Good fences make good neighbors. It is easier to be friendly with your neighbor if neither of you trespasses upon the others property or privacy. For decades that hasn’t been the case between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, who at one time or another have been in a squabble over territory. The latest is a claim by Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Enrique Castillo, who on Monday accused Nicaragua of off...

Tenant laws in Costa Rica are pro-tenant in that even if a tenant refuses to pay rent they can continue to live in the property until the landlord exhausts all of his or her legal hurdles to evict them, a process than can take years in the worst case scenario. But that may soon change with the passage in first debate of a reform to the Landlord-Tenant law that expedites the process of eviction,...

Arabs and Jews, blacks and whites, teens and seniors, Anglos and Mexicans, Ticos and Nicaraguans, Cowboys and Indians. In Costa Rica we can all celebrate cultural harmony in a world focused on differences, not similarities. Where else does this blending of cultures come so easily? Certainly not the French with the British or Germans and Turks. Perhaps we fail to sufficiently appreciate the pea...

The Costa Rica Star has published an article in the past about Marijuana usage and culture in Costa Rica. Independent activist, Diego Grooscors, will begin today collecting the 160,000 signatures required to present to the Legislative Assembly a bill to legalize marijuana consumption in Costa Rica. Grooscors explained that the proposal is based on citizen initiatives presented in the past bu...

Jairo Mora proved just how deadly poaching turtle eggs in the province of Limón along Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast has become. “They arm drug addicts with machetes and knives, sometimes even with makeshift or low-caliber weapons, so they can steal the eggs,” Mora told the Costa Rican daily La Nación, adding narco-traffickers pay the thieves with drugs to fuel their addictions. Twenty...

At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, July 22, Nicoya's streets were filled with movement and color during the typical parade of cultural emblems organized by the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Education, which included a float devoted to foods. This activity was a favorite of Nicoyans, and hundreds of people enjoyed the event along the main streets of the city center, some even walking along with ...

The Costa Rica Star recently published an article that explains that the people of Guanacaste are disappointed in the broken promises from Laura Chinchilla over the years, and were going to not allow her into the province. A little after 9 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, July 23, President Laura Chinchilla's helicopter touched down in the plaza of Maquenco in the Canton of Nicoya, thus avoiding pos...

The Republic of Costa Rica has been selected as the host of this year’s Adventure Racing World Championships, which will see 80 teams from around the world competing for the adventure prize. The championships consist of 140 hours of non-stop challenges including trekking, kayaking, abseiling and inner tubing between 29 November and 12 December. The country has recently been putting a big emp...

Around 1995, Rene Castro, during his stint as Minister of the Presidency, kicked the gold miners out of Corcovado National Park on the lush Osa Peninsula. But they are at it again after having returned just months after Castro's stern verdict. Gold is profitable in an era of economic uncertainty and the penalty is minimal. Environmentalists estimate that more than 2,000 truckloads of earth have...

U.S. actor Matt Damon, famous for films like "Invictus" and "The Bourne Identity", is vacationing in the Pacific beaches of Costa Rica, local media reported Monday. The actor arrived in Costa Rica on July 15 and has been seen in the northern Pacific beaches of Costa Rica, which are often visited by celebrities worldwide due to its natural beauty and privacy. Damon, who likes surfing, signed ...

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla signed a bill on Monday to slash taxes on hybrid cars by 20 percentage points, in a bid to cut fuel emissions in the Central American nation. The 2006 tax will be cut to 10 percent, well below the 30 to 53 percent tax rates levied on vehicles fueled exclusively by gasoline and diesel but still higher than the zero-tax status enjoyed by electric vehicles. ...

In less than two weeks hundreds of thousands of people will be making their way to Cartago, as Catholic faithfuls embark in the annual pilgrimage to celebrate the apparition of the Virgen de los Angeles. Although the masses will head to the Basilica de los Angeles on August 1 and 2, it was evident that some took the good weather this weekend to make their journey early. “Romeros” could be sp...

The government of Costa Rica announced Monday that it will transform its two zoos into botanical gardens or urban parks in order to eliminate the practice of displaying caged animals. Simon Bolivar Zoo in downtown San Jose, and the Santa Ana Conservation Center west of the capital, will be modified in response to “a change of environmental conscience among Costa Ricans,” Environment and Energy ...

Street Racing or “Picones” are common in many areas of San José, mostly due to the lack of enforcement by the Policia de Tránsito (traffic police) during night hours. Street racers can easily find straightaways and other sites that naturally lend to street racing and without fear of traffic cops showing up and cutting their dangerous fun short. However, an “anti-picones” unit made its debut ...

The Big Mac Index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. It “seeks to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible”. The index takes its name from the Big Mac, a hamburger sold at McDonald’s r...

The situation is more and more desperate for local fishermen, and here I’m referring to the ones that have a panga (small fishing boat), canoe or an off-board motor. The capitalist model of extraction and commercialization of fishing resources doesn’t allow for recovery, and the mistaken policies of the people in charge of organizing and directing fishing in Costa Rica, Incopesca (the Costa Ric...

Once a year, on July 25th, the whole country turns its attention to Guanacaste and mainly to Nicoya. It is during this single day that the media devote complete reports to the historic annexation to Costa Rica by the Party of Nicoya. But the pretty face of the annexation has another side to it with deeper dimensions that is always obscured by the splendor of the formal events and the presence o...

Did you know that Nicoya was the name of the reigning monarch in this area at the time of the arrival of the Spanish in 1520? This and many interesting Nicoyan historical facts will be commemorated on July 25th during the Nocturbano, a guided city tour, starting at 7 p.m., that is taking place due to the initiative of Nicoyan native Cesar Rodriguez. The Nocturbano is an initiative launched in 2...

Andy Najar interrupted a defensive struggle with a goal in the 49th minute, and Honduras squeezed past Costa Rica 1-0 on Sunday night to earn a matchup against the United States in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. After Najar scored on a header off a fine crossing pass from Alexander Lopez, Honduras goalkeeper Donis Escober made the advantage stand up. Honduras and the U.S. will vie ...

There is a brand new tattoo shop opening in one of the beaches of Guanacaste, however the exact beach will not be mentioned as it is a secret, for now. The owner is seeking tattoo artists who have proven experience working in Costa Rica and also have their own tattoo equipment. There is a possibility to become a part owner in the business depending on the quality of the tattoo artist, the equip...

The most evenly matched quarterfinal in Gold Cup is the last one. Honduras and Costa Rica meet in Baltimore for the right to face the USA-El Salvador winner. A strong start to the Gold Cup has given way to a couple of lackluster performances for Costa Rica, and they're slight underdogs against Honduras in what will likely be the best of the quarterfinal matches. The Ticos downed Cuba 3-0 to ...

Fulham have completed their tour of Costa Rica with a 100 per cent record after triumphing 5-3 in a penalty shootout over Deportivo Saprissa. Hugo Rodallega scored the decisive penalty for Fulham, who were forced into a shootout after Saprissa scored the only goal of the second half to level the game at 2-2. Fulham had earlier come from behind in Saturday's friendly at the Estadio Nacional d...

John Mauro and Amber Kasic call it an “early honeymoon”. The couple recently returned from spending nearly three weeks in Costa Rica, working with survivors of human trafficking. “We both knew that we wanted service to be a part of our honeymoon,” explained Mauro. The pair of high school teachers said they wanted to make the trip before the start of the school year and tying the knot...

Churches throughout Costa Rica are expecting 30,000 people to join in on a march in defense of traditional marriage slated for August. The gathering is meant to counter attack recent legislations allowing same-sex civil unions, abortion, in vitro fertilization and challenges to the ban on the morning-after pill. Organizers are calling for Evangelicals and Catholics to unite against what they...

There was a long greeting line of happy faces waiting for Jose Mendez -- much like reception he no doubt will get when he returns to his native Costa Rica, after he won the 2013 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships. On Friday, Mendez accomplished what no other player from his country had in the 45 previous years and 404 champions crowned in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships. He w...

On Thursday Costa Rica’s leading newspaper, La Nacion announced the purchase of the Autódromo La Guácima speedway for US$12 million dollars, with the prospect of investing another US$28 million to turn the site into a centre for large-scale events. Located on 28.2 hectares in La Guácima, Alajuela - twenty minutes from the San Jose International Airport and just thirty minutes from downtown San ...

In the last two and a half weeks, Nosara Wildlife Rescue's Brenda Bombard has received or rescued more than 41 howler monkeys that have been electrocuted on many of Nosara's uninsulated power transformers. Many have had to be euthanized and many others have had a limb amputated. Most of the power lines in the Playa Guiones area have been exchanged for the insulated type but now the monkeys and ...

Article by CentralAmericaData.com with insights from Nacion.com. The Costa Rican environmental authority has only 5 technicians to analyze the viability of infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars to the economy and country of Costa Rica, creating a bottleneck on advancement. Construction of the new container terminal at the Port of Moin can not begin because of lack of approval of ...

Costa Rica Hot Rods specializes in custom fabrication of all aspects of choppers and hot rod cars and trucks. We have more than 25 years of experience in custom show bike builds and as of the last 10 years we have been applying the same attention to detail in building hot rods. We offer everything from custom fabricated metal pieces, hand engraving, custom paint, and complete builds for both c...

The Oceano Jaco Beach condos hotel in beautiful Jaco Beach, Costa Rica offers you the latest in affordable, luxury living. Combining the best of both worlds, the Oceano condotel is set up as a boutique hotel containing fully-furnished 1 and 2 bedroom condos. Residents get all the benefits of hotel living, such as a beauty spa, modern fitness center, pool side café with room service, jewelry sho...

Last weekend I finally got to visit a place I’ve been wanting to see all year long! My friends and I took a visit to the Duran Sanatorium (El Sanatorio Duran) near Cartago, Costa Rica. The Duran Sanatorium is considered one of the most haunted places in all of Costa Rica, and it was only a half hour drive out of San Jose. It has even been featured on an episode of Ghost Hunters International. ...

Carton Surfboards, Calle Madrigal, Jacó, Costa Rica. During the course of a bikini shoot a few weeks ago here in Jacó, I discovered that the model I was shooting knew Carton, the owner of Carton Surfboards, who I had wanted to meet. I was always seeing his boards out in the water and was curious to both meet the maker and learn about the whole business of surfboard shaping. (Nerd-like tendenci...

Located within Guachipelin Escazu, Pura Vida Dog is a Canadian owned and operated business on a mission to support companion animal culture and owners in Costa Rica. We know how hard it can be to find a reliable, safe, and clean place to keep your canine companion when you leave Costa Rica on business or pleasure. Located in the heart of Guachipelin Escazu very close to Multiplaza, Pura Vida...

The United States topped Group C thanks to a 1-0 win over Costa RIca on Tuesday night, but it wasn't easy. Using a five-man defense, the Ticos frustrated the Americans all night and turned the match into more of a continued scrum than soccer, but an 82nd minute strike by Brek Shea got the U.S. all three points. Very little in the first half could be described as "soccer." Costa Rica forced the ...

There’s nothing better than a day at the beach. The sun, the surf … what could be more fun? Especially in Costa Rica, where the sun, sand and sea are warm all the time! Long beaches of gold, rich black, pearly white, beige and even pink sand, fringed with palm trees and other greenery – Costa Rica’s beaches are paradise! It seems like every surfer who visits Costa Rica agrees it is one of the b...

If it was 25 years ago, you wouldn’t want to go to San Lucas Island. The small, forested island in the middle of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Gulf was the roughest jail in the country. Being sent to San Lucas Island was a terrible prospect; prisoners’ lives were short and often spent in torture. Thankfully, today, the prisoners are gone and San Lucas Island has been transformed into a national wildlife ...

If Costa Rica’s professional surf scene had an A-team, it would look something like this: Carlos Muñoz, Jair Pérez, Noe Mar McGonagle, Gilbert Brown, Anthony Fillingim, Luis Vindas, Leilani McGonagle, Lisbeth Vindas, and Nataly Bernold. The nine top surfers seem to shuffle places between being national champions and taking the top five slots at any given competition, with the odd interloper upsett...

In the past The Costa Rica Star has published about Rancho Margot and how Eco-literacy programs are evolving within their self sufficient jungle ranch. El Castillo, COSTA RICA – July 2013 – Rancho Margot, innovator and educator in sustainable community development, permaculture and self-sufficiency, is pleased to announce the Social Responsibility Fund. Juan Sostheim, owner and founder of Ranch...

"Opposite the church, 500 meters north of the cedar tree, the blue house with a wooden porch." In many parts of Latin America, these are not just the directions you might be given by a friendly local, but an actual postal address. Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua are among the countries that use landmarks, such as schools, parks, or even fast food restaurants, to locate houses and businesses i...

The U.S. men’s national team wraps up the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage against Costa Rica in Hartford on Tuesday, having already clinched their spot in the quarterfinals. Strangely, that means their toughest game yet will also be the least consequential. After steamrolling Belize 6-1 and beating Cuba 4-1, the Americans are assured of passage out of Group C. In Sunday’s quarterfinals in Ba...