Bajos del Toro: A Well-Kept Secret that is Getting Out

From time to time I will be posting about areas of Costa Rica that are up and coming. Bajos del Toro is definitely one of those. The location is in the shadows of the Poas Volcano. To get there you take a right turn in front of the famous oxcart factory in Sarchi. At this point you pretty much leave civilization. You will drive through a protected zone of the the Rio Toro. The road is very narrow at times and the shoulder drops to oblivion. But the views are fantastic. You will climb the mountains to about 6,000 feet and then start descending to the little village of Toro Amarillo. Word is that the folks that brought us the Punta Islita resort in Guanacaste are building a five star hotel right there in this tiny little farming village. If they do anything as nice as Punta Islita, this place will be booming. This little valley is also called Valle de Truchas because there are many places where you can fish for trout from the Rio Toro and have someone cook them for you right there on the spot. One of these places is Nene's. Nene also has cabins where you can stay very cheaply and a nice little restaurant where they will cook you all the trout you can catch and/or eat. I am very excited about this area from a real estate standpoint. If the five star hotel goes in you are going to see prices in the area skyrocket. Right now you can buy land for anywhere from $5 to $10 per square meter, but once the hotel is in, land will likely go for as much as $20. It is also only about a 20 to 30 minuite drive from Sarchi, a bustling medium sized town (which by the way is the furniture capitol of Costa Rica) and only about 1.5 hours from San Jose. We are probably 2 years out from seeing this jump in prices, so now is a good time to get in. It is a charming and peaceful area full of beauty and ecological diversity.

Now to the most amazing attraction of the area. Costa Rica is known for its amazing rivers and waterfalls. But the most spectacular in my opinion is right here in the Bajos del Toro. It is known as Cataratas del Toro. My friends, Donais and Will have the only way you can gain entrance to the falls. They own about 100 hectares around the area of the falls. They have done some amazing work to make the falls accessible by building a walkway all the way down to the base. Once you descend down you will see something truly amazing. The water from the Rio Toro has a high acid content because it flows directly from the Poas Volcano. In this are called the cloud forest you will see many of the giant plants that we call Sombrillas, or umbrella plants. At the base of the falls you will notice that the Sombrillas look as if they have been torched. I mean charred as if by a flame. How can that be in an area that stays completely wet 365 days of the year? It is because of the spray from the waterfall contacting with the plants and the acid content burns them in this way. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else. Also, Donais and Will run a rappel tour right down the rock face beside the thundering waterfall. It is a 400 foot adrenaline pumping experience. They also have a gorgeous little restaurant where you can get the best arroz con pollo in the country, as well as other great dishes. They have three cozy little cabins in case you decide to stay for a while. Trails around their property will lead you through the cloud forest where you can see a great variety of birds and Donais has even reported seeing Pumas on her property. The place is truly amazing.

Very few know about this great location. Tourist buses don't go through here, although in my opinion it is the most beautiful and fastest route to La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano. Also, once you hit the highway if you go the other way you will end up in Varra Blanca, which is also a great place full of beauty. Also close by is the Sarapiqui River, one of the best for rafting in the country. It only takes about one hour to get from Cataratas del Toro to Arenal and the roads are quite good. Although, once you hit the highway you will quickly notice that it is a major truck route, which can make for some hairy night time driving. I am quite sure that the word will get out about this place. Will and Donais are certainly trying to make sure of that. Please take a look at their web site, Cataratas del Toro. We are now taking all of our customers in route to the Arenal Volcano through this wonderful place and to date everyone has been extremely thankful for it.

For more information about how to get there or even to set up a tour to the area please visit our Travel Website or give us a call toll free at 1-866-424-6439. We also do Real Estate Exploration Tours and would be glad to show you opportunities in this or other areas.

Pura Vida!

Costa Rica's Roads: Are They Really That Bad?

The answer is yes and no. Let's start with driving in San Jose. San Jose is the capitol of the country and by far its largest city. The entire metropolitan area (or GAM) consists of not just San Jose, but also Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago. Half the population of the entire country lives in this area. As you can imagine driving in San Jose is far different than what you might be used to. The city is a web of unmarked one way streets. Traffic signals are in Spanish (duh!). There are traffic lights, but they are not in sync and change very rapidly. Running red lights is a sport here in San Jose (everybody does it). It is virtually impossible to give someone directions because none of the streets are marked and often you have to go around your elbow to get to your $%^#@! because of all the one way streets. Do I sound like I am complaining? Listen, the truth is I love my city, San Jose. The weather is perfect, there are more restaurants and great places to go dancing and have a good time than you can count and so many beautiful ladies everywhere, BUT the one complaint I do have is the traffic. During rush hours I sometimes want to end it all right there. It drives me crazy. And if there has been an accident here is how it works in Costa Rica. The cars cannot be moved one inch until the guy from INS (the national insurance company) shows up to assess damage. These guys drive mopeds and it usually takes them about two hours to show up at the scene. Meanwhile the cars just sit there holding up traffic to infinity (and beyond). Yes I am complaining. Now that I have had my rant about San Jose's traffic, let's switch gears to the more tranquil country driving..........

Mountain roads. Here is where you can experience some of Costa Rica's most breathtaking scenery. Generally these roads are paved (of course there are exceptions). One of the most incredible is the road that goes from San Jose to San Isidro and crosses Cerro de la Muerte. This is one of Costa Rica's highest peaks at an elevation of 3,491 meters (over 11,000 feet). The road goes right over the top and if it is clear you can see forever. Often, however, you are shrouded in dense fog and this road can be quite dangerous as it is also a major truck route. The road leads on after San Isidro (which by the way is a charming little town) to Dominical on the Pacific Coast. The road from Dominical down the Southern Pacific Coast is one of the best in the country. There are many other spectacular mountains roads. These roads can be very narrow with many hairpin turns so you really have to keep your whits about you, which is hard considering all the incredible scenery that your passengers will be oohing and aaahing about. Rule number one is to always keep your wheels in the road because Costa Rica roads generally have no shoulders and if you run off the road more than likely you either go over a cliff (worse) or bottom out to your axles (better). And if you hit a fog bank don't panic, just try to keep your eyes on where the edge of the road is so you don't run off it and over a cliff (remember stay in the road!).

Coastal Roads. These roads can often be pot hole infested and many are not even paved. Guanacaste roads are famously bad despite the tremendous development that is going on there. During the green season, when we get afternoon showers almost every day, these roads are much worse. The municipalities are in charge with maintaining them and during the green season (May to November) it is a losing battle so they pretty much just let them go. While driving down one of these infamously bad roads, like the road from Quepos to Dominical (remember you can also get there via San Isidro on a much better road), you just have to keep reminding yourself that you are in paradise. If it gets too bad you can stop at one of the multitude of little bars that seem to pop up about every five kilometers. One thing we will never run out of in Costa Rica is Imperial and the bars that serve it.

A few pointers about driving the roads. First the conversion from kilometers to miles is very easy, just multiply by .60 and you are close enough (that's right Scarlet, 100 kilometers is about 60 miles). Bridges are almost always one lane and one side or the other (have never figured out if there is any rhyme or reason as to which side gets the yield) must yield to the other side. The yield sign is an inverted triangle with the words Ceda. Also, when driving through a small town be on the lookout for unpainted and unmarked speed bumps. And always be on the lookout for pot holes that can flatten a tire in a heartbeat. If you do have trouble on the road, like needing a tire plugged, almost every little town will have a mechanic (called a Taller) and you can generally stop and get your problem fixed for next to nothing. One of the worst roads in the country is the dirt road that leads to Monteverde, a little mountain town about 8,000 feet up. The locals have historically kept this road horrible either to discourage tourism (that hasn't worked because it is one of the most visited locations in the country for tourists) or to add to the mystique and adventure of going to Monteverde (when you arrive you can buy a t-shirt that reads, "I survived the road to Monteverde."). Anyway, once I drove there and when I arrived I noticed the strong smell of gasoline. Upon arriving at the hotel I took a look under the car and noticed gas pouring out from a hole where a rock had punctured the tank. The hotel made me park about a mile away so as not to blow the place up. The next day I was able to get the tank permanently repaired for about 15,000 colones (about $30). And I have had no problems to this day with that repair job.

All that said, our current president (Oscar Arias) is trying to put his campaign rhetoric into action by fixing the roads around the country. There is more roadwork going on now than I have ever seen. They are even working on the road from Quepos to Dominical, which once paved will make property values in that area skyrocket since this in my opinion is our most beautiful stretch of coastline, but a bit remote considering that this road is only 40 kilometers long, but during the green season can take up to 2.5 hours to traverse. The roads in Guanacaste are getting major improvements as well. I just hope the roads never get too good. After all this is Costa Rica and we are proud of our crappy roads. Happy driving!

Listen, if you ever need assistance with driving Costa Rica's roads you can always contact me. Go to my Travel Website for more information or call me directly at the toll free number: 1-866-424-6439.

Pura Vida!

Where is Costa Rica?

I was working as a mergers and acquisitions consultant for my own firm and on a prospecting trip to Greensboro, North Carolina. I stopped to see an attorney who I had a hunch might have a deal for me. She told me about a guy in Costa Rica who owned a university. My first reaction was, where the hell is Costa Rica? She informed me that it was in Central America and so my second reaction was, isn't it dangerous down there? She assured me that it was safe and I asked for the contact information for this gentleman. The next thing I know I am on a plane to this mysterious place. I had never traveled to Latin America and knew virtually no Spanish whatsoever. However, being a pretty good salesman I landed the deal and after two years of very intense work, sold the university to an American company then known as Sylvan. Little did I know that that fateful meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina would change the course of my life forever!

Being by nature a curious person, I was immediately overwhelmed by Costa Rica. Driving through San Jose that fateful day of my first Costa Rica experience I was taken by the beauty of the mountains that surround the city. The smells, the people who seem to be everywhere, the architecture, which was so different from what I was use to, and, of course, the beautiful ladies, oh my God, the beautiful ladies........All of these things drew me in and ultimately I became another Costa Rica addict.

If you are intrigued by the idea of traveling to Costa Rica, I will give you my top ten reasons why you should go ahead and get on the plane and experience it for yourself. Don't get me wrong, it is probably not for everyone. If you prefer the whitewashed streets and two car garages and manicured lawns and sidewalks and streets that are empty because all the people are inside watching their large screen home entertainment centers. If you prefer a society that is more into living to work rather than working to live, then you might not like Costa Rica that much. Yes it is very different down here. A different pace of life. A different outlook. Different values. Different language. Different food. Different everything. So if you want to be different, here are ten good reason to come to Costa Rica, in random order:

• Something to do all the time....most of it outdoors.
• A topography that is as varied as the U.S., but in a space the size of West Virginia.
• As much biological diversity as the entire continent of Africa in a country, yes, the size of West Virginia.
• A place where you can find almost perfect weather somewhere.
• Beaches that are uncrowded and waves of all sizes.
• People who are as warm and friendly as you will find anywhere.
• A culture that is rich and inviting, with good food, great music and dance and a live and let live spirit.
• The most beautiful women on the planet (didn't I already mention that?)
• A place where you can live on a portion of what you live on in the states and like a king!
• A place where you can take a Sunday drive into the country and understand why this is The Last Country the Gods Made!

Intrigued? This blog is dedicated to exposing my experiences, thoughts, knowledge and probably a little bullshit about the country I have come to know and love, Costa Rica. I hope you enjoy it. By the way, if you are interested in traveling to Costa Rica, check out my travel site, Package Costa Rica.