Another day, another dogs on the beach video. I think it’s time we mixed the topics up a little so I promise the next video will include no dogs and no beaches.
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Our two dogs love the beach in Playa Langosta, Costa Rica – there’s lots of rocks to climb, crabs to chase, and enough open space to chase balls and stuck. It’s pretty much heaven for a dog!
What better way to celebrate your birthday than chasing balls on a beautiful beach, if you’re a dog that is. Maya celebrated her 7th birthday at Playa Langosta on May 24, chasing balls, dodging waves and giving random people kisses. We’re pretty sure she loves it here!
Our balcony comes with an amazing view. Almost every single day we have a full-on howler monkey show right outside our bedroom. Many days they are so close we could almost touch them! This time of year there is a ton of babies too so it’s really incredible to watch.
It took over a year but we finally had a run-in with a skunk. Well, Maya actually had the run-in, we just got to enjoy the lingering after effects.
Maya and Ezri LOVE chasing coconuts at the beach. It’s the best way to keep them occupied, and coconuts are all over the beach so we don’t have to carry a sandy ball home with us. It’s the perfect way to have fun at the beach!
Getting sick in a foreign country is something every traveller fears at some point in their life. Having insurance is a good place to start, but in many cases it’s more hassle than it’s worth to make a claim once you get home.
There are so many unknowns when you first walk into a doctors office. Will they speak English, are they well trained, is their care is up to western standards, and most importantly (at least to some people) how much is all this is going to cost?
Kristie just got home from Hawaii and the dogs are super excited. This video was shot about half an hour after she walked in the door and they had a chance to calm down a bit.
We finally got around to putting together a video of Maya and Ezri’s first meeting, and their first few days together. Enjoy!
It’s been almost seven months since we last posted and there’s been a lot of changes since then. We’ve moved into a condo a block from our old rental and we’re loving it. It’s not as cool as the colonial style house we were living in, but it’s massively more comfortable, cleaner, cooler and less bug infested. Needless to say we’re happy. 🙂
One of our favourite spots to watch the sunset, catch some waves and take in happy hour wobbly pops is El Be Tamarindo! They have incredibly fun and comfy spots to chill out in; bean bag chairs, swings and lounge chairs on the beach.
Last Christmas and for my birthday Kristie, my parents and my brother got me all set-up with pretty much every GoPro accessory imaginable and yesterday was the first time I’ve managed to take it out and have some fun with it.
In an attempt to adopt the local ways and also save some dinero, we are slowly getting into drinking tap water. Both Jeff and I have had a series of the Twinrix treatment and I had a booster before moving to Costa Rica as it is only good for 20 years.
Since our arrival in Tamarindo on Saturday we have been most graciously driven around by one of our landlords, Mark Brown, to purchase a wide range of necessities – with five huge suitcases we still managed to leave a few things behind. In the last two days we have managed to pick up housewares, a desk and a printer, some groceries and a sweet bike for me and a tick collar and dog food for Maya at a local veterinary clinic. And today we both got SIM cards for our iPhones and Costa Rican phone numbers.
I think that after Jeff’s desk and two office chairs arrive from San Jose tomorrow, picked up by Joost, our other landlord from Hidden Coast Realty. We can comfortably say that pretty much all of our needs have been met in the first four days!! Without the assistance of Mark & Joost, and having no vehicle to help us get around, this process could have easily taken weeks. We are extremely grateful for both Mark and Joost’s help.
The only thing left on our list now is a bike for Jeff, I think he is jealous of all of the fun that I am having on mine 😜!!
First order of business after getting to our rental home and unloading our mass of luggage was a trip to the beach, just ten minutes walk from our new casa. We have both been anticipating Maya’s reaction to her new playground – yes it is all about Maya 🙂 – and we were not disappointed!
Here is a video of her reaction. She was so brave and figured out the waves right away and absolutely loved playing with the fallen coconuts she found while we walked along the beach.
We have arrived safe and sound in Liberia, Costa Rica. What could easily have been a trip from hell turned into a series of unexpected surprises which made the entire experience enjoyable.
Once we checked in five suitcases at the Calgary airport (including one ridiculously overweight bag that we paid dearly to get on the plane) our flight from Calgary to Houston was stress free. The only hiccup was the hour we waited on the tarmac while service crews fished a dirty diaper out of the toilet (who flushes a diaper, honestly).
April was a trying month of wrapping up loose ends; Maya’s four vet appointments, three doctors appointments for both Jeff and I, Jeff’s launch of his brand new website www.otherorange.com and a year end in April for the company that I work for, Gateway Tubulars Ltd.
This past month has also, more importantly, been full of calls and visits over home-cooked meals and dinners out with our amazing family and friends.
Now that we have our phones unlocked it’s time to transfer the phone number to a VOIP service. We don’t want to lose our phone numbers but it’s way too crazy expensive to use a Canadian phone in Costa Rica.
Below is the fees to use a Rogers phone for 31 days in Costa Rica. This is on top of your regular phone plan and the data and the limits to phone call minutes are ridiculous.
This entire process has been a huge learning experience. From dealing with moving companies, figuring out what a resident of a country really is, even dealing with prescription medication. The one thing I hadn’t really considered would take any time at all would be getting my trusty iPhone 6 unlocked.
Over the last few months we have gone through every drawer, every cupboard, every box and found stuff to give away. Some goes to friends, some to Goodwill and some is not worth saving and is recycled or thrown out. We’ve already made three trips to Goodwill (and more trips to the garbage room) and there’s no sign it’s going to slow down anytime soon. It is absolutely unbelievable how much junk we accumulate over the years.
Well, reality is really setting in today….our pet carrier came by with a travel kennel for Maya’s transport to Costa Rica. We hired Boomerang Pet Carrier to take care of all of the details involved with our schnoodle’s move to Central America with my husband and I. We will have scheduled immunizations for her as well as getting her acclimatized with her new short term home while Karen Shiel takes care of the legal requirements and paper work.
My wife Kristie, our dog Maya and I are packing up and moving to Costa Rica. This blog will showcase our journey through it’s natural ups and downs.
We’ve done an incredible amount of planning, tons of research, and now it’s time to get started with the fine details.
Stop by regularly and join us on our journey!