Chile, one of the most developed nations in Latin America, has a new President-elect. Former President Michelle Bachelet will once again lead the South American nation after a victory over her oponent Evelyn Matthei, also a female presidential candidate. In Costa Rica, President Laura Chinchilla will not be succeeded by a woman next year; however, she has set an important precedent for women in hi...

Christmas is a special time of year for birders. Equipped with binoculars, bird guides and checklists, avid birders throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, rain, or maybe even tropical sun, to take part in the 2013 Christmas Bird Count. The longest running “Citizen Science survey” in the world, the annual Christmas Bird Count provides critical data on bird population trends. The National Audubon...

A tiny and pesky insect is wreaking havoc in banana plantations across Costa Rica. Producers, exporters and government officials are keeping a close eye on the widespread plague of cochineal insects that enjoy sucking on recently sprouted banana leaves before they move on to the fruit. The cochineal bugs do not actually get to the banana flesh itself; however, they leave unsightly black stains on ...

Smartphone and tablet owners in Costa Rica do not usually need encouragement to stay glued to their devices, but recent developments in terms of apps and available services are going to make the mobile experience even more enticing. Music streaming services Spotify and Rdio recently expanded into Costa Rica, and Apple has added a new category for games in the local version of the iTunes App Store....

Eden Pastora Once again, members of the Nicaraguan government of Daniel Ortega say that the colonial town of Nicoya and the province of Guanacaste are part of Nicaragua and that an international court should define to which country they belong. This time, the statements come from ex-guerrilla Eden Pastora, who is the person responsible for dredging the San Juan River along the border betwe...

A major pizza retail chain from Spain is looking to capture the burgeoning franchise market in Costa Rica. Telepizza has about 1,200 locations around the world and employs about 25,000 people who make, serve and deliver delicious pizza. It will not be an easy undertaking for Telepizza, however, considering the troubles that major brands such as Domino's and Pizza Hut have experienced in Costa Rica...

A joint project between a division of the Ad Astra Rocket Company in Liberia and the government-owned Petroleum Refinery of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: RECOPE) aims to generate and store hydrogen fuel to be used by the transportation sector. This hydrogen plant was recently unveiled in Guanacaste, a province that is leading the way in clean energy projects and sustainability. According to an o...

Maykol Torres surfing in Costa RicaThe holiday season in Costa Rica brings many good things for everyone to enjoy. The weather is great across the country and there are parades, carnivals, shopping bonanzas, etc. On the Pacific coast, the surf at this time of the year is spectacular, which is why the 2014 Olympus National Surf Circuit is taking place right now in Playa Bejuco, south of Jaco Beach...

When is beer and chocolate a good combination? When it takes place as part of the holiday festivities in Costa Rica. From December 20th to 22nd, the Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo, province of Limon, will be home to the 2nd Annual Chocolate Festival to be held at the Koki Beach Park. Craft beer will be one of the highlights of this festival, which will feature the introduction of a special brew th...

Source: giorodriguez.com Mountain climbing is not usually considered to be a polluting activity, at least not when compared to auto racing. There is, however, a significant carbon footprint left by climbers who train for the ultimate summit on Earth: Mount Everest. Climber Giovanni Rodriguez from Costa Rica aims to make a difference among the mountaineering community by making the first carbon...

In Costa Rica, the traditional procrastinating philosophy of “there's always tomorrow” often gets in the way of big business. Such is the case with the leviathan National Insurance Institute (Spanish acronym: INS), which recently reported that more than 60 percent of marchamos (vehicle circulation permits in Costa Rica) for 2014 have not yet been paid. With almost 1.2 million registered vehicle...

Update: Portions of this article have been removed on behalf of a party involved, due to being inaccurate. The remainder of the article will stay intact as the original. Witnessing a monkey electrocuted by un-insulated power lines or transformers is a very disturbing, yet an all too common sight in Playa del Coco and surrounding beach communities. As many well know, the Coco area is a natural ...

Manuel Briceño Jimenez opened Carnicería La Colonial in downtown Samara three months ago. In Nicoya, he has another butcher’s shop with the same name 300 meters from the Alfaro bus station. “Samara is a market we decided to enter because many customers we have in Nicoya told us to go to Samara. We wanted to cover that area and please our customers with a good product at the same prices as in Ni...

Are we able to understand large amounts of information more easily with comprehensive images? On December 11th, international journalists, developers, and designers gathered at the Universidad National Costa Rica in Nicoya for a conference on Data Visualization sponsored by Voice of Guanacaste. The workshop was led by Brazilian journalist and Knight Fellow Mariana Santos and co-created by Voice...

The Nosara 2013 Cultural Festival was carried out with a completely full arena and the streets flooded with color, music and people. For the second time, Nosara’s Integral Development Association (ADIN) organized the festival with the help of residents of La Esperanza, Garza, Delicias, Barco Quebrado and Nicoya who joined in for the family activities. This year saw more action than last. The...

Artist rendering of a master bathroom in the Croc's Casino Resort condominium development in Jaco beach Costa RicaOver the last few months, Jaco Beach has become Costa Rica's busiest real estate market, and there is a very strong demand for condos. For the most part, supply is adequate thanks to a few development projects, but buyers are looking for more than just condos for sale in Jaco Beach...

National park rangers and officials of the Guanacaste Conservation Area, one of Costa Rica's most active regions in terms of visits by both national and foreign visitors, recently announced the hours of operation they will observe durind the holidays and the busy high tourist season in Costa Rica. The following schedule will go into effect on Monday, December 16th, 2013 and will remain until Janua...

Lexus Dealership at Avenida Escazu Income inequality grew in Costa Rica during 2013, but not as much as in other nations. There are now about 100 individuals in Costa Rica whose net worth is more than $30 million, up from 85 a year ago; however, the super-rich in this country are less than in any other Central American nation -including Nicaragua. According to a recent article by Cesar Augus...

Source: MAG The city of Canas in the province of Guanacaste is now home to the first research station in Costa Rica that is dedicated to studying the effects of climate change on soil and regional agriculture. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Affairs (Spanish acronym: MAG), this research station is the first of its kind in Costa Rica, Central America and the Caribbean. ...

Source: Fuerza Publica San Jose, Costa Rica - December 16, 2013. This past Thursday, officers from the Directorate of Police Intelligence (DIPOL) in Costa Rica intercepted a major shipment of contraband cigarettes in the capital city of San Jose. In total, 40,000 packs of cigarettes were confiscated, and officials estimate that perpetrators stood to make up to $100,000 from this shipment -depe...

Costa Rican Expat, Cammy Enete, touches the smooth outer-layer of the majestic rainbow eucalyptus The giant evergreen displays of artistic color span across Costa Rica. So why hasn’t anyone heard of them? Eucalyptus deglupta, more commonly known as rainbow eucalyptus is a rapid growing tropical tree. Gazing at their trunks would lend you to think an entire kindergarden class equipped with cray...

Teaching English is a popular income source for expats in Costa RicaSo, you’d like to move abroad but don’t want to give up the perpetual habit of eating and maintaining a shelter?  No problem!  With some planning, and loads of patience, you can have it all. The five most common ways to earn a living in Costa Rica are: Telecommute Independent Consultant Property Management/ Real Estate ...

The hot days of December in Costa Rica entice children to enjoy a quick dip in the many beaches, lakes, ponds, and rivers across the country. One of the hottest regions during this time of the year is Guanacaste, and this is where three children recently passed away as they tried to escape the heat. One drowned in the Gulf of Nicoya and two others died in a pond near Sonzapote. The sad events w...

The Nosara Red Cross is organizing a family-friendly horse ride with the goal of raising funds for their special vertical rescue unit. The event will be this Saturday, December 14 and will start from the soccer field in La Esperanza. The tour will travel through several different parts of the Nosaran countryside, such as Playa Guiones and Garza. Carlos Villalobos, head of the Red Cross in No...

Frugal shoppers, penny-wise consumers and assorted cheapskates already know that Costa Rica is one of the most expensive countries in Latin America, which is why they need all the help they can get when it comes to saving their hard-earned colones (or dollars). The holiday season can be very tempting in terms of spending, but not for Costa Rica Gratis (Costa Rica of Free), an online network of mon...

Poas Volcano crater in Costa RicaRecent volcanic activity along with sulphuric emissions and the heavy presence of noxious gases are prompting national park rangers in Costa Rica to take precautions with regard to visitors. Volcano tourism is very popular in Costa Rica during this season, and some of the most-visited volcanoes are certainly showing off their natural beauty, but officials are cont...

If you live in Guanacaste, or just about anywhere else in Costa Rica, you may be familiar with the following situation: You have already turned off the lights in your bedroom and sleep is about to consume you when suddenly you hear TCHAK-TCHAK-TCHAK, or a permutation thereof. That would be an adult male gecko invading your bedroom; a younger female will sound more like chip-chip-chip. What should ...

Happy clients at Sunset Surf Camp in DominicalWhat happens when a sustainability-oriented surf camp and an NGO whose goal is to “build, support, and activate an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet” join forces? Boom! Sunset Surf Camp and One Percent For The Planet have come together and agreed on promoting some of today’s most vital values: living a healt...

BBQ with friends and family on the rooftop patio lounge at Hotel ChantelSundays are now the best days to enjoy the Gold Coast of Costa Rica. At Hotel Chantel in Playas del Coco, every Sunday is Funday, which means that visitors get to take a dip, relax by the pool and spend the afternoon enjoying a BBQ in the company of friends and family while delighting in the best beach view in Guanacaste. ...

The 2013 Adventure Racing World Championships in Costa Rica finished this week with the Thule Adventure Team from Sweden crossing the finish line in Sarapiqui, province of Heredia. This is the second championship for team Thule, the last time they took the title was in 2011 in Australia. Participating athletes and race observers agreed that this was the toughest race ever. According to the Thul...

The children of Samara will soon have a new place where they can go to run, play and spend their pent-up energy. Parents of the students of Samara Pacific School are in the process of building a playground next to the school that will be open to the public. Although the public elementary school in Samara has a playground, it is only available to the school’s students during school hours, noted ...

In addition to the typical December tamales, seafood is one of the most valued seasonal foods during the year-end season. For that reason the fishing of certain species is increasing and those such as conch and sea cucumbers are covertly harvested, despite being protected by law. On Sunday November 24, volunteers from the Red Cross regional marine group, while carrying out diving practice, f...

The Costa Rica Star recently published about cowboys and horse culture in Guanacaste Costa Rica. Time to polish up your cowboy boots and belt buckles to look spiffy for the next round of traditional community festivals. This season the first community to host fiestas in the canton of Nicoya will be Caimital, this weekend from December 13 to 16. According to Maria Teresa Salas Murillo, presid...

The Costa Rica Star has previously published extensively about Costa Rica's animals being harmed or killed by electric shock from missing insulation in power wires throughout Costa Rica. In mid-November, ICE crews began insulating more than 100 transformers that have been identified in the area as danger points for the electrocution of monkeys and other wildlife. In the past five months, Nos...

With the participation of the Latin American Motocross champion, Ricardo Chacon, and the runner-up Roberto Castro, as well as the national women’s champion Melissa Tencio, who is only 14 years old, the Guanacaste Motocross championship final will be held in Nosara on December 15 at 9 a.m. The race will complement the events of the second Nosara Christmas cultural festival, organized by the Nosara ...

Source: Santa Elena Project The late environmentalist Jairo Mora was certainly one of the most celebrated and important persons in Costa Rica in 2013. His commitment to the protection of sea turtles in the Caribbean coast ended up claiming his life and left many people wondering what makes the Caribbean region of Costa Rica so different from Playa Rajada and Playa Ostional in Guanacaste, two p...

Mari Brenes exploring Guanacaste at Arenal Volcano Contact Mari Brenes at Palm Real Estate by calling (506) 8352-9923 or send an email to [email protected], her team is available to answer all of your questions about buying or renting condos in Guanacaste Costa Rica. North American and European house hunters who are setting their sights on the United States housing market are findin...

They are magnificent, geometrically acute and mystifying. They are the stone spheres of Costa Rica, majestic objects patiently created by the indigenous ancestors to the boruca people who call the Osa region their home, precisely the districts of Cortes, Palmar and Sierpe in the province of Puntarenas. Just a few days ago, the Ministry of Culture in Costa Rica announced that Costa Rica's beloved s...

Data provided by Bing search for Mashable.comAccording to Mashable, a leading British-American website covering Internet technology and social media, Costa Rica is among the top 10 most-searched travel destinations in the world. The data was provided by Bing, Microsoft's flagship search engine property, and it shines a light on how tourism and hospitality operators are taking advantage of these t...

Just in time for the holidays, popular tourist destinations such as Playas del Coco in Guanacaste are about to see a major influx of visitors. Although tourism and hospitality operators in Guanacaste and across Costa Rica have been working diligently over the years in making sure that their staff is fluent in English, from December 13th to January 5th they will mostly be catering to the needs of S...