Bobbi Johnson is arguably the most well known Nosara expat of all time and she is the most requested guest for the Nosara Podcast. She’s lived in Nosara for 30+ years and pretty much dedicated her life to this place.
She is caring, controversial, blunt, sarcastic, and hilarious (once you get to know her a little bit). She’s not scared to take a stand and is comfortable adding to her already impressive list of enemies when it is for a greater good. Yet at the same time, Bobbi is quick to grab a beer and crack jokes and share stories on a regular basis with her plethora of friends who live in or visit Nosara regularly.
In this podcast episode I sit down with Bobbi to explore her Nosara adventure from 1989 up to today. As you will hear, she’s seen a ton of change over the years and been the driving force on a myriad of issues.
So it is no surprise we discuss all kinds of subjects… In fact, we covered so much ground in our discussion we are breaking this conversation up into separate episodes.
Some of the more interesting parts for me from Part 1 of the discussion are: Nosara’s early years, the 1994 zoning plan mishap, how NON family oriented Nosara used to be then transitioned into the family friendly atmosphere of today, weird animal stories, and shopping and transportation over the years. Her last statement as Part 1 ends gives me chills every time I hear it.
Bobbi is one of those people who is a force of nature unto herself and doesn’t ask for attention. She is a doer, and when most people are still contemplating getting involved she is already there with her hands dirty (as exemplified every Thursday morning at the recycling center).
I want to thank my daughter Kaiya for her hard work editing these episodes and my wife Aimee for allowing us to work far too much making them happen.
Many thanks to everyone who took photos over the years. Most all photos courtesy of Bobbi’s social media.
For over 20 years Greg Gordon has utilized CR Surf Travel Company to help surfers maximize their precious vacation time on their Costa Rican surf adventures. His weekly newsletters including surf reports and community updates share what’s going on both on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
In this podcast we discuss the pros and cons of most every surf community and and wave in CR, crowds and how to avoid them, surf etiquette, surf schools, adventure traveling and Greg explains how surf tourism is different and which communities in CR are doing good and not so good environmentally speaking.
I remember first seeing Greg’s surf report back in 1999 and I’ve been a fan ever since. So it was nice to have him in for a discussion and to talk all things Costa Rica.
Click HERE to visit Greg’s website and check out a great deal of information about CR.
Have you ever heard the name Alice Olson? If you haven’t, then I recommend you taking a moment to find out why I’m making such a big deal about what she means to Nosara’s community.
There are few people, if any, who have done more to coordinate helping Nosara as a whole than Alice. She, along with her husband Mike, founded Friends of Nosara. FON opened up avenues for tax deductible contributions from US citizens in addition to coordinating Nosara’s community organizations, donors and volunteers in a manner which continues to this day.
In this podcast Alice shares her journey to Nosara, what living in Nosara 20+ years ago was like, how FON started and where it is at today, her opinions about many of our current issues including the highly controversial temporary zoning plan, why she left Guiones for Pelada, then why she left Pelada for a little known neighborhood behind Arenales and Nosara town which she and Mike live in to this day and why they are thrilled about it.
Also, if you see Alice out and about please take a moment to say ‘thanks’ to her and Mike for everything they’ve done to shape Nosara. Her influence on the town we enjoy now and the organizations which do so very much to help is strong and for this we should be grateful.
Click HERE to visit the FON website and check the organizations FON supports.
Eric and I are friends and we are complete opposites. I’m a workaholic family man who is probably a bit too serious… While Eric is carving an artist’s lifestyle, bouncing around the globe riding waves and selling abstract art to pay his bills with a long term goal of making it ‘big’ with his ice cream for dogs product named ‘ARF’ he feels dogs will call by name. Oh yeah, he plans to sell 20 paintings in one night for $250,000 each and relocate to Ostional.
*I’m rarely lost for words… But if you want to see Eric break me, then make it to 47:45.
Nosara Escape is something I initially didn’t understand. Maybe I’ve been living here in the Nosara jungle too long because I didn’t even know escape rooms existed, nor what they were.
We have one here in Nosara now though and the short version is they are super fun. In Nosara there is little to do between 10am and 3pm and my opinion is this is the perfect activity for a family, group, or even a couple of friends to check out.
I was impressed hearing the amount research and time these two entrepreneurs have put into their business and hearing their past history and what led them into this new venture.
They have some expansions coming in the near future as well as additional projects. My favorite part of this podcast is towards the middle and the end… The guys really open up about their successes and failures, Nosara likes and dislikes, their favorite restaurants and much more.
I hope you enjoy this episode and recommend giving Nosara Escape a visit!
The one thing I can say about Jeff Grosshandler is he will tell you how he feels. He and I disagree about many things, but I certainly respect his willingness to speak up. He is one of the rare individuals willing to go ‘toe to toe’ with anyone, anytime, no matter whether his views are considered popular or not. He likes details and wants to clearly understand where people are getting their evidence from.
Ever since the initial temporary zoning proposal came forth from the Nosara Civic Association, Grosshandler has adamantly objected to it’s contents in private and public discussions, email threads, and even during town meetings.
In this podcast episode Jeff is willing to go on record with some of his thoughts pertaining to Nosara’s temporary zoning plan and offer suggestions as to what he feels is reasonable.
Not everyone is going to like or agree with Jeff’s suggestions… To his credit, he admits he doesn’t have all of the answers and consistently maintains throughout this episode there should be more time allowed and effort put forth prior to enacting new restrictions.
We hope you benefit from and appreciate hearing a different perspective about this extremely important piece of legislation pertaining to Nosara’s future.
“I’m a little upset with you guys right now… Quite frankly you should be upset with yourselves as well, because this could have been handled in a much better manner.” – Rich Burnam speaking with NCA President Ethel ‘Kuki’ Araya and Vice President Nice Alterman
The Nosara Civic Association has been fighting to protect Nosara for over 40 years. Everyone in the community owes a debt of gratitude to them for protecting the parklands and Refuge which are crucial in making Nosara the amazing place it is today.
However, this doesn’t mean they are perfect nor without controversy. In fact, the NCA is arguably the most controversial organization in Nosara. Over the past several years the NCA has been working hard to increase membership and regain the complete trust of the community. The great news is their efforts have been working and communication has been at an all time high between businesses and residents for the NCA.
Unfortunately, the recent announcement by the NCA of the temporary zoning plan did not help their cause. In fact, it created a significant amount of confusion and frustration and some fear amongst many different segments of the community. The main complaints seem to be the manner of announcement, the timelines involved, lack of public inclusion, as well as the details included in the plan.
In this episode Kuki and Nice stop by for a conversation with Rich to explain where the NCA was coming from, where we are at now in the process, and what options are available.
Click HERE for a complete timeline of events and processes since the initial announcement and to see the Nicoya Municipality’s presentation from the Nosara town meeting on May 23rd.
English version of the Nosara town meeting in English is up above. The Spanish version is below.
Aquí está versión de Español:
May of 2019 is surely to go down as a historic, yet highly controversial, month in Nosara’s history due to the announcement and timeframe of the proposed temporary zoning plan for our area. The great news is our community is communicating about this important issue. The challenging news is we don’t have much time and this plan is facing significant resistance from some community members.
*There are specific podcasts coming soon on http://www.richburnam.com addressing both sides of this matter so stay tuned for more information.
*Updated June 1st: To hear from NCA President Kuki Araya and VP Nice Alterman Click HERE
Updated June 4th: A new podcast is up now with Jeff Grosshandler offering his suggestions on size, height, density and distance regulations and an overall different point of view:
Below is the basic timeline of what happened, where we are at now, timeframes of what is coming next and details on how you can get involved in sharing ideas and feedback for a better Nosara.
May 9th – The Nosara Civic Association started a newsletter message with the following: ‘The NCA announces the approval of the new temporary municipal regulation for construction in the buffer zone of the Ostional Wildlife Refuge.’ The message further explained these new regulations pertain mainly to minimum lot size segregation, height restrictions, lighting requirements, and area of use permissibility.
Some community members appreciated this news and supported the plan as it was proposed. However, many community members disagreed with the contents of the proposal. As a result, the NCA immediately faced intense scrutiny both about the contents of their announcement and the process of how this temporary zoning plan was enacted.
May 15th – About 60 (possibly more) community members met at the Gilded Iguana. The overall theme of the meeting was almost everyone in attendance supports a zoning plan but has questions or issues with what is being proposed and did not appreciate the manner this plan had been passed. Furthermore, most attendees requested the opportunity to participate in asking questions or sharing feedback with overall more community involvement but did not know how to do so. Here is a picture of this meeting:
May 17th – The NCA distributed another message including an apology stating: ‘The NCA would like to apologize to members and the community for developing recommendations for the new temporary building rules in a way that left some people feeling blind sided and out of the process. This was clearly not our intention.’ Later in this message the NCA states: ‘We did not keep our membership fully informed… nor obtain sufficient feedback from our members and the community about our proposed recommendations… We will not make this mistake again.’
The message further went on to explain the details of the plan were not from the NCA itself but studies done by other institutions. The NCA promised there will soon be meetings to answer questions and overall committed to keep the public better informed about this process going forward. The NCA stressed their goal is simply to protect and preserve Nosara and explained there is still time for changes to the plan and encouraged feedback from the community. Several community members were appreciative of the apology and explanation along with the commitment to provide opportunities for their questions and concerns to be heard.
May 21st – The NCA sent out an invitation to the community to hear from the Municipality of Nicoya on May 23rd. The invitation stated: ‘The Municipality staff will explain the regulations, the process of approval and how to give feedback.’
Thursday, May 23rd – The Municipality of Nicoya sent representative Josue Ruiz Guerrero to the Kitson Library in Nosara to explain the proposed temporary zoning plan for the Nosara area. At 10am there was a meeting in Spanish and at 1pm another in English. Both meetings were well-attended and quickly became standing room only. Overall the general public learned about the current proposal, next steps and was provided an opportunity to ask questions.
Overall this meeting seemed to be a crucial step in garnering a more productive conversation pertaining to the process and most attendees appreciated the opportunity to voice concerns and learn more. Perhaps most importantly, the general populace received full confirmation there is still time (till June 15th, 2019) for adjustments to this plan and everyone is invited to share their thoughts and ideas.
However, there remain community members who feel strongly June 15th is not sufficient time for accurate nor adequate feedback and the entire process is being too rushed while being based on inadequate information.
Sunday, May 26th: The NCA issued another message explaining the results of the meeting and informing community members how they may get involved. The NCA graciously provided each of the presentations the Municipality shared during the meeting. The construction information presentation is below and others are available (they are in Spanish).
So how can you participate?
Get your feedback to this man:
Here is his schedule of availability and his email address:
This can happen in person in Nosara (on Mondays between 8am and 4pm beside the Kitson Library), in Nicoya at the Municipality (Tuesday to Friday) or via email.
Again, till June 15th feedback may be delivered in person in Nosara, or in person in Nicoya as stated above, OR emailed directly to Josue at: planregulador@municoya.go.cr
What happens next? Feedback, questions and concerns will be fielded until June 15th. Following this, there will basically be two, twenty business day periods in between publication in La Gaceta, announcing these changes.
20 business days – The Municipality declared we have 20 days (till June 15th) to provide feedback and make comments and suggestions for potential adjustments to the current, proposed plan. They will consider these and potentially make adjustments to the existing proposal. They requested as specific and detailed feedback as possible, although everyone is invited to share.
Worth noting: A group of specialists (mainly Nosara’s architects, a couple engineers and builders) agreed to meet Monday (the 27th) at 3pm to share their ideas with the Municipality. Again, everyone is invited and encouraged to attend and or speak directly to Josue to share their opinions during this time period.
Another 20 business days – After the plan is published in La Gaceta, another 20 working day period begins for an additional time period for comments and review. From here the final version of the temporary plan will be moved towards a final vote then go into place as our new regulations going forward.
*The initial link above is from the 1pm, English speaking meeting. The 10am, Spanish speaking meeting will be available soon on http://www.richburnam.com.
The bottom line: The clock is ticking and anyone who wants to participate or share thoughts on this highly controversial, yet historic, plan needs to hurry. Although there is still time to make adjustments, it is very limited. We are looking at about 2.5 months prior to a plan being enacted.
Some community members feel this is not nearly enough time to make educated and informed decisions about our highly unique community. While others remain steadfast in getting the temporary zoning plan, or some version of it, enacted as quickly as possible and see it as vital to protecting Nosara’s future.
Below is the presentation of the construction data presented by Josue.
*Both the Building Regulation Proposal and the Environmental Fragility for the Buffer Zone studies are available for in Spanish versions upon request.
She is caring, controversial, blunt, sarcastic, and hilarious (once you get to know her a little bit). She’s not scared to take a stand and is comfortable adding to her already impressive list of enemies when it is for a greater good. Yet at the same time, Bobbi is quick to grab a beer and crack jokes and share stories on a regular basis with her plethora of friends who live in or visit Nosara regularly.
