A journey through time and space
Uvita
Dominical & Ojochal
Vi live in the small community of Uvita (pronounced Ovita) which is almost the most southerly on the Pacific side. 20 km North of Uvita is the surf community Dominical, best known for surfing with many young people, 20 km south of Uvita is a smaller community Ojochal with many French-speaking expats from Canada, here we find the region´s more developed recidential area with the best restaurants and deli shops and a French bakery. We are located right in the country - farthest from the "big city" of San Jose with its 1.4 million SEK inhabitants. Our entire region OSA, has about 30,000 inhabitants and Uvita about 1,000.
Uvita
Is the center of the region, with everything you need in daily life, Bank, Pharmacy, Groceries, hardware store, dentist, wine shop, about 30 restaurants from luxury to the kiosk on the corner that serves skewers over glowing coals. The road through Uvita about 2 km, is the mainroad from Panama all the way through Central America.
Living here since late autumn 2021,everything is above expectations.
Everyone is incredibly helpful, had a problem with the car´s engine, went to the car repair shop in town, without having booked an appointment, the repair shop guys let go of what they were doing right away, took the car in to find the problem while we waited. After about 45 minutes, we get information about what was the problem with the car. (At home we waited 3 weeks to get an appointment at our dealer Bristish motorgroup to have time to investigate engine problems with our Landrover) Same thing again when we got a flat tire , within 20 min they had fixed the problem, always with a Pura Vida on their lips.
Every time we have asked for help, from checking the pool pump, to getting hold of a plumber, it has been fixed right away the same day. We expected a "manjana" culture, but it´s the other way around. When visiting our lawyer, we wondered if she could help us open a bank account (since we don´t speak Spanish it was easier to ask for help .. ) Our lawyer took a call while we were waiting and voila, it was fixed with the bank, we went there the next day and wrote papers, another day after that our visa cards were ready to be picked up.
It´s a clean country, from the public toilette to the streets. We hardly find any litter along the roads. Even the beaches are clean, sometimes we find a bottle or bag that we take with us, otherwise completely clean! Mostly fallen coconuts "littering" the beach.
BM - Our Supermarket in Uvita
At our Supermarket BM which can be similar to an Ica Maxi in size, it is sparkling clean, products from all corners of the world, never a queue at the tills, staff stand and pack all the goods in the checkouts as part of their service. Always with a smile, no tip is expected. (There is no tipping culture in the country, which is nice)
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Everything can´t be good, you must be wondering...
There are certain things that do not work as well, as we are used to in Sweden, for example the local public transport is non existing (exept for school children), you are forced to have a car or motorbike to get around. The main road is excellent, but minor roads are completely off road often in bad shape, and you need a 4X4 car to get around. We experience constant unplanned small power cuts in our rental house, especially during thunderstorms in the afternoons during the rainy season, which causes the internet to stop working for for a while. So you can easilly train your "digital detox"
It is difficult to find quality products where we live, for example kitchen equipment. The pots in the shop are made in china of the worst quality. Much of what is sold on re interior design is ugly or bad. You have to go to San Jose (the capital) to find better things from furniture to lighting etc. But the selection in Sweden on the coutry side, is not that good either... The big difference is that in Sweden you can order almost everything online and receive the goods a couple of days later. It doesn´t work that way here! Basically no internet trade in the country as the logistics are not developed. So you have to go to San Jose a 4h drive north,or go to Panama, a few hours drive south to find good shopping..
In walking distance from Uviat center you will find the Wales Tale National Park with kilometers of beaches with all sorts of wild animals in the jungle behind. Costa Rica has a similar law as in Sweden regarding the rights of the public and beach protection. All beaches and waterways are accessible to everyone, here it is not allowed to exploit the beaches - no restaurants or hotels on the beaches. Here you bring your beach mat and pick nick, mobile kiosks sell "Pipa Fria" chilled whole coconut´s for less than 1 USD - the world´s best drink right from nature!
Our friend Hans caught this 50kg MahiMahi off Uvita
Pipe Fria - is it!
Uvita is an area where many health conscious people have moved in, here you will find several Yoga centers, health food stores. Many restaurants here are based on vegetarian/vegan food, which suits us perfectly as we prefer to eat "plant based food". We also eat wild-caught fish from local fishermen, with Blue Malin and MahiMahi being our favorites.
Here we try Soundhealing at the Synergy Center
Uvita with the famous landmark with the Whales Tale"
Dominical
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About15-minute drive north of Uvita, where we live, is Dominical, a small "surf village" with many small bars and restaurants, and a bit more touristc, mostly young backpackers and surfers. Every Friday there is a market here where you meet people from the area. All vegetables you find here is are all organic- local grown, but you will also find everything from soap, jewelry, plant medicine, spices, etc. That´s probably how people used to shop, people came by horse from the mountains above to meet and shop before the shops existed, where the social part is as important as the shopping itself. Here we make contacts with people who moved here from all corners of the world, some have lived here for 30 years, others just moved in like us. A goldmine if you are looking for tips or help with all kinds of practical questions, where can I find good construction workers? Best electrician in town? Where can I find stainless screws... how to import goods from USA etc
Since half a year ago you can pay with Bitcoin in the region! (Like other place in the world Bitcoin is introduced as a local currency for a freer decentralized economy (first was El Salvador with its bitcoin beach) We will write more about this in our blog.
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Farmer´s market every week