finally

All of our stone gaviones are done. Done. Finally. Also we finished the lower deck closest to the ocean including the stairs. Now the terrace is raised 60cm above ground providing an excellent view over mainstreet and the beach.This ties the whole place together and people can now easily visualize the final result. A backhoe leveled mounds of dirt and sand in the back of the property so the place looks even larger and much cleaner after construction. Our backgate for deliveries got installed. The guy that was supposed to install the bathroom doors today stood us up so instead I went by swanky Cameleon hotel picking up empty Champagne bottles from Diego, the GM, and our friends, Claudine and Regis, at Beach Hut gave us tons of empty wine bottles that we will craft into lighting installations.

The bar wall is ready

color of stone

Puerto Viejo named to list of “Top 10 Cheap Beach Vacations” Worldwide

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Getting there

In the spirit of using local materials and incorporating the unique aspects of our area we contacted Carolina, a paintor and art historian, that works with the indians living in the surrounding mountains in helping preserve and promote their ancient crafts handed down for generations. She was delighted to hear we wanted to give them our support and said she would let us know how long it would take them to produce our breadbaskets, lampshades, serving plates and so on. Some of the indiginious live a several day walk inside the almost impenetrable jungle so it will take some time to get an answer. But thats ok.

We decided on using handmade placemats that are weaved by using recycled the plastic banana bags that unfortunately ends up either in the ocean where it often is mistaken for food by seaturtles that die when ingesting the plastic or in enormous floating underwater mountains of seatrash. In the best case scenario they end up in landfills. The group of local women that perform the very laborous and time consuming task of producing these placemats and bags do an incredible job with amazing results. I can't wait to have the first order.

We also got the power company to move what best can be described as a small forest of wire anchors that were splattered all over one corner of the property impeding our use of the space. Now they left only two right by the property line and we are happy.

The barback made of solid stone is going up and will reach 4 meters (12 feet) of the ground. Its looking very dramatic and we have a steady stream of locals stopping by checking out the progress. Everybody is super positive which is great

Visitors Guide to Costa Rica

Caribbean, Clean and Untainted Rivers - Naturally Costa Rica - The visitor's guide to Costa Rica

Oy vey

I shouldn't have mentioned the sizzling sun. It rained, no poured, for more then 12 hours non stop yesterday. But our crew did show up, if a little late, this morning and by noon the sun was out full force again. Now its raining again of course but who cares. Its perfect for chilling out at the house.

We will start building the wood deck on the lower part closest to the ocean after the weekend. This week was pretty good. We were only stood up by the AyA (watermeter)guy, the A/C guy and two truckloads of stones. Not bad. Not worse then Miami. More things got solved. We received the internet, a quote that was acceptable from the carpenter for our doors and windows, the dishwashing area got mapped out, we ordered some custom kitchen ecquipment and everybody has shown up to work this whole week. This is great.

A beautiful thing happened today. A falcon landed on the site and feasted on crabs seemingly unbothered by us being just a few feet away. I was a little worried about our two baby sloths lounging in the tree above and could be a possible prey for a falcon. But it was too busy catching crabs instead. What a relief. Now we are back at the house cooking a delicious dinner and having wine with good friends relaxing while the rain drizzles outside and the crickets sing. So cozy

stone works

We have been working on the stone walls that borders the terrace of KOKi beach club this week. The river stones has to be placed one by one in the metal cages which not only is hard physical work in the sizzling sun but also very time consuming. It really is a science but after several improvements of the work process we were able to speed it up without compromising but rather improving the appearance of the stone filled cages . The most challenging phase will be the bar that has four cages stacked on top of eachother to a height of 4 meters. The trick is to get the stones up there.

We are waiting for the doors and windows to be priced out by a local carpenter that came highly recommended and seemed confident enough to take on the daunting task presented.

the sunlight comes thru while still providing shade

moving along

The tiles are up in the kitchen and the office walls are sanded. Next step is to get the doorframes in place followed by the custom made doors and windows. Once installed we will recieve the kitchen equipment and the buildings are done. We are now promptly putting our attention towards starting building the foundation for the outdoor seating area and bar.
Its sunday again and that means relaxing with a pitcher of sangria. Ahh..this is Caribbean living.

The shadow play from the trees and beams onto the structure is amazing in the early morning sun. We ceremoniously witnessed the first tile being carefully placed on the kitchen floor by a seasoned professional from Home Creek this morning. We also, after brief bickering, decided on color scheme after flipping thru countless palettes. The first brush strokes are applied to the beams proving our choice to be the correct one. Its looking good. A gateway has been added to the model for a more dramatic statement for the entrance to frame the traditional irongate.

Shop till you drop

So now the floors are poured, the plaster is up, drainage almost done, the brake boxes and electric installed, the tiles are up in the bathrooms looking gorgeous and the crew has now moved on to the kitchen.

That means time for some fun shopping for us. We took a trip to the capital, San Jose, where we went looking for kitchen and restaurant supplies. This week a truckload is coming with a sparkling new gas stove, tons of plates, glasses, utensils and an array of kitchen stuff.

Exhausted but determined we moved on to the local artisan market which luckily resulted in finding some beautiful indigineous fabrics in vibrant colours for pillows and chairs. Filled with a satisfactory sense of accomplishment and the car packed to the rim we headed back to the beach.