Source: soulshelpingsoles.org Going shoeless in Costa Rica used to be a childhood rite of passage in rural areas. Children would spend a lot of time barefoot, especially out in the country. By the time they joined the first grade of elementary school, they would also start wearing shoes. In Guanacaste, however, not all families are able to purchase shoes for their young children. Public sch...

Church in Belen de Nosarita, NicoyaThe community of Belen de Nosarita in the canton of Nicoya is in shock over the murder of Ingrid Hernandez Mayorga, age 38, by her romantic partner at around 5 a.m. on January 10th. The police are searching for the only suspect, last name Castro, about 40 years old, who witnesses say fled into the mountains, an area he knows well. The two were a couple alt...

Many expatriates who visit household kitchens in Costa Rica are often surprised by the number of items that Ticos do not refrigerate. Bunches of onions colorfully hang from rafters, tomatoes and avocados are stored in baskets, fruits are placed on plates or in bowls, green onions are grown in glasses of water, and eggs never seem to be refrigerated. Do these items need to go in the fridge as soon ...

During the new year, the fiestas season continues in Nosara from January 22 to 27, then in Nicoya from February 4 to 10, transmitting live on Channel 7 on February 8. Garza also plans to host fiestas in February, although the exact dates have yet to be defined. The Nosara Integral Development Association has scheduled a lineup of all the traditional activities, starting on Wednesday, January 22...

The demand for organically produced food has been growing in Samara and Nosara, as well as nationally and internationally. Weekly organic markets are now hosted, and both towns also have organic stores and restaurants that tout offering organic food options. As the demand for organic products grows, however, so have concerns about suppliers, with occasional accusations cropping up that some sel...

Triathletes in Costa Rica are cordially invited to register for the first date of the 2014 TRIA Cup, which this year will take place at some of the most beautiful beaches in the province of Guanacaste. There are two available categories for triathletes to register in: Sport and Olympic. Playa Carrillo will be the site of the first Tria Cup event in late January. The Sport (also known as “Sprint...

UPDATE: The purpose of publishing this article is to prove how misinformation online can cause problems, it's always best to consult with a lawyer in matters of immigration and residency. The content in this article below is not accurate, and should create conversation on the topic. The Costa Rica Star recently published an article about getting your permanent residency in Costa Rica to avoid the...

Naked and Afraid television program on the Discovery Channel, partially filmed episodes in Costa Rica Last year, a 40-year old man found himself naked in a lush rainforest of Costa Rica. He was looking for something to eat when he disrupted the habitat of a large terciopelo (fer-de-lance) snake, which he proceeded to kill with a stick. The killing of the reptile, which you can watch here, was ...

Candice Michelle, the GoDaddy Girl Most foreign men who come to Costa Rica on vacation or business are bound to become enthralled by the sheer number of beautiful women who can be found across the entire country. It is no secret that the human gene pool in Costa Rica tends to favor the female species; this is clearly made evident by actresses such as Madeleine Stowe and Candice Michelle (the G...

Police and park rangers of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) are still searching for 9 crocodiles, some up to 16 feet long, who escaped from an artificial lagoon of the Tabacon tourist centre in Veracruz de Los Chiles. According to Major Rafael Araya, head of the local police unit, 5 of the 14 reptiles have been captured. Araya said the smallest is 11 feet long. The reptiles wer...

Asking for betters wages, equal to those of police officials from the Fuerza Publica, some 250 prison guards of the San Sebastián jail in San José will go on strike Monday. The strike is to pressure the Ministerio de Justicia y Paz to equate their salaries to those of colleagues working for the Ministerio de Seguridad Publica. The head of the workers union, the Nacional de Trabajadores y Tra...

One of the few achievements of the Chinchilla administration is the “intersectoriales”, the intersectoral (Interlinea) buses that was put into service last October, in response to the collapse of the Circunvalación. Although the idea of a bus connecting adjoining communities, without requiring travel to and from downtown San José, was not the idea of the current administration, it was put into ...

Hummus, kebab, falafel and other typical Middle Eastern foods have arrived in Samara, thanks to Israeli Elias Nassif and Italian David Rubini. In mid-December, Falafel Cafe opened its doors in the Natural Center, where Samara Organics was previously located. This small cafe offers fast food for those who are passing through or want something light. Orders can be for carryout or to dine in th...

Sign posted in Playa Garza announcing condo developmentFor years now, people in the maritime land zone of Costa Rica’s coasts have continued with their lives under the constant awareness that their time there could be limited, since Costa Rica’s constitutional court ruled that evictions must be carried out. The presidential moratorium granted to those in the maritime zone is in effect until Octob...

The Minister of Health, Daisy Corrales, has issued an order to temporarily close public pools that fail to fulfill the requirements established by the Regulation on Management of Public Pools (Executive Decree Nº 26671-S Reglamento Sobre Manejo de Piscinas Publicas) if changes aren’t made soon. In the canton of Nicoya, health authorities spent the last six months carrying out a general inspecti...

The Costa Rica Star previously published articles about Cacique Guaro, the national liquor of Costa Rica, and the famous shot of Chili-Guaro that many Ticos enjoy throughout Guanacaste. The Municipality of Nicoya is charging the canton’s liquor license owners half of the established quarterly price. The municipal decision was made as a result of the resolution by the Constitutional Court on ...

Puerto Viejo and the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica will host the second big surf competition in the 2014 Olympus National Surfing Circuit later this month. The Lime Coral Caribbean Classic II will be held January 25 and 26 at Playa Cocles just south of Puerto Viejo. Top surfers from all over Costa Rica will compete in seven categories in the race for the national champion title: Open Division (...

Carlos Ceciliano Lugo, Food and Beverage Manager for Croc's Casino Resort in Jaco Beach Costa RicaAccording to the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, there is no love sincerer than the love of food. In Costa Rica, food is a fresh, yet mostly utilitarian experience. This is something that Carlos Ceciliano, the new Food and Beverage Manager at Croc’s Casino Resort in Jaco Beach, is sworn t...

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is a Blue Zone. A “Blue Zone” is a place where people live happily and healthily for a very long time. The term was popularized by author-educator-explorer Dan Buettner in his 2008 book, “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from People Who’ve Lived the Longest.” Published by the National Geographic Society, Buettner identified places in the world where ther...

Happy couple kissing on the beaches of Costa Rica after getting marriedNewlywed couples from Europe to North America are flocking to the tropical paradise of Costa Rica for the ultimate romantic wedding and honeymoon destination. The Wall Street Journal recently named Costa Rica as the “Best Destination to Say ‘I Do’ in Latin America”. Costa Rica has become a leader in destination weddings and...

Photo of prisoners at Guantanamo BayThree Chinese men unlawfully detained by the United States at the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention camp in the island of Cuba were recently cleared for release to the Slovak Republic in Central Europe. At one point, however, these Muslims were ready to start a new life in Costa Rica, at least until the People's Republic of China (PRC) got in the way. A...

Sean Paul to perform at the 2014 Palmares festival in Alajuela, Costa RicaRevelers in Costa Rica are counting down the days to the Palmares Festival, a cantonal celebration in the province of Alajuela that has become one of the hottest tickets in the busy January season of festivities. As usual, the iconic Cerveza Imperial is the main corporate sponsor of the Palmares Festival, and they recently ...

Vehicle received by the Samara Police from the Ministry of SecurityOn December 10, the Samara police received a 2008 Mazda pickup from the Ministry of Security to use in patrolling the district’s neighborhoods. The patrol unit has new tires, air conditioning and is in “optimal condition,” according to Samara Police Chief Jorge Luis Jimenez Gonzalez. The Public Force in San Jose recently receiv...

Recycling Center employees in Nosara Costa RicaBeginning in September of 2013, the Institute for Social Assistance (Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social - IMAS) was giving 1 million colones ($2,000) every month to the Recycling Center in Nosara to provide a salary of 100,000 colones ($200) to all of its ten female employees. This subsidy was cut off completely in the month of December, and now the wom...

Source: Wikimedia Commons On Saturday, January 4th, Costa Rica celebrated the 202nd anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille with little fanfare. It was a quiet day of observation that served as a reminder that every little improvement that is made to improve the lives of the visually-impaired is certainly worth every effort. Louis Braille was a child whose life underwent a major turn when...

XTERRA World Tour arrives in GuanacasteCosta Rica is one of the latest additions to the XTERRA World Tour. The XTERRA off-road triathlon races, which got their start in the Hawaiian island of Maui in the mid-1990s, have seen great expansion around the world in recent years. It was only a matter of time before the XTERRA World Tour landed in Costa Rica, and it will do so in March 2014 at Playa Conc...

BBQ steak on a Weber gas grill in Costa RicaAs the dry season gets underway in Costa Rica, the smell of grilled cuts and barbecued meats permeates the air. “Carne asada” (grilled meat) is a tradition in many households after Christmas and for New Year's Eve, and it is the main dish offered at the food stalls of the Zapote fairgrounds, which recently wrapped up without fireworks. Grilling will con...

One of the most heavily discussed topics in the ongoing debates among presidential candidates in Costa Rica has been corruption. At a debate organized by the National University (Spanish initials: UNA) in October the word “corruption” was mentioned 219 times among six candidates. Corruption was once again mentioned during a nationally-televised debate this past Monday, and many voters feel that ca...

Catching a jump into the air while kiteboarding in Costa RicaThe high tourist season in Costa Rica coincides with Guanacaste's warmest and windiest months, which also happen to be the best time for kiteboarding (also known as kitesurfing). This adventuresome activity is quickly gaining interest among tourists and residents of Guanacaste, a province that has the best wind, beach and ocean conditio...

The 32nd edition of the annual Culture Week event is taking place now in Santa Cruz, province of Guanacaste. The event started on January 4th at the Carlos Rodriguez amphitheater, located in the Bernabela Ramos Park. This week-long celebration of local culture and tradition is believed to be the oldest continuous cultural event in Costa Rica. Culture Week in Santa Cruz is made possible by the C...

Ivan Neville. Source: Wikimedia Commons The Fourth Annual Jungle Jam in Jaco Beach is already one of Costa Rica's premier musical events, but this year's Jungle Jam will truly shine thanks to the performances of two high-caliber musicians whose legendary body of work includes playing next to the Rolling Stones, the Allman Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Herbie Hancock, and others. As previously rep...

Canadian airlines West Jet offers service to LIR in GuanacasteShould there be a serious emergency at the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR) in Liberia, the province of Guanacaste would be ill-prepared to save lives. Such was the assessment recently made by journalist Carlos Eduardo Vargas of national newspaper La Nacion in Costa Rica. This theoretic evaluation was based on an estima...

Bar and restaurant administrator: Pedro Chavarria CamachoOn December 1, three hooded men held up Vista Verde Bar and Restaurant in Samara and got away with about 1.2 million colones ($2400) as well as seven liters of various types of liquor. Pedro Chavarria Camacho, the bar’s administrator, related that the bar was busy that night but the thieves must have hidden nearby, waiting for the place ...

Photo of Marco Campos in GuanacasteMarco Campos, age 49, has formed part of the communities of Nosara and Samara for the past 12 years, and his efforts to help these and other communities develop has not gone unnoticed. In December in San Jose, the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) recognized him for his work to benefit the province of Guanacaste and the country. UPF, founded in 2005, is a glo...

Three dates. Three fabulous beaches. Three communities. The third year of the Triple Crown of Surf Nosara promises triple benefits: entertainment, sport and philanthropy. Last year, all three dates of the triple crown were held at Guiones beach, but this year the tournaments are again scheduled for three very distinct locations, each with distinct challenges for the surfers. The Triple Crown...

Gamesa, Spanish engineering company, to bring wind energy production to GuanacasteGamesa, a Spanish engineering firm that specializes in wind turbine technology, will build a new wind farm in Guanacaste that could be generating electricity by 2015. With this latest announcement, Guanacaste is cementing its position as Costa Rica's leading region in terms of clean and renewable energy projects. ...

Participants in the Coastal Challenge (Rainforest Run) in Costa Rica, posing underneath the event bannerThe southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica will once again host one of the most rigorous foot races in the adventure racing circuit. The Coastal Challenge, also known as the Rainforest Run, puts runners in a very difficult 236 kilometer course that moves from the coast to the jungle and from the ...

Marine biologists who study cetaceans and fans of aquatic mammals in general know that Costa Rica is blessed with an incredible abundance of these creatures. As a result, scientists, photographers and filmmakers often visit our coasts. This time, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) went undercover and underwater with Spy Tuna, a robotic camera device that captures unprecedented footage of m...

The New Year has thus far failed to bring relief at the pump for drivers in Costa Rica. The prices of gasoline, diesel, propane, and other fossil fuels remain stubbornly high, and the Public Services Regulatory Authority (Spanish acronym: ARESEP) is currently evaluating a request to increase fuel prices. Could 2014 become a decisive year for carpooling in Costa Rica? As the number of cars incre...

Enjoy online food delivery services in Liberia and Tamarindo GuanacasteOne of the keys to business success in Costa Rica is to offer home delivery of goods and services. This is known as “servicio express,” and it is very popular with food, beverages, medications, and groceries. Two new online food delivery services in Costa Rica are making it easier for people in Guanacaste to browse menus and o...