As I tell people on my monthly retirement tours, part of the fun of living in Costa Rica is the chance to try the variety of local foods and dishes. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the perfect time to try Costa Rican food. This is a time of year when Costa Rican families gather for religious reasons and to eat their typical foods. Hopefully you have some tico friends who will invite you to dinner. You taste buds will be grateful.

Here are some of the dishes ticos eat during Semana Santa.

Pastel de Palmitos (palm hearts) y Atún – This is like a pie filled with a mixture of tuna, palmito, eggs and spices

Arroz con leche (Rice and milk) – this is a dessert made of rice, milk, a lot of sugar and other ingredients

Arroz con Palmito – a rice-based dish with palm hearts and chicken broth

Sopa de Pescado – fish soup

Pollo con Palmito – chicken and palm hearts

Miel de Chiverre – a type of honey like sauce made from Sweet White Spaghetti Squash

Chiles marrones Rellenos con Palmito – purple chile filled with palm hearts

Empanadas de chiverre – a wrapped bread dish filled with white spaghetti squash

Conchas de pescado con palmito – a fish-based dish with hearts of palm

ENJOY!

Since vegetarianism is so popular, it comes as no surprise that I have had many vegetarians on my monthly relocation/retirement tours. Vegetarians always ask me what kinds of foods are available for them in Costa Rica. On all of my monthly tours I make it a point to visit a weekend farmer’s market called a feria. Virtually every kind of fruit and vegetable is found at our outdoor markets. There are even some varieties of fruits and vegetables you don’t see in the States or other parts of the world. A few of our larger famers market are five or six blocks in lenght and have hundreds of stands where products are sold. Besides vegetables and fruits, yogurt, eggs and other foods are sold widely. My tour participants really enjoy touring the feria and are truly amazed with what we have here.

Vegetarians will be happy to know that supermarkets also sell a wide variety of fruits and vegetables along with cheeses, whole wheat and vegetable pastas and soy products. Virtually every major supermarket has a small health food section where vitamins and soy-based foods are on display. Every year more and more of these items are made available as Costa Ricans become more health conscious.

I should a about all of this since I have been a vegetarian for almost 40 years and lived in Costa Rica for the last 30 years. I have never had a problem getting meatless dishes in most restaurants or finding all of the foods I need. There is even a chain of vegetarian restaurants in Costa Rica called Vishnu. The country is not only a nature lovers paradise but a paradise for vegetarians, too. So if you are a vegetarian thinking of living or retiring your dietary needs should not be an obstacle.

I just reached a milestone by finishing my 250th relocation/retirement tour to Costa Rica. In case you don’t know Costa Rica is Latin America’s #1 retirement and relocation haven. We have more Americans living here per capita than any other country outside of the United States. They can’t be wrong.

Anyway over the years I have personally helped 1000s of people relocate successfully to Costa Rica through 16 editions of my best selling guidebook, The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica, and my monthly tours.

February’s tour was fantastic! I had nine guests from the United States. All of them were first-time visitors to Costa Rica and loved my tour because of the breathtaking sunsets at the beach, the great variety of exotic foods, the information imparted at the two-day seminar and the jovial atmosphere of the tour. As on my other tours all of the participants bonded and became good friends during the tour. I am sure they will remain in contact with each other for years to come.

I am really happy to be changing people’s lives and helping them make their dreams come true.

On my monthly retirement and relocation tours, my guests always ask about Costa Rica’s restaurants. I explain that Costa Rica has a full gamut of restaurants from inexpensive sodas where where the locals eat to high-end establishments which offer international and gourmet fare.

The majority of the country’s best restaurants are located in San José, Escazú and other areas of the Central Valley. However, good dinning may be found at many of the beach resorts in Northwest Costa Rica and in the Central and South Pacific. You’d be surprised where some of the country’s best restaurants are located. For example, Exotica is a little establishment in the middle of the jungle in the town of Ojochal in the South Pacific region. The French-Canadian owners prepare some of the best food you have ever tasted. During the beach portion of my monthly retirement and relocation tours I take my clients to dine at Exotica. Needless to say everyone loves the place.

The other night I had dinner with a couple of my closest friends at the Taj Mahal, the country’s outstanding Indian restaurant. The food is absolutely mouth-watering. The Taj is a high-end restaurant but worth every penny of the cost. I only go there a couple time a year on special occasions. I had a couple of friends in town from the U.S. and really wanted them to experience Costa Rica’s dining at its best.

If you are interested in Costa Rica’s restaurants, I suggest you purchase the “Tico Times Restaurant Guide to Costa Rica.” It is an informative guide featuring the restaurant and dining scenes both in San José and throughout Costa Rica. If you decide to move here you can be sure that you won’t miss he restaurants from home.

Every day more and more people chose Costa Rica as a place to live or retire.

The process goes like this. Usually people come here as tourists and then fall in love with the country and its lifestyle. While others read about Costa Rica or see nature programs on TV which extol the country’s beauty and all it has to offer.

After doing their research on line and reading all of the guidebooks people then decide to make the move. They usually contact a relocation expert or take a retirement tour prior to making the definitive move. Smart individuals also attend the monthly seminar given by the Association of Residents of Costa Rica or ARCR. I include this informative seminar on my monthly relocation/retirement tours. With the information and contacts from the seminar and my tours, people now feel comfortable and have the confidence level to make the big move.

After finally moving here and getting settled in their new home or apartment, the question always arises, “What do I do now?” I am in a new country with a lot of free time and have to find out how to use it. This shouldn’t be a problem since there are hundreds of activities here to stay busy and happy. There is usually a period of adjustment where you have to get use to the way things work in your new country. This is usually the point at which the honeymoon starts to end and you begin to confront a variety of daily situations. Having network of friends and getting involved in some hobby or activity can make all the difference in world in adapting to life in a new country. Your friends will be your support and your activities will keep you occupied.

I would be lying through my teeth if I said Costa Rica was for everyone. But if you make an effort to understand the culture, go with the flow, make friends and most of all have a good sense of humor, you should be able to adjust after the initial honeymoon ends and take advantage of Costa Rica’s incredible “ Pura Vida” lifestyle.