Visiting another town in Costa Rica…Naranjo…Chatting with friends on Skype…

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 Basilica Nuestra Senora de las Piedade is one of the most beautiful Catholic temples in Costa Rica, unique in its Renaissance style, was built between 1924 and 1928.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Colorful flowers are blooming throughout the villa’s grounds.  Ulysses takes excellent care to ensure everything is perfectly groomed.

Naranjo is the capital city of the canton of Naranjo in the province of Alajuela in Costa Rica. It is also the name of the district that includes the city. The district of Naranjo covers an area of 25.75 km² and has a population of 19,760.

We visited Naranjo last week when we had the rental car hoping to see this well-known Catholic church. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we discovered the church was temporarily closed due to renovation. So instead, we wandered around the center of town and the local park, observing yet another community filled with friendly people.

Many towns in Costa Rica have Central Parks such as this in Naranjo.

From this site: 
“The town of Naranjo, settled in 1830, was originally known as “Los Naranjos” (the Orange Groves) due to the abundance of orange trees in the surrounding area. Although the name has been shortened and the amount of orange trees lessened, this city of 35,000 has remained an important agricultural hub for Costa Rica.

Set at the base of the Espírito Santo Hills in Costa Rica’s gorgeous Central Valley, the area surrounding the town is stippled with farms growing all kinds of crops– plantains, corn, tapioca, coffee, rice, beans, sugar cane, tobacco, and beef, to name a few.

On a recent road trip, we visited the town of Naranjo to see this church, the Basilica de Naranjo.

The coffee plantations are perhaps the best represented, and plantation tours are becoming increasingly popular among tourists. This fertile area is drained by the Grande Colorado, Molino, Barranca, and El Espino rivers, and, at an elevation of 3,398 feet (1,036 meters), the temperature is a consistently cool 68° F (20° C).

Each year a large festival honoring of the Virgin de Lourdes brings in visitors from all over the country to Naranjo. Additionally, there is an attractive baroque-style church in town that is worth checking out.
Many local citizens travel on foot to get to around town when cars are expensive and bus service is limited.
CIn the Alajuela province’s capitalcity of the canton Naranjo  Naranjo is 27 miles (44 km) from San José. The town of Sarchí, renowned for its abundance of fine handicrafts, is 3 miles (5 km) west. The road north leads to Ciudad Quesada and the Northern Lowlands, and is one of the country’s most picturesque drives. Other popular destinations, including Monteverde, Arenal, and Guanacaste, can be reached from here as well.”
The warmth and friendliness of the people of Costa Rica are evident wherever we may travel. They often smile when walking past us and many often say, “hola or Buenos Dias”. 
Interesting architecture.
There’s no doubt in our minds that in many countries locals can determine that we’re Americans. I’m not sure if there’s an “American look” but we must have it since even before we speak, it’s often presumed. 
Speaking of friendliness, after spending nine weeks in the USA this past summer and after seeing many of my girlfriends, I couldn’t go back to our lives of world travel without staying more closely in touch.
The clock is the correct time.

In these past two months since we left the US,  I’ve had the opportunity to speak with four of my long-time girlfriends on Skype.  No words can express how enjoyable this has been. Yesterday, I talked to my dear friend Colleen, who worked for me 35 years ago in real estate.

We’ve stayed in close touch by email and Facebook these past years. In 2013, while on a cruise in the Caribbean, I visited her in person when she lived on the island of St. Thomas for many years. 
The municipal building is located across the street from Central Park in Naranjo.
I was always impressed how she’d left her life in Minnesota behind to live on the exotic island for decades, never knowing at the time, that we’d do something similar. Over those many years, we easily stayed in touch by phone and later by email. 
We’d hope to see the interior of the church but it was closed due to renovations. So instead, mass is held outdoors on the grounds of the basilica.
However, we hadn’t talked since we visited St. Thomas on April 17, 2013, when St. Thomas was a planned port of call during the cruise. Click here for our post from that date. She’s since moved to Florida. 
We talked about the many hurricanes she experienced over the years in St. Thomas and the worry and concern she shared with other Floridians over the recent devastating hurricanes. Fortunately, her current home weathered the storm well and all is fine and good for her.
This historic outdoor altar is where church services are held while the church is under construction.
Tom walked with me to the center of town where Colleen and I planned to meet and went back to the ship on his own. Later in the day, he met me at a nearby fountain and walked back to the boat.  It was beautiful to see her then and equally excellent to chat on the phone yesterday.
Typical roadside scene.

We promised to stay in touch by phone in the future providing we have a good enough Wi-Fi signal.  Recently, with other friends I’ve done the same, spending time every so often chatting on Skype or now, Facebook’s own free voice chat module. 

My sister Susan and I have been talking every week, Julie less often and other family members as their schedules allow. But, in today’s world, we’ve found talking on the phone is less of a priority to younger generations when social media and texting play such a more significant role. 

Cattle near the road on a small farm.
Today, we’re staying in. We haven’t been able to use the pool for many days due to heavy thunderstorms with lots of lightning throughout most of the day. Of course, it’s still the rainy season (aka green season) which continues from May to November but we’re making the best of it, never letting the rainy days get us down. 
We’re content. We hope you are too!

Photo from one year ago today, September 27, 2016:

We lounged in this (one of many) cabanas overlooking the sea at Puri Bagus Lovina, in Bali with iced tea in hand and books to read on our phones as we continued the five-day process at the nearby immigration office to extend our visas.  For more details, please click here.

Busy days, lazy nights…Simple life in Costa Rica, using all of our senses…

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Rapids in the Rio Grande River. We’d have stopped for a video or better shot, but there was no shoulder at any point on the single-lane bridge, and other vehicles were waiting to cross.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Another fire right before our eyes in the valley.  We have no idea what they’re burning.

It’s rather stunning that each day, especially on the days I’m busy cooking for a few days, I can quickly get in 10,000 steps on my FitBit. When I consider the fact, I am sitting for quite some time preparing each day’s post and mostly sitting after dinner when we watch our shows, for the remainder of the day, I’m moving about this large house like a person on a mission.

Chickens and roosters on the rocks in Roca Verde

Purposely, I create opportunities to walk more often to maintain some level of fitness. Yes, I’d love to be walking on the road each day, but as mentioned in a few past posts, the road is outrageously steep and challenging to navigate based on the villa’s location. It’s just not fun for us.

Winding roads as we make our way down the mountain.

We’ve heard that a few neighbors navigate these roads, and we wish them well and commend them for doing so. But, the few people we’ve seen walking the hill don’t appear to be any more fit than the rest of us.

One lane bridge over the Rio Grande River.

Instead, we stay active when staying in, swimming in the pool on sunny mornings and walking as much as possible when sightseeing. I’m hoping today would be a pool day. Unfortunately, as I complete today’s post at almost 11:00 am, the sky fills with dark, ominous-looking clouds.

A turtle pair is sitting on a mossy grass ledge in the pond.

Yesterday afternoon Ulysses, our living-on-the-premises gardener, stopped by to tell us that we could hear the sounds of monkeys. All along, we thought those sounds were dogs howling nearby.  However, when the sounds continued for hours, we often wondered.

Suddenly, as is typical here in the rainy Central Valley, the clouds quickly roll in.

As Ulysses spoke, I didn’t know the Spanish word for a monkey called “mono” (mow-no). But, I was able to determine he was telling us to listen to certain sounds. Then, he made the universal gesture for monkeys. Can you guess what that is?  Yep, it’s the “scratching on the sides of one’s torso” and making an “O” with one’s mouth while breathing in and out, heavily and noisily. 

On occasion, we encounter a horse farm or…a farm with horses.

We laughed and praised Ulysses for being so conveniently adept in his description. So now our ears are tuned to those sounds, added to the roosters, the mooing cows and bulls, the endless array of birds, and the occasional drum beats, which are commonly heard in this area as kids practice local school.

We stopped at a roadside market but didn’t find anything that works for us.  Too much sugar and flour.

As avid amateur photographers, we often get caught up in the visual aspects of our surroundings when there’s so much more. I think in terms of Tom’s blind brother Jerome who “reads” our posts daily on his talking computer, and how much videos with sound must mean to him. 

Koi pond in Zarcera filled with turtles and fish.

Each day Tom edits the post removing all the photos sending them to Jerome by email. Tom never misses a day. It means so much to us that Jerry can travel along with us vicariously enjoying the simple nuances of our day-to-day activities, whether they’re significant or not. 

The reasonably priced items are typical Costa Rica snacks.

When the circumstances are right, taking a video while we talk and it must mean so much more to Jerry. I will make a point of doing more videos in the future, but here in Atenas, there are fewer opportunities for videos than there will be in upcoming months…Antarctica and then Africa.

Tom is always on the prowl for something sweet for a treat but rarely finds anything that appeals to him.

In our upcoming 30-night back-to-back cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Buenos Aires, embarking in 58 days, we’ll be going through the Panama Canal again. Surprisingly, we’re as excited to do this another time as we’d been in the past.

Koi ponds are popular in many parts of the world.

We’ll be thrilled to see the newly built additional locks being built during our first time on a cruise on January 4, 2013. At that point, we were less experienced in taking photos and videos. This time, we’re certainly looking forward to doing so with a bit more ability.

These sleeves of cashews were especially appealing to us. However, I don’t eat cashews since they are higher in carbs and sugar than almonds, walnuts, and pecans.

Ah, the thrills that lie ahead of us somehow make the quiet times in Atenas Costa Rica all the more meaningful and peaceful. As we soon enter into our sixth year of world travel, it almost feels as if we’re beginning again by joyfully retracing our steps to a few favorite locations.

Costa Rica’s markets always seem to have an abundance of gorgeous local flowers for sale at great prices.

Today, we’re making another great meal, Low Carb Cheesy Corned Beef and Cabbage Casserole with enough for two night’s dinner with an additional pan to freeze for future meals. You know the drill, want the recipe? Email me…

May your day stimulate your senses and bring you joy!

Photo from one year ago today, September 26, 2016:

Grounds near our villa in Lovina Bali, where we stayed for four nights during the lengthy process of extending our visas. It turned out to be a delightful experience after all. For more details and photos, please click here.

Interesting article on the most dangerous countries in the world… How many have we visited?

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A turtle we spotted in a pond in Zarcera, Costa Rica.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Bottlebrush flowers blooming in the yard.

Business Insider online magazine/newspaper published an article this past June listing the 20 most dangerous countries for tourists in the world. I hadn’t stumbled across this story until this morning while reading the news on my phone when I awakened way too early to get up.

Information of this type is of considerable interest to us, and I was surprised we missed this particular article. Both of us are often on the lookout for information related to travel.

In May 2013, this boat came alongside our ship in the Gulf of Aden when two mercenaries boarded the vessel with “black boxes” and stayed on board for three days and nights protecting our ship from pirates. Here’s the link to that story with more photos.

Here’s the list of Business Insider 20 most dangerous countries from the least dangerous (#20) to the most dangerous (#1). We’ve been to those marked in red. More details may be found in the actual article listed here.
20.  The Republic of Congo
19.  Thailand (6 weeks)
18.  Jamaica
17.  South Africa (3 months)
16.  Guatemala
15.  Chad
14.  Bangladesh
13.  Mali
12.  Lebanon
11. the Philippines
10.  Ukraine
 9.   Honduras (cruise tour)
 8.   Kenya (3 months)
 7.   Egypt (cruise tour)
 6.   Venezuela
 5.   Nigeria
 4.   Pakistan
 3.   El Salvador
 2.   Yemen
 1.   Columbia (cruise tour)

The chaos in the streets in Egypt was comparable to what we’ve seen in movies. Often these types of areas are targets of attacks.

Although cruise tours may seem safer, and in many ways, they may be, we’ve often read stories of cruise passengers under attack at shopping centers, restaurants, public transportation, and on tour buses. 

As for the above listed six out of 20 which we visited and lived in, there is only one, South Africa, which we’ll visit (in this case a second time), where we’ll be living for many months beginning in February 2018. 

Not all areas of South Africa and these other countries are dangerous. Many remote locations have lower incidences of crime and terrorism. But, most tourists, generally staying only a short period, tend to prefer to visit the larger cities, where most crimes occur.

The stone wall at the property in Kenya not only inspired the goats to stop by to say hello but had broken bottle glass set into the mortar at the top of the wall to keep intruders out.  Here’s the link for this photo.

With primarily non-English speaking news on TV where we’ve lived over these past years, we can easily miss such an article as the above. However, whenever we begin research for future travels, we first investigate the political climate and crime rates and search the US Department of State Travel warnings.

Many of our readers have contacted us stating that they are in the process of changing their lives to travel the world and often ask us for advice and suggestions, which we’re always happy to provide. 

In many ways, our site is intended to be of assistance to both short and long-term travelers and those who’ve traveled in the past and dream of traveling in the future. 

Then, of course, we have those loyal readers who don’t necessarily care about traveling but enjoy seeing our photos and reading about what life is like “living in the world.” (We appreciate all of you, regardless of your motivation to visit us here).

We can’t stress more the importance of doing your research for those travelers considering future travel. And, as we all so well know, there isn’t any country in the world that is entirely safe, including our homeland, wherever that may be.

If seeing the Pyramids in Egypt is on your “bucket list,” you may decide to trade that dream for another, safer location. When we visited the Pyramids in 2013, even then, it was listed as unsafe and has become more so over the years. Without a doubt, we realized the risk when booking the cruise, which was further confirmed when we had a security guard on our bus with an Uzi in a holster beneath his black Hugo Boss suit coat.

Mohamed, our security guard, stayed with us the entire time we toured the pyramids. Here’s the link to that story with more photos.

Once we arrived at the pyramids, we felt fortunate when the above security guard, Mohamed, had taken a liking to us and suggested we stay close to him during the trek to the pyramids and back. 

We’d heard stories of horrifying tourist experiences at the pyramids but felt safer going on the cruise ship’s arranged tour, which many cruise passengers have experienced. Although, as mentioned above, these tours still may pose a serious risk.  

It was scorching and dusty. We wore our breathable and insect-resistant Africa clothing during this tour and others.  Here’s the link to this photo.

Please be careful when arranging private tours through local tour companies in any of the above countries. Reading reviews and doing extensive research is a must. Failure to do so may greatly increase the likelihood of danger, with many unscrupulous operators taking advantage of tourists.

We continue to strive to be safe and realize that we’ve taken certain risks in some cases. As the world becomes more and more dangerous, we’re seriously thinking twice before planning to visit many countries throughout the world. 

Our continuing goal to stay in more remote locations continues to provide us with a layer of safety that generally provides us with peace of mind. Only you can decide how much you’re willing to risk your safety to “step outside the box” in your world travels.

In each of our lives, wherever we may live or visit, we all have the opportunity to reach for our interpretation of “stepping outside the box,” whether it’s reading a book of a genre we’re never tried, tasting a new food we’ve previously avoided or in making the first step to meet someone new.

May your day present you with opportunities to try something new!

Photo from one year ago, September 25, 2016:

Private outdoor massage area at neighbor’s Piia and Thomas’ home in Sumbersari Bali, often used when a massage therapist visits the house several times a week. For more photos of this beautiful home, please click here.

How much do we pay for health insurance?… Technology issues… Patience prevails…

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Elephant topiary on the church’s grounds.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

We can’t take our eyes off these adorable tiny birds.
Early this morning, we were sighting of a hummingbird partaking of our sugar water.

Regardless of how far away we may travel from the US, there’s no escaping the responsibility of paperwork required for life in general and more related to our lifestyle of world travel.

With Tom’s 65th birthday fast approaching on December 23rd, it was time for him to waive Part B Medicare, which would result in an automatic deduction from Railroad Retirement for his monthly pension income if he didn’t handle it on time.

Pretty ceiling and chandeliers in the church.

Medicare doesn’t pay for medical care outside of the US (with a few exceptions, here and there) long ago; we purchased  “major medical” international insurance coverage through Healthcare International in the UK.

No more expensive annually than paying the required amount for Part B Medicare and a supplement, our plan doesn’t cover doctor visits. So in the past almost five years, we’ve spent very little for the few doctor office visits we’ve made, the most for physical exams and tests we had over two years ago in Trinity Beach, Australia.

Shrine on the grounds of Iglesia Catolica de Zarcero church in Zarcero Costa Rica.

In total, over this extended period, including the comprehensive exams in Australia for both of us, we haven’t spent more than US $2000 (CRC 1,150,510), averaging at US $400 (CRC 230,102) per year.

Our annual insurance payment to Healthcare International is US $4,000 (CRC 2,301,020) plus the average US $400 (CRC 230,102) for doctor visits, totals US $4400 (CRC 2,531,122) per year.

Faces in the shrubs.  Amazing.

The required payments for Medicare Part B plus a supplement plan, plus all the necessary co-pays, would ultimately be much higher than what we’re paying annually. But, of course, we hardly ever go to a doctor, reserving those for situations where we feel we have no alternative. Thus, it’s difficult to compare “apples to apples.”

As a result, Tom won’t be signing up for Medicare Part B, which required he contact Railroad Retirement (as opposed to Social Security) since he worked for the railroad for over 42 years.  Instead, Railroad retirement (and Medicare) require that the potential recipient complete a form requesting to waive Part B.  I’d done this almost five years ago when I was approaching 65.

More faces.

A few weeks ago, Tom called Railroad Retirement and requested the necessary documentation to sign to waive this option. Unfortunately, it took several weeks to arrive at our mailing service in Nevada, Maillink Plus.

When we receive snail mail at the mailing service, we’re sent an email message that snail mail has arrived. So we log into our account at their site and see who sent the mail but not its specific contents. At that point, we can request the mail be scanned at US $2 (CRC 1151) per page.

This spot may be used for weddings and other celebratory occasions.

Of course, receiving mail from governmental agencies may result in the necessity of having many pages scanned to get to the page(s) were looking for, as was the case here. 

Once the document is scanned (always within hours except for Sundays), we can view or print the copy (if we have access to a printer), which we do here in Costa Rica in this fine villa. Since the document required completion with a signature, printing it was a necessity. We also needed to print the cover letter, which included coding and secure ID numbers. Thus, we ended up with two pages to print.

Not every topiary was indicative of a specific animal or item but, it is still interesting.

Once Tom completed the form, the next step was to get the two pages back to Railroad Retirement. Unfortunately, they don’t accept email for such conditions. That means we’d have to pay for a taxi to go to a post office, pay the postage to the US and also plan it could take upwards of a month to arrive.

But not for us! Our mailing service will handle that for about another US $2 (CRC 1151), preparing an envelope with our return address and a stamp. Then, all we’d have to do is scan the two pages and email both of them to the mailing service. 

Colorful stonework on a wall near the entrance to the church.

This morning I printed the two pages, after which Tom filled out the form, handing them back to me to scan and email. Sound easy, eh? Not so much. For some goofy reason, the software I’d downloaded for the new Brother Scanner we’d purchased from Amazon and received while in Nevada wasn’t working.

The application I needed and had used extensively when I’d done tons of scanning while in Nevada had somehow disappeared from my laptop, nor could we find the actual installation disk I’d used at the time to install it. 

Rainy day view from the church entrance to the topiary.

Sure, I could go online to Brother and install what I needed to complete the process, but I was bound and determined to figure out a solution to avoid doing this. Furthermore, I’d yet to start today’s post and didn’t want to spend an hour fooling around with an install.

Patience was not high on my priority list, but a determination was often the case. After about an hour, I figured out a workaround and got the documents to scan and into my email. Finally, I prepared the email message to Maillink, which they’ll receive and process tomorrow (Monday), confirming that the task has been completed.

Painting of Jesus in the interior of the church.

Today, while Tom watches the Minnesota Vikings game, I’ll work on installing the software if we have a good enough signal for streaming the game and performing a download. We shall see.

Have a wonderful Sunday or Monday wherever you may be in the world.

Photo from one year ago today, September 24, 2016:

In Sumbersari Bali, we met neighbors who invited us for a visit. This is their infinity pool. For more photos of their lovely property, please click here.

The realities of daily photo sharing…A reminder of the USA in Alajuela Costa Rica…

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Much of the produce at the Central Market in Atenas appears to be imported when it’s perfectly shaped and mostly clean. At the feria, the Friday Atenas Farmer’s Market, the produce seems to have been “just picked” with excess leaves and insects still on them. That’s the produce we prefer to buy.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

The gnarly trunk of a tree in the yard.

In a perfect world, we ‘d have new and exciting photos for each day’s post. But, in the “real” world that’s simply not possible for us. If we only posted once a week or once a month, it would be easy. 

Our commitment and desire to post daily make this type of objective ridiculous. We’d have to be out sightseeing every day to accomplish such a feat. And like many others, we embrace a pleasant day to day life, it just happens to be in different countries every few months or more frequently during specific periods.

Produce shop in the Central Market.

When locals encourage us to see “this and that” in their country, we smile and say we look forward to seeing many of their homeland’s unique features. We often say, “We are enjoying “living” in your country and relishing its customs, culture, and way of life, although it doesn’t necessarily mean we go sightseeing all the time.

As you live in your homeland, do you go sightseeing all the time…or ever, for that matter? I can’t recall the last time we went sightseeing in Minnesota where collectively we both spent most of our lives (Tom a native; me a transplant in my early 20’s). 

Various meats are hanging in the refrigerated window. In many countries, we’ve seen meat hanging in the window without any type of refrigeration.

Sure, a Minnesotan might take out-of-state visitors to see the Mall of America or Minnehaha Falls. But, once the visitors are gone, it’s back to the usual activities of everyday life.

For us, there are specific sites we’re anxious to see while taking photos to share—some much more than others. But, more so, it’s the serendipitous situations we encounter along the way that provide us with the most excitement and intrigue; the people, the wildlife, and jaw-dropping scenery and vegetation.

 There are a few butcher shops located in the Central Market.

A few days ago, having the rental car, we’d considered driving to the beach. However, with stormy days predicted for each of the five days we had the car, it made no sense to go for four hours (round trip) to get to a beach. 

How many photos of white sand beaches have been posted here over these past five years? Most likely well into the hundreds. Spending more time living in beach towns than anywhere else in the world, one sandy beach photo is not unlike another to our readers.

Costa Rica is getting ready for Christmas.

Don’t get me wrong, and we love beach scenes. But, I also love living near a beach or on an oceanfront property as we have on many occasions, comparable to our time in Bali (four months total) living on the coast in a gorgeous villa such as here in Atenas.

Although Atenas doesn’t have ocean views we’re totally content with the lush views of the Central Valley, the rapidly changing weather conditions, the birds, the sounds of barnyard animals and the easy lifestyle.

In the center of “downtown” Atenas, another farmers-type market is open during the week and Saturdays. Again, there are shops, restaurants, and plenty of produce. We walked through the entire mart but didn’t purchase a thing.

Besides living in a gorgeous home with every possible needed or desired amenity, it is exceedingly comfortable to stay in on the days we don’t have transportation nor a desire to get out. But, isn’t that like all of us? 

Of course, we all know people who are constantly on the go, planning every moment of their day and evening when they’re not working or engaged in obligatory tasks. I often wonder if those people are running from quiet time and their headspace. But I could be wrong.

A discount store in the Atenas village.

We find those quiet times enriching, refueling us for our next out-and-about adventure, sightseeing tour, or drive to the countryside. For us, it’s about balancing our lives with that which we love to do at any given time, whether it’s a lazy afternoon rest on the veranda, a conversation laden hour in the pool, a tour of a popular venue, or watching another episode of Mad Men in the evening.

It all matters.  With so much on the horizon, we’re finding the slow lazy lifestyle in Costa Rica rather appealing. Two months from today, we’ll be boarding the Celebrity Infinity for yet another 30-night cruise which will be the beginning of a year of considerable excitement and photo ops.

As we entered the PriceSmart store, it reminded us of shopping in Costco in our old lives.

Please bear with us as we present the photos we have on hand at any given moment. Many will consist of the continuation of tours we’ve done while here which we may have already presented in part, yet to be posted thus far. They may be out of any particular order and may not match the story of the day. Plus, some days the “Sightings from the Veranda” are limited.  We make every effort to find something new and different, but that’s not always possible.

Yesterday, we drove to the town of Alajuela to find the PriceSmart store (there are six in Costa Rica), surprisingly owned by Costco. We didn’t realize we’d have to purchase a membership to shop, but we didn’t hesitate to spend the US $35 (CRC 20,133.46) when we saw how many items we wanted to buy.

Wow!  Christmas decorations were already on display in PriceSmart.

Although most Spanish labels and all pricing were in Costa Rica colones, we managed pretty well.  Mostly, we were able to find cuts of meat and cheeses we hadn’t been able to find in Atenas. We spent US $395 (CRC 227,226) with enough protein to last several weeks. Luckily, the freezer is large enough to accommodate all of our purchases.

Most of all, it felt especially fun for us to be in basically what appeared to be a Costco store, here in Costa Rica.  The Kirkland marked packages of items brought back memories of our Costco store in Eden Prairie Minnesota where we often shopped. It was pretty enjoyable.

Goodness folks!  It’s still only September!

We scurried about when we returned to the villa bringing in all the items, many that didn’t fit into our yellow Costco bag or our Africa bag we carry with us throughout the world.  I put everything away while Tom hauled it in from the car. Isabel was still cleaning the house, so we hurried and put the perishables away, allowing her space to finish her work.

Tonight, we’re making one of our favorite meals, unwich (bread-less Subway-type) sandwiches, with a side of coleslaw and cooked vegetables. We haven’t had these since we made them at Richard’s home in Henderson Nevada in July. He enjoyed them as much as we always have. Also, Pricesmart had the gluten/sugar-free Boarshead meats and Provolone cheese, something we’d never find in Atenas.

Today, at noon we’ll head to the cafe at Supermercado Coopeatenas to return the car, grab a few items inside the market and return by taxi. No doubt it will be another good day.

May your day be good as well!

Photo from one year ago today, September 23, 2016:

Sunset reddened clouds are reflecting in our pool in Sumbersari Bali.  For more photos, please click here.

Yeah!…Rental car day…Out and about at last…More museum photos including some unusual items…

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Juan Ramon was excited to show us this bottle with a marble inside.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Oranges growing in the yard. 

Soon, at 11:00 am, we’re picking up the rental car at the grocery store cafe. We’ll get most of the grocery shopping done, and then on Saturday, when we return the car, we’ll pick up a few more items to last until we rent the car again, nine days later.

This schedule is working well for us, leaving us stranded for only a part of each month. Also, we’re saving thousands of dollars in outrageous rental fees, insurance, and taxes while we’re continuing our strict budget during this period in Costa Rica.

A bucket and miscellaneous tools.

After today, we’ll have paid for the upcoming 30-night back-to-back cruises on which we’ll embark in 66 days.  Next month, we’ll pay the balance of the expensive Antarctica cruise at US $13,875 (CRC 8,003,794). 

A stone toilet for an outhouse.  Notice the corn cobs which were used in place of toilet paper.

At that point, we won’t have to pay for another cruise until January 1, 2019, for a cruise on March 24, 2019, which sails from Santiago, Chile, to San Diego, California. From there, we’ll spend some time visiting family in the US once again how the time flies! That’s only 19 months from now!

Push mowers.  We’ve yet to see a power mower being used in Atenas.

We’ll be jumping around a bit, but this schedule worked out best for us when we were determined to spend about a year in Africa beginning this upcoming February. 

Some heating equipment.

Shortly after we decide where we’ll travel after visiting the US in 2019, we’ll be posting a new itinerary. We continue to discuss our options, but the world is a huge place. At that point, we’ll have visited all seven continents and be returning to countries we’d yet to visit.

A small kiln is used for cooking.

Also, watching the world news on TV while in Costa Rica has convinced us it’s unlikely we’ll stay in many big cities where we’d be inclined to use public transportation, dine at outdoor cafes and tour popular tourist venues. The risks are higher in these areas than in more remote locations. 

Antique jugs and jars.

Every country has a “countryside” or outlying area packed with desirable vacation/holiday homes, and we have no concern over finding and booking extraordinary properties befitting our tastes and desires as we have over this past almost five years.

In the interim, we’re content in Atenas. We knew we’d be here during the rainy season, but there’s no way to avoid these types of situations when we’re traveling year-round. 

Coffee-making utensils.

With most of the rain occurring after 12:00 pm, we’ve managed to spend time in and around the pool as soon as we’ve uploaded the daily post. A day like today, which has started cloudy, almost always ensures we won’t see any sunshine today, putting a damper on the possibility of sightseeing.

Instead, we’ll shop for groceries, pick up a few items at the pharmacy and return to the villa. Putting away all the groceries is a time-consuming process when washing and preparing the produce can take upwards of an hour. I often wonder if it’s just me that takes so long. 

A potpourri of old tools and other items.

Do you spend an hour or more time prepping vegetables for the upcoming week? I’d love to hear from you.  I understand some shoppers may wash their vegetables as they use them. But, with dirt, excess leaves, and overgrown vegetation on many of the items, I can’t see the point of placing anything into the refrigerator until everything is washed, dried, and appropriately bagged.

Although we’ll still go to the Friday Atenas Farmers Market, we need to purchase enough produce today to last through the next four nights. With our way of eating, we go through tremendous amounts of fresh produce each week. 

An old-fashioned scale.

For example, for last night’s dinner alone, we used the following vegetables: onions, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, carrots, green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, and fresh garlic. This results in considerable time spent prepping the veggies upon returning from the market and subsequently chopping and dicing as needed for the specific meal—busy work.

With a taxi coming in 30 minutes to take us to Mercado Coopeatenas to get the car, I’m wrapping this up now. We’ll be back with more new photos again tomorrow. This week, regardless of the weather, we’ll get out and take new photos to share with all of you each day.

Have a pleasant day filled with happy surprises!

Photo from one year ago today, September 18, 2016:

Family gatherings on the beach in Sumbersari Bali amid the trash that rolls in with the tide along with trash left behind by locals and visitors.  Bali hasn’t yet embraced the concept of keeping its island and beaches less cluttered with garbage. However, a large portion of the beach trash is a result of that left at sea by others. For more details, please click here.

Immigration status resolved…We’re flying out of the country…Check out our year ago photo!!!

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This mom and her calf are our neighbors in this gated community of Roco Verde.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Great Kiskadees visit each day.

We knew we’d have an immigration issue to resolve once we’d decided to stay in Costa Rica until we fly to Miami, where we’ll spend one night to then board a 30-night cruise to South America on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2017. 

Costa Rica allows US citizens 90 days in their country. The best solution for us based on the strict requirements for a visa extension, leaving the country and coming back in seemed like the best solution. However, we’d research other options while in the country.

Thus, we had to decide which country to visit for two nights, staying in a hotel not too far from the airport and yet in an excellent location to ensure we’d take advantage of the situation and have a great time.

Rooster in the neighborhood with several hens and chicks.

With October 31st, our fifth anniversary of traveling the world on the horizon, this short two-night “get-away” could easily be considered an opportunity to celebrate this special date. This won’t be the first time we booked a few nights away for our annual event.

When we flew from Nevada to Costa Rica on August 1st, immigration requires an exiting flight within 90 days. So at that time, we picked a “cheap” flying on the 89th day to Managua, Nicaragua, never sure we’d use it if we found other immigration options where we’d be able to extend the 90 days.

After considerable research, our best option was to use that flight we’d already booked to Managua, book a two-night stay in a hotel in Managua, and return to Atenas.

Last Saturday, there was a carnival at Supermercado Coopeatenas.

In addition, it was time to book the flight to Miami on November 22nd. Unfortunately, with all that’s tragically transpired in Florida this past week, it could be difficult, if not impossible, to book a flight to Miami the day before Thanksgiving.

We got to work. We research all our options using the links for Expedia and Hotels.com on our site simultaneously on each of our computers. We often find varying prices for flights and hotels when researching using our laptops, based on cookies that may have been set on previous searches. (Sometimes it pays to delete the cookies, and other times it does not).

Here’s what we found and subsequently booked (includes fares for both of us):

October 28, 2017 – US $128.70 (CRC 74,358) – Flight (nonstop) from San Jose Costa Rica to Managua Nicaragua
October 28, 2017 – US $199.84 (CRC 115,460) – Hotel – (Two nights including complimentary breakfast)) – Real Intercontinental Hotel Managua at MetroCenter Mall
October 30, 2017 – US $179.42 (CRC 103,662) Flight (nonstop) from Managua Nicaragua to San Jose Costa Rica
November 22, 2017 – US $246.42 (CRC 142,372) – Flight (nonstop) from San Jose Costa Rica to Miami, Florida (We’d already booked the hotel in Miami for one night some time ago).

Adults and kids were having a good time at the carnival.

We’re thrilled with the hotel and its pricing for this five-star property in Managua and also the fact it’s located in a popular upscale mall. Undoubtedly, there will be plenty of great restaurants and enough to see over the two-night stay. 

We are equally pleased with the pricing on the flight to Miami in November, primarily based on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which often results in pumped-up airline pricing. 

Sure, meeting the immigration requirement of leaving Costa Rica will cost us a total of US $507.96 (CRC 293,479) plus meals and taxis estimated at another US $200 (CRC 115,552), but we’re OK with this. It was better than the alternative and provided us with a mini-vacation for our fifth anniversary in yet another country.

Baskets of food were being raffled for charity.

Suppose we hadn’t extended our stay in Costa Rica to accommodate the upcoming 30-night cruise on November 23rd. In that case, we’d have had to spend 25 extra days in Florida, which would have cost us a lot more than we’re paying for this outstanding villa and the two flights and hotel in Nicaragua. 

Today, a very cloudy and overcast day, we’re staying in, making a great dinner with enough for three nights while we’ll continue to research plans. The hummingbirds are going nuts over the sugar water, and we’re as content as we could be.

May your day bring you contentment as well.

Photo from one year ago today, September 14, 2016:

Big Buffalo was not happy to see Tom again, coming out of the water to show his displeasure. (He’d quickly went out of the water when he saw Tom standing up by the cabana at our villa). As soon as Tom sat back down, he backed up into the water and sat back down. This occurred several times. We have more photos here!

Feeding hummingbirds…A simple syrup…a simple task…for simply wonderful bird watching…

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It’s fun to watch the hummingbirds stab their delicate pointed beaks into the tiny holes of the feeder. See below for our easy recipe for the syrup.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

This is a brown recluse spider we found on the veranda near our bedroom. Yikes. This morning Tom found a can of spray and sprayed it around the doorway and bedroom. Most insects don’t bother us, but anything venomous like this makes us take action.

When we arrived in Atenas, Costa Rica, 44 days ago, we noticed a hummingbird feeder hanging from a hook under the veranda roof. We had a red plastic feeder hanging from a tree in our old lives, but it was often blown to the ground in the spring and summer winds and storms.

Besides, no sooner than I’d make the sweet solution and refill the container, it was empty. Our lives were action-packed with work and responsibilities, and keeping this up was hardly a priority.

It’s rare to see more than one bird feeding at a time. They noisily fight with one another for dominance.

When we contemplated filling the feeder here in Atenas over these past weeks, we decided we’d give this a try and see if we could attract hummingbirds after spotting many beautiful and unique birds. 

At this point in our lives, we certainly can’t say we don’t have time, especially when we don’t have a rental car every other week during which we spend most of our time at the villa.

I looked up my old simple hummingbird feeder recipe to find this easy to make the concoction which the birds always seemed to love:

Hummingbird Feeder Syrup
4 cups water
1 cup granulated white sugar

Place water and sugar in a saucepan. Stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Cool thoroughly.  Pour into the feeder. Any leftovers may be kept in a glass jar in the refrigerator for a week.

Soon, I’ll get a better photo.  Some of these hummingbirds are colorful.

Since neither Tom nor I consume any sugar, finding a good-sized container in the cupboard for guests to use certainly was an inspiration. In the past week, we’ve made three batches. Now for the first time in years, granulated sugar is on our grocery list app on my phone.

As we watched the feeder, which is in plain view as we’re seated on the veranda most days, until the rain and the wind make it impossible in the late afternoon, we’ve been thrilled to see dozens of hummingbird hits a day. They love it.

Over the first few days of filling the container, Tom stood on a wooden chair from the outdoor dining table, carefully reaching up to avoid dropping the feeder and maintaining sturdy footing on the chair. 

Yesterday, (duh) we decided he could avoid the risk of standing on the chair. As it turned out, the feeder is hanging from a hook attached to an outdoor rolling shade. 

If he rolls down the shade to eye level, he can avoid standing on the chair to take the feeder down to refill it over the sink in the kitchen. His fact is a huge motivator in keeping us interested in keeping up this refilling process. The below photo illustrates what we mean by lowering the rolling shade.

Tom was rolling down the veranda shade for easy access to the hummingbird feeder.

Speaking of photos, I’ve yet to take a decent photo of the hummingbirds partaking of the sugary syrup. The timing is crucial, and each time I attempt to take a photo, I’m either in the wrong spot with too bright a background or too dark and rainy. I’ll continue to work on this.

Over these past few days, something was baffling us. We could see a slight reduction in the amount of syrup in the feeder at the end of each day, perhaps down an inch or so, but most, if not all, of the syrup was gone in the mornings. Again, we’d make a new batch and refill the container, only to awaken the next day for the same scenario.

Last night, we decided to keep watch in the dark to see precisely what was happening. Much to our surprise, about a dozen hummingbirds were swarming around the feeder, fighting with one another for dominance and access to the sugar water. We laughed. Who knew they’d come at night in the dark.

At this point, we decided we’d bring the feeder inside at night to return it to its usual spot first thing in the morning. After all, isn’t the feeder intended to satisfy our greedy observation…as well as provide sustenance for the birds? This way, it’s a win-win.

The bright background makes photo-taking tricky.  I’ll keep trying.

This makes us laugh. “Just think,” I told Tom yesterday while we kept a watchful eye on the feeder while we lounged in the pool, “In only five months, we’ll be busy dropping pellets in the bush to attract 350 pounds (159 kg) warthogs to stop by for a visit.

From a tiny hummingbird to a giant pig…hmm…life is good.

Photo from one year ago today, September 13, 2016:

Upon further inspection at this restroom stop on the five-hour harrowing drive in Bali, we realized the narrow trough was the toilet. The bucket of water and scoop was for tidying up, not washing hands. Luckily, we always keep antibacterial wipes on hand. This facility was clean compared to others we encountered.  For more details, please click here.

Early morning routine…Life of retirees…More photos from cultural coffee farm tour…

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Tom was holding the broom (escoba) made of vegetation at El Toledo Coffee Tour.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Layers of clouds rolling into the valley.

As candid as we are regarding how we live our daily lives, we’re also curious about how other retirees may spend their time. Is it so unusual it’s Tuesday at 8:00 am, and we’re sitting in the screening room while Tom is watching last night’s Minnesota Vikings game while I busily peck away at my laptop?

The items throughout the cafe each had their own story to tell.

Probably not. We haven’t spent any of our retirement years living near friends and family, which would give us a better perspective of what other retirees may be doing in their spare time, as compared to us.

The El Toledo Coffee Farm’s coffee is nicely packaged.

It’s not a desire to emulate the activities of others. More so, it’s simple curiosity, the same curiosity bringing some of you back, again and again, to see “what we’re up to” from one day to the next.

An old-fashioned cart.

A significant difference for us, besides living in a new country every few months, is the reality of living without a car at specific points, often without easy access to public transportation. It’s the price we pay for choosing to live in more remote locations.

Every corner of the area was filled with family treasures.

Many world travelers with whom we’ve communicated chose to live in apartments and condos in big cities, heading out each day for sightseeing, dining, and tours. 

Gabriel was educating us while we sat at the long table.  We were entranced by his manner of speaking and expertise.

The big city life is far removed from our reality, except on occasions such as our upcoming one-month stay in Buenos Aires beginning on December 23rd (Tom’s birthday). Indeed during those 31 days, we’ll be dining out (no kitchen), using public transportation for tours and sightseeing, and getting out of the hotel room each day to wander about.

Handmade wood boat.

Even us, who don’t mind staying in, don’t enjoy sitting in a hotel room all day and night.  This period will give us an excellent opportunity to get out walking, something we’ve missed here in the villa in Atenas. The hills are too steep to navigate for an enjoyable leisurely walk.

The coffee cafe, with its cultural decor, was fascinating.

Luckily, in the weeks we’ve had a car (every other at this point), we’ve chosen various types of sightseeing, all of which have required extensive walking. Although these “hikes” aren’t frequent enough to build the level of fitness we’d like to restore, at least these tours, thus far, have kept us on the move.

The clutter was oddly appealing.

As for a day like today…once the football game ends and I’ve uploaded the post, most likely, we’ll spend time out by the pool. The past three days have been cloudy and rainy by the time I’ve finished the post. We’re both anxious to get our token 20 to 30 minutes of sun time and spend time in the pool. Rain or shine, we spend the better part of each day on the veranda with the roof protecting us from the rain.

Once we embarked on the tour, we entered this working area.

We discuss our dreams for the future during those pool times, where we’d like to go after revisiting the US in 2019. At this point, we’re tossing around some ideas, considering which countries we’ve yet to visit and those we long to see.

Gabriel was explaining the use of the space.

Our typical day-to-day lives may not be too different than yours, except for a few factors; we don’t do any household repairs and maintenance; we don’t do yard work, and we don’t go to Home Depot. 

Wine-making area.

We don’t “jump in the car” to drive short distances to visit with friends and family; we rarely go to the doctor; we don’t go to Costco for a fun shopping trip loading up large quantities of food and supplies; we don’t head over the Walgreen’s or CVS for a few items, using these little rewards cards for discounts hanging on our keyring.

Drying racks for the coffee beans.

Then again, most peculiarly…we don’t have a keyring! How odd is that?

Have a pleasant day!

Photo from one year ago today, September 12, 2016:

When we watched this activity on the river, we had no idea what was transpiring until we saw they were cleaning the carcass of a cow in the river. Yikes! For more photos, please click here.

Yesterday’s power outage…Taking advantage of having a car…Lots of sightseeing and photos…

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During this rainy season, every blue sky is a treat.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

During a pelting rainstorm, this gutter pipe, stemming from the villa’s roof to a portion of the lawn, was spouting like a fountain due to the powerful rains.

While preparing yesterday’s post, Tom heard a loud boom that sounded like a transformer blowing out. Indeed, seconds later, we lost power along with the WiFi connection.

A school we passed in a village as we drove through the mountains.

Rather than panic and rush to the store to buy ice to preserve the food in the refrigerator and freezer, we decided to give it some time to be resolved. Based on the reading on the clock, it came back about three hours later while we were gone on a sightseeing expedition.

The trees are painted to avoid rot and insect infiltration.  There’s some debate about the effectiveness of this technique, but we’ve seen this done in many countries throughout the world.
We’d planned to stop for ice on the way back, unsure if the power had come back on, but Tom suggested he’d run back out if we still didn’t have electricity when we returned around 5:00 pm.  Why buy the ice if we didn’t need it?
We encountered many old tiny houses along the way.

Instead, he suggested, once we were back inside the villa and found we had power once again, that we’d start accumulating plastic bags of ice to store in the bottom of the freezer for just such a purpose. 

The greenery everywhere is breathtaking.

During the last power outage, we didn’t have a car to drive to town to buy ice, but we managed for 10 hours without it. If we keep our supply, we won’t have to worry when this occurs again…and undoubtedly, based on two occurrences in two weeks, this will happen again.

Fences made with unfinished logs are commonly seen in Costa Rica.


I guess the most challenging part of being without power is being unable to complete and upload the day’s post, the apprehension as to how we’ll preserve our food, and the anticipation of spending the evening before bed in the dark.

The sunny morning allowed us to takes photos with expansive views of the valley.

Now that we’ve decided to do the five-day car rental every other week and compact our exploring and sightseeing into these small time frames, it’s less problematic when we may not always be stranded when there’s a power outage. Without a car, the lack of power seemed to add to the inconvenience.

It’s not unusual to see welcoming signs when entering an area.


After picking up the rental car on Monday morning, we’ve made a point of getting out each day. Today, we have enough new and exciting photos from this week’s activities to upload over the next month with the experiences we so enjoyed in the process.

A corner shop in a tiny village in the mountains.

Yesterday was such a unique experience. We may share that story and photos over a few days, beginning tomorrow. It was one of the best production/farming tours we ever experienced in our five years of world travel. We can’t wait to share it with all of YOU.

Fence making not entirely completed.

We’re sorry for yesterday’s lack of a post. We could see from the stats that many of our readers continued to see if we’d ever been able to add a normal-sized post. We’d hoped to get started on it early this morning but at 7:00 am, we were out the door and on our way to the Friday Atenas Farmers Market.

We won’t have a car again until September 18th, although we already have plans about what we’d like to do. A few days ago, we’d written how I wasn’t quite up to hiking. In the past two days on specific tours, we embarked on two strenuous hikes, although only one hour each. I managed pretty well and was pleased to be able to participate.

Every road is bordered by lush greenery.

In time, I’ll continue to rebuild my strength to handle the possible eight to 10-hour hike to see the gorillas in Uganda upcoming in about eight months. The best way to do this is to get out and walk as much as we can. We’re working on it.

Here’s the photo from this morning’s trip to the Farmers Market, including the cost:

Included in this morning’s farmers market shopping but not shown in this photo are two giant free-range chickens and a small bag of fresh turmeric root which I’ll use to make a tea. The total we spent for all the items, including those not shown, was US $48.50 (CRC 28,058).
Have a happy, healthy day!

Photo from one year ago yesterday, September 7, 2016: (Since there was no post yesterday, we’re including September 7 and September 8, 2016, year ago photos.  See below):

Each morning when we walked in Bali, we’d seen this huge pig, but they hadn’t been in a good spot for a photo when the yard is shrouded in greenery.  That morning, we had a chance to see “a pig in the mud.” We howled. For more photos, please click here.
Photo from one year ago yesterday, September 8, 2016:
This was a working well at the home of a local in the neighborhood in Sumbersari, Bali. Click here for more photos.