Yesterday the estate agent collected us in the morning and drove us around to a few more places. The first was a pair of small cabinas near Cocles which were under construction. The quality of the construction was very good and they were conveniently close to town, but not very practical for actually living in. Also, the area was a little built up, and one could imagine it become a series of small mid-end snug houses squashed together over time.
The next was back towards Playa Negra. The house here was the nicest we’ve seen so far: two bedrooms, very spacious and airy, but also nicely protected from insects etc. It had a very nice airy construction to funnel out warm air in the living room. Unfortunately it was expensive and on a very small, bare plot of land that had had all the trees stripped from it.
The third was a new build and by far the worst house we’d seen. Ample land, but backing up against a storage space, and the house itself was two units made of very shoddy gypsum board and with odd dimensions, perched on a claustrophobic, low-ceilinged common space. For some inexplicable reason the ceiling was covered in plastic tiles. Hideous and, as I said, inexplicable, though the agent muttered something about it being easy to clean.
The fourth was a beautiful, large piece of land, well located at the end of a street and not too far from the sea or the town, with mature trees and plenty of wildlife. The house was ok but it made me a bit nervous as it was fully wooden, plus not the most comfortable for our purpose. And it was expensive.
The final one was the most promising but also, in some ways, most challenging. This was just a piece of land covered with really beautiful old trees and less than 500 metres from the sea. On one side was a hotel which is the heart of the local community, almost like a clubhouse, so one could well imagine setting up a cafe or something there. The area itself is full of larger, higher-end houses, which is promising for a future payoff. The downside: it’s more than we can afford straight-off, and of course we would have to budget for construction and then actually manage it as well. Challenging, but one with potential returns. Of course it would also tie us to Costa Rica which I have some hesitation about, but then I would be hesitant no matter where in the world it was.
Anyway, let’s see. My suspicion is that I will be delighted to be back in a proper international city soon, and will not want to flee to the jungle, swayed by the delights of good food, culture, etc.