Source: Casa Presidencial It took a little less than an hour for President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera to deliver a summary of his first 100 days in office, but the collective time spent by legislators and political analysts commenting on his speech could soon add up to more than 100 hours. As expected by many, President Solis did not have much to say; however, critics pointed out that he coul...

Source: Bing commercial reuse Although it is estimated that less than two percent of all visitors who arrive in Costa Rica do so for the purpose of engaging in sexual tourism, this particular travel segment happens to be the most controversial. Thousands of men (and hundreds of women) come to our country each year to get to know some of the locals really well, but what about those couples who ...

Paul Watson with actress Daryl Hannah. Creative Commons. The ice bucket challenge to raise awareness and funds towards research and treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) has reached the Presidential Office of Costa Rica. Challenged by a radio personality from 104.3 FM (Los 40 Principales or Top 40), President Luis Guillermo Solis respectfully decl...

Dr. Collado - Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs On April 12th, in the pretty Italian town of Casalecchio di Reno, province of Bologna, Ambassador Jaime Feinzaig Rosenstein was the guest of honor during the inauguration of the Giardini della Casa per la Pace alla Repubblica di Costa Rica (Park of Costa Rica at the House of Peace). Two historic events motivated the kind gesture: The brave sacr...

Humpback whale breaching in Costa Rica The Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica is known as one of the country's major magnets of ecotourism revenue. One of the big draws to the coastal region of the Osa Peninsula is the Parque Nacional Marino Ballena (Ballena Pelagic National Park), a unique spot on Earth that is known as an “aquatic labor and delivery chamber” for many cetaceans, including ...

Pulling the outrigger into the ocean for Kayak Jaco's night tour When Neil, the owner of Kayak Jaco, shared with me what the sunset/ night kayak tour was all about, I told him he had me at cheese and wine. For those of you who live in Costa Rica, you know it is extremely hard to find good cheese, and if you do it’s incredibly expensive! Looking back on the tour, the cheese and crackers were just...

Canadian Expat, Corey Coates My path crossed with Corey’s when he contacted me about an author interview for my recent release, Becoming an Expat: Costa Rica. The more I found out about Corey Coates the more I wanted to hear his story, and so it goes… “I like the interaction between the brain and the machine, I’m an audio learner”~ Corey Coates Corey is from a small town outside of Toronto wit...

Approximate location of the accident. Sensible readers beware: The following story is a weepy. Shirley Torres Garita is a 13-year old girl who lost her legs in a terrible accident involving a truck driver whose blood alcohol level was detected at being over the legal limit. Despite this tragedy and the abject poverty she endures with her six siblings in Pococi, province of Limon, Shirley think...

Ann Maxine Patton, the U.S. woman who was accused of killing her wealthy husband, John Felix Bender while he slept in their sprawling estate in Baru, Perez Zeledon in 2010, was found guilty of murder yesterday after a retrial and sentenced to 22 years in prison. The judgment was handed down at 3:20 p.m. yesterday by the criminal court in Perez Zeledon after a nearly two-week long retrial. The s...

Source: ICT Ever since the collapse of the financial markets in 2008 gave way to a period of economic crisis and recession in many developed countries, tourism industry analysts in Costa Rica have observed a sharp drop in the amount of money spent by foreign visitors. A couple of years ago, the same analysts noticed an uptick in the amount of money spend by Costa Ricans exploring their own cou...

Source: CONAMAJ Labor disputes and internal bickering between labor unions and immigration officials may complicate the legal status of visitors, perpetual tourists and other foreigners in Costa Rica. At the heart of the issue is an operations manual that aimed to reflect the national security policy of improvement undertaken by the administration of President Laura Chinchilla; alas, it looks ...

Shrimp Rice, Puntarenas Style Chef Doris Goldgewicht is one of the most arduous promoters of Costa Rica's traditional cuisine, which she feels has been neglected insofar as making it known beyond the national stage. This country has great potential to attract foodies and the special tourism segment of epicurean travelers in search of international delights; alas, Costa Rica is mostly known for...

Long lines at La Caja, but few foreigners A recent study by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Spanish acronym: INEC) reveals that only six percent of all public health care treatments in Costa Rica are provided to foreign patients. This finding dispels the notion that immigrants are a burden on La Caja, Costa Rica's public health care system. In fact, immigrant workers are more ...

Source: Flickr Of the three coastal provinces of Costa Rica, Guanacaste has the highest number of beaches that proudly display the Blue Ecological Flag. According to online news site Primero en Noticias, 51 beaches in Guanacaste meet the strict environmental conditions needed to receive the blue flags awarded by the Ministry of the Environment and the National Board of Tourism (Spanish initial...

Extreme Adventurer Waterfall Tour Jaco is a town packed with social, adrenaline-filled, and nature-based activities. A walk down main street will lend you to countless tourist operators selling a variety of excursions. Let me help you whittle down your options by sharing the top ten things to do in and around Jaco.  1. Extreme Adventurer This is tour is operated from Jaco or Manuel Antonio. Yo...

Remember the film Chocolat, and how chocolate transformed a cold, inhibited French town into a loving, friendly community? Chocolate has that power. Prized by the Mayas, Aztecs and Inkas, and formerly kept only for royalty in Europe, chocolate was once considered so valuable that cacao beans were used for currency. In Costa Rica, indigenous tribes used cacao beans for currency for thousan...

Some of the best things to do in Guanacaste, Costa Rica are found at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin. The dilemma actually is trying to decide what to do, since there is so much from which to choose. That’s why the One Day Adventure Pass or the One Day Nature Pass really is your best bet. If you stay at this Rincon de la Vieja hotel for several days, you can go for both! You don’t necessarily have t...

The Panamanian / Costa Rican border is in constant flux. The most recent change occurred quietly over the last few weeks. Panamanian border officials are now entering your ticket details into the computer to validate if your flight is a valid outbound flight. Due to perpetual tourism in Costa Rica (a practice where a person without residency lives in Costa Rica by renewing their tourist visa every...

Now showing in Costa Rica Right before Costa Rica shut down for Holy Week and Easter Sunday, 158 important works of fine art were being transported in utmost secrecy and under sophisticated security through the streets of San Jose. A few unmarked trucks carried original works by European masters as well as pieces by Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat and more. This plethora of art will be exhib...

Source: Flickr CC Despite their hefty price tags and country-specific limitations, Apple iPhones have enjoyed considerable success in Costa Rica over the last few years. Android-powered mobile devices have been gradually eating away at the lion's share of the smartphone market enjoyed by Apple in Costa Rica, but that dominance is now being threatened by the explosive growth of Microsoft Window...

Source: FANAL Some of the most popular and emblematic liquors made in Costa Rica are not readily available in other countries. Cerveza Imperial and Ron Centenario are not a problem in this regard; in fact, they are often sold at cheaper prices overseas. However, when it comes to Guaro Cacique and other fine products made by the government-owned National Distillery, they are hard to find outsid...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The few, critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles that still arrive in Costa Rica during nesting season may stop coming here altogether due to climate change. In the 21st century, hawksbills have barely arrived on the beaches of the Pacific coast. On the Caribbean shores, the number of Eretmochelys imbricata nests at the Cahuita National Park has been dwindling ove...

The morning spent with Kayak Jaco was a highlight of my month. Guides Wilbur and Jacob taught the group the basics of paddling, with Kayak Jaco’s homemade, bamboo paddles, prior to pushing off for a three-hour journey that exceeded my every expectation! Playa Agujas, the beach of origin, has gorgeous green-blue flat water that begged an invitation. After the guides assisted the five of us into the...

As the summer season in Costa Rica winds down and the green season draws near, it is time for great Costa Rica travel deals. One such bargain is a hot Costa Rica vacation package of a romantic getaway for two to Cala Luna boutique hotel at Tamarindo Beach. The Cala Luna Romantic Beach Package includes: three nights’ accommodation in a deluxe room with a romantic welcome of sparkling wine and...

Nosara, Costa Rica is renowned for some of the best surfing in Costa Rica, and for being a yoga paradise. But there are plenty of other exciting adventure and nature tours to do as well on this string of beautiful beaches along the Nicoya Peninsula. Here are five fun tours to try during your visit to Nosara and Playa Guiones: 1. Miss Sky Canopy Tour Tours: 8:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily. Wh...

Source: Getty Commons The BBQ grilling season in Costa Rica coincides with the holidays and the beginning of the busy tourist season. Although there has been a recent push towards greater diffusion of outdoor grilling culture in Costa Rica thanks to events sponsored by Weber and the promotion of higher-quality cuts, skyrocketing beef prices are prompting many families in Costa Rica to put away...

Testing the Advanced Lesco platform Students from the School of Business of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) have developed an Internet application specially designed to improve the lives of the hearing-impaired community. The Advanced Lesco project is an online platform that allows users to contact a sign language interpreter who can assist them in real-time via web and telephone conference...

Source: Wikimedia Commons In Santa Cruz, province of Guanacaste, residents of the small town of Ortega will spend a significant portion of Good Friday pursuing a member of the Alligatoridae family of species. To this end, members of the community got together on Palm Sunday to start construction of a large artificial pond where they will keep the cayman for several hours before taking it back ...

The Republic of Costa Rica is divided into 81 cantons administered by municipal councils. Over the last few years, 74 of these municipalities have passed ordinances prohibiting the cultivation of transgenic crops and other genetically modified organisms (GMOs). That 90 percent of Costa Rica's territory is transgenic-free is a point of pride for anti-GMO activists; however, some legislators don't t...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Swimmers and surfers beware: Several whitetip reef sharks, Triaenodon obesus, have been sighted, photographed and filmed over the last few days in both Playa Langosta and Playa Avellanas, both part of Costa Rica's Gold Coast in the province of Guanacaste. Although sharks are known to swim in the “Barco Hundido” (Shipwreck Alley) underwater spot between Langosta and Av...

Source: Flickr CC Is it more expensive to live in Costa Rica than in Mexico, Peru or Venezuela? A recent report by national TV network Teletica interviewed three well-traveled expats who are certainly not feeling the Pura Vida when it comes to their personal finances, and their stories confirm the ongoing trend of skyrocketing prices in consumer goods and services. A cursory look into the situ...

Ghaleb Nasar Al Bihani Ghaleb Nasar Al Bihani was a religious student in Afghanistan when he was introduced to jihad (the holy struggle of Muslims against infidels that is often hijacked by imbecilic extremists for terror and violence). These days, he practices yoga and Spanish as he dreams of one living in Costa Rica, Spain or Uruguay. First, however, he must somehow obtain a release from the...

No longer made in Costa Rica April 2014 was not a good month for the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in Costa Rica. Two big companies, Bank of America and Intel, shut down a major chunk of their operations in the Central Valley and about 2,000 workers received the dreaded pink slips. Earlier in April, Illinois call center CustomerSpeak suddenly sent 500 employees home. This exodus is...

Source: Red Cross Costa Rica The days between Palm and Easter Sundays are often the busiest of the year for Red Cross rescue brigades in Costa Rica. That is when thousands of people will leave their homes and head to the mountains, the beaches and the countryside. To this end, the Red Cross has deployed 1,200 rescuers in strategic locations during Holy Week, and one particular emergency they w...

Seized beasts. Source: Fuerza Publica Three cows stuffed inside a passenger vehicle, two cases of Old Milwaukee and one of Milwaukee's Best are among the unusual items that police officers assigned to guard the land borders of Costa Rica have confiscated in recent days. These attempted smuggled goods join a long list of peculiar items destined for the versatile and burgeoning black market in C...

Still the champ: Tiquito Vasquez The first undercard fight of the long-awaited and multimillion dollar rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley featured veteran boxer Bryan “Tiquito” Vasquez of Costa Rica, who did not disappoint in his defense of the interim super welterweight title of the World Boxing Association. Tiquito won against Mexican fighter Jose Felix Jr by unanimous decisi...

Source: MSP Flickr Officers of the National Coast Guard Service in Costa Rica literally gave the shirts off their backs to stop sinking of evidence by four Colombian men charged with cocaine smuggling. According to a press release by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), the suspects tried to scuttle a 42 foot powerboat with 100 kilos of cocaine by removing special drain plu...

Source: CNFL Twitter Relentless wind speeds reaching 90 kilometers per hour in the populous Central Valley of Costa Rica and the surrounding mountain ranges kept Red Cross workers, paramedics and public utilities crews on their toes this week. Two delivery trucks in the municipality of Santa Ana were nearly crushed by uprooted trees, people were injured by flying debris and several communities...

Santa Teresa’s awesome waves will be in the limelight once again as top Costa Rica surfers roll into town at the end of April for the fifth 2014 Olympus National Surfing Circuit competition. The COPA Unit tournament will be held April 26 and 27 at the spectacular beach of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, on the southwestern Nicoya Peninsula. Famous for year-round Pacific Coast surf and a friendly, ...

For me, the Osa Peninsula is one of the most worthwhile places to visit in Costa Rica. The small stretch of remote rugged jungle in the southwestern corner of the country, bounded by the deep blue Pacific Ocean to the west and the placid Golfo Dulce to the east, is renowned by scientists, explorers and nature lovers as an astounding paradise. Covering an area of 700 square miles, this last rema...