Russ to the rescue

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We hoped, as we exited baggage claim in San Jose with a few hundred pounds of luggage, that someone would be waiting for us with a sign bearing our names ready to take us on a car search. No such luck. We piled our stuff against a pillar outside the airport and waited. After about 10 minutes a guy with a handle-bar mustache, sporting a hoop earing showed up to the gate with "Angie" written on a white board. "Angie" didn't believe that it could be her, but after some urging approached and found that, in fact, it was Russell, who we had exchanged several emails with in an effort to hire him as a car expediting service. We shook hands, relieved and Russell pulled the car around. Thankfully, it was big one. We spent the rest of the afternoon between three dealerships that bring used cars straight from Korea test driving Hyundai Gallopers.

The first dealership we went to was washing the vehicle we were to test drive as we pulled in. The engine was immaculate, new hoses, everything wiped down and glistening. The inside was the same. We took it for a drive and found that, in general, it rode quite well though the shocks and steering felt a bit loose. I figured that this was going to be how the rest of the day would go: looking at recently cleaned and touched up 11-year-old cars, not knowing where dents and dings had been and then being surprised when the sloppy ride didn't match the slick appearance. It didn't end up that way.

The second car we drove, at a different dealership, ran out of gas halfway up a hill on a narrow road with a bridge at the bottom. After the salesman tried for 15 minutes to get it going again we walked back to Russ's car and went to the next dealership. We found a couple suitable cars there, and after the mechanics tried several batteries in each one, test drove two. The others we wanted to test drive they couldn't start. Apparently, these cars haven't been used in at least a month and the dealerships don't like to put gas or good batteries in them in case someone tries to steal them. That's all well and good unless you're trying to buy one and can't test it because it won't start or drive for more than a few blocks. Russ dropped us off at our hotel planning to get back at it the next morning.

Russ picked us up around 8am. We headed back to the dealer and spent the next three hours test driving cars (20 minutes) and waiting around( 2hours, 40 minutes). Once we decided on one we liked, a '96, Russ took us around to the bank, the lawyers and back to the dealers. Yes, you need a lawyer to buy a car, and a phone and pretty much everything but groceries. Russ dropped us off at the hotel again around 6pm with a plan to pick up the car on Monday afternoon or Tuesday after it passed inspection and got temporary tags.

The car wasn't ready by Monday. They told us Tuesday by noon. We closed on Tierra on Monday with John there. Everything went smoothly. Russ showed up at the dealers at 8:30 on Tuesday to see how things were going and push them along. He spent the whole day there mostly waiting for paint to come so they could touch up rust spots. Our plan was to find a futon and leave around noon to get to Tierra by 4pm. We found a futon, which Russ loaded into his vehicle along with all of our other luggage and headed over to wait at the dealers. We drove out in our new/really old Galloper at 7pm, got lost for an hour and a half and then headed for Tierra. We got to our new home around midnight and went straight to sleep after unpacking. Tuesday we woke up at 7am and cooked breakfast for our first guests. So far, so good and a big thanks goes out to Russell who made the Costa Rican car buying process go as fast and smooth as possible.

Loose Ends

The last two weeks have been a buzz of excitement as we try to get as much as possible done before heading to Costa Rica next Thursday. We finished our business plan, revised it a few times, opened a joint bank account, purchased a domain name and some hosting space (www.tierradesuenoslodge.com), created business cards, got a skype number (802-659-0336) that acts as a regular US number but connects to our computer anywhere in the world, researched cars and hired a car buying service, started accepting reservations from the website and drove through NYC to Vermont for a last goodbye. Now we're back in DC for a week, then it's off to San Jose.

We're being picked up at the airport by a car buying service who will take us around to trusted dealerships where we will drive diesel Hyundai Gallopers (fairly large SUV's) and hopefully find a suitable one in our price range. They're imported directly from Korea where, supposedly, they were driven on good roads through urban areas as opposed to long miles on bumpy Costa Rican roads. We decided SUV so we can haul passengers and supplies, diesel because it's cheaper and there is the option of using biodiesel. The possibility of driving around on recycled vegetable oil while smelling like popcorn is very exciting.

With or without a car we have to travel 4 hours to Puerto Viejo next weekend to walk through the property one last time, make sure everything is still there. John, our partner, is meeting us in San Jose on Sunday so we can all be present at closing. Tuesday, John flies back stateside and we head to Tierra de Sueños, hopefully in a car with a new futon in the back so that we can furnish the top floor of the "Zen Garden" bungalow for a family of three due to check in the next day. The current manager will give us the keys and then we're on our own. On Wednesday morning we have to cook breakfast for at least 6 guests, hopefully more.

We're excited, scared and very curious to see how this all goes. We hope you stay tuned as we get things going and come visit soon!

Back in Business

We apologize to our faithful blog viewers for the long pause and warn you, this is a long one! Brendan and I have been back in the States more or less since we returned from Mexico in late July. Much has changed since then! In regards to Los Adobes, the Puerto Escondido find, we decided it was not in our best interest to join a partnership with two Mexicans we didn't know. Yes, many of you may have thought us crazy for ever considering it to begin with and in retrospect it was a bit ridiculous. What we learned from that experience is priceless nonetheless.

We were living in Vermont during this time of decision making and renting a small but very cute studio apartment in the tiny town of Bridgewater. Brendan enjoyed his first true rural Vermont living experience. I think it seemed even stranger to him than Nicaragua! In November, the spectacular wedding of my cousin Sarah Turner, now Sarah Lidz and her man, Jono brought us to Puerto Rico for a week. We took advantage of the trip and looked at a small lodge in El Yunque, the tropical rainforest on the east coast of the island. We thought it was a very interesting place and liked it enough to pursue the idea of buying it and went home with intentions to make something happen there. The holiday season was coming at us full force however and we found it nearly impossible to communicate with banks in Puerto Rico. As a result we found ourselves drifting from the place and lost some level of interest. Brendan returned home for the Holidays and I joined him shortly after to bring in the New Year in Washington DC.

As the excitement of the holiday's came to an end, we found ourselves at a loss for what the next step should be. We had been using up the last bit of our savings and were pretty much tired of living out of our backpacks. It seemed it was almost time to put the guest house search off for a while and behave like most people our age, jobs, apartments etc. A frightening thought, I know! As usual, I was spending my morning browsing real estate websites when I stumbled upon what looked like an incredible bungalow lodge for sale on the Caribbean coast of Coast Rica. The place had been built that year and, according to the ad, needed to sell quickly due to family issues. So, with nothing to lose, Brendan and I decided to fly down to Costa Rica on a last ditch effort to see Tierra de Suenos.

A wise decision indeed! The flight to San Jose was quick and easy and we raced to make the last bus going to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. The beginning of the drive was beautiful, up and over lush temperate mountains. The sun went down once we hit the lowlands close to the coast and we drove through miles of banana plantations in wild anticipation as we inched closer to Puerto Viejo.

As the warm evening breeze of the humid Caribbean touched our skin, we remembered some of the reasons we started this search to begin with. Sounds of reggae music poured out onto the streets and a wirey dread locked man approached us asking where we were headed. We told him Tierra de Suenos in Playa Chiquita, trying to hold back our excitement. He wasn't sure of the place, but fetched us a cab. The drive out to Playa Chiquita is only 6 kilometers from Puerto Viejo but feels a bit longer due to the slow and bumpy dirt road. Making our way to the end of Playa Cocles, a long surf beach that that precedes Playa Chiquita, the road began to narrow and lush jungle took the place of any hotels or restaurants. This rural stretch lasted for a few minutes, then we spotted the glowing sign peeking out from the lush garden , Tierra de Suenos! The manager greeted us at the front entrance and walked us on a well lit path through the rainforest to our bungalow titled "Orchid Oasis." We stepped into the beautiful bungalow and knew in a second this was the place!

Tierra de Suenos is made up of six 1 year old bungalows, a two bedroom owner's house, a reception house with full kitchen and a palm roofed yoga studio. The grounds are stunning, overflowing with birds of paradise, palm trees, banana plants and a hundred others who are not yet familiar to us. There are five adorable sloths that live on the property as well as butterflies, hummingbirds, toucans and more. Each bungalow is made from beautiful hard wood, has its own deck with hammocks and adarondack chairs. They are situated close together in a U shape to maximize the amount of forest on the land. Everything in the bungalows is handcrafted, including the bedframes and mosaic showers.

Tierra de Suenos enjoys the best of all worlds. Playa Chiquita is a quiet village with three restaurants and two grocery stores as well as a community center that offers yoga and capoeira. It is a quick bike or taxi ride to the lively town of Puerto Viejo where there are bars, clubs and a variety of restaurants, but far enough away to not be bothered by all the noise . It is smack dab in the middle of all the best beaches in the area including the darling Playa Chiquita itself which is a 3 minute walk from the lodge. The area is considered the most diverse in Costa Rica with it's mix of Afro-Caribbians, Hispanics who have moved from more urban areas and indigenous people of the area. Ex-pats from all over the world have begun to flock here as well. The most incredible aspect of all this diversity is the very mixed nature of the groups. People in general live in harmony and honor the true meaning of the Costa Rican phrase, Pura Vida.

We recently signed a buy/sell contract and plan on closing the deal on February 25th. A friend of Brendan's from DC, John Hurley is funding the project and will be our partner in this endeavor. We will be moving down there to live and manage after close. The closing date is exactly one year and one day from the time we started this search last year. This seems to be an auspicious time of year for us! We imagine that we are going to run into countless obstacles as we learn the ins and outs of the business and plan to maintain this blog through it all.

Tierra de Suenos already has a website that we will change a bit to make more our own, but please check it out: www.tierradesueno.com For the best viewing of the photos in the upper right hand corner click on them, then click "view album", then "slideshow"!


After The 25th, reservations are open. Come visit us and see what it's all about!

Los Adobes

Mazunte is a small layed-back town on the Pacific coast. The water is blue-green and clear as can be. One can easily forget what year it is by the amount of hippies floating around. A typical night in mazunte consists of sitting under an umbrella, toes in the sand drinking Corona and eating an unbelievably delicious Pescado Empapelado (fish in a bag,) grilled to perfection by one of the sturdy El Pescador family girls! We Stayed at a place called El Posado Arcitecto, designed and run by an Italian guy. Our room with a view was built into the cliff directly in the center of the two beautful beaches. The room had some unique features including a swinging bed, proving to be more interesting than comfortable! We played a nightly game of vollyball against some very impressive five foot tall mexican girls...they beat us everytime! After spending a couple lazy days in Mazunte, we headed an hour north to the hot-spot Puerto Escondido.

Once a small fishing village whose economy was enhanced greatly by selling turtle meat and shells Puerto is a now a popular tourist destination for surfers and beach goers alike (and a safe haven for turtles). The Puerto Escondido area consists of five beaches. Playa Zicatela, where we stayed, is famous for the Mexpipe, a world renowned wave. Only the most experienced surfers or experienced idiots dare to risk their lives for an incredible ride. Surfing has quickly become my favorite spectators sport.
















Just as our trip was nearing an end and we were still not completely sure of our next move, an opportunity presented itself to us here in Puerto. A small hotel called Los Adobes was recently put on the market. A middle aged couple bought the land and built this quaint hotel with a swimming pool and garden 10 years ago. They made improvements little by little and maintained it beautifully. Unfortunately, the couple has been plagued with health problems over the years and the wife has recently passed away leaving the hotel in the care of her children. By happenstance we arrived to see the hotel just before the children came down to sort out loose ends and prepare it to be sold. We had a chance to stay at the hotel for a week, meet with the children, who are both in their 30's, several times and also with the real estate agents(two Americans that have been living and working in Mexico for 20 years).

This small hotel is what we have been searching for. It has an excellent location just a short walk from the beach, restaurants, bars, internet and shopping. It is beautifully designed with adobe walls and a palapa (palm) roof. With a few touches and a lot of energy we know we can have Los Adobes overflowing year round.

We are moving ahead with the support of the family, the real estate agents and the hotel staff (Estella, who has worked there for 9 years) to raise the money and take the necessary steps to be the new owners.

From here we're stopping in a mountain town called San Jose on the way to Oaxaca where we will reunite with Abigail, Angie's dear friend from home. After a few days there we are going to Mexico City as our last stop before two back-to-back family reunions in Colorado. We'll be fine tuning our business plan along the way and keeping in close contact with the family and real estate agents. Keep your fingers crossed for us and before you know it you may be relaxing by our pool in Puerto Escondido!!!!

Mexico!

At last we are in Mexico! In Tulum we got our first glimpse of the Yucatan`s Caribbean coast and we were blown away. The sand is whiter and the water brighter blue than we have seen. Our Experience here, however, was quite bitter sweet. The long strip of gorgeous beach had a number of overpriced, poor quality bungalos. We opted for the cheapest one and that was a mistake!

Our bungalo was the most atrocious excuse for a hut we had ever seen. It mainly consisted of sparsly arranged sticks leading to a poorly made palm roof and a half sand, half concrete floor. We thought it was pretty bad but decided to ruff it for the night. The worst was yet to be discovered when we payed the twenty bucks, more than we had payed almost anywere else in all our travels. Before bed we scoped the place out for whatever strange animals may be lurking, blew out the candles and it began. Smack, smack, smack! We were under attack! Mexican mosquitos were shockingly persistant. No amount of deet could desuade them from their feast. Not even the sand storm blowing in from the spaces between the sticks could distract them from their mission to devour us! Instead of sleeping, we spent the entire night fighting for our lives.

The following day we deliriously viewed the impresive ruins of Tulum. Those Mayans sure knew how to pick a spot! The rock temples look out over drastic cliffs onto stunning turquiose water. Iguanas sunbathe all over the ruins keeping a watchfull eye and giving an even more ancient feel to the splendid sight.

After exporing the ruins we high-tailed it out of there on the first bus to Mahahual, a rapidly developing fishing village. There were few tourists but apparently during the high season three cruise ships a day stop and fill the place with thousands of people....glad we weren`t there for that. The day we arrived there was a fishing tournament and Mexican families filled the restuarants and beaches, drinking, eating and having a good ol´ time. Men were posing with giant sword fish and various other beautiful fish while others cheered. We watched one woman impress her family by opening a beer bottle with her teeth. We happily joined in with margaritas, tacos and even a shot of Tequila on the house! We spent two relaxing nighs in a very comfortable, clean, mosquito free bungalo and took an over-night bus to Palanque.

Palanque is said to be the most amazing of the Mexican Mayan ruins. Tourists have been coming for years so it is very well set up. The town itself is 8 klm from the ruins and is typical with street food, a popular central plaza called a ¨zoculo¨ in Mexico and people out and about everywhere. We stayed at an old hippie/backpackers spot on the edge of the ruins called Panchan. Panchan is a group of bungalo operations set in the jungle. Our second floor bungalo was screen on all four walls with a deck and jungle surrounding. We observed two beautifully colored tucans chatting with each other for five minutes on a neighboring tree.

We Spent an entire day climbing temples and catching blurps about where we actually were by nearby tour guides. The ancient city of Palanque is actually 15 square Klms but only 7 have been escavated and made availabe to viewers. Although very touristy, one feels set back in time while experiencing the spectacular crumbling buildings set deep in the jungle.

We toured some of the areas incredible waterfalls en route to San Cristobal de las Casas. The drive was five hours up very winding, steep roads. San Cristobal is in the heart of Chiapas. High in the mountians, the town is buzzing with a young, excited crowd. The constant music and art create a very colorful atmosphere. San Cristobal has a wonderful indiginous market with beautiful hand-weaved blankets and other crafts. We have spent most of our days walking around taking in the rich culture and drinking the region´s famous hot choclate. We have also spent many hours philosophizing with a group of recently inspired Isrealis. The three of them just completed a four month yoga/meditation retreat in Guatemala and are full of very interesting concepts about the earth and it´s people (everyone will instantly attain enlightenment sometime after 2012 once NYC is buried under water). Two of them are joining us on the 12 hour bus ride to the Oaxacan coast tonight. Back to the heat!

Road Trip

View of farm in the Azuero.


Church in Chitre.

Rush hour in the Azuero.

The taxi to Isla Caña.

The hired car watchman in Laguira, the launch town for Isla Grande.

The view from Isla Grande.

Portobello locals.

Portobello.

The fort and customs house of Portobello.

We spent the last week cruising around in a rental car with Stuart, an Australian we met in Nicaragua, Bridget, his Panamanian girlfriend and Bram an American friend of theirs who´s studying in Panama City. Stuart was traveling down from Mexico handing out flyers for the hostel he owns in Panama City when we met and discussed our plans. We decided to team up, rent a car and explore beach towns that may be in need of a good guest house.

The driving was great thanks to the good roads in Panama and the beautiful scenery. We saw a good deal of the Azuero Peninsula which is known as the heartland of Panama with its frequent traditional celebrations and Spanish colonial architecture. We stopped in various towns on the western side of the peninsula often turning down side roads to check out the beaches. Aside from the occasional surfer they are pretty empty with nice views of nearby islands and long stretches of a black, brown or baige sand.

We spent one night on Isla Caña searching for sea turtles who come annually to bury their eggs in the sand. Unfortunately, it´s a little early in the season and we weren´t lucky enough to see any. From an island in the Pacific we drove all the way to an island in the Caribbean. It was a long day, but the beach waiting for us on Isla Grande was well worth it.

On our last day we wandered around Portobello and Nombre de Dios, two of the first settled areas in the Americas. Portobello has several pieces of an old fortress that sit right on the water and an old customs house that saw much of the gold collected in Panama before it was shipped to Spain.

For now we are on to Mexico, but we are content to know that Panama has some great possibilities.

Órale.

40 Years Later

We experienced some annoying set backs over these last couple of weeks because Brendan and I both suffered bouts of illness. So we have spent way too much time laying around and not nearly enough time exploring. However, by some miracle if you ask me, Brendan´s dad tracked down a Panamanian man he met in gradschool and traveled in Europe with forty years ago! We have yet to meet the actual man, José Raul, but we have spent some serious quality time with a number of his children and grandchildren. The family we have met so far has been beyond generous to us. We first met up with Jose´s Daughter, Ana Matilda and her three sweet, highly energetic pre-teens. They hosted us in their luxurious country home in El Valle, a lovely mountain town where many successful city dwellers own houses, and nice ones at that. We were astonished at the number of beautiful homes with lush gardens, spring fed pools, and mountain views. El Valle is definitely not your typical country town in Panama. After lounging around here for a few days, we decided we rather enjoyed having a maid to clean up after us and so decided to take up their offer to stay at their home in the city.

So here we are in the bustling, metropolitan city of Panama. The day after we arrived, Ana Matilda and company actually departed for a two week cruise and left us their home. So far most of our time in the city has been spent relaxing and trying to get healthy but we did manage to take a day trip to the Caribbean coast, which was an amazingly short hour and a half drive through jungle, where we walked around an old Spanish fortress sacked by the Pirate Henry Morgan. The ruins stand on a cliff looking onto the ocean at the mouth of the Rio Chagras where boats enter the canal heading towards the Pacific. We enjoyed watching a few huge ships pass through the Gatun Locks, the first on the Caribbean side of the canal. The enormity of the canal and it´s process was entirely fascinating. We learned some financial tid-bits that surprised us. First, the largest sized cargo ship pays 280,000 dollars to pass through the canal carrying 3,000 containers, and second the Canal grosses an average of 1.5-2 million dollars in one day! Not Bad!

Our most delightful day in Panama City was spent strolling around Casco Viejo, the old colonial part of town. The colorfully painted buildings with balconies and courtyards are reminiscent of the French Quarter. This city is the oldest on the Pacific coast of the Americas first established by the Spanish and later developed by the French who came to work on the canal. Today there is a mix of cultures and a strong Afro-Caribbean vibe. Although, very run down with a long history of poverty and rent control issues, it is undergoing serious renovation and the mix of old and new has undeniable charm.