Our home was 3600 sq ft and our new home in Manglaralto is about 1600 sq ft smaller, so just finding a place for everything has been challenging. I have been donating a lot of items.
We received notice also that the water would be disconnected. It was a final notice which I had to run off to pay. Total was $124.00 so I took some photos and emailed them to our real estate lawyer to double check with the home seller on why we had to pay so much. I received the power bill the next day which was okay. That was a relief.
Had to shoot a couple of videos of the ocean in front of the house.
Claudette has been spending some time watching the whales that swim by. Doubt we'll ever get tired of it. The whale season ends in September as the ocean begins to warm up as El Nino starts to take over as the predominant current. The ocean is currently 25 C and will now start to warm up to 29 C.
The temperatures this month have been quite comfortable. Highs of 24 or 25 Celsius and lows of 19 or 20 C so we have not had to use any AC and rarely use a fan. It has been relatively overcast most of the month. A little rain at night and in the early mornings. It usually ends by noon and the clouds get lighter. We get the odd day where the sun breaks through.
We got to see our first sunset before the clouds covered it up. Most of the residents in town tell us that the cloudy days are not normal similar to how we experienced all of the rain in Salinas. We are in the middle of winter here and if this is what winter is like, then I will take it.
We have been attending Playa de James every Saturday evening for dinner and drinks. His bar was within stumbling distance from our house and now he is 7 blocks away. I have found that I can still stumble that far.
We have been heading into La Libertad just about every week to buy items for the house. The Hypermart at the Paseo shopping mall is similar to a Walmart and carries just about everything. It means taking the bus which is about an hour ride and then a short cab ride to the mall and back. We have also made some stops at some other shops to pick up pool supplies along with a propane bottle for the BBQ. It was fun bringing that one back on the bus. It was even full when we purchased it.
We can get most of our food stuffs and cleaning supplies right here in Manglaralto. There are several small tiendas to choose from. We even have fresh fish and seafood delivered right to our door. Fresh fruit and vegetables are even delivered to the door. We received 50 oranges, 25 mandarins, 15 bananas and a bag of potatoes for $5. I love juicing, so I am enjoying all this fruit.
We then headed back into La Libertad to pick up a water heater as the one that came with the house did not work. It was a propane heater which is frowned upon now as the government subsidizes propane for cooking purposes. A 40# tank of propane is $3.75 to refill. The government wold like to end that subsidy and is promising more reliable power to meet that end.
We have been experiencing the odd power outage and water outage too. We have a cistern that we can utilize for the water outages but nothing for the power outages. It just means a cool shower if the power's out in the morning.
We have walked to Montanita a couple of times and enjoyed some dining along with grabbing a few groceries before spending $1.50 to cab it back home.
Montanita is this side of the point in the photo above. Olon is on the other side of the point. We will have to check out some dining in that town next month. Here is a short video of some unsuspected cows walking the street in front of our house. It includes some of the lot next door to us which is empty and the house next to it which will be up for sale soon.
The temperatures this month have been quite comfortable. Highs of 24 or 25 Celsius and lows of 19 or 20 C so we have not had to use any AC and rarely use a fan. It has been relatively overcast most of the month. A little rain at night and in the early mornings. It usually ends by noon and the clouds get lighter. We get the odd day where the sun breaks through.
We got to see our first sunset before the clouds covered it up. Most of the residents in town tell us that the cloudy days are not normal similar to how we experienced all of the rain in Salinas. We are in the middle of winter here and if this is what winter is like, then I will take it.
We have been attending Playa de James every Saturday evening for dinner and drinks. His bar was within stumbling distance from our house and now he is 7 blocks away. I have found that I can still stumble that far.
We have been heading into La Libertad just about every week to buy items for the house. The Hypermart at the Paseo shopping mall is similar to a Walmart and carries just about everything. It means taking the bus which is about an hour ride and then a short cab ride to the mall and back. We have also made some stops at some other shops to pick up pool supplies along with a propane bottle for the BBQ. It was fun bringing that one back on the bus. It was even full when we purchased it.
We can get most of our food stuffs and cleaning supplies right here in Manglaralto. There are several small tiendas to choose from. We even have fresh fish and seafood delivered right to our door. Fresh fruit and vegetables are even delivered to the door. We received 50 oranges, 25 mandarins, 15 bananas and a bag of potatoes for $5. I love juicing, so I am enjoying all this fruit.
We then headed back into La Libertad to pick up a water heater as the one that came with the house did not work. It was a propane heater which is frowned upon now as the government subsidizes propane for cooking purposes. A 40# tank of propane is $3.75 to refill. The government wold like to end that subsidy and is promising more reliable power to meet that end.
We have been experiencing the odd power outage and water outage too. We have a cistern that we can utilize for the water outages but nothing for the power outages. It just means a cool shower if the power's out in the morning.
We have walked to Montanita a couple of times and enjoyed some dining along with grabbing a few groceries before spending $1.50 to cab it back home.
Montanita is this side of the point in the photo above. Olon is on the other side of the point. We will have to check out some dining in that town next month. Here is a short video of some unsuspected cows walking the street in front of our house. It includes some of the lot next door to us which is empty and the house next to it which will be up for sale soon.
