Living in Costa Rica retirement relocation tours.

There’s More to Costa Rica Than San Jose

Finally, I bit the bullet and agreed to visit my friend Sandy in Tilaran. Getting there got off to a bumpy start as my original ride lost a muffler in a pot hole, then the second driver, from Grecia, spent an hour trying to find my apartment building. But eventually Alonzo and I set off, only to find ourselves caught in the bottleneck on the highway in front of the airport. The trip though the mountains is a joy of vistas that change constantly when they are not blocked by semis. Trucks, of all sizes dominate the two-lane highway over the mountains and dictate the flow of traffic. (Slow.) Reestablishing the train that used to go from San Jose to Puntarenas, I think is a must.

Once into the Canton of Puntarenas, the scenery changes dramatically. Here there are rolling hills, large pasturelands, and fewer trees. Houses are few and far between. Beginning in the 1960s and encouraged by foreign investment and demand, Costa Rican farmers decided to diversify and raise beef cattle. Guanacaste was where most of the cattle ranches were located. Pastureland replacing forests has been blamed for the persistent droughts in the area. Another unfortunate side effect was the loss of work for many peons since fewer hands are needed to round up cattle than to grow coffee, bananas or rice.

Having heard that the road conditions were terrible, I expected the worst and found the roads quite good – until we got to Tilaran and the road that leads to and from the house where Sandy and Roger live. I have never seen potholes the likes of those, and so many of them! Later, when Sandy and I drove to the restaurant “The Black Horse,” I had to close my eyes to keep from having a heart attack as time and again Sandy had to drive off the ridge of the road to avoid potholes. Beyond the ridge there was nothing to stop us from rolling down the steep hill leading to Lake Arenal neither tree nor a herd. Sandy has lost two tires to potholes in the past few months. Intrepid indeed, are the tourists who venture into that territory in rental cars.

The house that Roger built is a work of art. The ground floor is taken up with the garage and utility rooms. The second floor is the living space, all of it open except for the bedrooms and adjacent baths. A verandah runs around the entire building. All of the woodwork was done by Roger – well, the entire house was. And it is warmer and snugger than my breezy apartment. It has to be, I guess, since Tilaran means ‘place of wind and rain,’ and it usually lives up to its name.

Willy and Monica, along with their triplet daughters, run The Black Horse Restaurant and the adjoining gift shop. The family (along with Sandy and others) is involved in rescuing stray animals, getting them neutered and finding them homes since as yet there is no animal shelter in the area. Sandy and Roger have three cats and two dogs – so far.

The restaurant was a great place to comfortably bird watch. While we were eating, we saw a half dozen different birds at the bird feeder, including some magpie jays that truly looked and acted as if their ancestors could have been dinosaurs.

The weather turned beautiful my second day, but I was there to work with Sandy on the final proofing of my book, so we spent the time inside.

Returning to San Jose was much easier and faster with Sandy doing the driving (going to Tilaran I had a driver who had never been there before himself). As we approached the city and we saw the first large cluster of homes in the distant valley, I evidently breathed aloud the words, “Ah, civilization.” because Sandy burst out laughing at my incorrigible preference for city life. I did confess to her that the air smelled slightly used compared to the fresh air in the country. The next day it turned cold and rainy in the city – as bad as any weather I had encountered in Tilaran. Sometimes it takes a strong constitution as well as courage to be a city girl.

Jo Stuart is the author of the popular book about life in Costa Rica entitled, “Butterfly in the City.” To order a copy of her wonderful book please contact her at: jostuart@amcostarica.com