This vacation rental in Atenas, Costa Rica looks totally pleasant, doesn’t it, but don’t be fooled! Cockroaches would fly out of the cupboards at us….
Ants crawled in a line up the wall in this hallway next to the bathroom on second floor.
The ceiling above the beds leaked in our house in Atenas, Costa Rica. And the chair “bit” and the couch was stinky.
My mattress had collapsed. It was like sleeping in a hamster ball.
We sat on plastic chairs to work while we were in Atenas.
The front yard was okay with the gate and everything, but Fred, the landlord would break into our apartment regularly to do whatever he wanted.
We hung soaked laundry here. We lived in Atenas during the monsoon season so the clothes were always just a little bit damp.
John’s work station under the stairs.
Insects.
Lydian’s mattress was almost non-existent. She felt like she was sleeping directly on the wood underneath by the time we left.
Daisy, the Spanish teacher came to work with Lydian several times a week on our porch.
An insect on our sheets.
John and Lydian sit together working near Smelly Couch. They sit with the door open to the outside because, according to John, “The air wafting in from outside makes the smell slightly more tolerable.”
Smelly Couch takes up a conceited position in the background, but smells so strongly throughout the whole room that we almost cannot stand to occupy the same space.
I don’t know what type of insect made these bites, but they don’t itch and they aren’t raised.
An insect on the wall. I can accept insects…it IS Costa Rica, after all, but almost all of our furnishings in Atenas “bit” when we sat in them. These are the things you can’t see or predict when you book a vacation rental online.
The couch on the right smells like dirty wet dog and the chair next to it that is covered with a plaid blanket is inhabited by a small biting bug.
My work space at the new house. It looks beautiful, doesn’t it? You can be jealous if you want, but note the makeshift plastic chair that I sit in for 6 to 8 hours each day and remember, when I go inside, there are insects inhabiting my chair, and the smell of wet dog on the couch.
For me, insanity and sanity look almost the same on the outside, which contributes to my sense of “losing it” when I am (because no one notices).
The steep hill that we ran up and down this morning.
This steep uphill climb just outside our vacation rental was one of the things we didn’t anticipate when we arrived in Atenas. Sometimes, it’s the little things, like having to crawl hands and knees up a hill every day in 90% humidity, that can really flip a person’s switch…
Steep hills + 90% humidity is a tough combo.
Atenas, Costa Rica is touted as one of those places in the world with a “perfect climate”. It’s important, as a traveler, to keep in mind that the word “perfect” is a subjective term. Atenas has mild temperatures, but the humidity is constant, at least during the monsoon season. I never successfully dried a pair of socks after washing them in Atenas. But I also didn’t have a clothes dryer. The amenities in a vacation rental in a place like Costa Rica can make or break a trip as well as your memories of the place…
The external GPS Used by Bruised Banana : Dual 160
Better accuracy, works with any device that supports bluetooth. Allows non GPS units (e.g. wifi only iPad) to become a GPS enabled device. Works perfectly the whole world over.
