The   Bella  Blog

Back with the 1st episode in the NEW Spring Black Expat Interview Series. I chat with Julia Browne - Walking The Spirit Tours - An historical and educational tour which celebrates the achievements of African Americans in Paris. This enlightening Black heritage tour is the brain child of Julia Browne, prize-winning writer, speaker, journalist, award winning broadcaster and filmmaker. How much do you know about the Black influence in Paris? WWW.BLAXITRADIO.COM #ThatBellaLife #

What's it like to be an African American/Nigerian American in Nigeria and what exactly do they think about African Americans?? Check out the video and find out Episode 7 - This Is It/Blaxit Radio - That Bella Life Interview Series #BlackExpats #BlackExpatsinCostaRica #ThatBellaLife #BlaxitRadio #This is It #RetiredBlackExpats #BlackExpatsAbroad #BlackExpatsLivingLifeAbroad #AfricanAmericaninNigeria WWW.BLAXITRADIO.COM

If you missed last Saturday's interview with expat Randine Perry on "This is It" - Straight Talk for the Blaxit Community You can also catch the video replay version below. Join me for: "This is It" every Saturday from 12Noon - 1pm (Costa Rica Time) on BLAXIT RADIO WWW.BLAXITRADIO.COM #blackexpatsabroad #blackexpatsincostarica #thatbellalife #retiredblackexpats #retiredblackexpatsincostarica #thiisit #blaxitradio

Well, we did it! I finally went ON-AIR with my very first show!! I'm like a proud mama. Hope you were able to catch it. The Caribbean Coast and specifically the Puerto Viejo area has become a Mecca for black people who are considering a move to Costa Rica -- but not much is known about the area because, well, Costa Ricans (with little positive input from Costa Rica Tourism & PR) have a fear of going there - yes, sort of a fear of the dangerous "dark side". Y'all know what I m

Good Morning As you may know, I have been working EXTREMELY hard (a big part of the reason I have been missing on this site) putting together our new internet radio station. I think you will enjoy the music mix as well as the talk shows we provide - many of which will be of help to those who are considering moving abroad. In the beginning we will cover, Costa Rica (our home base) as well as Mexico, Panama, and Tanzania E Africa. Our plan is to expand to include more location

Hope you are all doing well. Have you been, wondering where I've Been? The answer is, nowhere, yet. But, I have been working on a couple of exciting projects. 1. First project is - a "Jammin" trip to Morocco Morocco Jammin 2022 The Morocco Grand Tour An 11 day group trip to Morocco which we are planning for Sept 2022 The trip is to 5 cities, as well as an overnight stay @ a luxury camp in the Sahara Desert More to follow - *If you are interested please drop me an email and I

We (Lavanson, Verdette and I) finally felt it was safe enough to venture out and make a visit to Jaco, where Lavanson's brother (Charles) lives. Jaco is about an hour and 15 mins from Escazú. Charles moved to a new condo about 6 months ago and we had not yet had an opportunity to see it. We spent 7 relaxing days there and had the opportunity to enjoy some of the beaches, meet up with some friends and also sample some of the restaurants. Sadly during Covid, many businesses, (i

In an effort to begin moving around Costa Rica again (on a limited basis) we have been researching some of the restaurants in the area. All are following social distancing guidelines and are open air locations In today's video review Located - Just 20 minutes from San José! Located in the beautiful mountains of Escazú, San José's upscale suburb. In a farmhouse setting you can experience an authentic traditional Costa Rican ambience. The Views are Awesome!!! #thatbellalife #b

It's no secret --- Costa Rica is NOT known for it's cuisine! I have nothing against rice and beans, and after living here for 5 yrs, I've certainly had my share. Gallo pinto is fine (gallo pinto is a mix of beans, rice, Salsa Lizano, chopped onion, chopped red bell pepper, and chopped cilantro. Usually served alongside a fried egg, ripe plantains, white cheese and homemade tortillas or a piece of toast). Casados are fine too (casados are always offered at sodas (a local resta

Just a quick post to say that the wrap up for our 4 day trip to Tamamrindo has been uploaded to Youtube Please check it out if you haven't already #thatbellalife #tamarindocostarica #blackexpatsabroad #blackincostarica #blackexpatslivinglifeabroad

Here are links for the last 2 days of our trip to Tamarindo Don't miss the gorgeous SUNSET on day 3 #thatbellalife #blackexpatsabroad #blackandretiredincostarica tamarindocostarica #blackexpatslivinglifeabroad

LIVE in The Clubhouse Monday March 8. Please join us. Let me know if you need an invite or if any men would like to participate. Remember you need to have an iPhone. #thatbellalife #blackincostarica #blackexpatsabroad #retiredblackexpatsabroad #retiredblackexpatsincostarica #blackexpatsdatingabroad

Video only #thatbellalife #blackexpatsabroad #blackandretiredincostarica tamarindocostarica #blackexpatslivinglifeabroad

I'm a few days early as the official date is December 1st. That is the national holiday in celebration of Army Abolition Day. This is Costa Rica's 1st annual celebration. President Carlos Alvarado signed the law on May 20, 2020 and established the new holiday. Since it is a 3 day holiday, I decided to post on Sunday. On December 1, 1948, President José Figueres Ferrer of Costa Rica abolished the military of Costa Rica after achieving victory in the civil war that year. The bu

In case you were wondering... Stay Tuned #thatbellalife #BlackExpatsAbroad #BlackExpatsInCostaRica #BlackAndRetiredInCostaRica #BlackHairCareInCostaRica

Today is September 15th It's Costa Rica Independence Day Some of you may remember this video, which we posted back in 2018 on our old vimeo channel. Now that we have moved from Grecia, it's fun to look back on those days, so, from time to time I'll upload one of the old videos and repost it to our new Youtube channel -- and you can also view it here. I think this will be helpful to our newer subscribers -- and for those of you who have been around for a while, you might like

**This is an opinion piece on r a c e - you can choose to stop now and not read further. Sometimes a girl just gotta get it off her chest. I doubt that today's topic is being covered by the media, and then again, why would it be? So far as I can tell there are no "official" statistics. The topic is about the rapidly increasing number of black people who are researching, exploring and actively making plans to exit the United States!!! Black people in America have been trying

I shared this video on one of my Facebook groups but thought you all might enjoy it as well. The TOPIC -- HOUSING - Where should we live? This is always a HUGE decision as we discussed in the real estate series. I think the decision is also complicated by the fact that Costa Rica is different from the US in many ways. First - It's not connected by "freeways" - as we know them in the US - "freeways" that take you up and down and across the country with well lit signs and offra

We're back with an update on which property we chose! It was a difficult decision but we finally made up our minds. In the video below we will discuss the pros and cons of each location which led up to our final decision. While we were in the selection process I thought this might also be a good time to educate people on exactly how real estate works in Costa Rica as it is different in so many ways from real estate in the states, and I figured...you all just might want to kno

Since we have put our move to Mexico on indefinite hold, it's time to find a new home in Costa Rica! I've found at least one positive result of the Corona Virus, and that is - it's a pretty good time to look for a new place to live if you are interested in a good deal on a rental. Since there will be a new normal once we are lifted from quarantine, people will more than likely not be doing as much travel. And in a country like Cosat Rica where... Tourism has been one of the f