Centuries before the Wright brothers made their seminal engine-powered flight, humans were clearly obsessed with flight. From the Daedalus and Icarus tales of Greek mythology to Leonardo Da Vinci’s ingenious sketches of flying machines, humanity has been set on defying gravity and soaring through the air in search of that ultimate freedom bestowed upon the bird species by Nature.

Flying and tourism go hand-in-hand, not just for travel, but also for sightseeing. Some of Nature’s wonders such as the Grand Canyon in the United States, Sugar Loaf in Brazil and Ayers Rock in Australia were meant to be appreciated from the air. In Costa Rica’s case, almost the entire country can be enjoyed from a bird’s eye view.

(more…)

Author’s Note: A lot of the information on this article comes from the Environmental section of the digital news daily El Pais and the National University.

The alleged naming of Costa Rica by Christopher Columbus during one of his final voyages of discovery is often the subject of tongue-in-cheek jests by Ticos who know better. “He had no idea”, goes the saying, particularly when making reference to the amazing blessings that Nature keeps bestowing upon the country. Recent studies into the Thermal Convection Dome and the rich biomass it creates underscore the importance of the Costa Rica Dome to life in the ocean.

The Aqua satellite image from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that accompanies this article was reviewed by scientists at the National University in Heredia in mid-February, 2012. The dark red aspect of the image shown off our north Pacific coast is not red tide; it rather represents the highest concentration of chlorophyll in the world, up to 60 milligrams per cubic centimeter of sea water. This means that a lot of phytoplankton -unicellular algae that eventually photosynthesizes into plankton- is available for the pleasure of a number of migratory marine species, including crabs, dolphins, marlin, tuna, turtles, whales and more. These species swim and crawl across thousands of kilometers to feast and reproduce off our coast.

(more…)

*IMPORTANT* Click here to follow the discussion about this article on our Facebook page.

I was forwarded this video earlier tonight, and felt compelled to write a quick article about it. You should watch the video before carrying on reading this, click the link, it will open in a new window. Then come back here once you are done.

It shows a frustrated and mad individual attacking 2 surfers with a Machete near the Costa Rica beach town of Pavones. In the video it warns that US citizens should avoid the area and be wary of traveling to Costa Rica. But what is doesn’t mention is anything of detail, it leaves so much to the imagination and sensationalizes the entire news story. Sure, the man was mad, sure he had a machete, but what about all of the things that lead up to this happening. The way he attacked those surfers is in no way acceptable, but no one died during this, and what was the real story behind this happening?

The Judicial Investigation Police OIJ report said that the attacker was attacking the US citizens because earlier in the day they almost ran into the mans daughter while she was also out surfing adjacent to them. The US citizens were also told that the surf break was private and they should leave, multiple times before this happened. In Costa Rica you cannot own the surf of the ocean, so anyone can surf this wake. We think that this was simply a mad local who is tired of having foreigners take over his surfing grounds that he has surfed for years. Which is obviously unacceptable and close minded.

(more…)

“What color sand do you like?” I asked the puzzled tourist. “Do you prefer pink or black, full of shells or soft under your feet. Are you going swimming or kayaking, surfing or paddle boarding?” All he did was ask which beach I liked best, and in return the poor man got drilled with twenty questions. It is a simple inquiry that is getting more difficult to answer the longer I live here.

The stretches of beaches along the Nicoya peninsula in Guanacaste may be the most beautiful in the world. With their shady palm trees and hidden nooks, it’s the perfect place to lie in a hammock and forget your troubles. However, the more you explore, the more you discover the small details that make these beaches so unique.

Playa Penca, located in Potrero, has soft pink sand that feels like a mini foot massage as you walk across the beach. It is here that I work on my second book, the follow up to Happier Than A Billionaire. With so few people, this is the perfect place to write a chapter or just lean back and take a nap. It was here that I swam in the ocean and decided to make Costa Rica my home. That was over 5 years ago, and I remember the combination of anxiety and excitement I felt knowing my life was going to change drastically. It’s amazing how strongly Costa Rica can speak to you, and how much you don’t want your days here to end.

(more…)

I always carry a compact camera. If you live in or have visited Costa Rica you know why. Funny, beautiful and shocking things may be just around the corner. My little camera spends time waiting for sunsets and rainbows (and the frequent misspelled or poorly translated sign, internet gold!). It lives in a messenger bag that I take everywhere. It only leaves that bag when I use it to carry my bigger camera via a very cool and very cheap removable padded insert (check it out you’ll thank me). I never miss an opportunity to take a picture. My cell phone has a camera but is not a camera; I refuse to acknowledge it as such.

Recently my girlfriend and I decided to take a drive up the mountain north of Heredia where we live. We had no plan, just a setting sun and a gorgeous February afternoon. As I downshifted to try to get up a hill a sudden squeal made me pull over. At first I thought something else had failed on my car (when you own a 1990 BMW 325i this happens occasionally). Thankfully not. It was my girlfriend rendered speechless by a tremendous rainbow formed by the setting sun and the mountain mist, mixed with a rustic farmhouse in the foreground it was the stuff of postcards. I thought of my compact camera, safely in its messenger bag, which was safely tucked away in my closet back home. Cursing ensued—in two languages.

I tried to take a picture with her phone. More cursing. I wished for my trusty compact, for my film camera (more on that in a future article), for my DSLR with its super-wide lens. Anything but a phone. I gave up.

We drove uphill a bit more, chasing the end of the rainbow until the dodgy fuel pump got a bit too warm and starting misbehaving. I took one more shot with the phone. Reasonable success.

(more…)

During the summer months, algae blooms frequently wreak havoc on coastal communities all over the world. In Costa Rica, there are several factors that exacerbate the problem.

Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Feb 12th, 2012 – Over the past few days, the communities on the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula, and the Gulf of Nicoya have suffered from a massive algae bloom that has wreaked havoc on local fish and wildlife. Some forms of the algae can produce toxins that prove harmful for humans if ingested, and can cause irritation of the eyes, respiratory system and skin. No one has ever died from direct contact with red tide, but you can become ill from ingesting contaminated shellfish. Bivalves and mollusks absorb the toxins, and if humans eat these, they can cause serious poisoning.

The algae blooms are caused by several different things; nutrient loading of the water, increased water temperatures, and even coastal upwelling. In Costa Rica, during the summer months there are frequently strong offshore winds that cause upwelling, this pulls up nutrient rich water from the depths, and combined with increased sunlight the perfect environment for phytoplankton is created. Agricultural runoff is another factor that really increases the occurrence and duration of algae blooms along the Pacific Coast.

The main river systems along the Central Pacific drain into the ocean between Jaco and Puntarenas, carrying all the pollution from the Central Valley with them. The increased use of fertilizers over the years has caused the coastal waters to become laden with nitrates and phosphates in extremely elevated concentrations. The phytoplankton thrive in these conditions, and as such, with decreased rainfall, the summer months have all the ingredients for some devastating red tides.

(more…)

If you are planning your first trip to Costa Rica, I have a bit of advice, don’t go to the Osa Peninsula. You’ll ruin your follow-up trips, kind of like drinking 25 year old single-malt your first time. If you live here or have been here before, go. Immediately. Wait, read this first, then go.

So what’s the deal with Osa? Situated in the southwestern corner of Costa Rica it’s one of the most densely bio-diverse places on earth, overflowing with flora and fauna…blah blah blah I’ll let you Google the brochure and the sciencey statistical stuff. I will say it’s beautiful, I mean rub-your-eyes-in-wonder and pinch yourself kind of beautiful. It’s the kind of place that makes you wish you had cameras for eyeballs so you never miss a shot. It’s also far away, unplugged, and wet.

My trip in July of 2011 was to photograph a wedding and so I really had to be sure all my camera equipment and my laptop made it out and back or I was going to have some really unhappy newlyweds on my hands. (What compels a couple to get married at a hotel that is a two-hour boat ride from anywhere and how that is actually a good thing, is a topic for another article). After speaking with them about it, this is what my trip looked like: 5 hour drive from San Jose to the town of Sierpe, then a 2 hour boat ride along the Sierpe river and out to open ocean and on to the family’s private house next door to the hotel. Next door being a 30 minute hike through the jungle. Gulp. Fortunately I had some time to shop. I wish I had read Aaron Akley’s article on surviving the rainy season before that, but I did pretty well prepping myself.

(more…)

Costa Rica’s vacation appeal is undeniable, particularly to visitors from North America, but that didn’t stop the national tourism board (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo, ICT) from launching one of the most ambitious -and successful- marketing campaigns ever created for stimulating visits to our country.  The Million Dollar Gift of Happiness Campaign has been one of the most clever ways to market a country, and by looking at the strategies used, it is very likely that other nations will soon be using similar methods to attract tourism dollars.  

It all began a couple of years ago when the New Economics Foundation, a European think-tank based in London, released its annual Happy Planet Index report.  That report takes into account individual perceptions, ecological conservation, sustainability efforts, and social welfare to measure the happiness of a nation.  The purpose of the Happy Planet Index is to show that happiness is not limited to Gross Domestic Product and per capita income.  Costa Rica was ranked number three in 2006, and number one in 2009.  The premise of a slowly developing Third World nation being the happiest in the world proved intriguing, and it bolstered the New Economics Foundation’s position that being green and peaceful is better for the soul of a nation than solid infrastructure and high salaries.

ICT took advantage of the media focus created by the Happy Planet Index report and thus the Million Dollar Gift of Happiness idea was born.

(more…)

Putting aside social tensions, politics and conflict, I decided to venture inside the lives of the native Costa Rican Ngöbe tribe to see life from their perspective.

The dusty road ahead seemed to never end, twisting and turning amidst the lush forests of Costa Rica’s southern region –for me, a new country altogether. The sun was up directly above us, shining with unforeseen intensity; the warm air wrapped around my skin, a thin layer of moisture covered my face, seats rattled all around me, the blunt sound of metal crashing against metal echoed throughout and pierced my ears and none of it mattered; it meant nothing. It would be the culmination of months of organization, the search for the origins of Jirondai.

The journey, however, would not be brief or simple. Easily six hours away from San José our destination, Limoncito, can only be accessed during the dry months, when the heavy, unforgiving rains take a break. Guided by the mighty Terraba, one takes up the long, winding road towards Rey Curré and turns left, crossing the imposing river and deepening farther into the green, irregular terrains of the south. The struggling diesel engine spewed smoked as it rumbled up the hill, the vast space to my left dominated by the La Amistad National Park and to my right, hidden between yellow oak trees, my quest’s humble end.

First, though, our stop was San Vito after indulging in the traditional Juego de los Diablitos, a representation of the battle against the conquering Spaniards. Locals dressed in colorful masks and took turns in fighting the invaders, simply another local with a heavy, cumbersome bull costume, with energetic body slams, shouts and taunts. Their bodies are fueled by cups brimming with Chicha and the memory of brutal times of the past.

(more…)

Whether you’re taking the vacation of a lifetime or just out for a Sunday drive, Costa Rica is a country seemingly designed with the photographer in mind. Beaches, mountains, wildlife and quaint towns abound. The only problem is deciding which camera or equipment to bring. There is no right answer but I’ll try to help. If you are not a serious pro, are on a budget, or just don’t want to risk all your gear, you are going to have to compromise. Here are some suggestions for the best ways to compromise and still get great pictures. I have suggestions for the DSLR crowd as well as the folks shopping for a compact camera (and no, your smart phone is NOT a camera no matter how many megapixels it has).

Since this article is for residents and visitors I will sneak in a word on shopping and pricing. Buying camera gear in Costa Rica is insanely expensive so I don’t do it. Import taxes, exchange rates and the sales tax routinely push prices 50% or more above what can be had in the States. This also means we don’t get the selection that is available in the States or Europe. My solution is usually to wait until a friend headed to the States needs a ride from the airport. I have my new toy shipped to them and they bring it back on the plane. This works with co-workers on business trips as well. (If anyone from the Ministerio de Hacienda is reading this I am in no way advocating tax evasion). Just remember you are taking a risk because if there is a problem you won’t have a warranty claim.

(more…)