Spent yesterday with Magdiel and his taxi-van, touring the areas for possible rental properties. Found a marvelous spot with view of entire central valley and distant volcano. The Patron offered to build a new 3 br house with water, electric, phone, internet access to be ready in July -- rent: $200/mo! Magnificent view, but Judy can't do the steep hill down to the site, and we would like to be neighbors, so we are still looking. We all like the town of Grecia. It is clean, pretty, the people are gracious and it is even cheaper to live than here in Allejuella. It seems to be little problem to find rentals at great prices just by being here and letting people know what you are looking for.

It seems to be the smartest thing to rent for a while and take time looking for the right piece of land. At these rates, tho, the right rental provides a great deal of freedom. There is a terrific group of North Americans who have moved here and a network of help for expats. Everyone wants to help you find your perfect spot.


Norman, who manages the Vida Tropical B&B, : http://www.vidatropical.com/index.html is a New Yorker who has several businesses here in Alejuella and Grecia. He runs a small TexMex restaurant nearby called Jalapenos (Check out review on CostaRica AM:
http://www.amcostarica.com/072905.htm#11 he and his wife, Isabel are a fount of information and connections, and gracious hospitality.

A wonderful thing is that the water and food is so good here. You can eat anywhere, and drink the water everywhere and shop the markets for wonderful fruits and vegetables.