Living in Costa Rica During the '70s

I arrived in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, in 1973 and lived there for six years. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and its people are very friendly especially out in the countryside and beaches. My father was a textile engineer and was contracted to work for a Costa Rican textile plant which is the reason for my being there.

I went to an English-speaking school called at that time the Costa Rica Academy and enjoyed it since I met many friends and played soccer there. The school was located in the area known as The Sabana where the Olympic Sized soccer stadium was located. After I was there for two years the school moved to a monastery which was located near a swimming club called Ojo De Aqua which means "Eye of Water" because of a Cartesian well that was located in the middle of the club.

While I was at the Costar Rica Academy we went on several field trips. One of these was to the large rain forest known as Santa Rosa. It was very humid and very colorful. I saw my first and last Quetzal Bird (or what the locals called it). It was a beautiful experience to see such vibrant colors in a natural environment. At the edge of the rainforest there was an archaeological dig going on that had uncovered an old Indian village that had stone water troughs that still trickled water from a stream in the forest.

Another field trip took me to the local snake farm where we saw bush masters and pythons. We saw how anti-venom was made and we saw how we could distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous snakes. I had a healthy respect for snakes after that visit.

During the summer months my family used to go down to the coast on the pacific side and we stayed at Puntarenas which means Sandpoint in Spanish. We used to stay in villas on the beach where they had tiled sidewalks and tiki huts and barbecue pits to cook out on the beach. One of the more interesting things about Puntarenas is that they have an old Spanish cannon that was used to sink a German warship during WWII. One can still see part of the ship sticking up out of the water and the cannon is still on the beach where it was used. Puntarenas is very hot but very beautiful and the people are so friendly and courteous.

1977 and 1978 were eventful years for me and for Costa Rica. I saw Star Wars for the first time and also Saturday Night Fever. The Soccer World Cup was started in June of 1978. But the most important happening was the Nicaraguan civil war which started in full swing during those two years between the Dictator Somoza and the Sandinistas. Since Costa Rica has no standing army no one could stop the Sandinistas from crossing from Panama through Costa Rica to Nicaragua. During the middle of the year I think was 1978 or late 1978 an American reporter was shot down execution style by National Guardsman of Nicaragua and this was videotaped and shown on Costa Rican TV. My dad decided then to leave Costa Rica and get back to the normalcy of the United States.

We left in December of 1978 where it was 85 degrees to a 10 degree climate in South Carolina. Very cold! But we were back in the US and safety. I have kept up with some of my friends in Costa Rica who were there. It has been many years since then but Costa Rica has thrived to become one of the main countries where retirees go to retire. The reasons are various. It has a very warm climate and the cost of living and land is inexpensive for the most part. It is a beautiful and friendly country.

Some facts about Costa Rica: The main language spoken is Spanish and the money is Colons. The capital city is San Jose. The country lies between Panama and Nicaragua and has both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast as shores. If you need more information about vacations or actually retiring to Costa Rica I suggest you do google searches to find the best spots for vacations or retirements. One last piece of advice is to understand the laws of Costa Rica so you will understand their laws and culture.