COSTA RICA COASTERTOUCAN TALK
FRIENDS AND FRIENDS TO BE:
Our first newsletter includes a short story of a local resident going for an unexpected ride and a plan to join over 12,000 others to do a 1OK run on Memorial Day during social distancing. It also contains a brief description of one of our vacation rentals and a featured property for sale. Feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested in visiting Costa Rica and thanks for your interest.
SPENDING THE VIRUS IN COSTA RICA
Costa Rica has been noted as being one of the top countries in the World for effectively managing the C-19 virus. With a population of five million there have been 12 deaths reported and just over 2,000 cases reported with over 27% being foreigners (mostly from Nicaragua, reportedly doing a questionable job of controlling and reporting on the virus. In the Osa Canton (municipality), we have had very few cases; so Dominical and Costa Rica as a whole has been an excellent place to ride this out. Costa Rica was slowly relaxing the restrictions that were put in place and not rushing to do away with all of them but with a recent outbreak in the northern part of the country we returned to driving restrictions in late June with some of the original limitations reinstated.
Recent sunset from our vacation rental that is waiting for you to arrive
A BIG SURPRISE FOR ONE UNEXPECTING SLOTH
Canto del Mar, where most of the vacation rentals we manage are located, has about ten very huge old trees within our boundaries. Occasionally, they need to be trimmed or have large branches that pose a threat removed and sometimes totally removed due to age. Some of the branches are the size of a large tree. Recently a huge branch snapped from about 80 feet high making it necessary to remove another branch. Marvin, our Costa Rican tree professional, arrived to do the job and about a minute after the gigantic branch fell to the ground, I spotted a sloth crawling out of some branches and looking a little dazed (actually they always look a little dazed). He crawled to a strong branch that we cut from the main branch. We carried him down the road away from where the tree was being cut so he could find another tree to call home. Unfortunately, I ran out of phone memory when he arrived at the base of an alternate tree. Here is a link showing his speedy great escape to his new home. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ll3k8qfbvg6d44l/z%20FALLEN%20SLOTH%20THE%20MOVIE.MOV?dl=0
VIRTUAL TIMES DO NOT STOP TRADITIONS
Deb’s flights back to Costa Rica from our place in Colorado were both canceled so she has remained working from her home office in Keystone. Dave announced a few weeks before Memorial Day he had been training for a virtual Bolder Boulder 10K race when the real event was postponed to Labor Day. It is a goal race he did for 15 years without fail which he trained to qualify for the AA wave, the second group of serious runners in a race that now attracts over 54,000 participants making it the 5th largest race in the World. Since 2001 he has missed the real race due to our early retirement then our Costa Rica connection so every year he runs a casual 10K no matter where he is. With our recent virtual relationship and not running together since the first part of March, it was just a little too much for Deb to ignore not participating. By race day Dave had been training for just over five weeks and Deb was only able to get in four training runs but had been cross country skiing, skinning up the mountain to get some downhill skiing in following the closure of the resort plus riding her bike so she had a some recent leg strengthening under her belt. We set three goals for every race. Acceptable, obtainable and lofty. The lofty goal is important because we tend to underestimate ourselves, and many times can achieve it but not always. Dave constantly underestimates his time and Deb usually sets very lofty goals.
On the evening before race day it snowed several inches in Keystone and rains were threatening in Dominical. This made for a 30° start for Deb and on the other hand, Dave got an 80° day starting on the beach at zero altitude. Our Colorado home is at 9400 feet. Quite the contrast! As it turned out Deb was the luckier of the two. Dave got rained on within five minutes of the start and raced with soaking shoes the entire way. Deb had dressed correctly and did not overheat or was cold. With each of us having our GPS apps ready to go, we started running at exactly the same time, 10 seconds after 6:56 am, the official start of the AA wave. Dave started on the Playa Dominicalito for the first two miles and then the coastal highway for the next four miles with a finish line that matches the steep entry into the University of Colorado’s Folsum Field, the finish of the actual race. Deb did a route from the house through the ski resort on the bike path to Dillion Reservoir turning around at the base of Swan Mountain Road ending a couple miles from where she had left her bike an hour before the start. Most runners can sprint the last quarter mile, Deb reported she had no sprint left at the end, whereas Dave miss calculated his turnaround point by half a mile and ended up doing two sprints when he discovered he had one more mile to go. We both beat our lofty goals and celebrated later on a video call. If the postponed race goes as scheduled on Labor Day then our training starts the end of July.
FEATURED PROPERTY FOR SALE – TWO BEDROOMS, 2.5 BATH, $339,000
Speaking of Canto de Mar Villas, we have one for sale with no pool on row three that has great owner financing with a low down payment and a 15 year note. It has a big ocean view and can provide income for when you are not here. Contact us for details on this property and others.
Keep us in mind when you are ready to plan your first trip or return to Costa Rica. Big discounts are being provided through the end of November. We are here to answer any questions you have about visiting or investing in an ocean view or inland jungle/mountain view property. Dave and Deb West -Owners RE/MAX Costa del Sol Properties Dominical, CR Info@costadelsol-cr.net If you want to be removed from our mailing list just reply and say “no thanks”