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Adventures in Paradise |
By Bob (Last name withheld to protect the "innocent")
Chapter Two
The Gringos are Here, Bob learns to fly ;)
(So are the ants)The gringos swiftly left their first rental house which they had described to those who wanted to know their location. This was to completely cover their tracks. It seemed to work for a while, but the smell of new gringos in town is like the smell of blood in the water to a shark and we have met something less than 200 ticos and gringo/ticos who sell real estate. Luckily we already have our own personal Costa Rica real estate agents to sort through all of those "offers" and "great deals"!While our nephew David was here we took him to an "adventure park" to observe some of the thrills of Costa Rica. One of the trills was riding the "Superman Cable" into the park. This consists of being suspended from a cable, 265 feet in the air and being thrown off the platform to travel a half mile in 38 seconds over the Tarcoles river. (This river has the most crocodiles per mile in Costa Rica) It's really quite simple, the only thing you have to do on the way down is watch for the guy with the red flags to start waving them at which time you simply hold out your arms to slow your airspeed for the landing. The only problem I had with my bad neck is the inability to raise my head high enough to see the dam flags! Anyway, I came in HOT as you would on a carrier deck at full throttle in case of a wave-off. The good news is that I have a new nickname of Rocketman and the back-up system does work so they didn't have to repair a hole in the abutment into which I would have landed if the backup system had failed. I have to work on my neck a little before the next ride.
30 DAY PROGRESS REPORT:
Still living in a rented a 3 bedroom, 2 bath Tico style house in Atenas, with phone and internet connection.
Last month completed immigration filing to achieve Pensonado status. Have received 1st receipt of acceptance meaning we are not tourists on a visa and not yet residents of Costa Rica, but were getting there.
Purchased an SUV (1997 Hyundai galloper diesel 4x4) last month and this month put on new tires, changed all belts and hoses, tune up
Requested more money from the states!
It took an extra week to get a license plate, because the govt. Facility which stamps the license plates ran out of metal.
Made offer on a 4 acre coffee plantation with a view of the city of Grecia (population 37,000) and the san jose metro area (population 250,000) was rejected, but the good news is that we found a better piece of property down the road a lower price, and a better view. We have placed an option to buy on this land. It is one hectare in size (2 ½ acres) in coffee with banana and six other fruit tree species. Property runs down a hillside from hard road to a river. The current owner’s family will continue to work the coffee and keep watch on our house when we are not there.
Joined American Legion post 16 in Heredia, Costa Rica.
Signed up for Spanish lessons at the school in town. And have completed two week so far.
Started Pilates lessons. Pilates is a program which has a striking resemblance to marine corps basic training, only the instructor does not wear a DI hat.
Signed up for TriCare at CIMA hospital which is the best private hospital in Costa Rica (or Latin America). Associated with Baylor medical school in Texas.
Two quotes which apply to our stay so far……
Margaret: “living in a Tico house is like upscale camping” and
From our nephew David: ”driving in Costa Rica is more like steering a boat in the states, you just try to avoid the obstacles”Time to sign off, but before i do, a short note on our improved diet. We have fresh fruit at least once a day, pineapple, papaya, mango, or bananas. I also consume grains everyday as well (usually in the form of cervesa otherwise known as beer). I’m sending this issue off a little early, because my boys are coming the first week of next month and between now and then, we need to get hold of an architect and take him out to our property for a site survey, get down to see our attorney in San José about settling on the property, get to the hearing aid guy so i can determine if those around me are really speaking Spanish or what and get to CIMA hospital to sign up for healthcare.
Signing off from paradise – pura vida (pure life)
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….Margaret and
I returned from town to discover that our neighbor Bill had some 4x4
lumber delivered. As we noted this from our front porch, we also noted
a couple thousand ants running up and down our driveway and away from
our house. I went next door to help Bill move his lumber and discovered
both he and his wife ankle-deep in fire (Army) ants inside of their house.
We have no idea why they decided to move their nests, but Bill didn't
have door sweeps and he woke up to find several thousand ants in his
house. The good thing about tico houses is that the floors are all ceramic
so his wife was hosing them down and he and I were sweeping them out
of the house with brooms.
NOTE TO SELF:.Next time fighting fire (army) ants, don't wear
shorts and sandals. When they bite, they inject a venom and that's how
they get the name fire ants. It burns like hell!!! Anyway, after about
an hour, we got them out of the house and off the front porch so I went
back home to discover another nest trying to get into my house. An hour
of water hose work drove them back until I shut off the water, then
they just started up again. I figured if I didn't get treatment for
the bites I might be in serious trouble so we went back to town and
drank some more beer - it worked 'cause when we got back, they were
all gone somewhere - not in our house. We asked the landlady if this
was common and although she speaks no english, I THINK she
said she never had this problem until she started renting to GRINGOS!!!!!!!!!!
Editors Note: Here in Costa Rica, we wage the "battle of the ants". Huge ants, teeny tiny ants and everything in between. What Bob has just described often happens when homes have been un-occupied for a time and is an amazing thing to see if you understand what is going on. The Ticos call them "house cleaners" and when the army ants show up it is time to leave the house for a day or 2, because the army ants come in and clean out every other bug, and they don't miss a thing, cracks and crevices where we cant clean, ceilings with spaces between the roof, and the list goes on! If the army ants come to your house, it means you probably already have some sort of infestation you may not even know about. It is interesting to see that when they appear, all the other ants grab what eggs they can and run for it. That is why Bob saw them "running up and down the drive" His house was the home (between the ceiling and roof) of another annoying type of large yellow/red ant which does not sting but live in groups in hidden spaces (like stereo speakers, etc) they destroy whatever they decide to nest in and come out at night to steal whatever they can find. Army ants come in, all the other ants head for the hills. The army ants do their thing, then leave, taking with them every ant, roach, house spider, or other bug, as well as their eggs and offspring, which is an amazing thing if you think about it... natural pest control. Most people however, freak out when they see the ants coming and begin to usher them out with brooms and bug spray. This usually works, but if you are somewhat of a naturalist as I am and can stay and watch, then stay somewhere else for a day or two, ...even better! You will not believe the show, be sure to keep your camera handy because NO ONE will believe you otherwise!
The good news for we foreigners who are not fond of bugs is that if you keep the population of other bugs down (especially large ants), you will probably never see the army ants.
The other alternative is to have the perimeter of your house sprayed with pyrethrums every 6 months or so. This keeps out the majority of unwanted critters.
Chapter 1: "The Gringos are Coming" Bob makes his escape from the "rat race"
Chapter 2: "The Gringos are here" (and so are the ants) Bob flies on the "Superman" cable.
Chapter 3: "The Gringos are here to stay" (and so are the ants)
Chapter 4: "The Gringos buy Property" Bob discovers retirement is not for sissies!
Chapter 5: "The Gringos design a house" (Bob tries to fly the normal way)
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