COSTA RICA - Tips and Reviews - UPDATED - November 2012

Entry and Exit

San Jose Airport (airport code SJO)

Arrival - The entry process is typical of most international airports.  The immigrations and customs speak some English and the lines are generally short and move fairly rapidly.  When you exit the terminal there is usually an agent of the airport that can help you through the chaos and assault of taxi drivers.

NICARAGUA - Tips and Reviews - UPDATED November 2012

Entry and Exit

Penas Blancas (land border crossing between CR and Nicaragua on the Pan American Highway)

Entry – I entered Nicaragua via bus from Costa Rica and can only explain the process I experienced. Traveling through in a small group or by private auto may be different.  The bus initially stopped at the CR immigrations where my passport was stamped for your departure.  We were greeted on the bus by a Nicaraguan who took our passports and $13 USD to get our inbound visa for Nicaragua.  We then rode the bus for a few hundred meters to the Customs inspection of our bags which took about 30 minutes.

PANAMA - Panama City - Jan & Feb 2012 - HOUSE SIT

15 Jan 2012
Well I’ve started my Panama house sitting gig. This house is actually a Spanish teaching school with locations in Panama and Costa Rica. It’s a very interesting concept that it includes class time, local immersion, and adventure tours (white water rafting, scuba diving, surfing, etc), check out their website at “Spanish at Locations” (http://www.spanishatlocations.com/). For now, the house is a transfer point where students stay for a day or so before catching a flight from the national airport. The plan is to also teach classes here, so in the near future, the school will have four locations.

COSTA RICA - Atenas - Dec 2011 - Jan 2012 - House Sitting

I’ve been slacking on writing about my trials and tribulations or also commonly referred to as my o- shits and hot damns.

Since I’m retired and as most retirees, on a limited income, I needed a way to supplement my travels.  I looked around and registered on some websites to do house sitting for people while they go on vacation.  After a few failed attempts of houses to sit not matching up with my availability dates I finally got one in Atenas, Costa Rica.  Some of you may be asking what house sitting is so simply put, it’s a lot like you take a vacation and ask your neighbor to keep an eye on your house while you’re gone.  There are a couple of differences with what I’m doing.  Mainly, these people aren’t my neighbors and you might even get paid for doing it.  For instance, if you had a house for me to sit and wanted me to do work around the house (lot of pets, big yard, landscaping, maintaining pool, etc) we could come to an agreement on payment.  For me the big downfall in that is you could also charge me for rent and utilities.  In my feeble mind I would rather do normal stuff around your house, like taking care of your pets, keeping your place clean and simple stuff like that, in exchange for living in your house for free.  If the owner wants more than I agree to, well, then we’ll start negotiating.