We've come a long way to find our home, and we believe we're getting close. But that awesome place won't just come knocking at our door. We have to go out and find it!
Every micro climate in Central America can be found within 30 miles of our little artistic cabina: from cold alpine ridges at 11,000 feet, down to the hot, humid Pacific beaches.
The Valle del General and many side valleys fan out in all directions. Whatever you want can be found here. Everything except for urban sophistication.
Now is the time for heightened awareness of long term needs and preferences. We've been warned by so many expats who bought without enough insight. Whether it was a property, house, or a business, they eventually regretted their choice, and now find it extremely difficult to sell.
Here are some photos from a couple places we've looked at.
Bob & LouAnne's Place:
. . . is a steeply sloped and partially wooded 6 acres. He was planning to grow Jatropha trees and make bio-diesel from the nuts - for fun. Maybe a demo site for others to learn from. (C'mon, he's an engineer.)
The property borders the Panamerican Highway, and drops about 300 feet of elevation to the stream bed and waterfall at the lower end. There is an interior road and a marginally livable little Tico house with an awesome view. There are several sites to build additional homes or guest cabins, but they would be a challenge to develop due to the steep roads and lack of flat land.
Our decision?
Too much work!
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| The gate at the road makes a statement. |
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| We hike down, down, down to the lower end of the property. |
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| The waterfall is a good place to cool off. |
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| Jeff hears about the key features. |
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| A remarkably exotic looking flowering whatchacallit. |
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| Damn I look good. |
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| Oil from the Jatropha nut can be used to make biodiesel. So can used frying oil from McDonalds. |
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| The driveway is rather steep. |
Jim's Place:
. . . is directly on the other side of the Quebradas valley at about the same elevation. The gravel road going to the acreage is in good condition, and there are few neighbors. The 12 acres are gently sloped and topped with a livable, older Tico home that Jim's been renovating. The property hosts numerous mature fruit trees, as well as banana trees and about 7 acres of coffee bushes. Jim gifted us a section of a huge 20 lb. guanabana fruit he had just harvested. YUMMERS.
The property is bordered on two sides by streams that flow out of the nature preserve. There's actually a usable swimming pool and tilapia tank. The water source is a pristine spring inside the nature preserve. If one were so inclined, there are sites where guest cabins could be built, and the land only drops about 150 feet in elevation along its 1200 foot length. That means there's a gentle slope with great view of the surrounding hillsides and valley.
Our decision? No decision. Still thinking!
This one has a lot of what we want.
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| Jim put in new windows on the view side of the house. |
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| Starr walks down the garden path. |
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| The orange tree has fruit most of the year. |
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| There are rounded boiulders like this one all over the region. Nobody has been able to explain why some of them are perfect spheres. |
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| The kitchen is due for a remodel. |
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| Yep, that's a washer at the end of the hall. |
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| Jeff hears about the key features. |
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| Picture a Tico work crew being served spaghetti with home made marinara sauce, garlic bread, and a green salad with pear-infused balsamic vinegar. It happened right here, rubber boots and all. All the glass panels slide completely open, yielding an open air setting. |
Possibilities. Yes this place does have some possibilities. However some big issues remain outstanding. In spite of the numerous fruit trees and the 7 acres of coffee, none of it is commercially productive. What to do, what to do?!
