Costa Rica Photos

[seolman]

Over in the worlds longest intro thread (VanGogh's) we were chatting on about driving conditions in Costa Rica and I thought I'd post up a few quick shots. My wife is a photographer - here are a few shots she took that I thought I would share:

Top - a one lane bridge we crossed between Dominical & Quepos on the Pacific Coast (lot's of these around that area)
Center - an Ocelot in a shelter near Arenal Volcano
Bottom - a food vendor at the "Fiestas Patronales" in San Jose (like a big year end Carnival they have every year).

http://www.beranked.com/images/trifoto.jpg

[ShopLady]

The image of the Ocelot is so pretty! Lucky that you got to see one for a photo op! :)

[billbenson]

I always wanted to go back and live in Central America. With the political / gang climate there today, I doubt I will. To bad, because it is an absolutely beautiful part of the world.

[seolman]

I always wanted to go back and live in Central America. With the political / gang climate there today, I doubt I will. To bad, because it is an absolutely beautiful part of the world.

Costa Rica doesn't have the gang problems of places like El Salvador or Honduras Bill. It has a small amount of violent crime but nothing like the rest of CA. I'm very comfortable walking around downtown San Jose here. No problems at all. I would'nt even try in other CA countries, except maybe Panama.

[KristineS]

Great photos. It's always fun to see other parts of the world.

[vangogh]

Thanks for the photos. By the way did you know you can add an album of images to your profile page. You have to go to your profile page and not your user cp. If you don't see how to add a photo album there let me know.

I created one for myself with a portfolio of designs (http://www.small-business-forum.net/members/vangogh-albums-my-portfolio.html).

[seolman]

Thanks for the photos. By the way did you know you can add an album of images to your profile page. You have to go to your profile page and not your user cp. If you don't see how to add a photo album there let me know.

I created one for myself with a portfolio of designs (http://www.small-business-forum.net/members/vangogh-albums-my-portfolio.html).

Hmm... I'll have to take a look at that :)
Thanks for the heads up!

[billbenson]

Funny you mention Panama and El Salvador. Two of the places I've lived. Met the wife in El Salvador. Tragic what has happened to El Salvador. Beautiful place. People were always really nice when I was there.

Brings up a question. My wife's thinking about buying products on a small scale here and reselling them in El Salvador either through her dad or doing it directly. Siman owns the country (banks, department stores etc) and prices are 2 to 4 times the US domestic prices. Seems like an opportunity. She's not a business person, but cash in advance and selling it there??

I'm thinking on a very small scale as she's not a business person, but its gotta beat McDonalds. An excuse to visit the family as well.

I'd go, but it would be setting up our daughter in law to be kidnapped. El Salvador is really bad right now.

[seolman]

Funny you mention Panama and El Salvador. Two of the places I've lived. Met the wife in El Salvador. Tragic what has happened to El Salvador. Beautiful place. People were always really nice when I was there.

Brings up a question. My wife's thinking about buying products on a small scale here and reselling them in El Salvador either through her dad or doing it directly. Siman owns the country (banks, department stores etc) and prices are 2 to 4 times the US domestic prices. Seems like an opportunity. She's not a business person, but cash in advance and selling it there??

I'm thinking on a very small scale as she's not a business person, but its gotta beat McDonalds. An excuse to visit the family as well.

I'd go, but it would be setting up our daughter in law to be kidnapped. El Salvador is really bad right now.

A lot of people do that type of business in C.A. and it can be very lucrative if you can get the goods through customs without the hassles. Here in Costa Rica one of the big businesses is "Ropa Americana" (American Clothing). US retailers who can't move items sell it off by the kilo and it is resold down here for peanuts. Ralph Lauren, Hilfiger shirts etc. for $5. In some cases they get stuff from Goodwill shops and resell it too, those items go real cheap but the market is here. I know a couple people who import the stuff and they do very well.

The key is volume. Just make sure you sell enough to cover the expense of travel and/or shipping, duties, storage etc. I would suggest you try it out with your wife's father first to see if maybe he can get some contacts in customs, otherwise your wife will be living on airplanes to make the business grow. Keep in mind, with the very poor Christmas season - excess products will be dumped on Latin America this year and the C.A. markets are likely to be flooded with low cost merchandise. May not be a good time to invest too heavily in the idea before you see how flooded the market may become.

[billbenson]

I was thinking more of electronics and have the order before making the purchase. For the clothing, there used to be "by the pound" clothing in Miami.

Crazy because Levis largest plant was in El Salvador. They shipped the product to Miami for inspection. They then sold the reject clothes by the pound, which frequently went back to El Salvador.

The timing may not be that good as well as a socialist president is likely to be elected this year and one family has control of the retail stores and banking in the country. Still might be able to do it on a small scale though.