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They have no standing army because they are a US protectorate (WE are their army, should they need one). ... The government has been very stable for many years...
Costa Rica is a U.S. protectorate, like Puerto Rico or Guam, you mean? I don't believe this is the case. Costa Rica is a sovereign state. You are correct about the stability of its government, one of the more stable ones in Latin America.
Instead of keeping a standing army, Costa Rica negotiated peace treaties with its neighbors, stays out of international affairs, but maintains a very strong and visible civilian police force.
To be sure, the U.S. would step in to Costa Rica with military might should that be deemed "necessary." But the broad interpretation of that word must be viewed with skepticism. As we know from history, the U.S. will march into any number of Latin American countries at the drop of a hat if "necessary," especially when the internal politics of a given country or one of its neighbors doesn't suit the tastes of Washington D.C. In this regard, Costa Rica is potentially cursed to share a border with Panama. Should anything happen to upset the Canal Zone, Costa Rica is too close for comfort, IMO, because the U.S. would immediately be involved militarily.
Well, We've been trying to find a sane climate (here at city-data) for our daughters' health, and most people here have been very helpful. We've already sold our ranch and are living with family while we find a place to move out of Texas' oppressive climate, and would like to do so by the new year if possible. Don't want to overstay our welcome with family. LOL
We considered NZ, but after reading the ex-pat boards... WOW! not gonna do that.
So then we looked at Costa Rica. The only ex-pat boards I could find all have pretty glowing reviews.
I'd be interested in hearing all the negatives as well to be be able to make an informed decision. thanks.
My dad loved Costa Rica during the late 80s and early 90s. He was over 80yrs old and he would go there every year for a few months and bring a new lady friend and her children back to his 9 acre ranch in California. He had about 20 Costa Ricans living on his ranch when he died and he left half of the ranch to them. I was upset at first about losing half my inheritance, but he sure did enjoy his last few years.
Anyways, instead of going to a foreign country, I'd recommend moving to Hawaii for the weather. The cost truly is insane, but if it's for your child than I promise you'll find a way to make it work. It's American, they speak English (usually), and you can pick the temperature you want based on what altitude you settle at. Down on the beach it stays hot and sunny and up the mountainside (valcanos) it stays cool and probably a little cloudy. I lived on Maui for fourth through ninth grade and it's a lot easier to adjust there than it would be in some other country.
Hi, it depends where you go. I have a house overlooking a stunning river in Sierpe and it is a very safe and friendly community and a haven for fishing (River and sea) and wildlife. I'm probably going to sell it due to changes in my plans but not because it isn't a great place.
I had to be there for, thankfully, a short time. The sky is about two feet above your head, hidden sweat glands that are dormant in normal human beings are activated 24/7 there, it's like trying to breathe underwater, and I didn't like it. Needless to say, I don't care if they offer free land, furnished houses, and luxury accomodations...I would never voluntarily live there.
The carribbean coast gets humid. The pacific coast is not too bad.
I know of people that have a business set up in Costa Rica. They are doing very well. They have also mentioned that they needed to hire body guards while there. I don't know if thats true if your just a regular joe. I've also read that kidnappings for ransome is not uncommmon. I would do my homework first!
I have heard and seen the complete opposite. I have seem many expats with businesses, but no bodyguards, and most of them even laugh at the idea.
Because so far what I have read has been so opposite of the way I look at the country and I have been there.....even had heat stroke at the National Park because I did not bring enough water with me to last the 9 wonderful hours we spent watching the monkeys, sloths, and other wildlife, but I am going back as often as I can afford it.
The only reason I have not moved-have good Costa Rican friends that we have known since the 1980s when they lived in the states so basically their Costa Rican family is our Costa Rican family when we go there--- is that I would be scared to drive. My sons and I did a road trip from San Jose to the Manuel Antonio area and then back up through the mountains to the Tamarindo area and back through the mountains, checking out the volcano parks and other parks along the way. It is a beautiful country, but stop signs and center lines dividing the roads seem to be more suggestions than rules to follow when driving. Even the big tour buses would make a lane down the middle of 2 lane roads to get by slower cars. Also most of the roads are not paved and even the toll road had patches of gravel by the 1 lane bridges last year. They are doing a lot of construction on their highways and you don't get the warnings or detours like you do in the states. Sometimes they would just close an exit with big pieces of rock or cement and you'd have no idea how to get back to the road you needed to be on. Also they don't always name streets so sometimes the GPS would tell us to turn right on road and there might be 2 roads there. But it was so much fun.....we even found a Burger King in a small village way up in the mountains. Only one we saw the whole trip. It had 2 menus- USA food and Tico. Their food is very good and I sample everything while there.
One other thing I noticed is life starts early. We were there in May and sun seemed to be out by 4AM so we were up and out to a beach for surfing. By 9 or 10PM we were tired so went to bed early almost every night there. We tended to watch the sunset, go out to eat, and maybe shop a while, then head back to go to bed so we could get up early the next day to head to another local beach. BTW often just to get to a beach a mile up from where you stay takes 30 minutes because you may have to go back to main road to get around a ridge, and then take the unpaved roads back down to the beach. Saw monkeys several times while doing that.
I've been in and out of CR for the better part of two decades and I've never heard of an expat needing or wanting a bodyguard.
The roads suck, this is true. there ae many places where the potholes will nearly swallow a car. If by chance someone has marked the pothole or landslide (in many cases) it's usually done by dragging tree branches into the road forcing the raffic around the potential disaster.
It's a place roughly the same size as West Virginia but has the bio-diversity of all of North America. It's beautiful, wild, potentially dangerous, with mismanaged infrastructure but wonderful none the less.
Be safe and use your head for something besides a hat rack and you'll be fine.
Because most of what is written in this thread is gossip. Whenever a post starts with "I have heard that" (or equivalent), you can generally skip it.
How many posts on this thread are by people who have even been there, let alone lived there? And even if they have lived there, you have no idea what kind of relationship they had with their area. Ask two people in any town any place in the world about what they think of their town and you'll often get replies that are 180 degrees out of phase--totally contradictory.
Once you read about 1000 personal experiences from actual residents (who have lived there for more than a vacation) for a given area and you use your head to extract an unbiased view of the area based on those 1000 biased views... then you may start getting a feel for the what it's like there. Otherwise, as the old saying goes, don't believe everything you read. And that includes glowing reviews as well as declarations that it's hell on earth.
Hey ya'll, I "lived in" southern Louisiana for... let's see... three weeks? It was about 1982. As I recall in my vast memory banks of knowledge, it was hot. Humid. They talked funny, sometimes even French. And you know, it seems, possibly, that I heard that there may have been voodoo priestesses in the swamps, guarded by gators. Bad news. You think South Central is bad? Don't mess with a priestess.
Now, based on that, would you trust my impressions when making a decision of whether or not to spend the rest of your life in Louisiana? Well, let me tell you something, at LEAST I have been to Louisiana! I probably have more experience with Louisiana than about 99% of the posters here have with Costa Rica. So if you trust my impression of Louisiana, yeah, by all means, read of Costa Rica here. Or flip a coin.
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