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| The two of us, very happy the day before we departed on our Central America trip to finally find a place we can put down some roots for the foreseeable future. |
It was March 24th when we pulled out of Calgary. We had enjoyed a 2 ½ month house-sitting stint at Donna's sister and brother-in-law's home in Parkland.
The time we spent there enabled us to catch up with our accountant, have our annual medicals, renew prescriptions and generally catch up on administrative stuff. Most of all, it provided us the time to visit with all our sons and daughter, their spouses and all of the grandchildren. It was good to see them all again.
With a fully loaded truck, we headed back to the lower 49th and then south to Nevada. We craved the sun after the unusually frigid and snowy winter we had experienced in Calgary.
The thermometer was recording a temperature of 87 F/30C as we pulled into Mesquite. What more could we wish for? Time to visit the grocery store, grab a few things to tide us over until the following day, then sit on the patio and enjoy a Gin and Tonic myself and a glass of cold white wine for Donna. Aghhhh! This is the life we told each other. We had now been retired almost 10 months…..
Over the next few weeks, It was time to clean up after winter around the yard and re-plant some items that had perished during the frost of last November.
The trees, cactus and plants were all beginning to flower now.
The trees, cactus and plants were all beginning to flower now.
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| Our Paloverde trees resplendent in their yellow (amarillo) flowers |
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| Our two Chitalpa trees have gorgeous pink blooms now and will last right through the summer |
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| Golden, yellow and red Lantana starting to flourish in the warmer sunny weather |
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Apr 28. Jerry and Liane turned up on our doorstep sporting their new Razor. An ideal vehicle to go discovering the Mohave desert on. These guys are amazing. They purchased a 18 wheeler and both drove truck all over the states for a few years living in the small cab at the back with their two small dogs. Now happily semi-retired in Mesquite, they have become good friends of ours as have many others. They still drive the huge buses, taking people on tours etc., for a local company here......but just on a part-time basis.
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| Donna, Jerry (sporting his cast) and Liane outside our home in Mesquite with their newly purchased Razor. |
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| Dave and Barbara our wonderful next door neighbours, Donna, Liane and Jack (more about him later in the total eclipse of the moon section). |
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Apr 14/15 Then came something I was really looking forward too. A total lunar eclipse. Last year we had enjoyed a solar eclipse in Mesquite. Donna not being a night owl was off to bed before the moon got it's socks on but I waited until 10:58 pm and right on time, the eclipse began.
I took my tripod and cameras to my neighbour Jack's house across the street to view this wonderful phenomena. His wife Michelle was also in the prone position under the covers so we stayed up with a few glasses of wine and some beer until 1:00am watching the eclipse take place. The picture below tells a thousand words.
Why re-invent the wheel? I thought to myself, so what you see above, is a photograph I took off Jack's TV with my camera but not directly at the moon. A good night was had by the star-gazers. One that will reoccur every six months for the next two years in Mesquite, Nevada.
Apr 28 How quickly time flies! This date crept up on us and before we knew it, we had the suitcases on the bed and were feverishly working out what to take and what to leave behind. T's, sandals, sun screen, Deet, binoculars, two cameras, hard Cheese …..the list went on......and on.........and on.
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Then, It was time. Time to say goodbye to our friends in Mesquite and head out destined for.....
April 29. We made our way to Las Vegas with our two friends Jerry and Liane. They would come down with us in our truck and stay overnight in Vegas. The following day, Liane would drive the truck back to Mesquite. They had business in Las Vegas the following day (Jerry was having a cast removed from his leg having just had an ankle replacement). The timing worked out great for everyone, and so we all booked into Sam's Town Casino for the overnight stay.
Our wake-up call arrived at 3:00 am. We needed to be at the airport and check in with COPA airlines for the flight to Panama. Liane kindly drove us to the airport.
At 4:05 am we bid her goodbye and headed for the check-in counter. "see you in three months" we said to Liane as we all gave each other a "group hug". Liane and Jerry would be joining us in Panama for the month of August. We could not be more pleased.
Our arrival in Panama brought on another surprise. Once we had deplaned, we were directed to immigration. There, everyone who was not already pre-screened was welcomed, photographed and finger-printed. Panama is right on top of things in terms of prevention of crime we thought.
We were met at Tocumen airport, Panama by the smiling face of Terry Newman - a Vancouver Realtor® who had recently moved to Panama full time within the last few months.
Terry accompanied us to what would be our accommodation for the night at Hotel Aeropuerto Riande. We set our luggage down and quickly headed to the outdoor bar for a much needed cold beer.
It was hot and quite humid when we arrived but it was very pleasant once we had sat down instead of wrestling with luggage.
"I can take this" Donna announced smiling at me from across the table. That's a huge plus I thought to myself. A nod of approval is always good, even if we had barely been outside the airport area yet.
While the three of us enjoyed a beer among the palm trees, Terry shared some of her experiences with us that she had learnt so far which was a great help. She had owned a property here for years, then she departed for the hours drive back to her place in Altos Del Maria. Thank you so much Terry. We will meet again when we return to Panama in two months time.
The hotel beds were very comfortable and we slept well. Up at 6am the following morning. We ate a good breakfast and left for the airport for our flight to Costa Rica.
Regarding the processing of passengers for flights - they do it differently down here. Yes, that's for sure, but after looking critically at the way they conduct their lineups at the airport, I now see why.
May 1. The lineup for the ticketing was a mild shock. We were directed to a zig-zagging line of posts where probably two or three hundred people were stood in front of us. the lineup was for every Copa airlines flight out of Tocumen. Everyone in the same line (unless you were flying business class).
As time ran down, one of the people processing the line would announce that people for a certain flight that was leaving in say 15 minutes could come to the front of the ticket lines (jump the lineup effectively) and then, everyone else slowly eased forward as they gave up their place in the line to go to the front. At first this seemed unfair, but after further examination it made perfect sense. Here's why!
Everyone lines up, and are ticketed in the order they arrived in the line, except for the people who have to catch a flight that is leaving imminently. As time gets closer to their departure, someone calls out the flight numbers and the people on those flights only, leapfrog to the front of the queue. That way, no-one misses their flight.
The way this is done avoids having empty airline ticketing wickets open for flights where there are few people flying and having an employee sat behind that desk doing nothing while other employees worked feverishly trying to get everyone though in the allocated time on the busier flights. This way, all ticketing agents were working all of the time, and there was maximum productivity.
Yes, it definitely made sense once you looked at it from the airline's point of view. No-one was phased by it. Everyone accepted it and everyone caught their flights.
The flight to Liberia was uneventful and only took an hour and seven minutes. We were picked up at Liberia airport by a company called Eco trans and driven to Playa Flamingo, an hour from the airport.
First impressions were good. The roads were OK, it seemed fairly clean. It was more brown than I had imagined, but we knew, we were arriving right at the beginning of the rainy season when it would all change to a lush green everywhere. It had not rained since December in Guanacaste we were told.
Linda Wilks a former Calgary RE/MAX Realtor® with whom we worked with for over ten years spends six months a year in Costa Rica. Linda was instrumental in arranging for our accommodation and transportation from the airport.
At our time of arrival, Linda was in San Jose at a concert featuring Sir Paul McCartney with her daughter (another Calgary Realtor®) however, Linda being Linda, had taken the trouble to go and buy some food to tide us over for the first day.
One thing is for sure. You could be in no better hands than those of Linda if you are considering a trip down to the Playa Flamingo area of Costa Rica.
Linda both sells and handles leases on property in the province or region of Guanacaste.
We arrived at the condo and were welcomed by a local lady who showed us around.
At the time of writing this It is 87 degrees outside and 115% humidity and rising at 7:30 am. Some people love the temperature here but some may find this humidity excessive and because of that, a fair number of US and Canadian Ex Pats who come here to live here tend to live up in the mountains or the central valley area and around Lake Arenal which we will visit over the course of the next few weeks. They don't need air conditioning or heating in that location. It's a pleasant temperature all year round.
Donna arranged for a rental vehicle, a small Hyundai car for $208 a week, including mandatory insurance. It was delivered to our condo the same day. Now we have lots of options to investigate some other items such as;
We took a ten kilometre drive out to the supermarket in the small car, no big deal but watch out if you make any mistakes around here. People walk three abreast in the streets with their backs to the traffic, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there is a few thousand pounds of vehicle coming towards them at 60 Kilometres per hour and they aren't even looking.
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| The line up for Immigration at Tocumen Airport, Panama City, Panama. |
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| Donna negotiating her way through to the Immigration In Panama City, International Airport at Tocumen where everyone is photographed and finger-printed like it or not. |
We were met at Tocumen airport, Panama by the smiling face of Terry Newman - a Vancouver Realtor® who had recently moved to Panama full time within the last few months.
Terry accompanied us to what would be our accommodation for the night at Hotel Aeropuerto Riande. We set our luggage down and quickly headed to the outdoor bar for a much needed cold beer.
It was hot and quite humid when we arrived but it was very pleasant once we had sat down instead of wrestling with luggage.
"I can take this" Donna announced smiling at me from across the table. That's a huge plus I thought to myself. A nod of approval is always good, even if we had barely been outside the airport area yet.
While the three of us enjoyed a beer among the palm trees, Terry shared some of her experiences with us that she had learnt so far which was a great help. She had owned a property here for years, then she departed for the hours drive back to her place in Altos Del Maria. Thank you so much Terry. We will meet again when we return to Panama in two months time.
The hotel beds were very comfortable and we slept well. Up at 6am the following morning. We ate a good breakfast and left for the airport for our flight to Costa Rica.
Regarding the processing of passengers for flights - they do it differently down here. Yes, that's for sure, but after looking critically at the way they conduct their lineups at the airport, I now see why.
May 1. The lineup for the ticketing was a mild shock. We were directed to a zig-zagging line of posts where probably two or three hundred people were stood in front of us. the lineup was for every Copa airlines flight out of Tocumen. Everyone in the same line (unless you were flying business class).
As time ran down, one of the people processing the line would announce that people for a certain flight that was leaving in say 15 minutes could come to the front of the ticket lines (jump the lineup effectively) and then, everyone else slowly eased forward as they gave up their place in the line to go to the front. At first this seemed unfair, but after further examination it made perfect sense. Here's why!
Everyone lines up, and are ticketed in the order they arrived in the line, except for the people who have to catch a flight that is leaving imminently. As time gets closer to their departure, someone calls out the flight numbers and the people on those flights only, leapfrog to the front of the queue. That way, no-one misses their flight.
The way this is done avoids having empty airline ticketing wickets open for flights where there are few people flying and having an employee sat behind that desk doing nothing while other employees worked feverishly trying to get everyone though in the allocated time on the busier flights. This way, all ticketing agents were working all of the time, and there was maximum productivity.
Yes, it definitely made sense once you looked at it from the airline's point of view. No-one was phased by it. Everyone accepted it and everyone caught their flights.
The flight to Liberia was uneventful and only took an hour and seven minutes. We were picked up at Liberia airport by a company called Eco trans and driven to Playa Flamingo, an hour from the airport.
First impressions were good. The roads were OK, it seemed fairly clean. It was more brown than I had imagined, but we knew, we were arriving right at the beginning of the rainy season when it would all change to a lush green everywhere. It had not rained since December in Guanacaste we were told.
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| Linda Wilks |
At our time of arrival, Linda was in San Jose at a concert featuring Sir Paul McCartney with her daughter (another Calgary Realtor®) however, Linda being Linda, had taken the trouble to go and buy some food to tide us over for the first day.
One thing is for sure. You could be in no better hands than those of Linda if you are considering a trip down to the Playa Flamingo area of Costa Rica.
Linda both sells and handles leases on property in the province or region of Guanacaste.
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| This is our apartment for the next two months. |
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| The view from our Condo looking East |
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| A night shot from the balcony of our Condo over the hills and the bay to the south. |
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| This is the view we look out on from our living, dining and both bedrooms looking SW across Playa Flamingo. |
At the time of writing this It is 87 degrees outside and 115% humidity and rising at 7:30 am. Some people love the temperature here but some may find this humidity excessive and because of that, a fair number of US and Canadian Ex Pats who come here to live here tend to live up in the mountains or the central valley area and around Lake Arenal which we will visit over the course of the next few weeks. They don't need air conditioning or heating in that location. It's a pleasant temperature all year round.
Donna arranged for a rental vehicle, a small Hyundai car for $208 a week, including mandatory insurance. It was delivered to our condo the same day. Now we have lots of options to investigate some other items such as;
- where to shop for groceries
- the cost of ATV rentals
- how much to rent a seadoo and two seater boats
- the cost of deep sea fishing and horseback riding.
- the best way to the beach
- donde es el mercado de pescado porfavor? (where is the fish market please?)
We took a ten kilometre drive out to the supermarket in the small car, no big deal but watch out if you make any mistakes around here. People walk three abreast in the streets with their backs to the traffic, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there is a few thousand pounds of vehicle coming towards them at 60 Kilometres per hour and they aren't even looking.
The night before we rented the vehicle, we took a mile and a bit walk to the local store to buy groceries. When we left the store the skies were jet black and I thought, oh oh, we are going to get really wet in a few minutes.
About a hundred yards down the road, we chanced upon a bar (+) with an outdoor patio (+) under a see-through plastic roof. Time to get a beer I thought (+). We had no sooner sat down when the skies opened and the rain came with a vengeance. Rain like I have rarely experienced it before.
(-)
We struck up a conversation with an Ex Pat American who has lived in Costa Rica for years. He was building a guest house and a bar/restaurant around the corner. He kindly called his buddy a local taxi driver. No sooner had he put the phone down, the taxi appeared out of nowhere. $2 for a taxi to our condo. Not bad. The Americans Spanish was excellent.
Later the following day, Linda dropped by to say hello after a long time no see. We spent some time catching up on events in her and our lives since we last met in Calgary, enjoying a beer out on the balcony overlooking the ocean.
Linda then took us on our first safari. To find out where everything was. After dropping her daughter Kendra at Liberia airport, we headed for some great food shops and then to Playa Coco on the Pacific coast.
Some of the trees were out in full bloom and I must say, the colours are like I have never seen before.
Some of the other flora, fauna and vistas we hope to see while in Costa Rica are below (not my photos but a good example of what we hope to see).
About a hundred yards down the road, we chanced upon a bar (+) with an outdoor patio (+) under a see-through plastic roof. Time to get a beer I thought (+). We had no sooner sat down when the skies opened and the rain came with a vengeance. Rain like I have rarely experienced it before.
(-)
We struck up a conversation with an Ex Pat American who has lived in Costa Rica for years. He was building a guest house and a bar/restaurant around the corner. He kindly called his buddy a local taxi driver. No sooner had he put the phone down, the taxi appeared out of nowhere. $2 for a taxi to our condo. Not bad. The Americans Spanish was excellent.
Later the following day, Linda dropped by to say hello after a long time no see. We spent some time catching up on events in her and our lives since we last met in Calgary, enjoying a beer out on the balcony overlooking the ocean.
Linda then took us on our first safari. To find out where everything was. After dropping her daughter Kendra at Liberia airport, we headed for some great food shops and then to Playa Coco on the Pacific coast.
Some of the trees were out in full bloom and I must say, the colours are like I have never seen before.
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| the vividness of these colours is unbelievable. |
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| Petals falling from this gorgeous Amarillo (Yellow) Tree |
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| Donna and Linda swimming in yellow blossoms and fragrance. |
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| Donna and yours truly stood among the fallen blossoms. |
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| Oh, yes, it was not ALL work as you can see. |
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| An Iguana crossing the road in front of our car. Donna had to stop and get the shot. It's about a foot and a half long from top to tail - a small one! |
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| A True Costa Rican Sunset |
I missed out the Crocodile pictures. I am sure they will come all too soon.
The Costa Rican people are wonderful, polite and what we have seen of them, they would fall over backwards to help. What more could guests of these people in this wonderful country want than that.
No, this is not Calgary, Denver, New York or London and it never will be. But these countries are unique in themselves. It's another challenge in life to go and learn to speak in another completely foreign language and learn to communicate with others who aren't like us. Sometimes one feels awkward to be out of ones comfort zone, unable to communicate what we want.
We experienced that yesterday when we went to get a SIM card for Donna's phone. it took us a half hour and some patience and application but one by one, linking the words together slowly, we achieved exactly what we wanted. Smiles all around, even from the lady who could not speak a word of English. Objective - Learn three to five words a day and you will be surprised how fast you learn and once you learn how to conjugate the verbs all those lone words are suddenly linked up and you have a sentence.
Many people are coming down with their children so they are brought up bilingually, hence the preponderance of English/Spanish schools here. What a great asset for children to grow up speaking more than their own mother-tongue and with the experience of a different lifestyle than the one they have been used too. What a great opportunity.
That is why we are here. Because at the end of the day, if we become infirm and are unlucky enough to have to spend the remaining years of our lives bed-ridden, these are the great memories that we will treasure and hang onto forever. This is just a minuscule part of our world that most people never get to see. Some don't want to, and that's fine too. We respect that. Some are afraid to venture out of their comfort zone but can enjoy the blogs of others who have.
Finally, this of course is only the beginning of our adventure and as we obtain more life experiences and pictures, we will keep you all informed but needless to say, it will take us a little time to formulate and plan our trips to get those pictures to you but we are working on it.
Because there is so much information potentially to put out, we thought we might send out a shorter blog more regularly, rather than having one that takes a so long to read so have a great summer everyone. We will be back in a few weeks or a month with another update......and the adventure continues.
Keep safe.
Adiós amigos, hasta la próxima
