Not an Inmate, Just Visiting

This was a huge travel day. We moved from the mountains in the north west down to the Pacific coast.

We arrived at a gated community. There are a couple million Americans living in Costa Rica. I was interested in seeing how an American lives down here. Turns out, they are self-segregated away from the Costa Ricans. They live very well by anyone's standards, but they don't live with Costa Ricans.

My Lovely Wife and I have talked over the years about where we would live after we retired. As much fun as I have when I visit Vietnam, I don't think I'm ready to live there full time. We were mildly interested in Costa Rica because it's in the tropics, politically stable, friendly, and honestly, American money goes far here. But I couldn't see myself living in one of these gated communities. In a weird way, they feel like jail to me. To not live in a gated community, would mean we would both need to get into a Spanish immersion class. We still have not decided where to retire.

The most-notable feature of the gated community were the flocks of of Red Macaws. They're all over the place, and we found one defending a nest in a hollow tree. It's strange to see so many because Macaws in the wild are disappearing. It's illegal, but Macaws are captured and shipped to pet shops. Since most people only buy a single bird, it most-likely won't mate. That doesn't bode well for the species.