico as a place to stay in the area. For those of you who want something a bit fancier, there is the nearby Casa Turire, which is 4-star and a bit more luxurious than the rustic Turrialtico. I wrote about Casa Turire in the previous Turrialba article. Both places are highly recommended.
Rio Pejibaye
One of the main attractions of this area (there are many, such as the Turrialba Volcano and Rio Pacuare) is the beautiful Rio Pejibaye. Rio Pejibaye is less known for rafting than the nearby Reventazon and Pacuare rivers. Nevertheless it is a beautiful place to visit. The day we were there was during Holy Week and many locals were enjoying the cool clear waters of the river. It is a great river for swimming (there are many deep spots with rocks that you can climb and jump off of you are daring enough, or just watch the locals do it) or you can just sit back and enjoy the natural beauty of the place. It is also a great place to go biking as well. The next time I go there I am going to see how the river fares for tubing (I did see some locals enjoying this activity). I used to take my kids tubing in the Blue Ridge Mountains and boy did we love it. It appeared as if the Pejibaye would be a great tubing river. There is a neat little family-run restaurant near the river where you can catch your own Tilapia and they will cook them for you (Que Rica!). And this place has the most sugar cane that I believe I have seen anywhere in Costa Rica. The hills are blanketed with sugar cane fields that in some areas have big sections carved out as if some great giant came along with his scythe and cut it down.
I reiterate my recommendation of Turrialba as one of the “off the beaten path” and truly special places of Costa Rica. You will not have to worry too much about tourist crowds around this place. The natural beauty of the place is really something to behold. Don’t miss it!
Investment
Central Valley Highland Jewels: Grecia, Sarchi, Zarcero, Atenas and San Ramon.
By: Scott Bowers
Editor, The Costa Rica Zine
This series on the Central Valley would not provide a complete view of its investment potential without mentioning these “highland jewels”. Each of these small towns are located an hour and a half or less from San Jose and offer spectacular views, great weather and a laid back style of life. This will be the last article on the Central Valley, before we move on to the other great investment areas of Costa Rica.
Atenas
Atenas is on the main route to Jaco and the beaches of the Central Pacific. It is only about 45 minutes from San Jose and a little over an hour from the ocean. Because of its location and also due to the beautiful mountains that surround it, Atenas has become a popular place for North Americans looking to retire or relocate to Costa Rica. In fact there are many beautiful homes in the hills around Atenas already and the property market in this area is vibrant. Property values have surged in recent years. This makes Atenas the most expensive of the Highland Jewels discussed in this article. Atenas has boasted to have the best climate in the world (the legend is that this was established years ago by National Geographic, but NG denies to have ever made such a claim). I really don’t see how the climate is much different from San Jose, or Grecia and Sarchi discussed below. It is considerably warmer than what you would find in Zarcero, which is at a much higher altitude. A new highway is currently under construction that will allow folks traveling to Jaco and the beaches of the Central Pacific to bypass Atenas. This may have the effect of pushing prices up in Puriscal, where the highway will pass and depressing prices in Atenas. However, there are plenty of other good reasons to buy in Atenas and these won’t be going away as a result of the highway. That said, in my opinion right now better buys can be had at the other locations discussed herein.
San Ramon
San Ramon is a beautiful and pretty nice-sized town on the Pan American Highway. One of the main routes to the Arenal volcano traverses the city. The volcano is only about an hour and a half away. Jaco beach is about the same distance as well. San Ramon is often known as the “city of the poets” and as the “city of the ex-presidents.” Not sure about the origin of the poets moniker, but many of our past presidents have come from this area. The area between San Ramon and La Fortuna is a beautiful lush and virgin cloud forest. San Ramon has been a little off the radar screen for investors, but there are plenty of good reasons to buy there. The town is large enough to have everything you need. It is located right off the Pan American Highway, which makes other locations of the country very accessible. The client is wonderful and the people are down to earth. There is a plenty of nature to enjoy in the San Lorenzo cloud forest very close by. Finally, since it is an as of yet unrecognized location for North American buyers, incredible deals can still be had in San Ramon.
Grecia
Grecia is the closest of these areas to San Jose. It is also one of the most thriving communities and only about five minutes from Sarchi, its sister city, and another of those we will mention in this article. Three things that come to mind about Grecia are coffee, sugar cane and one of the most impressive churches (see photo on the left), which remarkably is made completely of metal. The mountains surrounding Grecia are a haven for many North Americans who don’t want to be too far from San Jose, but want to enjoy a more peaceful environment than the capitol city offers. There are beautiful homes with spectacular views of the Central Valley that can be purchased in the $200,000 to $300,000 range. Grecia is a very busy small town where you can find most of the necessities of life.
Sarchi - Arts and Crafts Capital
Sarchi is close enough to Grecia that the two almost seem like one town. Sarchi is widely known as the arts and crafts and, moreover, the furniture capitol of Costa Rica. It is the home of the famous Chaverri Oxcart Factory where they make the beautifully crafted and ornamentally hand-painted oxcarts, the national labor symbol of Costa Rica. Homes in this area are very similar price wise to Grecia. I would consider the two areas to be on and the same as far as making an investment choice is concerned.
Zarcero
Zarcero is located in the province of Alajuela and at an altitude approaching 6,000 feet above sea level. This makes the coolest climate of all the location mentioned. Nights can get down right chilly and a home with a fire place is not a bad idea in Grecia. Zarcero is known for its diary products. The landscape is beautiful with rolling green hills speckled with black and white dairy cows. A famous landmark is the central park with sculptured hedges like the one pictured here. Zarcero is located a good hour and a half from San Jose. It is only about 30 minutes from Ciudad Quesada, which is one of Costa Rica’s larger cities (similar in size to San Ramon mentioned above). Because it is a little further away than Grecia and Sarchi, prices are not as high. You could buy a nice three bedroom house with a beautiful mountain view on an acre of land for less than $200,000.
Well there you have it, the Central Valley’s Highland Jewels. Any of these areas are ripe for investment. Some are little further along than others in terms of development of a property market. However, all offer great weather, beautiful scenery and peace and tranquility that you cannot find in San Jose, but close enough to be able to enjoy the amenities of the big city.
Tico Style
New Volcano Discovered in Costa Rica
By: Scott Bowers
Editor, The Costa Rica Zine
As if Costa Rica weren't already exotic enough, now scientists have confirmed the existence of a new volcano, known as Vulcán Porvenir. There were hints of its exitence as early as 2005 when infrared photography from Nasa indicated the presence of an enormous crater at the peak of Cerro Porvenir. The location is in dense cloud forest in the Parque Nacional del Agua Juan Castro Blanco located in San Carlos between the cities of Zarcero and Cuidad Quesada. The altitude of this new volcano (not really "new" since it has been there, hidden to human eyes, for about 2 million years) is 2,300 meters (7,360 feet). This makes it considerably higher than Arenal (at 1,640 meters), but smaller than Poas (at 2,700 meters). The crater is massive at 200 meters in diameter and 60 meters in depth (some 8 times larger than the crater of Turrialba).
The volcano is located in an area very inaccessible and normally covered in dense clouds. Scientist endured an 8 hour hike to the summit before making a dangerous descent into the crater to gather rock samples to determine its age. The volcano is located between the two very active faults known as the Congo and the Porvenir faults. Scientists confirmed that while vegetation indicated that an eruption has not occurred for 100s of years, there was clear evidence of past eruptions of considerable magnitude. Scientists do not believe that there is any imminent danger from this volcano.
Link to article in La Nacion (in Spanish): http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/marzo/08/aldea1454085.html
Advice
Welcome to My New and Improved Blog
Tiquicia: Living the Pura Vida Life
By: Scott Bowers
Editor, The Costa Rica Zine
After reading up on blogging I quickly realized how little I knew about the subject. Wow there is a lot to know about something that seems so simple......writing and posting to the web. Anyway, not to pooh pooh my previous Blogger.com experience, but I must announce (as if it weren't obvious) that I have moved my old blog, humbly known as The Costa Rica Expert, to Typepad because this platform seems to offer more robust features and my dream is to grow up one day to be a “real blogger.” For that reason I thought I needed a more powerful program...so sue me! Not being technically proficient enough to “import” my old posts to the new blog, I simply re-published all of them. I did this all in one day so all these old posts have the same posting date in my new Typepad blog. It is not because I all of a sudden became divinely inspired to write 20 new posts in one day. I decided not to re-publish the time sensitive ones so as not to offend any readers that are particularly irritable about this timing of posts thingy. Some of the older posts after republishing are a little (or maybe a lot for some of you getting on in the years, like me) hard to read...therefore just follow the link above back to the old blog to read them there if preferred.
The Blog is also a great way to stay up to date and gain insights on this incredible playground known as Costa Rica. Unlike the Ezine, which is published monthly, Blog posts are almost a daily occurrence (depending on how much Aguardiente Colombiano I drank the night before). Yes sometimes (but NOT always) the same articles appear in both (give me a break I am only one person here and I ain’t know Ernest Hemmingway!).
So stay tuned to both Tiquicia and The Costa Rica Zine and you too can become a Costa Rica Expert! Please read my new blog....and as always.....
Pura Vida Mae!
Scott Bowers, Editor