Villa Tekla

Information and hints to enhance your tropical living experience

House Manager

Rebecca Wells is our villa manager in Manuel Antonio, and her husband Jacob is a skilled contractor and a computer electronics consultant. They live only a few minutes down our road. She and Jacob are completely bilingual, will help you with any problems, and will assist you with arrival arrangements.

Pool, Maid and Gardener

Our maid comes mornings every week for four or five hours. If you would like additional help, Rebecca can arrange for that at the maid's regularly hourly rate, and she can be hired as well to do your personal laundry. There is a wash and fold laundromat service nearby at Hotel Flor Blanca. Our gardener Walter comes once a week, usually on Friday, for grounds maintenance. The pool maintenance people drop by a couple times a week. We hope you will treat our staff with trust and respect - they have ours.

Linens and Towels

We supply all essential household goods, including linens and towels, but please do not take our towels to the beach.

Communications

We have a smart TV with Netflix etc. available for use. Our house telephone line, 2777-1092, does not permit international calls. High-speed Internet service will provide those who bring devices with reliable WiFi. Since we often work from here we've made sure that the internet access (fiber optic) is solid. It's faster than you'll find in nearby hotels and can be upgraded for an additional charge in the unlikely event that your use case requires it. The WiFi password is in the booklet near the phone.

Nearby cell towers ensure excellent coverage for those who choose roaming.

Waste Disposal

Please follow basic ecologically sound practices. There's a white composting container in the kitchen which the gardener will sort and empty from time to time. If you wish to empty it yourself the compost bin is behind the garden shed near the entrance. The maid will dispose of garbage, but if you need to do so yourself, you may place bagged garbage into a neighbourhood bin just down the road which is emptied regularly by the municipal service.

Garden

Enjoy any fruit that ripens in the orchard. Bananas, papayas, pineapples, grapefruit, lemons, limes, sour and sweet oranges, mangos, coconuts, avocados and guavas grow in front of and below the house. Many of these are seasonal, however, and our gardener will offer fruit as it comes available. It can be difficult for northerners to discern ripeness and availablity so please don't hesitate to ask him to advise and pick for you.

Water

We are connected to the municipal system, and the water, as in most of Costa Rica is potable. Please rinse off beach sand in the outside shower before using those inside; otherwise the bathroom drains clog. We are on a septic system, so please do not flush non-biodegradables (dental floss, tampons, condoms etc.) which clog the septic tank.

Weather

The climate tends to make electronic equipment and kitchen appliances more fragile than up north, so take more care with them than you usually would. During the green season, keep anything sensitive and electronic such as computer equipment in the dehumidified built-in wall unit in the living room with the TV. The sliding doors should be kept shut and locked when the devices are not in use.

A temporal - two or three successive days of rain and drizzle - occurs rarely, and only in the green season. Leather goods can get a coating of fungus and are not recommended for this climate. Keep clothing free-hung so it has proper air circulation. In this part of the world, people never leave wet clothing in a heap - that encourages mildew. If it pours, just remember that the sun will soon shine. It is only with strong winds that you need lower any of the rain blinds or shut the wooden blinds.

The closest weather station isn’t updated automatically, it relies on the weather observations being phoned in, which may or may not happen with fixed regularity. Additionally, the micro-climates within Costa Rica make prediction of weather much more challenging than in other places. It almost always shows “raining”. It could be raining in one place while the sun is shining just ½ a mile away or the rain may last 30 minutes with sunshine the rest of the day.

Power

We are on the same voltage system as North America, and will run your hair dryer and all powered devices. The refrigerator should not be kept open, as that risks motor burnout. There are iPhone and Android chargers in the main room closet in case you forget.

Keys

Rebecca will give you all necessary keys, and explain their use and the security rules. No one else but she and you will have access to the dehumidified storage unit.

Money

U.S. dollars can be changed at any of several banks in Quepos and Manuel Antonio. The closest is a 15-minute walk toward the beach. There are ATMs there and in Quepos that take bank cards. All businesses and restaurants accept U.S. dollars, and almost all accept major credit cards.

Restaurants

There are many simple-to-high-end restaurants within easy walking distance of the villa, several of which offer the best dining experiences available in the Quepos-Manuel Antonio area. Don't hesitate to ask Rebecca to recommend any of them and give information about quality and pricing.

Chef

Carlos is our go-to chef for catering and meals prepared on premises. We can show you his menu of local and East Asian specialties and put you in direct contact with him for any arrangements.

Groceries

An eight-minute walk toward the beach brings you to a supermarket named Super Josette, which has everything you need: fresh meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and a wide selection of juices, beer, wine, and liquors and an excellent juice and wine selection. Fresh-baked bread and pastries are available at a bakery only several minutes away. There's a wide range of stores in Quepos to suit every need. However, the freshest produce is available Friday evenings and Saturdays at the Farmers' Market. For simple items there is a well stocked small store near the entrance to the property.

Coffee

If you care about you're morning cup as much as we do you should buy your roasts at one of Cafe Milagro's two locations. One near the house on the main road to the beaches just past Barba Roja (the local bar, killer sunset views and great happy hour) and another in Quepos near the main bridge into town.

Traveling

We know this area well (we've been coming here since 1980) but for newcomers we strongly recommend a good travel book such as Lonely Planet or the New Key to Costa Rica (house copies of these are available and should not be removed). It is a good idea to look at Quepolandia (click on "visitor resources") before arriving, for current information about restaurants, transportation, and local events. The free monthly print version is available at many stores.

From San Jose's international airport, Quepos is a twenty-minute flight away, or you may enjoy bus ride of a few hours or rent a car, or hire a taxi. Rebecca can assist you with local travel arrangements, including current taxi rates. All taxis become collectivos, charging a flat price per person when they return from the beach toward Quepos. The Quepos-Manuel Antonio bus runs every half hour, more often at busy times. The nearest bus stop (5 minutes away) is in front of Manuel Antonio's soccer field.

Insect tips

Nature is in balance here, and because of the bountiful bird life, insects are rarely a problem. Little ankle-nippers may visit at dusk, so use the floor fans and the several high-speed ceiling fans. We are rarely bothered by mosquitoes, but for those who react to them, we recommend lotions and the use of our mosquito nets at night. The larger bugs are totally harmless and some, like scarab beetles, are a marvel to watch. The fireflies are a delight.

We tend not to use non-organic insect sprays, though we keep organic ones handy: bugs simply don't like white walls and yellow lights, they don't like not having hidden spaces to crawl into, and they are bored by people who put food away and keep the dishes clean.

A well-trimmed lawn keeps bugs away from the house. The nightjars and the flycatchers and the swallows and the blue-grey tanagers and house wrens do the rest. Tiny ants, however, will sometimes mysteriously appear, and they do an efficient job of cleaning up - if you haven't - but disappear if there's no work available.

Finally

Please respect our home as you would your own. We do not rent it as a profit-making business, but only to ensure that we will not have to lay off any of our loyal, longterm staff for the months we aren’t there. We hope you have as pleasant a stay as we do when we are there, and at the end of it, if you have any comments - useful, critical or otherwise - please let Rebecca know. Enjoy the house and the wonders of nature and Tico culture that surrounds it.