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| The most appealing veranda in the world for birdwatching and poolside lounging in Atenas, Costa Rica. See the still-active rental link here. |
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Today’s photos are from the post from August 2, 2017, while in Atenas, Costa Rica. See the link here for more photos.
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| Tom is as content as he could be at La Perla de Atenas |
We stayed at Bev and Sam’s gorgeous villa in Atenas, Costa Rica, only three years ago. We met the lovely couple while in Kauai, Hawaii, in 2015. We’d been to their beautiful home in Kauai, a former botanical garden, as shown in the links below.
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| The bed and bedding in the master bedroom were very comfortable. |
To see their fantastic property in Kauai, click on each of these two posts here and here, where we took many photos while visiting their home for “Movie Night.”
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| In most cases, we’ve stayed in vacation homes with water views. But, the valley and mountain views in Atenas were all we needed at that point. |
By coincidence, our first Movie Night was on our 20th wedding anniversary. But with many friends we’d made arriving for their event, we decided to celebrate our anniversary on another night.
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| The massive grounds are landscaped and maintained to perfection. |
On other occasions, we visited Bev and Sam at their home. Since our place in Princeville was too small for entertaining guests, I insisted on bringing homemade dinner and dessert on one occasion.
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| Lush vegetation and greenery on the grounds surrounded us by the mountains, hills, and valleys. The property is located at an elevation of approximately 4000 feet (1219 meters). |
While visiting on one occasion, they shared that they’d recently purchased a fabulous property in Costa Rica, and if in the future, we ever wanted to rent it, they’d give us the “friends and family” discount.
After completing the stunning Costa Rica property, it was about a year later that we rented it for almost four months. We cherished every day and night in the fabulous property.
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| We didn’t have trouble finding grass-fed beef in Costa Rica if these skinny cattle are any indication. The meat from grass-fed cows is tough but so much healthier. |
Costa Rica allows US citizens to visit for 90 days. Subsequently, we had to do a border run for the fourth month. We flew to Managua, Nicaragua, staying at a nice hotel and seeing a few sites for a weekend. However, that trip wasn’t particularly memorable. We were happy to return to the villa a few days later.
While living there, we only had a rental car for a few weeks, off and on. The cost of renting a car in Costa Rica was outrageous, but taxi fares were relatively affordable. We’d planned long road trips for those times when we had a rental car and used a taxi for shopping and local sightseeing. It all worked out well.
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| With thick cushions to use for these chairs, we certainly managed a daily dose of Vitamin D. |
The highlight of our time at the villa was bird watching. The property, located in a canopy of massive trees and vegetation, left us constantly looking for stunning birds we’d never seen anywhere in the wild.
If you scroll through our archives from August to November 2017, you’ll see some of the unique birds we enjoyed while situated on the fabulous veranda, often spending hours in the pool and hot tub, day after day.
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| Fantastic kitchen with two islands. |
Without a doubt, it was the most beautiful pool-time we’ve spent anywhere in the world, besides the infinity pool abutting the ocean in Sumbersari, Bali, in 2016.
Although we only had a few social engagements with locals in Costa Rica, we thoroughly enjoyed our alone time poolside and constant bird watching, walking through the cultural village of Atenas and the local park. It was a memorable time.
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| Evening pool and veranda view. |
Gosh, we’d certainly love a place with a private pool right now. We need some Vitamin D and a little color on our pale skin after months indoors.
So it goes. We carry on with hope. We pray you are hopeful as well!
Photo from one year ago today, August 2, 2019:
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| Sunset across the bay in Connemara, Ireland. For more photos, please click here. |