Cost of Living / Daily Life

One month shy of our one year anniversary in Nicaragua we moved into our seventh rental house.

Our new place sits high on a hill in a neighborhood that locals refer to as Barrio Chino. The extra altitude allows us to take advantage of the nearly constant offshore breezes.

Situated three short blocks from the beach and about 130 steps from our best friend’s place the location of our seventh rental couldn’t be better!

A House with a View
– From this high vantage point we have a great view of the city and the day to day activities of our Nica neighbors.
– There is no better place to enjoy a cup of Nicaraguan black gold with my buddy Coco.

The market comes to us daily via the fruit and vegetable trucks that stop in our neighborhood.

Water, pop, juice and beer are delivered to our door from a local distributor.  Our delivery boy  – who comes by almost every day to see if we have an order – is a young man who drives a three-wheel bike with a huge basket on the front. 

We often see an older fellow with a horse drawn buggy delivering milk in the mornings. He transports the milk in large metal canisters and uses a huge ladle to scoop it into into his customers’ pitchers, bowls or buckets.

A House to Write Home About

The monthly rent for this lovely three bedroom, two bathroom casa on the hill is $500 USD per month. High speed Internet and Cable TV are included in our rent.  

Electricity is our only extra cost.

A House to Write Home About
– We have air conditioning in the bedrooms, but due to the high cost of electricity in Nicaragua we use it sparingly.
A House to Write Home About
– After a year of “cool” showers it’s a real treat to have hot water.
IMGP0878
– With San Juan del Sur’s frequent water outages the huge water tanks on our roof come in handy.

The kitchen and living area is open concept, which we love.  A living room with two seating areas, combined with a”bar” in the kitchen makes this house perfect for entertaining.

A House to Write Home About
– Windows wrap around the entire house making it bright and airy.

Rockers

A House to Write Home About
– Our large kitchen makes meal prep easy and enjoyable.

As mentioned in previous posts finding a comfortable and affordable long term rental in San Juan del Sur takes a bit of effort. So as you can imagine we feel quite lucky to have found such a nice place.

For the first time since leaving Canada twelve months ago we finally have a home and it feels great!

We are really enjoying our new digs and San Juan del Sur. For now we’ve committed to six months here, but quite honestly, we don’t foresee moving again until we take the plunge and buy (or build) something of our own.

We’re looking forward to celebrating the Christmas season and ringing in the New Year with our friends and family here in beautiful San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua!

22 Comments

  2. I enjoy your blogs and want to congratulate you on your new home. What’s worth having is worth waiting for:)
    I am counting down the months until I am in Nica myself.
    Have a wonderful first Christmas to you and all your friends.

    another Canadian

    VSC

  4. I’m here at home in N.B. looking at the beautiful snow falling, covering the trees, creating a winter wonderland, but also looking forward to our visit to San Juan Del Sur. I can imagine the ocean breezes blowing the curtians in your living room. The smells, the sounds, the familly together. It will be great, can’t wait. See you soon in Nica Elisha, Gord, Sally, Jason and Aiden!

    Willard MacKay

  5. Thanks for your regular postings. I enjoy them greatly and vicariously, and each one transports me for a few minutes to a warmer, greener place. I’m so glad you have both enjoyed your first year in Nicaragua. Best wishes for 2013 and the next chapter in fulfilling your dreams.

    Gareth

    Gareth

  6. Am always so happy when you post something. San Juan del Sur is where i want to be next winter so it makes me feel even more exciting. Good job, keep on posting!!!

    claudie simard

  8. The pictures of your new place look great! I’m so happy you found an awesome rental that feels like a home. Can’t wait to visit but I’m crossing my fingers that the tarantula from your previous post doesn’t make an appearance while we are there :). Ugghhh…I’m not super afraid of spiders but that picture gave me the shivers. See you soon. xo

    Sister Sal

  10. Wow – looks great! Did it come furnished? Do you have a lead on a real estate agent. Thanks. My fiance lives in Granada and I am probably moving down to Nicaragua soon. -Scott

    Scott Thompson

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  15. Duuuuuudeeeee! Rad house guys! I’m Jaimie and am meeting my boyfriend in SJDS on september 1st! He’s a brazilian who was denied his US visa, so we’re fleeing to central america to be together 🙂 Anywho, we’re looking to rent a house as well, but dont have the money to post up in a hostel for too long while finding one, let me know if you have any suggestions!

    Congrats on finding the coolest house I’ve ever seen! hahah

    BESOS!

    Jaimie

  16. Hello Guys!!

    Great blog!

    I am actually in the process of applying for a retirement residency. My family has lived overseas in 4 different locations for the last 7 years and now I am ready to settle down for a while.

    Was it really hard finding such a nice rental in San Juan Del Sur?

    This is the area we are looking at as I have three children 5, 8 and 2 months. The 5 year old and 8 year old love the beach (we just moved back to the states to apply for this visa after living in the Bahamas) so that was def a requirement. Also, is there anyone that you know that could help with some leg work before we arrive? I could actually travel there for a week or so while everything is going through.

    Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

    LaQuisha

    Michelle

    1. Hi LaQuisha,

      San Juan del Sur would be a great place for you and your young family to settle down.

      Unfortunately nice long term rentals in the $500 – $600 USD price range are becoming increasingly more difficult to find here.

      Gordon and I have helped others find housing and get set up in San Juan del Sur. If you’d like details on the services we offer please forward your email address to innicanow@gmail.com and we’ll get back to to you right away with some information.

      Cheers,
      Elisha

      In Nica Now

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