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Playa Ventanas and other Numerous Beautiful Beaches Nearby

Costa Rica Beaches

Las Villas de San Buenas is perfectly located close to numerous beautiful Costa Rica Beaches and National Parks. The nearest beach is Playa Tortuga, home to a turtle sanctuary and education center.

The most beautiful and tranquil beach in all of the Osa region is Playa Ventanas. Playa Ventanas is an easy 15 minute drive from Las Villas de San Buenas. It is a great location to spend an afternoon of relaxing, stand-up paddle boarding or swimming. If you visit during low tide you can walk all the way through one of the ‘ventanas’ (or windows).

Check out the rest of the beaches near to Las Villas de San Buenas here.

Costa Rica beaches villas rent

Beautiful Beaches and National Parks Nearby

Costa Rica Beaches

Las Villas de San Buenas is perfectly located close to numerous beautiful Costa Rica Beaches and National Parks. The nearest beach is Playa Tortuga, home to a turtle sanctuary and education center.

The most beautiful and tranquil beach in all of the Osa region is Playa Ventanas. Playa Ventanas is an easy 15 minute drive from Las Villas de San Buenas. It is a great location to spend an afternoon of relaxing, stand-up paddle boarding or swimming. If you visit during low tide you can walk all the way through one of the ‘ventanas’ (or windows).

Check out the rest of the beaches near to Las Villas de San Buenas here.

Costa Rica beaches villas rent

Welcome to Osa Costa Rica

Osa Costa Rica

Las Villas de San Buenas is located in one of the most beautiful locations on Earth – Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula . Osa Costa Rica is considered to be one of the most biologically intense place in the world. Along with the largest mangrove forest in the world, miles of beaches and countless species of flowers, wildlife and birds, Osa Costa Rica is truly paradise.

We are located just 1 mile (2 km) from the Costanera Highway (highway in the photo below), in the small, peaceful town of San Buenaventura. For more information about our location visit this page. osa costa rica aerial costanera|

 

Affordable Costa Rica Healthcare Nearby

Affordable Costa Rica Health Care

Costa Rica is world renown for its high quality and affordable healthcare. Did you know that Costa Rican’s life expectancy is almost equal to that of the United States and of Canada? Additionally, 14% of all tourists receive some form of medical work done during their time in Costa Rica. The two most common types of health care that are performed are dental work and plastic surgery.

costa rica healthcare sign Hospital Osa Aerial View Halverson

Las Villas de San Buenas is located five minutes from one of the newest and most state of the art hospitals in Costa Rica.This allows our residents to easily take advantage of some of the best and most affordable Costa Rica healthcare. For all the details click here.

Many of the doctors, nurses and administrators are fully fluent in both Spanish and English, so communicating is never a problem.

Costa Rica healthcare osa

Mr Halverson Goes to San Jose to Visit the Costa Rica Congress

Last week my project manager, Hanz Cruz, and I spent an afternoon in San Jose where we

Hanz Cruz Rosibel Madrigal Halverosn
Las Villas de San Buenas Project Manager Hanz Cruz, and CEO Nick Halverson meet with Deputada Rosibel Ramos Madrigal at the Costa Rica Congress.

visited the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa), Costa Rica’s Congressional body.  Costa Rica has an unicameral legislative structure (a single chamber. By way of comparison the USA has two – the House of Representatives and the Senate). A member of Congress is called a Deputado (Deputada if a woman) – which translates to ‘Senator’.

Costa Rica has 57 Deputados, who are all elected every four years. Deputados do not have term limits, although they cannot serve consecutive terms. Once a Deputado’s four-year term expires, they must sit out an entire four-year election cycle before they can serve again.

We spent approximately one hour talking with a couple of Deputados. We first met with Deputada Rosibel Madrigal, who represents the region including San Isidro del General/Perez Zeledon areas of San Jose province. Next we met with Gerardo Vargas Rojas who represents the province of Puntarenas.

We discussed tourism, increasing foreign investment and I pushed to know more about the possible international airport in Osa (still being reviewed).

I have always found it beneficial during my career in New Zealand and Australia to meet face-to-face

Costa Rica Asamblea Nacional
Founding members of Costa Rica’s first Congress in 1949 (photo by Nick Halverson with Google Glass)

with government officials to ensure they are aware of our project as well as we are kept abreast of any potential changes. We will continue to meet with officials quarterly.

It was an enjoyable day and everyone we met with was friendly and hospitable. I’ll keep everyone updated on our future visits – and the Southern zone international airport.

Nick Halverson
CEO, Las Villas de San Buenas

Costa Rica and the World Cup 2014 part 1

Wow!! I love sports. I will generally watch most any sport at any given time. I’ve watched cricket in New Zealand, ruby in Australia and soccer in Costa Rica. I have never, however, seen such passion and joy as the Costa Ricans after Costa Rica (La Sele) beat Italy in this years World Cup. Costa Rica World Cup team has shocked the soccer world!

Costa Rica sele cute women
Celebration in Costa Rica after Costa Rica defeated Italy in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Photo Alberto Font/The Tico Times

Costa Rica was put in one of the two “Group of Death” (the USA is in another one of the groups), with Italy, Uruguay and England. Italy and Uruguay each had teams ranked in the Top 10 of the world by FIFA going into the World Cup. Costa Rica found a way to beat them both, in consecutive matches. Although the entire country of Costa Rica has a population of 4.5 million people, they have found a way to take down two of the titans of soccer (by way of comparison the city of Rome has 2.7 million people).

I’m sharing an article from The Tico Times for the whole story.

Vamos a Sele!!

Nick

——-

Original Article http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/06/20/in-costa-rica-one-big-party-following-spectacular-world-cup-win

A sea of red jerseys and Costa Rican flags inundated the main streets and avenues of the country’s capital – and across the nation – on Friday following Costa Rica’s incredible advancement to the next round of the World Cup Brazil 2014 after beating Italy 1-0.

The San José streets were deserted during the nail-biting morning match, but when the final whistle blew, declaring the Ticos at the top of the so-called Group of Death, a throng of Sele supporters took to the city’s main plazas to celebrate the historic triumph.

Costa Rica won the hard-fought battle on a Bryan Ruiz goal in the first half, the game’s only goal.

Thousands of Tico fans gathered at the Fuente de la Hispanidad in San José on June 20, 2014, singing “Sí se pudo, sí se pudo,” and “oeee oee oee oeee, Ticos Ticos!” 

President Luis Guillermo Solís, dressed in a red Sele shirt, walked from the Casa Presidencial to the Fuente de la Hispanidad roundabout in the east of the capital, a traditional meeting point for civic celebrations.

 

Elated fans surrounded the president, embracing him and blasting vuvuzelas to celebrate Costa Rica’s second victory in as many World Cup matches, after shocking the world earlier in the tournament by beating higher-ranked Uruguay 3-1.

“I told you, 1-0,” Solís tweeted, reminding Ticos he had predicted the outcome.

“It was a historic triumph, nobody expected it, and when I say nobody, I’m talking about the entire planet. Costa Rica won because they were mentally focused, they believed in themselves and there was unity among the squad,” Sele fan Dennis Alonso, 26, said after the match.

In San Pedro, east of the capital, Lorna Contreras, 69, carried red, white and blue balloons, along with the Costa Rican flag, while cars passed by blasting their horns in elation.

“This is just marvelous. We’ve all waited for this, because we’ve been watching [this team] progress. We beat two World Cup champions, and now we’ll beat another,” Contreras said, referring to La Sele’s upcoming match Tuesday against England.

One local TV station broadcast an image of a Tico who traveled to Brazil to see the match. The fan held a sign that said, “Jefe, I quit my job. I’m staying to watch the second round.”

Mamones Chinos A Costa Rica Fruit Treasure

costa rica mamon chino fruit
Mamones chinos are starting to fruit for the 2014 season. Que rico!

Costa Rica is home to hundreds of fruits, and in particular, the Osa Peninsula’s weather patterns provides the perfect environment for growing mamones chinos. I love mamones chinos as much as guanabana’s. The main advantage of mamones chinos versus guanabana is the ease of eating.

What is a ‘mamon chino‘?

A mamon chino is a fruit that grows on trees (most fruits do grow on trees but a few don’t) and is harvested once a year. To eat one, you simply pluck it off the tree, rip the skin of with your teeth, which will generally open in two or three large pieces, then eat the sweet, white fruit. There is an almond-like seed in the middle of each fruit, so you have to eat and suck off the fruit from the seed. Once you are finished eating the fruit you spit out the seed.

Eating mamones chinos will definitely get your hands sticky and they are a bit messy to eat as the easiest way to eat them is with your hands and utensils will not help.

The name of the fruit tells you a lot about the food. mamon is from the word mamar, meaning ‘to suck’. Chino comes from “China”. Therefore, the ‘mamon chino’ is the Chinese sucking fruit.nick halverson mamon chino

We’ve planted several in Las Villas de San Buenas, and just this last weekend one of our customers requested that we plant a couple
near his home. It takes a couple of years after planting for it to start producing fruit.

Nick Halverson
CEO, Las Villas de San Buenas
[email protected]



 

Best Sandwiches in Costa Rica?

One of the most common questions we get from prospective customers, outside of safety (yes – it’s very safe here) and government stability (democracy for over 140 years), is about food. The Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica has an incredible number of great restaurants and local sodas. It is very difficult to find a location that serves bad food in this area – those restaurants simply don’t survive. Whether you want a quick traditional meal (casado) or a formal dinner at places like Citrus in Ojochal, there are dozens of culinary options within 15 minutes of Las Villas de San Buenas.

Today I had lunch at the Roadshack in Uvita (about 15 minutes north of Las Villas de San Buenas). Roadshack

Roadshack Uvita costa rica collage
Best sandwich shop in Costa Rica? Maybe…

has been open for about a year, and I’ve known Bob the owner for a couple of years now (he’s an avid mountain biker – send me a note if you want more info about the trail he’s building nearby) and enjoyed his restaurants before. I’ve had some of the other delicious sandwiches here.

Today I ordered the ‘Costanera’ sandwich which is turkey, bacon, pepper jack cheese, peperoncinis and basil mayo. Wow! Amazing flavor and plenty of food. I quickly ate half of it and debated about bringing the other half home with me to eat later. However, my tastebuds overruled my rational side and I gladly finished the other half as quickly as the first half.

Each sandwich cost around $11 (5,500 colones) and includes homemade potato chips and a bottomless glass of iced tea. There’s free wifi available and plenty of covered seating and a full bar if you’re looking for a margarita. I don’t know if there is a better sandwich shop in all of Costa Rica, if there is, I haven’t found it. If you have your own opinion about the subject send me a note, but I feel Roadshack has the best sandwiches in Costa Rica.

If you’re planning on living in the area or simply passing through, be sure to drop by the Roadshack in Uvita (don’t forget to say ‘Hi’ to Bob).

Nick Halverson
President – Las Villas de San Buenas
[email protected]

Costa Rica Surfing at Playa Dominical Costa Rica

Costa Rica Surfing Photograph

This beautiful sunset photo was taken at Playa Dominical, Osa, Costa Rica. Pura vida!

Playa Dominical photos and info

Playa Dominical is only 35 minutes north of Las Villas de San Buenas. For information about Costa Rica surfing and/or surf lessons in Costa Rica be sure to contact us.

Costa Rica surfer dominical

via Surfer at Playa Dominical Costa Rica Sunset | Costa Rica, Real Estate, News, Travel.

Why Costa Rica does not celebrate Memorial Day

Why Costa Rica does not celebrate Memorial Day | Costa Rica, Real Estate, News, Travel.

One of the biggest holiday’s in the United States is Memorial Day. Memorial Day was started during the Civil War to honor the fallen soldiers of the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, remembrances and recognition of the soldiers who died continued to grow. On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, General Logan (commander of the Grand Army of the Republic) issued the following order to take place on May 30, 1868 “for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion….” 
Since that time the United States, and just about every other country, has some form or day to honor their fallen soldiers. 

This brings me to Costa Rica and the answer to the headline. The reason Costa Rica doesn’t have such a day is that they currently do not have any active soldiers. There are, however, several thousand veterans still alive from the Costa Rican Civil War that took place in March 1948. It is tough to keep a tradition alive when the only ones who “qualify” are not asking for a special day and are dying off.

Costa Rica Civil War Veteran Israel Carvajal Zarate

War and fighting are not as prominent in this country of 4.3 million people as other places in the world. In fact, I have spoken with one of those Costa Rican Civil War veterans. I asked about his uniform and any medals he may still have. He simply laughed. He told me that during that time, they didn’t have uniforms and the soldiers were more concerned about eating since they were out in the country side with no food. A small group of soldiers in each group would be given a gun in the morning, but then they would have to return it in the evening. 

Here’s a brief review of the Costa Rican Civil War:
The Costa Rican Civil War started after the Presential election of 1948. The candidate who “won” the election was namded One of the candidates, man “won” the election Otilio. Calderon, one of Costa Rica’s previous president, did not accept the results. Jose “Pepe” Figures joined with a bunch of farmers in Santa Maria in the mountains. They armed themselves with guns that they and other farmers had. 

Nick Halverson standing next to the only memorial
to the Costa Rica Civil War.
San Isidro del General

Instead of attacking the army in San Jose, Pepe came through San Isidro del General, a large city with limited access to San Jose at the time, with his armed militia. To gain control of San Isidro he killed all of the policemen, hid himself in the area and waited for an airplane to land at the airport. They hijacked the airplane in San Isidro and flew to San Jose to gather more supplies/guns/etc and then they flew back to San Isidro.  They conquered the area and then decided to attack the Cartago region (near San Jose). 

Costa Rica’s only Civil War Memorial in
San Isidro del General
Photo (c) Nick Halverson

The official Costa Rican Army was based in San Jose. The Costa Rican government did not have a very large or organized military so they asked for help from Nicaragua, and Nicaraguan and Costa Rican soldiers joined forces to fight Pepe. Figures and his militia hid in the mountains near Cartago and waited for the now combined Costa Rican Army to march through – which they did. Pepe and his group killed many of  them. After  the attack, Pepe Figures took over the government for a little over a year, disbanded the military and then and gave power to Otilio and the Costa Rican constitution was re-written.  NOTE:That’s how the PLN political party in Costa Rica started.

Rumor has it that afterwards, Figures sent the plane and all of the weapons from the Army, to the people of Cuba. Those weapons were used by Fidel Castro in the revolution that took place soon after.  This information is not confirmed but the story is often times told by Costa Ricans.

Repaving of Roads to San Buenaventura

Visiting the Osa region between Palmar Norte and Coronado (which includes San Buenaventura) just got smoother. Already considered one of the best roads in all of Costa Rica, Highway 34 (or as it is better known, “The Costanera Highway”) has been repaved with another layer of asphalt over the past ten days. Unlike many roads in Costa Rica, especially those in Guanacaste, the roads leading to San Buenaventura are perfectly smooth and provide easy driving for everyone.

Now that the asphalt has been put down, the paint and reflectors in the road will be applied over the next month.

They repaved and smoothed out the entrance into San Buenaventura as well. We are located 2 km (a little over a mile) from the Costanera highway (Highway 34) providing easy access all year!

As always, we recommend flying into Palmar Sur regional airport and then driving to Las Villas de San Buenas. It is now easier than ever!

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