Ka Sundance Swims With Dolphins & Sharks In The South-Pacific Ocean

That was such an amazing experience!

It was the first time I ever went on the beautiful, magical Cano Island in Costa Rica.  I just heard how amazing the diving and snorkeling here in the South-West of Costa Rica is.   This video is a true testimony to that statement.

You can book the same dive tour I did at

http://costaricadiveandsurf.com/

Those guys are amazing!  They provide not only super professional service, but also are very friendly and open for families!   A must-go, if you are in Costa Rica and want to go diving or snorkling!  It was so amazing to see the dolphins and sea turtles swimming next to our boat!  Knowing that there are these big sharks around was also a bit …. challenging as I have just watched too many Hollywood movies in regards to this.  Our dive instructor told us though:
The sharks come close to Cano only to get a sun bath in the shallow water.
They are not there for hunting, and actually never go for humans (if you do not tease them…LOL)

To sum up to our whole dive/snorkle experience, we also had a nice lunch (we brought our raw food with us…LOL) and had been able to see more than one dive/snorkel spot at Cano.

I was surrounded by 1,000′s of fish.
A huge school of small fish just passed by as I was floating close to the surface together with my son Jaro.
Overall it was such an amazing experience for me and my son!  We treasure every second of this special day, and can only highly recommend this dive/snorkel tour to anyone who wants to see the underwater life of South-West Costa Rica close to Ballena National park and Cano Island.

Again:
The company CostaRicaDiveAndSurf and Michael Shellard exeeded all expectations I ever had for this day!
10 out of 10 from my end!

Lots of love
Ka

Football In Costa Rica (Or how a new soccer season begins)

As we are football lovers ourselves, we want to give you some insights into the soul of Costa Rican soccer through our eyes! Here are some impressions from soccer-mania in pura vida Costa Rica.

Football rules the world.  Especially here in Costa Rica!  People down here love football – and as we are from Germany we do as well!

I am taking you with us today to the next bigger city named San Isidro in Perez Zeldon.  My oldest son plays together with some other “gringo” kids on the local soccer football team in Costa Rica.  As the new season is about to start next week, they blocked the whole main road in the city to celebrate this event in “Tico”-style. The Costa Rican people are crazy about football, pretty much like the rest of the world (including us Europeans/Germans…LOL).  Each and every little village has a soccer field and a team.
Each weekend they play and this starts with the little kids 6-7 years old.

This video gives you a pretty good impression of the day-to day life in Costa Rica and also how peaceful and friendly the ticos in Costa Rica are.

As we also were involved in football in England and Germany (our home country), we can only say: It is so much more fun and enjoyable playing here in the tropics.  It is so much more about playing together and hanging out together than being so ambitious and focused on winning.  It is so much more kid-friendly, at least as far as we see it.  The kids just want to have fun and play together rather than having a coach pushing them to be the best.  Benny likes that, and I also like this much more.  I believe that this is the reason why he finally decided to join a team, after observing different ways of practicing and different coaches in four countries and three different continents (we also checked out soccer in Thailand…)

As a little side note: There was no winner at his game after the regular play-time, so they had to make penalty shots.  My son’s team won, however, nobody was making a big buzz around that, and everybody was happy.

Pura vida from the most beautiful country on earth!

Tips For The Rain Season in Costa Rica

Most people think: “Costa Rica? This beautiful tropical country has the most beautiful weather all year round!”

Well, sorry guys! That’s not true at all.  We do not know winter-time and summer-time in Costa Rica, that is true, but what we do have is a wet season and a dry season (or rain/rainy season and sunny season).

In the sunny season everything is fine, as the sun is shining from sunrise to sunset.  All is nice and well (although it can get incredibly hot in the early afternoon!), but what happens during rain season in Costa Rica?

Well, you have to know that the rain during rain season is like nothing we are familiar with in ANY way coming from Europe or the United States.  Rain in Costa Rica, especially during heavy rain season in October and November, is crazy.

So much water is falling down in heavy drops from the sky, that life on the streets and in the cities almost comes to a stop.  The canal and drain systems in the whole country are often not able to swallow all that water, so floods are not unusual.  Even worse than that is during rain season, all the clothes and things in your house will not get dry or stay dry.

If you have clothes to dry coming fresh out of the washing machine, you will need a dryer to do this job because during the heavy rain season it will not be possible to properly dry clothes.  Even if you do use a dryer, you have to take your clothes out of the machine and put them into plastic bags so they do not pick up moisture instantly.  Some people also have a dehumidifier in their wardrobe to protect clothes and other stuff from getting moist and moldy.  It can get even worse with electronic devices because laptops, cell phones, iPods and iPads are super sensitive to all the moisture, so you have to take good care of them.

Here are two tips on what to do with electronic devices during rain season in Costa Rica:

1. We have our laptops running for most of the time during rain season in order to have the warmth of the machines keeping the moisture away.

2. We have created a small shelf and put it behind the fridge to save energy costs.  We use the warmth that is radiated off of the back of the fridge to keep our electronic devices dry.

Both techniques work pretty well.  The second tip, however, is a super-smart, cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution for rain season.

Sorry guys - I hope not to scare anybody here, but as I deeply care about you having a joyful stay in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, I feel I must be plainly honest, especially about the challenges that come along with living in a tropical country like Costa Rica during rainy season.
The good thing is, it lasts just a couple of weeks.  In December, when it just starts getting real ugly and cold in Europe and the United States, it is already over and the sun comes back, making us forget all the wet afternoons in an instant.

What is a couple of weeks of rain compared to six months of grey, cold and ice in Northern Europe or the Northern United States?
If you prepare for this time of the year, or take a nice little vacation to the drier North-West side of Costa Rica, you will have an easy time dealing with rain season in Costa Rica.

How to live in Costa Rica

After being here with our family for almost 2 years now, we have learned quite a lot on how to live in Costa Rica.

Some things are quite familiar with the western world like The United States or Europe from where we actually come from.
However, some things are also really different and even strange – even after being here for so long!

One thing I really like about living in Costa Rica is that you can somehow blend in.
Eventhough me and my family have blond hair, we still do not feel like aliens all the time.
I believe that Costa Rica has experienced such a huge number of tourists all year round, they are used to having foreigners in their space.

They are happy to have those tourists and I feel appreciated by them.
Having lived in Asia for over a year altogether, this is something special.
In Asia you will always be a complete stranger and it is almost impossible to understand their ways, as all is so different there.

In Costa Rica things are familiar. We at least have some cultural similarities.
That really helps to adapt and blend into this lifestyle here.

But other things remain strange to us, even though we love to learn.
Coming from Germany, we are so used that buses run on time, and tradesmen come when they said they would.
This is a bit more flexible here in Costa Rica.
And I like how nobody ever feels stressed here.  It is always pura vida, and good advice is:
Be prepared for things to take triple the time you are used to.

In this case you can be in total bliss in case they take only double the amount of time.

LOL

If you want to know how to live in Costa Rica, there is just no such thing as coming by and feeling it yourself.
Some people love it – for a holiday or even to live in Costa Rica permanently and others just can’t take it.

If you want to find out, you have to sit in a plane and fly down here (or if you come from the United States, you can even drive down here).

Here is How to live in Costa Rica, buy a house in costa rica, or buy land in costa rica:

1. Buy a plane ticket and come for a visit.  Several months if possible.
2. Choose the area you want to visit.  Travel to get a good feeling for the country.
3. Rent a car or chose alternative options like going by bus, or hiring a driver
4. Be prepared that things take triple the time you are used to.
In this case you can be in total bliss in case they take only double amount of time.
5. If it feels right, get together with a trusted real estate agent to buy your property.  Follow the steps given here
6. Buy your piece of  paradise and live the pura vida!

Hope this all helped!
Me and my family are looking forward welcoming you soon down here in the tropics!
Ka Sundance

How to buy a house in Costa Rica – Conscious Real Estate In Eco Villages Or Communities

How to buy a house in Costa Rica – Now available to the non-residents too!

Costa Rica is one of the most sought after countries of Central America, in terms of both safety and financial potency. Since decades, the country has been standing out for its stability and better standard of living.
That is why; even the non-residents of Costa Rica are interested in buying real estate in the country.
Banks (private and public) and US-based private financial institutions now offer home loans and also mobile home loans to both residents and non-residents of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica real estate in eco-villages or sustainable permaculture communities for the non-residents

Even 15 years back, foreigners and non-residential Costa Ricans were not given any home loan or property loan. The banks did not provide any finance to the potential non-resident homebuyers to buy real estate in the country.

The time is over; the banks and private mortgage lenders are now ready to lend money to the residents as well as non-residents for buying private homes, vacation homes, rental property, condos, and residential lands. Mobile home loans are also offered by some lenders.

How to buy a house in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica mortgage terms for the non-residents and foreigners

Foreigners and non-residential Costa Ricans now can apply for a mortgage loan from both private mortgage lenders and public lenders like banks.

Here are some important terms of loan application.

All the terms should be verified at the application.