Working Remotely from Costa Rica

I spent a week working remotely from the small beach community of Samara in Costa Rica. I travelled to Costa Rica in advance of a vacation in the country to allow my daughter to attend Spanish school at the Samara campus of Intercultura. So what is it like working remotely in Costa Rica as a software developer?

Costa Rica has very good Internet connectivity even in small communities which makes remote work possible and ensures video calls can still be made without a hitch. I rented a small room with a bed, desk and kitchen which was plenty as a solo traveller. While I did travel with my duaghter she had her own accommodation through her school. My room was located in a building at the end of a quiet street of a rural residential area. This ended up being the perfect location for working remotely as it was away from noises and distractions which allowed for meetings to be attended without interruption and for focused work to be done as well. Costa Rica is two hours behind my usual time zone but I kept the same working hours. Generally, this resulted in roughly working from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm every day. Since the sun rises so early in Costa Rica, this arrangement was actually ideal. As a bonus, I had time to walk to the beach for a few hours at the end of each afternoon which was a pretty decent perk of working remotely. 

Since I had a kitchen in the apartment I was renting I also made a point of preparing many of my meals. I attempted to eat like Costa Ricans do which helped keep the grocery bills low by not spending more for North American items. Meals consisted of a variety of eggs, cheese, beans, ham, and tortillas.

My typical daily schedule:

• 6:30 am: wake up
• 7:00 am: morning meetings
• 8:30 am: breakfast
• 9:00 am: continue working
• 12:00 pm: lunch
• 1:00 pm: a bit more work
• 3:00 pm: log off for the day
• 3:30 pm: head to the beach
• 5:00 pm: happy hour!
• 6:00 pm: back to room for dinner
• 7:30 pm: beach bar

This was my first time working remotely for an entire week in a foreign country and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity. I am fortunate to be in a position where I am able to take advantage of these experiences. 

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Countdown to Costa Rica!

Our return to Costa Rica is only 80 days away! The last time we visited this country was back in 2019 and we will be returning for three weeks this summer. Since this will be our fourth visit to Costa Rica we are taking the opportunity to visit a few of our favourite places while not feeling the pressure to visit to the tourist hot spots such as La Fortuna and Monteverde. Also, this time around, our daughter will be attending Spanish school for two weeks in Samara. This immersive experience also includes a home stay with a local Costa Rican family. With a big chunk of our time being spent on the beach in Samara we are also making sure to set aside time to venture inland towards the mountains and rainforests to some less visited locations such as Bijagua and Curubandé which is near Rincón de la Vieja. Activities at the top of our list during this adventure include hiking to Rio Celeste, Canyoning at Rio Perdido, and exploring waterfalls at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin. During this three week adventure there will also be time for relaxation when we visit The Westin Reserva Conchal.

Follow along over the next few months as we plan and prepare to embark on another adventure.

Costa Rica Adventure: Day 15 - Hello Toronto

We’re home! Today was another travel day but this time it included a flight back to Toronto. After a 3700 km flight, over 900 km of driving and exploring 4 different regions of Costa Rica our adventure has finally come to an end.

This morning started early as usual and we eventually made our way to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. We had a shuttle booked to take us to the airport at 11:00 am in order to catch our 1:25 pm flight. Before checking out and catching the shuttle we made one last trip across the street to visit the mini market to pick up some lunch items for later in the day.

The entire airport experience went very smoothly. We checked in, dropped off our bags, went through immigration and finally security with minimal waiting. Even the plane boarding went quickly affording us an early departure and ultimately landing in Toronto 30 minutes early.

While still not quite home our Costa Rica adventure is officially over. We now have many new memories and experiences plus hundreds of photos and videos to sort through.

Goodbye San Jose

Hello Toronto

Costa Rica Adventure: Day 14 - San Jose

The time has finally come to leave laid back Monteverde (Santa Elena really) and begin our return trip to San Jose. We had all day to reach San Jose so took a scenic route through Sarchi.

STOP!

That was the original plan but if you read yesterday’s blog you’d know we also decided to squeeze in a morning hike before leaving Monteverde to make up for the two cancelled night hikes. We made sure we were mostly packed the night before so that we could run out to do our hike at 7:30 am and be back in time to leave the AirBnB at 11:00.

The morning hike this time around was at another private reserve called Curi-Cancha. The land for this reserve was purchased in the 1970’s but at the time was mostly pasture land. It wasn’t until 2011 that it finally opened to the public with about 50% virgin forest and 45% secondary growth. The remaining 5% still remains as open pasture. Our guide, Oscar  was superb! His knowledge of all animals, birds and plant life was extensive plus he was great with the kids and had plenty of stories to tell. During our two hour hike we were able to spot a snake, white faced monkeys, quetzals, a three-wattled bellbird and toucans. He was also an expert at using our phones to take photos through his scope. The Monteverde cheese factory just so happened to be right outside the reserve and they also sold ice cream so be had one more indulgence since it was the last time we’d be having their fresh and delicious ice cream.

Now it was really time to leave Monteverde and by noon we were on our way back down the mountain on the bumpy dirt road. Whether going up or down Costa Rica dirt roads doesn’t really make a difference. It it always a bumpy ride and you’re always in a low gear. After about 20 km of brain rattling we were back on pavement albeit still windy but at least it wasn’t bumpy. From there it was a pretty easy drive back towards San Jose on the Pan American highway (CR Hwy 1). The term highway should be used loosely since it is almost entirely two lanes as it snakes it way though the northern mountains before entering the Central Valley. Once you’re stuck behind a truck in the pouring rain on a hill the drive becomes excruciating slow as there is no opportunity to pass. In order to break the monotony we made a slight detour to Sarchi. A key artisan town in Costa Rica, Sarchi is best known for the vibrant and pretty oxcarts that are handcrafted here and sold all over the country. The oxcart plays a key role in the country’s history, as they were used to transport coffee beans & other goods to nearby and faraway markets and ports. Mostly Sarchi is now just souvenir stores but you can still see the artists at work using traditional tools. The girls wanted to pick up a souvenir so this was all we really needed along with a bathroom break.

Once back on the road we were in the final stretch. Forty minutes left before we reached our final accommodations for the trip and to return the rental car. Traffic began to get slow Ian’s we got closer to San Jose but we made it to the hotel just past 4:00 pm. We quickly dumped the contents of the car in our room and promptly went straight to the pool for one last swim.

In one more day this Costa Rica blog series will be complete. Tomorrow we board our flight back to Toronto.

One more hike

A quetzal

Checking out the wildlife

A ficus tree

Journey to San Jose

The drive down from Monteverde

Stopped for one last drone flight

Sarchi

Costa Rica Adventure: Day 13 - Hiking and Climbing

Since our night hike was cancelled yesterday due to weather meant that today had both a morning and evening hike planned plus some tree climbing in between.

Our morning started out like any other with some breakfast at our AirBnB. We got ready a little quicker in order to take advantage of the nice weather and drove over to the Monteverde Cloud Forest reserve. This was the first private reserve to be established in 1972 and really put Monteverde on the map. An initial land purchase of 328 hectares has since grown to 10,500 hectares. Our hike of the reserve lasted about 2.5 hours and covered about 3.7 km over very hilly terrain. Our goal was to reach the continental divide. The continental divide is the exact location where water flows to either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean depending on what side of the divide it falls. It was a tough up hill climb at times but we made it and the scenery along the way was stunning. It is hard to put into words what experiencing a cloud forest is like. It is a unique environment where the trade winds from the east push warm moist air up the mountain side where is cools and expands forming tiny droplets in the form of mist and clouds. It is these tiny droplets that provide the constant moisture in the cloud forest before it falls as rain. The result is an extremely lush and layered environment where vegitation and certain animals can thrive. 

After sufficiently tiring out the kids (and parents) we heading back down the mountain towards town but decided we deserved a reward so stopped off at Stella’s Bakery for a beverage. With energy levels back up we were ready for our next adventure. Anthony had another one of his “not in any guidebook” experiences up his sleeve. We were off the climb a ficus tree! There a several ficus trees you can pay to climb but there is one such tree tucked up in the hills behind town that is completely free. A ficus tree grows from the top down on a host tree. It’s fast growing vines eventually reach the ground and begin to strangle the host tree. As the ficus continues to grow the host tree eventually dies leaving only the ficus with a hollow core where the tree once was. Sometimes what is left behind is perfect for climbing and that is exactly what we did! The top of the tree must have been a good 70+ feet from the ground and both girls made it all the way to the top. Anthony and Shannon made it up as well but not to the top. This was probably one of the best free activities we did while in Costa Rica.

We then had a quick break back at the AirBnB before starting our evening activities which included dinner and a night hike. Since it was our last night in Costa Rica we wanted to go to a soda again. We chose Sabor Tico for its good reviews and location which just happened to be on the way to the night hike. After our dinner of Casados and Arroz con pollo we make the short drive over to the night hike.

By this time the decent weather we had been having began to turn back into thunder and lightning. It was starting to look like a repeat of the night before and sure enough after a little bit of waiting the night hike was cancelled once again. Now any hope of having a night hike was lost our last solution was to have a morning hike with our guide instead. The following morning we had to check out of our AirBnB and start our drive back to San Jose but we figured we could squeeze in one more two hour hike starting at 7:30 am.

Just completed a big climb 

Loved this hanging bridge

Post hike pose

Drink time (and brownies)!

This view was completely covered in clouds 30 mins later

The climbing ficus tree

On their way back down

You can get all the way to the top

Costa Rica Adventure: Day 12 - Hanging Bridges

Greetings and welcome to sunny Monteverde! The sun was actually shining this morning so that’s a win. Also, happy birthday to Shannon. Shannon got to celebrate her birthday up in the cloud forests of Monteverde and we had a big day planned to go along with it.

Today was one of the few days this entire trip where we had a planned activity with transportation to pick us up. Our pickup time was 7:50 am for our AirBnB en route to Selvatura Park so we could explore their cloud forest and series of hanging bridges. We originally considered driving ourselves but after taking the shuttle we are sure glad we didn’t. That was one very bumpy ride we’d rather not put the rental car through. At Selvatura there are eight bridges ranging length from 170 feet to 560 feet and they are considered by many to be the best way to experience the cloud forest from above. While the hanging bridges activity is popular we took our time and were rewarded with moments where we had the bridges and cloud forest all to ourselves. At was at these times you could just closes your eyes and listen to all the sounds and smell the crisp air. On the final bridge we even encountered a family of monkeys in the trees right next to the bridge. There were several babies as well and it was amazing to be able to observe them so close.

By 11:00 am we were done and took the shuttle back to our house so we could cook up some lunch. We also took advantage of the little down time to put away some of the laundry before having to head out again. We booked a night hike with a guide which provides the best opportunity to find a variety of animals that are otherwise difficult to locate. Anthony also had a special surprise location to take Shannon. First, however Shannon requested ice cream for her birthday. If you recall from yesterday there is a large Quaker population in Monteverde that are dairy farmers. As a result the area is known for outstanding cheese and ice cream! We’ve been enjoying Monteverde cheese already for our entire vacation but today we also got to try their incredibly delicious and creamy ice cream. It was great!

Next up was the surprise location. We went to the Treehouse Restaurant & Cafe. Usually, a name like this would not be taken literally but in this case the restaurant is actually build around a very large tree that you have to climb through via a narrow staircase. This restaurant gets top marks for location but not so much on its food so the plan was to just stop in and have a drink while sitting next to a tree as something unique for Shannon’s birthday. The drinks were a little pricy but actually tasted very good. Shannon said it was the best iced mocha she’d had and the girls loved their mango milkshakes.

By now it was time to meet up with the guide Anthony booked with for a night hike at the Wildlife Refuge Monteverde. We got there a little early just as it started to rain a little bit. By the time our guide, Oscar, arrived the thunder and lightning started as well. We tried to wait for the storm to pass but in the end Oscar called it off for safety and because the likelihood of seeing anything in this weather was low. We decided to reschedule for the following day and hope for better weather.

So that ends our birthday extravaganza in Monteverde. It ended up not being as jam packed due to weather but as a result we now have a slightly more jam packed day planned for tomorrow that includes two cloud forests and hopefully locating a ficus tree.

 

The birthday girl!

So much diversity 

A visitor stopped by our house

The tree behind us was in the restaurant 

Playing with the 360 camera

Costa Rica Adventure: Day 11 - Monteverde Bound

Welcome to another travel day. That means the time has finally come to bid farewell to Samara and head back into the mountains in order to visit Monteverde. That means we got to look forward to a three hour drive in the car but before we started that journey the sun was shining on our final morning in Samara so after the car was all packed up we decided to make one last stop at the beach.

When we arrived there were a number of local kids playing soccer on the beach and they invited Avery and Hannah to play with them. Avery has really wanted to play soccer while in Costa Rica so was pretty excited to finally have the opportunity. We stayed as long as we possibly could but the time really came to leave the beach and start our drive to Monteverde in order to ensure we didn’t arrive loo late on the rough mountainous roads.

In the early 1950s, a group of Quakers from the United States left their homes in Alabama and arrived in Monteverde in order to avoid being drafted into the Korean War. The Quakers established a simple life in Monteverde, centered on dairy and cheese production. Monteverde encompasses a large area of the top of the Tirarán mountain range split by the continental division which provides access to both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the forest. Less than 1% of the total land mass of the Earth is covered by cloud forests, yet Monteverde is part of that 1% which also hosts 4% of the total world’s biodiversity. 

A good 80% of the drive to Monteverde is on well maintained paved roads. It is the last that you need nerves of steel to get through. We stopped for lunch in Juntas which is the last town you pass through before starting the climb to Monteverde. Oh, as an aside, we specifically stopped in Juntas in order to find wifi so that we could all join in via FaceTime to Shannon’s younger sisters gender reveal party. The plan worked great and we got to be included to discover she will be having a boy! OK, back to our journey. It is just after Juntas where the paved road not only becomes not paved but it becomes some of the rockiest and bumpy road you’ve ever been on not to mention steep and windy. While checking the GPS in Juntas I was confused how the final 20km could take an hour but I quickly found out why. If you ever come to Costa Rica use Waze. It it far more accurate than Google Maps. Everyone that lives in the country uses Waze so its crowd sourced data is spot on.

So, we finally made it to the town of Santa Elena where our AirBnB is located just before 3:00 pm after leaving Samara at 10:15 and stopping for an hour at lunch. Where we are staying is on the side of the hillside amongst several other homes. Once again the roads to get here are steep and incredibly rocky but that is half the fun! I must say our SsangYong SUV has been holding up great and getting us everywhere we need to go.

Since this was a travel day we didn’t have anything specific planned. First up was to unpack and get settled in. For us this meant doing laundry. After being in the humidity of the Pacific coast where nothing really dried we’re now in the dry mountain air plus our AirBnB not only has a washing machine but it has a dryer too! Quite the luxury for Costa Rica. Having clean, not damp clothes to get us through the rest of our trip is great. Enough about laundry, let’s head back into town. The reason for heading back into the town was three fold. Get groceries to get us through the next few days, find some dinner and give the girls a chance to look for souvenirs. Once souvenir shopping and groceries were done we headed over to Taco Taco. We picked Taco Taco for the amazing reviews it has received and it was something that could be order to go in order to eat back at the AirBnB. Well the reviews were right. Shannon had a trio of tacos and Anthony had a tortilla salad on both mentioned it was some of the best they had had. All the incredients are locally and sunstainably sourced and it showed in the final product.

The cloud forest has a less rainy and really rainy season and we are definitely in the really rainy season. Luckily, most of the rain occurs at night but man when it pours it comes down heavy. Supposedly, we’re in a tropical depression right now which is causing more rain than usual accompanied by a good dose of thunder and lightning too.

Well we’ve got a bunch of activities planned for tomorrow as it is a certain someone’s birthday. That’s all I’ve got for today!

One last dip in the pool

Soccer on the beach

Lunch in Juntas

Juntas

View from AirBnB 

Our AirBnB (white roof, top left)

Santa Elena