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Weather-worn canoes were beached along the shore. Local women dressed in the traditional garb of floral printed blouses scurried back and forth collecting the cargo from the plane. Across a nearby bridge I could see the town of Playon Chico.
Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast is known for its dramatic coastline of tree-covered mountains dropping suddenly to the ocean, empty beaches, and lush rainforest full of wildlife like toucans, howler monkeys, sloths, and dozens of other species.
My first taste of Costa Rica came during a six-week college placement. Studying abroad was a requirement for me. After hours of research, I chose Costa Rica, known as “the happiest place on Earth.”
Today was a typical day where we live, in San Ramon de Alajuela in Costa Rica’s western Central Valley. My husband, Paul, who is a morning person, woke to mostly clear skies at 5:30 a.m., fed our two cats, and ate breakfast.
Belize is a charming little country with one foot planted in the Caribbean, the other in Central America. In addition to an abundance of natural beauty, the offshore World Heritage Mesoamerican barrier reef, and a multitude of Maya ruins, Belize offers expats an outstanding residence program for retirees. Another plus, English is the country’s primary language. For these reasons—and others—an increasing number of expats are moving to this laidback, democratic country.
Tourists and expats alike typically spend a lot of time researching Costa Rica’s weather patterns prior to arrival. While it’s a tropical paradise with no winter, or drastic temperature changes in general for that matter, the country does have two distinct seasons.
“I can’t believe it!” That’s what every one of our friends say when they see where my partner Michael and I live. Instead of the urban sprawl that had engulfed our lives in Dallas, we now live in something that seems more like Shangri-La than the real world.
A flourishing expat community has evolved over the years as adventurous spirits from all over the globe set their wandering feet to rest, seduced by the charm and easy living in Antigua, Guatemala.
When my wife Jen and I decided to move to Costa Rica, like many, we thought we’d end up living in a beach area. However, we wanted to start the...
Nothing beats the diagnosis of an incurable disease for putting the spurs to a plan. When my wife Christine and I left the neurologist’s office in Charleston after being told she had Parkinson’s disease, our trip home to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina began in tears and anger, but then turned to some serious strategic planning…