ARCR - An organization dedicated to people interested in becoming residents of Costa Rica. Every month on the last Thursday and Friday they hold a seminar to outline the myriad of things to consider if you wish to pursue residency here. : http://www.arcr.net/
Hola mi nombre es Martin Waterhouse y quiero contarles acerca de mi experiencia de dos días en el seminario ARCR!
So why is this introduction in Spanish? Simply to underscore one key message from this seminar, the need to ensure you understand enough Spanish to make living here a viable prospect.
This is my collection of relatively verbatim, unedited notes that I thought might be worth sharing for others to peruse. Here's a trip synopsis:
Our six-day trip provided us with a relatively short four full days in country, two of which were this seminar. We left San Francisco on Wednesday August the 27th and returned on Monday September the 1st. Arriving in San Jose we just grabbed one of the Red/Orange taxis which costs about $23 to get us to our San Jose hotel
We attended the ARCR seminar (held at on the Thursday and Friday) at the Autentico Hotel. We were staying at the Park Inn which was a 15-20 minute walk away.
The other two days we took organized tours -
The Poas Volcano and Doka Coffee Plantation tour:
San Jose Walking Tour:
An interesting feature of the tours for any that go near the airport is that they are happy to drop you (and your luggage) off at the end of the tour at the airport saving you a taxi or shuttle ride.
Note that there is also a $27 per-person departure tax required and the line at the airport to do so can be significant. However, some hotels with travel offices may be able to process the payment and give you a voucher to present at the departure area potentially saving a lot of time.
Hola mi nombre es Martin Waterhouse y quiero contarles acerca de mi experiencia de dos días en el seminario ARCR!
So why is this introduction in Spanish? Simply to underscore one key message from this seminar, the need to ensure you understand enough Spanish to make living here a viable prospect.
This is my collection of relatively verbatim, unedited notes that I thought might be worth sharing for others to peruse. Here's a trip synopsis:
Our six-day trip provided us with a relatively short four full days in country, two of which were this seminar. We left San Francisco on Wednesday August the 27th and returned on Monday September the 1st. Arriving in San Jose we just grabbed one of the Red/Orange taxis which costs about $23 to get us to our San Jose hotel
We attended the ARCR seminar (held at on the Thursday and Friday) at the Autentico Hotel. We were staying at the Park Inn which was a 15-20 minute walk away.
The other two days we took organized tours -
The Poas Volcano and Doka Coffee Plantation tour:
San Jose Walking Tour:
An interesting feature of the tours for any that go near the airport is that they are happy to drop you (and your luggage) off at the end of the tour at the airport saving you a taxi or shuttle ride.
Note that there is also a $27 per-person departure tax required and the line at the airport to do so can be significant. However, some hotels with travel offices may be able to process the payment and give you a voucher to present at the departure area potentially saving a lot of time.