Eclipse going on Now

Full eclipse tonight and tomorow

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CR February 2008

Repost of Feb 8th bulletin

so i have been in the mountains of orosi, walking around the land. its a little bit different now that its dryer. i have an idea of where i want to put the pedestrian walkways and the ranch party area.

i have been focusing more on beachfront opportunities that have surfaced through my partnership with my architect friend and his engineer father. They have a 14 year old project which they remained with 2 lots. they are the last lots in town.

in the past, i looked at manuel antonio as a tourist trap. but after spending some time in the parque nacional and on the beach hanging with locals, monkeys, waterfalls, I now see the place in a totally different light. its amazing how different experiences can change your perspective.

so basically, im shifting focus to manuel antonio. by the end of the year, we will have 2 sustainable condos built. photovoltaic glass, storm water recycling, and a garden roof, and efficient appliances, will help to reduce our places emissions. i am really excited.

as far as paraiso project, this dry season im going to improve the road. Carl is getting a great deal on one of my lots, so if he wants to build this year, we will. but in all reality since its already february, we will be building several cabins next dry season. I would do more this year, i just have to go with my gut, just like i knew the hot springs were going to get sold, i know this has to be done now.

ok, well my ride is here. going to get my motorcycle tuned up. see ya.

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travel advice for costa rica

some advice I gave to a person that asked me about travelling in costa rica.
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its great that you are going to cr, i just got back, and will be going back again in march.

our place is a little off the beaten path, there are 4 cabins and a house. the cabins will be online around april.

so, i will let you know when thats ready.

some advice

stay away from Jaco- just skip it, if you want to go to a beautiful, although touristy pacific beach town, go to manuel antonio. the parque nacional is to die for. one of three places in the world where you can see squirrel monkeys.

definitely take the ferry from puntarenas and drive over to montezuma. cool little town. from there you can check out playa carmen and mal pais.

on the way back in or over to the carribean you can check out arenal volcano and stay around la fortuna area. plenty of cheap lodging.

definitely make your way over to puerto viejo. Look for live music and arts and crafts and definitely check out cahuita national park. its a beachfront park with aloths and monkeys.
bus rides are cheap and frequent.

i go to cr all the time, and at least for a few days out of every trip i do the tourist thing, pretty much have done the whole country and those are my favorite spots.

stay out of san jose as much as possible, avoid jaco, and avoid tamarindo. and when you ask for directions, when people say dos cientos metros norte, they really mean dos cuadras, not 200 meters, that fucked with me for a while. and people dont like to admit that they dont know where something is, so they will give you bad directions. so just ask several times. and if you find yourself lost, just pay a taxi and follow him out of town.

cool, well pura vida, and check with me next time you go. have fun, make a copy of your passport and keep that as ID, and stash your real passport. and when in touristy areas, always one person must stay with the car, i dont care if its just two minutes. i just got my laptop stolen from a locked car while we were checking into a hotel. sucks, but thats how it is. the good far outweighs the bad.

in my eyes its the best country in the world. have fun

pura vida

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invitation

come to my party!

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CR Trip Thanksgiving 2007

Are there even turkeys in Costa Rica? I don't think so. But anyways, Brad Parks, Forrest Binger (yes thats his real name) his girlfriend, and myself are going to costa rica this november. This trip is very important, as the rainy season is winding down, and I am preparing for major construction.

Forrest, formerly of www.treehouseworkshop.com , will be doing tree surveys, and assessing where we can build tree houses and platforms for the land. We are planning a community of 21 cabins, scattered treehouses, a performance amphitheater, yoga/kung fu pavillion, community center, and  stables. The construction is going to be sustainable. Green electricity, septic, water consumption (cisterns and limited plumbing). We envision an Ewok community, with zip lines and wilderness paths. there is a bunch of land, 34 acres, and yes, it is muddy and wild. But we will build swales, and help out the natural flow of water. there is a pond, naturally, at the lowest point. We are going to help it out. There is just way too much mud here. So we will probably have to move some of it around. There is alot of stuff to work out.

since we are going all out in building this, naturally, we are going to have to charge more for the cabins and land. They are going to be priced between 38-50 thousand for a .6 acre lot with a 740 sf cabin. And between 50-70 thousand for a 1.2 acre lot with a 940 sf cabin. This price includes all finishing, but no furniture or solar system. Keep in mind that alot of work has gone into engineering, purchasing, planning, and soon, construction. Also keep in mind that the amenities of this artistic community (digital recording studio, amphitheater, stables, parking lot, entrances, community center, pool, water reservoir), costs major bucks. I don't think of this project as a money making venture, but rather, a fufillment of a dream that I have always had, that I would like to share with you.

And from the successful execution and sales of this project, will come other projects. There is a green resort/spa already in the works. Just please, support this effort in any way you can.

There will be financing available. Just look at it this way, some people by a mercedes M class for $60,000.00. You are buying a cabin, in the mountains of Paraiso. Financing would probably look like 5,000 down and $500.00 a month for 7 years, or something like that.

keep your mind open to the possibility, of living, and growing (organic fruit, produce, bamboo) in the mountains of costa rica.

message me with any questions

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CR, breaking up monopolies?

Costa Ricans to Strike against FTA

San Jose, Oct 27 (Prensa Latina) Trade unions from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) announced a strike against the complementary agenda of the Free Trade Agreement, so that the company continues to govern in the fields of electricity and telecommunications.

It is unacceptable for the workers that everything the state-owned monopoly has built over the past 57 years would be handed over by virtue of 13 bills contained in that mechanism.

Those laws will strip the ICE of its infrastructure, its privileged place as the leading body in the sector, and would turn it into another operator on the market, said Jorge Arguedas, coordinator of the Internal Front of Workers.

Trade union leaders agreed that demonstrations, resistance, strikes and marches are the only ways left to defend the institute, as they did in 2000, when the government tried to privatize the company.

The October 7 referendum only asked whether we supported the agreement. It did not refer to the implementation agenda, they said.

The ICE trade union organizations demanded changes in the complementary agenda and explanations on the intention behind those bills.

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Nicaraguan Exaggerators

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Costa Rica CAFTA referendum, the good with the bad

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costa rica,, still in paraiso

Didnt get to make it to the beach. more important things going on. i guess im officialy not a surfer. When i was a surfer, surfing was priority one. it wasnt even a possibility going to costa rica and not surfing everyday. now, i have all this shit going on, and i am here, in the beautiful mountain town of Paraiso, about to go to la municipalidad de Cartago, for my visado. That is all my plats, to register them. my lawyer is trying to charge me too much, so im doing it myself. For some reason, i cant seem to escape building departments. im destined to deal with building departments i guess. oh well.

i have a new compa, juan solano, his dad is an engineer and he builds houses for poor people. simple houses. we are altering one of those styles, and building three up on my project, which has yet to be named. i wanted to call it paraiso bambu, but in reality, the bambu is growing slowly, and i want to do reafforestion, so that would not suit it. I want to replant typical, beautiful hardwoods all over the property. And thin out alot of the new growth, to make room for other trees to get bigger, and bring in more sun.

so, we are going to bring the water service and three cabins done by 420 fest next year. its going to be real sweet. i will get my buddies locos por juana to play and maybe cultura and we will rock out for a few days in the mountains.

i will be posting another blog with photos very shortly. lot of work to do. i should be surfing! nah, im doing really big, important stuff, right here, there will be plenty of time to surf in the future. Cant wait to be a surfer again, right now, i will settle for the role of mountain man, land liberator, pioneering monkey lover.

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Paraiso August 16

Great to be back in CR. love it here. people are so nice. Paraiso is a small little town surrounding a central park. All the streets go out from there. You can go one way to Orosi, or one way to Cartago, or you can go up about 25 minutes and get to the volcano Irazu.

I just bought a new125cc dirtbike, its called a freedom mountaineer. made in china and its a clone of isuzu motors. 4 stroke, nice looking. It will be registered and everything by tommorow morning (hopefully, i offered a tip to get it available first thing, $40 if its ready by 10, $20 if its ready by 12pm). Ticos really need an incentive to do anything, they work at their own, slow pace. what better incentive then some greenback (question mark here, stupid spanish keyboards dont work properly, you have to press alt 6 4 to do the @ sign).

anyhow, lots of work to do. im going to sneak in some surf saturday and sunday, on my new dirtbike. but i will have to probably rent a board because i havent outfitted it yet with a surf board rack.

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