Written by Erin Raub
The majority of Costa Rica’s biodiversity comes in small packages.
Costa Rica’s rich ecological heritage has earned it international recognition, a booming eco-tourism industry, and a landscape that ranges from mountains to valleys, active volcanoes to oceanfront tropical forests. Residents are proud of the country’s incredible biodiversity, and tourists are delighted to discover Costa Rica’s unique wonders.
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Filed under: Costa Rican Wildlife on March 27th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Written by Mireille Darras
Pollutants have been found in the Palo Verde park in Costa Rica.
The tribunal for the Preservation of the Environment has ordered IDA (Agrarian Development Institute) and Senara (National Irrigation System) to pay a sum of $6 million or more because of the damages they caused to the flora and fauna of Palo Verde. According to the tribunal, the park received excessive amounts of contaminated water containing residue of insecticides. The water came trough the canals used to irrigate the crops under the care of IDA in regions surrounding the Park.
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on March 27th, 2008 | No Comments »
Written by Erin Raub
The scenic scape cow designed by Amanda Blake can be found on Ave 4.
The international CowParade art exposition, which brought over 120 fiberglass statues to the streets of San José, will be inaugurated today in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral. The individually decorated cow statues were placed around the city over the past week — in Morazán Park, the Avenida 4 National Park, and along both the Avenida Central and the Ricardo Jiménez Boulevard — and as is common for CowParade, mostly feature designs that reflect local culture.
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on March 27th, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Written by JohnK
Tourists to Costa Rica may soon find themselves behind bars.
The island of San Lucas, 40 minutes away from the Port City of Puntarenas, in the Gulf of Nicoya, is soon to become a popular tourist destination. The San Lucas prison was created by the Costa Rican dictator Tomás Guardia and was Costa Rica’s most feared prison from 1873 to 1991. The prison’s conditions were so infamous that it was said that to be sent to San Lucas was equivalent to receiving a death sentence. La isla de los hombres solos (The Island of Lonely Men), a novel by Costa Rican writer and former prisoner José León Sánchez, is based on San Lucas and the experiences of its residents.
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on March 26th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Written by JohnK
Several Costa Rica beaches Have Lost the Ongoing Battle Against Contamination.
Eight popular beaches have lost the Bandera Azul Ecológica (BAE) certification. The Eco-Friendly Blue Flag is awarded to beaches, communities, schools, businesses and other organizations that pass a set of environmental requirements. Among these requirements are: the existence of a basic level of solid and liquid waste-management, water must be free of pollutants and drinkable water must be made available to visitors.
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on March 26th, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Written by JohnK
It may soon be “Butts out” in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica’s Health Ministry is working to push through laws that will ban smoking in restaurants and shopping centers. The set of laws include restrictions on cigarette advertising and the inclusion of more visible health warnings on cigarette packs. Another cigarette related law aims to block the entry of a package containing only 5 cigarettes into the market. These small packs are thought to be a strategy used by tobacco companies to target young people and those with low incomes.
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on March 25th, 2008 | No Comments »
Written by JohnK
Traditional Costa Rican Coffee is Made Using Cloth Filters.
Costa Rica is known world wide for it’s superb coffee. Interestingly enough, Costa Ricans are only just starting to learn how to drink coffee. Throughout Costa Rica’s history, the coffee available to locals was very low quality as all the premium beans were destined for export where they could be sold at higher prices. The coffee available locally was so bad that roasters mixed it with sugar, and some even say blood from cattle was added, to make it palatable enough to sell. Today, it is likely that blood is not used anymore but some of the cheapest brands still add sugar, so stay away from them if you can.
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Filed under: Tico on March 25th, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Written by JohnK
Geothermal Energy Plants Provide Clean Energy in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
According to today’s reports, the Contraloría General de la República (CGR), Costa Rica’s regulating agency, rejected the Costa Rican Electricity Institute’s (ICE’s) request to buy two thermal power plants from Grupo Pujol-Martí Power Supply. The request was rejected because the purchase price was set at a level higher than the estimated value of the power plants. Although the CGR’s actions are in line with the Arias government policies of economic efficiency and transparency, it opens questions about Costa Rica’s short-term ability to generate enough power to meet growing demand.
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on March 24th, 2008 | No Comments »
Written by Claire Saylor
The Costa Rica National Surf Team Shows its National Pride in Panama.
Along with thousands of other Ticos that took to the beach this weekend to celebrate Semana Santa, the Costa Rican National Surf Team went to compete in the Central American Surf Championship 2008, south of the border in Playa Venao, Panama. The 15-member team won first place in the Championship for the third consecutive time in the 3-year history of the tournament, despite the absence their 2-year Open Champion Federico Pilurzu.
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Filed under: Surf on March 24th, 2008 | No Comments »
Written by Claire Saylor
Countdown to total shutdown in San Jose over Easter weekend.
The city of San Jose is just about closed for the weekend. The final buses will depart the city by 3pm today in route for northern and beach destinations. With bars and liquor sales shutting down at midnight last night, supermarkets and inner city transportation on a limited schedule and just about every single private and public business and bank closed up, San Jose has become a veritable ghost town.
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on March 20th, 2008 | No Comments »
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