Moving Away From Tamarindo Costa Rica
I feel like I should back up about 4 years and tell you why we chose Tamarindo in the first place. When we set off on this crazy adventure, we were open to anything. However, we had done our research and wanted to make sure that we were not getting in too far over our heads.
From our research, we knew we didn’t want to be in the city. While the city can bring many benefits such as the convenience of shopping and paved roads. None of us wanted to be in the city so it was never an option.
We all wanted to be on the beach and were aware that it was going to be hot. Since part of the reason we left Colorado was to get away from the cold, the heat was a welcome change. Colorado is known for its beautiful mountains and cold winters, but no beaches. My dream had always been to live on the beach.
Where We Started
When our house went under contract, the first thing I did was to jump on the computer to book plane tickets. We wanted to leave within 72 hours after closing on our house that was happening in 28 days. The only way not to pay outrageous plane tickets was to book them at the earliest date we could commit.
No where to go the whole country was an open door to us. We had researched all kinds of areas. Not knowing where we wanted to go the whole country was an open door to us. We had researched all kinds of areas. Steve felt it was better for us to fly into Liberia and hit one of the beach towns as a starting point. He had a couple of reasons for this.
Driest part of Costa Rica
We could avoid the city, flights were a little cheaper, and the Guanacaste area is the driest part of Costa Rica. Rainy season can get treacherous, we wanted to make sure we could handle the jungle rains and the challenges they can bring. Our move would be taking place in September which is the rainy season on the Pacific side so he wanted to make sure we could handle the rain.
We could avoid the city, flights were a little cheaper, and the Guanacaste area is the driest part of Costa Rica. Since it was September which is the rainy season on the Pacific side and the roads can get treacherous, we wanted to make sure we could handle the jungle rains and the challenges they can bring.
Launching point
The goal was to set up a home base and travel around to find where we liked the best. We were able to find a little place in Langosta that was going to serve as a home base for 6 months.
All of us quickly fell in love with the beautiful golden beaches, our wonderful neighbors, and the local English-speaking church. It was like a small community that we fit right into.
During those six months, we traveled around Costa Rica. what we kept coming back to was, Tamarindo has a big expat community that speaks English. While one of the big points of this move was to emerge ourselves in the culture, none of us spoke Spanish. We were aware that just checking out at the store could quickly become overwhelming. The thought of handling any emergency while not being able to communicate and not understanding the culture could be a big problem.
Costa Rica Long-Term Housing
Stacey Watson with Re/Max helped us find a long-term rental on a hill in Tamarindo. At the time there were a couple of houses on the hill and our condo had 6 units. All of the units and homes on the block where short term rentals so people from all around the world would come and go. The holidays could get a little crazy, but for the most part, we found ourselves alone with only the guard and the animals.
The lots next to us were vacant with big jungle trees where the monkeys and birds would hang out all day. We found ourselves getting up at 3:30 in the morning and jumping out of bed to making a delicious cup of Costa Rican coffee so we could sit on the porch and watch the world wake up.
During this time, I found myself looking at life in a much different way. I worked when I was inspired, took long walks on the beach when I wanted, ate when I was hungry, and sleep when I was tired. Time seemed to not be a concern. The day of the week was lost. I had found true “pura vida”.
Changing seasons
Over the years we have continued to travel throughout the country calling our little condo on the hill our home. Every year we look forward to the end of May when it starts to cool down and the skies open up with rains. Our favorite time of year is from September to November, this is when the Tamarindo area receives the heaviest rains.
There are many battles that come with this time of year; like mold growing on the furniture and doors if not wiped down every couple days, roads flooding, and bridges washing out somedays it feels like nothing is dry. We have come to love the things that the rains bring; like the big green jungle plants, beautiful colored flowers, and cool weather.
Rainy Season
During this time of year, we find ourselves getting excited over the big lightning and thunderstorms that make the concrete walls shake as the sky lights up with brilliant colors. We even look forward to losing power because we get to pull out the board games.
Every year when the rains stop, we all start talking about how the next four to six months are beautiful in their own special way; however, they are also hot, windy, dry, and dusty. Things we don’t like.
So Why Change?
As we start to come to the end of our lease, we have to start to make some decisions. We now have construction all around us, so the trees are gone, and the noise is no longer animals at 6:30 am, it’s power tools and construction workers. Our condo complex is full of long-term tenants year-round and a huge complex is being built next to us.
We sat down and made a list of things we wanted like cooler weather that is 60º-85º Fahrenheit all year, more rain, bigger birds, more monkeys, and privacy. We would like to be more in the jungle with animals as our neighbors, not people. We would love to have an area where we could have a garden. My dream is a property with fruit trees that we could eat off of.
The Difference…
The difference…While having an expat community was crucial in our transition, we want to be around more of the local culture. We have two more years before our daughter Taya is done with school, and we want her to experience more of this country and the language.
Our Spanish is not being used since we are in a heavily expat community. Steve has done Spanish lessons almost every day over the last four years and is much better than he gives himself credit for. However, Taya and I have been guilty of not learning it because everyone, even our Tico friends speak English.
We have decided that looking outside of Tamarindo is best. I know that this is going to bring challenges like fewer shopping options, more power and internet outages, fewer people, and little to no English.
Costa Rica Climate Change
I believe it’s time to start looking at houses more up in the mountains. Like the Southern Zone areas. I know we don’t want to be in Jaco due to its party scene and coarse dark sand beaches. I love the Manuel Antonio area and would love to look at what the Uvita and Dominical areas as well.
This would give us everything from the cooler weather, green all year, more rain, and bigger animals. We would also find more seclusion for writing and would push us to use our Spanish.
Shopping
While it has been nice that there are more stores around us. I enjoy more of the farmer’s markets and the little shops. It does mean that I sometimes have to wait until company is flying in for a visit to receive what I need from Amazon or battle the city to shop, but that is a small price to pay.
I wonder where I will be this time next year?
