Costa Rica Cost Of Living: Head of lettuce (non-wilted)— 41 cents
There are many exciting things to do in Costa Rica like zip-lining, snorkeling, or horseback riding on the beach. However, nothing will elicit a bigger reaction from locals than discovering their road is finally getting paved. It’s not often this happens, but when it does you can all but hear your neighbors holler “hallelujah” from their porches.
The dirt road from Surfside to Playa Danta is getting paved! For someone not living in this part of the country, it may be hard to understand just how significant of an event this really is. When I lived in the United States, I took for granted the fact that plenty of tax dollars were set aside to repair roads when necessary. Not always so in Costa Rica.
Costa Rican streets can quickly wash away during the rainy season, and turn into dust bowls during the dry season. Often times you will see people hosing down the road in front of their homes in a small attempt to prevent dirt from entering their residences.
Unfortunately, parasites and bacteria are deposited in these dirt roads by stray animals. Aside from the mess this makes, it also becomes a health issue for small children and the elderly as passing cars cause pathogens to become airborne. This project should affect many lives in a positive way. It’s great to know that this water—once sprayed onto dirt roads—will be saved for Guanacaste’s water table.
Getting a road fixed is not the easiest thing, and often times it can take years of pleading with a municipality in order to get funding. Protests have been staged and sometimes a community may even close down a street in an attempt to raise awareness.
Workers have already brought in dump trucks full of stone and from the looks of things, it’s only a matter of time before the road is finished. The community is even starting to rally in an attempt to meet the needs of workers who have traveled from other parts of the country to make this happen.
I can’t wait to drive down to Sugar Beach or Playa Danta for boogie boarding and drinks by the sea. It’s going be a smooth ride folks.
Hello Nadine;
I admire what you and your husband have been able to do, and although I am a bit older than you, I am thinking of doing the same thing, except I was thinking about the Greek Islands, or Crete.
My wife and I took a trip to the Greek Islands this summer, and we were more than impressed with the beauty and the cosmopolitan nature of them.
Can you think of a good argument to prefer Costa Rica or Panama, as opposed to Crete or Rhodes?
In addition, part of the plan is to live on a motor boat (sail boats require too much work). Would Costa Rica and the Caribbean be better (in your estimation) compared to the Aegean see and Eastern Mediterranean?
Your opinion and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Paul! Boy do I wish I could give you any advice on this. I can already hear my imaginary sailing self saying things like “Paul, grab the hatch and lets go starboard,” or something like that. I would also like to say I would be wearing one of those striped horizontal black shirts and cute boating shoes. Oh, and the hats. They would be fantastic.
I can’t help you with this, but there is a very nice marina at Papagayo. That’s the northern Pacific side of the country. It’s strange that there are not more marinas here, but that might be the very first thing to look into.
If you are ever need a boating partner, make sure to give us a call. I’ll bring the snacks!
Hope your sources are reliable! We live on a dirt/gravel road and every year they dump gravel and dirt on it, grade it, water it, and roll it.
And then it washes away in October.
But if you are accurate, it give me hope.
The latest rumor about our road is they will pave one of the hills that suffers extreme washout. We’ll see.
We are crossing our fingers this time! This promise from the government has been going on for years. Hopefully this time they will come through and fix it.