Despite its small size, Costa Rica’s avian diversity is world renowned. More species have been recorded in this small nation than in the whole of United States and Canada combined. Learn more at: news.co.cr...

Source: Presidencia Costa Rica Council of the Americas Media Release -- Costa Rica is not only bringing Central America together as one voice on climate change, says President Luis Guillermo Solís, but it's also expanding relations with Africa and the Middle East to develop regional industries within the Caribbean and Latin America. "You have to add diplomacy to trade policies. You can't do on...

Wikimedia Commons Seven years ago, Stephen Fry travelled through all fifty states of the USA in a black cab. But he’s always been fascinated by events south of the border, so now, in this brand new four-part series, he embarks on an adventure into America’s backyard. In episode four, Stephen’s journey continues through Costa Rica and Panama. In Costa Rica he discovers a country, which is a ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEA8ocAu_VQ...

A wooden wedding bed carved with 138 figures from the Kama Sutra and a murder weapon shaped like a penis from the Stanley Kubrik film "A Clockwork Orange" are some of the pieces on show at the World Erotic Art Museum, or WEAM, the second-largest of its kind in the world, in Miami Beach. The museum has more than 4,000 erotic objects and artworks by such iconic artists as Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso...

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) wants to feature the creative work of it member states. On the occasion of the 21st Session of the UNWTO General Assembly, this UN-affiliated entity is launching its first ever UNWTO Tourism Video Competition. All UNWTO Member States have been invited to participate in this competition. Submission of videos has been closed. The public is now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrq7BNcoXhg...

After Words Movie Poster After an exclusive premier in New York City, the film After Words will be widely released in various Internet streaming venues. The reviews are in, and they fare much better than the last film that was mostly filmed in Costa Rica, the critically-panned science fiction blockbuster After Earth, starring Will Smith and his son Jayden. Meave Gallagher of the Houston Pre...

Rainforest in Costa Rica Costa Rica’s path towards carbon neutrality as a nation began in earnest in 2012; during the administration of former President Laura Chinchilla, a nationwide campaign for residents of Costa Rica to get involved in the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2021 was launched. “Limpia tu huella” (clean up your carbon footprint) officially started on Monday, Mar...

Source: Juliana Herz Facebook The legendary Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is an international best seller edition of this monthly magazine, and since its first issue in 1964 it has featured major names in the fashion modeling industry, such as Elle McPherson, Valeria Mazza, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Cindy Crawford, and many others. In recent years, the only model from Costa Rica who has grac...

Juliana Lopez Sarrazola. Source: Miss World Colombia 2015 Juliana Lopez Sarrazola, a 22-year old Colombian bikini model, could face the death penalty in China for the alleged crime of smuggling cocaine into the People's Republic of China. According to the online news daily El Mundo from Spain, Miss Lopez, who was also the 2015 Miss World Colombia candidate from Antioquia, a major coffee-pr...

Source: OVSICORI Since the early morning hours of May 18th, the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago has been in a constant state of exhalation. Geologists from the Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) have detected sustained seismicity at this colossus, and many of the resulting eruptions have been broadcast and recorded with a digital camera pointed righ...

They miss Jairo. Source: Sea Shepherd The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recently announced Operation Jairo, a sea turtle protection campaign that will take place this summer in southeastern Florida, Honduras and Costa Rica. Among the sites to be patrolled by Sea Shepherd volunteers this season is Moin Beach in Costa Rica’s Caribbean province of Limón, the site of the tragic murder of young...

Mouthless crab, a resident of the mangrove in Costa Rica The Pacific and Caribbean shorelines of Costa Rica are home to various mangrove forests that are extremely important for marine and coastal ecosystems. These forests feature unique vegetation that thrives on brackish water, and which provides a fertile habitat for many wildlife species such as tropical fish, crabs, caimans, monkeys, bats...

Source: OVSICORI Seismologist Javier Pacheco and Geologist Jorge Brenes of the Observatory of Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI) climbed to the top of the Turrialba volcano yesterday and brought back video of crater. It is important to keep in mind that this very active colossus has been producing eruptions since last week; for this reason, airports and school...

The Gold Coast of Costa Rica begins in the province of Guanacaste and continues down to the Central Pacific Coast in the province of Puntarenas. Jaco Beach is one of the best-known tourism hotspots of Costa Rica for many reasons, and the most important is that this coastal town has undergone considerable development for quite a few decades.   First-time visitors to Costa Rica do not usu...

Main Post Office in Costa Rica In recent years, Costa Rica has been working on implementing a system of street signs, numbered buildings and even postal codes to combat what some people perceive as an antiquated system of cardinal directions and descriptions based on old (and sometimes dubious) landmarks. Thanks to navigation and mapping technology such as GPS, Waze and Google Maps, mail carri...

Source: Fair Play Labs SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica - Feb. 26, 2015 - Fair Play Labs revealed today that Color Guardians, a new action title where side-scrolling action meets tricky, multi-faceted obstacles and objectives, will launch simultaneously for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the PlayStation®Vita portable entertainment system, Windows, and Mac OS on April 14, 2015. Color Guar...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Drones are invading Costa Rica, and so far that seems to be a good thing. The Costa Rica Star has been recently reporting on the resurgence of aerial photography and filming in our country, which happens to be irresistible for aerial photographers and drone operators who like to attach cameras to their unmanned aircraft.   The masterful video below was rece...

Originally from Kingdom of Spain, and inspired by medieval jousts, 'La Carrera de Cintas' is one of various equestrian events in Costa Rica, particularly in the province of Guanacaste, which is renowned for its cowboy (sabanero) identity and culture. The essence of this equestrian tournament is to catch the colorful tape positioned on a rope, which is hoisted up at about 3 meters from the groun...

What is life like when you quit your job, pack your bags and decide to start over in Costa Rica? For author Nadine Hays Pisani from the United States, the result of her adventurous experience has left her feeling Happier than a Billionaire. Quite a few longtime readers of The Costa Rica Star are familiar with Ms. Hays’ breezy prose and engaging literary style. We have published articles penned by ...

Playa Junquillal is part of the charming communities that make up the Gold Coast of Costa Rica. This quiet beach town is located about 30 kilometers west of Santa Cruz and 20 kilometers south of the major expat enclave of Tamarindo Beach. Playa Junquillal is about as quiet, serene, relaxed, and authentic as you can get in Costa Rica. Here you can find an estuary, choice breaks, a savannah, a handf...

Giamo Jackson Carter Each year, dozens of people from around the world arrive in Costa Rica to volunteer in various special programs and projects that aim to improve the living conditions of both Ticos and foreign visitors in our country. There are many wonderful volunteer opportunities in our country, and one of them is in the teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) field. Despite the ...

“Diversity in reflection; unity in action. These, dear friends, must be our greatest strength and the joint effort that must guide our community.” Such was the statement by Luis Guillermo Solis, President of the Republic of Costa Rica, during the opening ceremony of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), one of the most powerful blocs in the Americas.   Although t...

It is no surprise that many expatriate families arrive in Costa Rica with high expectations of experiencing a greater quality of life, at least better than in the communities they left behind. We often get to learn about the expat experience from the adults and heads of families, but what about their children? What are their expectations and reactions about being away from home and moving to Costa...

Many of the roller coaster attractions at the Parque Nacional de Diversiones (National Amusement Park) in Costa Rica have already thrilled and entertained thousands of riders in other countries. Such is the case of Boomerang, a thrilling roller coaster designed and built by the dependable Dutch firm Vekoma. Boomerang was rescued from Playcenter, a Brazilian amusement park located in the outskir...

Source: OVSICORI Located in the province of Alajuela, La Fortuna is one of the most visited regions of Costa Rica. There are many reasons for this, and a few of them are eloquently explained in this video, which was recently shared on YouTube by a traveler who had quite a blast visiting La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano.   The fun in La Fortuna begins with getting there. In this vid...

Source: Facebook The 63rd edition of the renowned Miss Universe international beauty pageant will be held on January 25, 2015 in Miami, and a beautiful woman from Heredia will be representing Costa Rica. It is widely held that the city of Heredia and its environs yield the highest percentage of pretty women in our country, although the communities may disagree on this fact. Still, only two pag...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Not many scuba divers are aware of the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica as an underwater paradise that begs to be discovered. Diving in this region of Costa Rica can be as rewarding as in the Caribbean; the trick is to getting the timing right. The right time is from now (December) until late April, and the reason is explained below.   Underwater visibi...

Costa Rica from the air Two of the hottest Christmas gifts received by tech and photography enthusiasts around the world were drone aircraft and GoPro high-definition cameras. According to a recent story in All Things Considered, a news program broadcast by National Public Radio in the United States, many YouTube videos posted on Christmas Day featured new drone operators crashing their new, e...

Source: Bandcamp Since 2004, alternative rock band The Movement in Codes has mostly been playing and recording hardcore punk. Most of the songs crafted by this band from Costa Rica are written in English, and in 2008 they were very close to landing a spot in the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago: They entered a contest to play the festival as an audience favorite, but in the end they were not c...

Just when you though Starbucks could not come up with more recherché ideas for its cafes, the coffee giant is outdoing itself with the opening of its first Reserve® Roastery and Tasting Room, where java connoisseurs will be able to enjoy many things, including a Coffee Passion Projection Wall made of smart glass displaying images of coffee at origin on the company’s own farm in Costa Rica, which i...

Costa Rica is a land of many attractive sunsets, and one of the best spots to see the sun go down amidst vanilla skies that seemed to have floated out of a Monet painting is Dominical, one of the prettiest coastal towns in our country. In recent years, Playa Dominical has attracted tourists who wish to keep this wonderful tourism secret all to themselves. As previously reported by The Costa Rica S...

In this video recently shared by a YouTube user, an agile three-toed sloth in Costa Rica negotiates a tin roof and wooden beams of what appears to be a rustic shack in a tourist hotspot. A few important observations about this video: As we all know, sloths are adorable. This was not a lazy sloth by any means; it seems to have covered about 25 meters of roof in four minutes. Notwithstanding...

One of the most exuberant nature preserves in the world is located in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica. As its name correctly implies, the Tortuguero National Park is brimming with turtles of all kinds: marine, freshwater and terrestrial turtles rule this haven for wildlife, which is also home to lush plant species, exotic birds, wild felines, caimans, sloths, manatees, and much more. Tortuguero...

In late September, The Costa Rica Star reported on a project undertaken by the Directorate of Conservation in the Central Pacific Area to install warning signs along the Tarcoles River advising residents and tourists about the presence of potentially dangerous caimans. The heart of the problem is feeding the numerous spectacled caimans (Caiman sclerops) that have migrated to that region from the C...

At the 2014 UN Global South-South Development Expo in Washington, DC, hundreds of participants from 174 government agencies and non-profit organizations gathered to discuss and evaluate 70 proposals to alleviate poverty. Among the programs highlighted at this expo was one proposed and managed by Costa Rica along with two partner nations. Part of the press release from the United Nations explains: ...

Do you know about the slow food movement? In Costa Rica, one of the major practitioners of this holistic activity is the Finca Luna Nueva (New Moon) Lodge, located in San Isidro of Peñas Blancas. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Finca Luna Nueva Lodge is an organic and biodynamic farm involved in several activities that are essentially retooled from philosophies from long ago. &nb...

Although the Jurassic World trailer was supposed to be unleashed on Thanksgiving, it appears that Universal Pictures jumped the gun (or the shark, if you watch the trailer below closely) and released an exciting theatrical trailer two days before planned. This new film, which is scheduled to be the mega summer blockbuster of 2015, is faithful to the fictional Jurassic Park universe created by the ...

Costa Rica is blessed with various kinds of hummingbirds; some are more colorful than others, but they are all adorable and fascinating. We even have one hummingbird species that prefers climbing to hovering when it comes to feeding on the sweet nectar of colorful tropical flowers, but there is nothing like watching hovering hummingbirds in Costa Rica. Aeronautical engineers and scientists have...