My Great Escape: Post Peak in Costa Rica -UPDATE 3/06-

janser

Hello,

I have a question: How difficult is it to get in to Costa Rica? You are living there, so you emigrated over there?

I am from the Netherlands and wanna leave to a new place. Not just because of peakoil, but also because i dont't like holland. Not a nice climate, no nature and very expensive. I wanna go somewhere else, have some adventure and settle in a nice plac with a nice climate.I tought about Paraguay or costa rica. I will be going to a spanish school to learn spanis. Maybye Buenos Aires but they alsi have courses in San Jose.

How are the beaches near your place? Are they nice and how is the water there? Is it clean and a bit warm?

I wanted to go to Norway first, but it is to cold there in winter i guess.

Hope you can help me with these question,

Jan.

backstop · Last edited by backstop on Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:12 pm; edited 1 time in total

Skateari,

A couple of points re your plans & prospects.

Having been through an earthquake in CR, (not major, only about 80 killed) I'd think very hard about termite-proof braced-timber construction
on 3ft high block walls, rather than the horrible risk of a concrete 1st floor resting just on 8" block walls.

Various timbers such as Greenheart will endure without biocides for far more than 200 years. A treated weatherboard skin won't last as many centuries, but is not hard for a distant future generation to replace.

On the roof I think (IIWY) I'd go for upgraded traditional for durability & function rather than unproven plastics, thus clay tile or riven shingles (not sawn) over tar-felt over 8" of cheap low-grade moth-proofed fleece over lining board. Shingles are perhaps the lightest of any trad roofing system, and could be replaced from local resources should some future hurricane explore yet more new targets (Argentina, Spain & Canaries had their first last year).

I've seen some interesting advances of trad designs of passive cooling by architecture - (New Mexico radicals) which would certainly seem worth considering.

With regard to power, C. Am's Hydro has been getting increasingly interrupted by drought in the last 15 years, and Wind would need very large battery capacity to have all seasons function.

Thus I'd suggest googling - Small-scale Wood Gasifyer - for a starting point on heat, cooking gas & FC power from potential local coppice resources.

That GW drought potential also points to at least 1 yr supply of covered cystern water-stock capacity as being a primary precaution. As you say, reinforced concrete and labour are cheap there.

One point re police - while you're entirely right about their keystone cop disorganization level, the one problem I've had in much time and several visits there was in narrowly avoiding getting cast as patsy in a drug scam being run by the capital's cheif of police. Watch it. - Cool

Wishing you good luck & good neighbours,

Backstop
_________________
"The best of conservation . . . is written not with a pen but with an axe."
(from "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold, 1948.

Laughs_Last · Intermediate Crude Joined: Jul 26, 2005 Posts: 850

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skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

A few things have been happening on the lot:

In the Orchards:

There have been a total of 10 citrus trees planted in the Citrus Orchard; lemon, limes, tangerines, oranges, and grapefruits. Also a compost pile was constructed in this area and filled with Organic Chicken manure, dried but ground up Cow manure, leaf matter, plus a lot of fresh fruit and vegetable waste from my house in the last 2 weeks. I am adding water to the compost every few days as we are in the middle of the dry season (3 months). Picture:

Also, in the Tropical Fruit Orchard, which already has 4 nancy fruits (bare are the moment), 2 hacote fruit trees (both types are native fruit trees), 2 bannans, 2 coconuts and 2 papayas planted, another compost pile was constructed and filled. The area has been cleared and the brush burned for the most part. To be planted within the next few months in this area include; more bannanas and papayas, guavas, heart of palms, cherimoya, liche, pineapple, and starfruit. Pictures:

In the garden area a compost pile has also been constructed and is currently composting. Today we started on two raised beds which will be done tommorow. I hope to have 6 constructed by next friday, which will be going in right in front of the compost pile, as seen in this picture:

skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

The pond area has been cleared of all small brush and a few trees that were right in the middle of the future pond. The natural shape is already perfect for the pond, however backhoe work will be done to slope the sides, fill in small pockets and cut out the small hills that are in the pond. It should be shapped by tommorow. A dam will be built in the narrow end, to hold back the water, and two dams will be constructed in each of the gullys leading into the pond. This will hold the water in the pond instead of backing up into the gullies. The tops will be at pond height, also, over time, dirt should fill in behind the dam, making the water drop into the pond after a few years instead of having to build up and then flow into the pond. Its complicated to explain, but the pictures of the process will help clear up any misunderstandings.

Heres the pictures from faw away:

As you can see there is a lot of existing shade comming from the tall trees around the pond, which is great to keep all the water from evaporating. Also two mangos will be planted on the side with no trees, not only to give more dense shade, but also to drop fruit into the pond for the talapia.

As you can see in this picture, the area needs backhoe work to even out the pond area before plastic is applied:

You can see the two ravines that flow water into the pond, that is where the two dams will be placed to hold the water back from building up into the ravines. You can also see the many roots that need to be removed, and the uneveness in the pond floor.

The pond will hold talapia, they will be fed fallen fruit, chicken manure and organic wastes. The pond will be fed from the winter rains, and the greywater system. Also any overflowed water in our catchment tanks will go into the pond. With enough shade, and a good pond liner, the pond should stay full year round.

Any questions or suggestions?

PS: I will reply to posts regarding house construction in a later post when I have more time.

skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

Just to let you all know, all the pictures I am posting can be viewed in full (along with many others I didnt post here) in my gallery at http://photobucket.com/albums/e43/caliskatari/?sc=1

Let me go over the house again, for starters, heres a 3D exterior elevation of the house. As you can see its a simple, rectangular design, however it looks good, and serves many functions ( views all the property, lots of ventilation with windows and decking, lots of shade with 1 meter overhang, etc.). Heres our house, as a general drawing, however it is not perfect; as the deck railings are made of metal not wood, and the windows are not correct, but it gives you an idea of what the house will look like..

The first story is made of superblock. Unlike building in the US, where you pour a slab and build on top, they do it a bit different here. They pour the footings for the wall first, which are much larger then needed. They then build the walls up, and pour the slab inside the block walls when they are finished. We are going to cut controll joints in our slab to limit cracking if it occures. The first story is going to be superblock (not correct spelling, its more like superbloque??), which is concrete block made to withstand sesmatic activity (earthquakes). Each block is 2 feet wide, and rebar is placed on each edge of the block, which then links to another blocks edge.

I will find out more information on the internet and post it, once I figure out the strange spelling!

The second floor will then me steel stud framing, to keep the load on the block downstairs to a minimum. The floor to the second story is pour concrete over metal beams and frame. The roof will be framed in metal, covered with Galvanized steel (¨tin¨ roofing), and then either polyethelyne plastic, or tiles (however these are much less stable then the polyethelyne, and break, chip and fall off very often, esp. in the event of a quake).

This is how we are bulding our house, the plans are drawn and we cant make changes. I have been working in construction for quite a few years, my father has his whole life, and according to everyone we talked too, a first floor of quake resestant superblock, follow by a light load from a steel framed second story, is the best way to go.

Laughs_Last · Intermediate Crude Joined: Jul 26, 2005 Posts: 850

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qwanta · Heavy Crude Joined: Mar 08, 2005 Posts: 111

Hi skateari,
I just came upon this thread. Congratulations on actually putting a plan into action like this and walking the walk! I was wondering, I think you mentioned your 4 acres and house to cost about $200k; if you don't mind me asking, do you still have a source of income at this point, or are you just living off interest from investments?

I am very curious as I would like to move out of the industrialized world myself (USA), but I don't think my skillset would allow me to find work in a more rural context - so I'm just trying to save enough before making a move.

Anyway, best of luck, and thanks for sharing your experience with us Smile

skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

This is a family project. I am here and making things happen, getting the house going, getting the projects started, etc. My parents are working, saving money while they can, and putting it all into investments such as silver and gold, and our newly started swiss bank account. We have enough for the project as it is, however while things are still rolling, its a good idea to be making dollars while their still worth anything, and putting them into something safer.

As far as making money down here, its nearly impossible. Unless you own a large ammount of land, cator to the tourism business, or become a real estate agent, you cant make much money at the prevailing wage of $2.00 an hour. However, if you have money saved, you can budget and make good use of it while your here, as many things are very cheap.

Im certainly glad my family is Peak Oil aware, we would not be able to do this if it wasnt a group effort. I wouldnt have the funds, and they would be to busy funding the project to get anything done here.

skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

I have 3 raised beds completed, however the only pictures I have are from the other day when only two were in:

Another bed was completed and filled today, to the left of the others, for a total of 3, 8 X 12 beds in that row. I hope to have another row of 3 completed next to the others, in the forground of this picture:

For a total of 6 beds ready to plant. As you can see in our slightly sloping area, which will be filled with raised beds; we can fit quite a few in this area, all terraced to provide a good look as well.

How I filled the beds;

1) Cleared and leveled the dirt from the peremeter, will the blocks would be placed.

2) After placing the blocks, I had the grass removed from the insides, and all the dirt broken up pretty fine for the layer below the first block.

3) The two blocks of empty space was filled with soft dirt which we ran through a screen. Dried cow manure which was collected from the field was placed in a bag, and beaten, to make it very soft. This was added in layers, and at the top of the soft dirt manure mix was placed with compost. The beds were watered and will be kept under plastic until we are ready to plant, to encourage furthur decomposting.

These beds will be planted with many vegetables. The ones near the driveway will be planted with herbs.

Cant wait to post pictures of these beds full of plant matter!! Should feel great after that

hoplite · Heavy Crude Joined: Oct 22, 2004 Posts: 300

I havent bothered to read much of this thread, and I'm known to make unpopular comments her on POCOM, but I did serve 3 years in El Salvador including stints in Honduras, Guatamala and Panama. I did manage to visit Costa Rica on several occasions in the early 90's yes it's beautiful, yes it's relatively stable, yes food is/was plentiful. BUT for God's sake man, if you believe in this PO crap, then you should be aware of the repurcussions of further decreasing the standard of living in some of the poorest, highest population densities in Central America IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO COSTA RICA!

The capacity for violence in Central America (a veritable armed camp of 500+ million) is astounding, are you crazy or are you a liberal thinker who believes that if you're nice, everyone will be nice to you??

backstop

Skateari -

Nice pics.

At the risk of posting comments even more unpopular than Hoplite's,

given the prospect of intensifying impoverishment in Central America (just like in North America and elsewhere)

I'd ask whether you too are one of those liberal thinkers that recognizes that the more decent you are to people,

the more likely people will be decent to you ?

And just what inalienable skills and resources do you have or are you acquiring that will be of serious relevance to your new community ?

regards,

Backstop
_________________
"The best of conservation . . . is written not with a pen but with an axe."
(from "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold, 1948.

crapattack

Hoplite, I have been considering Costa Rica as a bug-out option as well, but I've been worried about the things you mention as well. I mean Panama and Nicaragua - not the most pleasant places to be sandwiched between. TSHTF just might bring out the worst of these places, and you're pretty little Costa Oasis might just get overrun with pirates.
_________________
"Ninety percent of everything is crap."
-Theodore Sturgeon

Stay low and run in a random pattern.

List of Civilian Nuclear Accidents

Itch · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 30, 2004 Posts: 338

Hey, Skateari,

What are you going to do about drainage in your raised beds. If that isn't necessary for your purposes, I'd like to know why.

Also, what is the most common crime in the population center nearest to you?