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With past experience running her own small bed and breakfast business in British Columbia, she considered it only natural to do something similar in this new environment. She therefore built five nice and comfortable cabins with fully equipped kitchens and all the things that go with them and rents them out to tourists. What moved her to embark on the project? Simply the fact that she wanted to start living again, learning a new language, meeting new, interesting people and keeping busy.
Cabins
I Raymond Funk of Upstate New York is getting ready for his retirement, which is due in 2005, by building several additional
cabins for rent in the Moín area close to Puerto Limón on the Caribbean where he already has five. He named his place Brisas del Mar (Breezes of the Sea) and also plans to put in a swimming pool. Funk had worked as an aircraft mechanic for Pan American Airways during sixteen years and on several of his trips got to know Costa Rica. The country and the friendliness of the people enthralled him. Three years ago he bought a small plot on the narrow stretch of land which has the ocean on one side and the natural Tortuguero Canals on the other.
Before PanAm went under, Funk was wise enough to start his own enterprise in New York State where he owns an asphalt road paving business. When there's no asphalt available from December to April, he goes to Costa Rica to keep working on his building project. The cabins are designed for budget travellers who want to save money and take boat rides on the beautiful Tortuguero Canals to fish and watch birds and caimans. And why not? Also to see the hundreds of green turtles arrive (June to September) at night to the Tortuguero Beach where they perform their laborious annual egg-laying ritual before plodding back into the sea.
Alpine Style Hotel
Franz Ulrich, a retired Swiss businessman, and his Costa Rican wife Silena Moncada, established and operate since 1989 the beautiful Hotel Los Heroes in the Nuevo Arenal- La Fortuna, San Carlos area in the northern zone of the country. Located at the edge of Lake Arenal, and facing the spectacular configured volcano of the same name, the hotel offers 12 well-furnished rooms with excellent views of the marvellous green countryside, the lake and the volcano. The Ulrich's property also has other Swiss type structures such as a stable for horses and dairy cows plus a small church with a clock that sounds every fifteen minutes.
One of the big attractions is the miniature narrow gauge track train which offers a $3 hour-long trip while it slowly climbs over the dairy farm's green pastures, over a bridge and through two tunnels Powered by a diesel engine and built in Germany, the little train has several wood coaches for passengers. At the charming restaurant, while Silena personally attends the visitors, Franz keeps a close eye on the kitchen's activity. Excellent dishes are offered at modest prices. Ulrich's success is due not only to his having chosen a perfect spot for his attractive hotel and auxiliary settings, but because of his and his wife's good management of the business.
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