Costa Rican Sunsets and Evening Critters

A Few Things I like

Where in the World is Bejuco, Costa Rica?

Many people want to know where exactly we’re living. We’re in Costa Rica (not Puerto Rico) which is South of Nicaragua and North of Panama. We are living on the Pacific Coast about midway down the country in a small sleepy beach town called Bejuco, meaning “wicker.”

We’re about 25 minutes South (by car) of one of Costa Rica’s larger beach towns, Jaco and about 20 minutes South of Playa Hermosa. Bejuco is 30 minutes North of Quepos and Manuel Antonio and 2 hours North of Dominical. The drive to Bejuco from San Jose is about 2 hours. If you got west from Bejuco, well, you’ll be in the Pacific.

The house we’re living in is a five minute walk, down a dirt path, to the beach. The beach has black sand, is perfect for walking and collecting shells while the girls chase each other and we try to teach Lita not to drink salt water. The beach is also a Blue Flag rated beach (the highest level of cleanliness). We hope you come visit us!

House Hunters

So we found a place! We knew we wanted in live in Bejuco (more on where this is in a later post) and having visited in May, we knew which community/development we wanted to live.

When we visited in May a guy from Jaco Reality, named Clark, showed us some potential places to live, including some in the Gardens of the Pacific Development in Bejuco. He knew a retired woman named Arlene who has lived here for 4 years with her husband, is the president of the HOA, and manages the rentals of some of the owners’ houses when they are not here. There are 48 homes and only 5 are inhabited by people year round. It’s laid-back, a 5 minute walk down a dirt road to the beach, and we just loved it. It is also has 24 security and a swimming pool.

This time back we came back to the same development (with another guy, Jason, from Jaco Realty) and although we did not choose one of the places Arlene showed us we did choose one belonging to a couple who have lived here for over 5 years, that we met while walking around the development. That was Saturday. Monday night we moved in. While unpacking we had a blackout. We heard this happens often, but did not know where the candles where and quickly found out only Jim’s headlamp had working batteries. A blackout in this area means that it is literally PITCH BLACK.

Side note: When we came to visit the Jaco/Playa Hermosa/Bejuco area last summer we walked into Jaco Reality’s office and asked if there were any open houses. There were later that night and when we showed up we met the owners Michael and Wendy. Wendy was massively pregnant at the time but since being here was have seen their precious daughter. They have been extremely helpful in aiding us with planning our move and details since arriving. Michael had wanted to help us look at places on Saturday, but was unable to because he was filming an episode with House Hunters International. We were so excited for him, but he had never even seen the show. He told us they want to do a couple more episodes with him, so if you’re looking to buy in Costa Rica, we have your 15 minutes of fame hookup!

As you look through the photos you’ll notice I take you from the our front, inside, around clock-wise, with a little stop out back. (Hope that helps you visualize it Dad!) If you need a virtual tour Skype us. We did it with Susy already.