Source: Wikimedia Commons Mike Periu, a Miami-based financial expert whose work has appeared in CNN and Yahoo!, recently published a report on the five most expensive places to live in Latin America. Costa Rica occupied fourth place, which closely follows Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela. It is important to note that Uruguay has a high economic development index and Brazil is the “B” of the BR...

Source: Flickr Creative Commons Dozens of children from the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica recently gave Mother Earth a nice present in advance of August 15th: 500 fruit trees planted in strategic areas. According to Yency Arroyo Murillo of Diario Extra, business leaders and public officials from the Municipality of Osa helped in coordinating this noble cause. The trees have been planted along...

The City of Suzhou - Source: Flickr CC In the wake of the visit of the political leader of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, journalist Gustavo Arias of business weekly El Financiero, owned by Grupo Nacion, published a series of facts about the Asian economic powerhouse and her environmental record as it relates to Costa Rica. Mr. Arias did not mince any words when mentioning the ...

The National Groundwater, Irrigation and Drainage (Senara) of Costa Rica has developed a project for the construction of a large reservoir in the Guanacaste area that would provide drinking water to 350 thousand homes, even in the dry season. It will be located in the lower part of the canton of Abangares, throughout 21 farms that are currently being devoted to livestock, as the land is not ver...

Long live Nicoya in peace! With these opening words, Marta Arauz, coordinator of the Annexation International Cultural Festival, welcomed hundreds of people who attended to enjoy an evening of music and dance in the Colonial City. The Technical Professional High School (CTP) of Nicoya warmed up the stage with a presentation of “The Traditions of my People,” a group of Costa Rican dances from...

In Costa Rica, Mother's Day is observed on August 15th. That day coincides with the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is part of the country's Roman Catholic heritage. Like in many other countries around the world, Mother's Day is one of the most widely celebrated holidays of the year. At the AmaTierra Retreat and Wellness Center in San Pablo of Turrubares, Mother's Day is a very spe...

Source: Flickr Amid allegations of dubious funding, money laundering and even ties to powerful drug cartels, more than 100 pirate radio stations in Costa Rica will be investigated by public officials and law enforcement officers. According to National Chamber of Radio Sations (CANARA in Spanish) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT in Spanish), there are 13...

Workers in Costa Rica have certain legislative protections against sexual harassment, but what about non-sexual badgering and mistreatment such as making fun of someone's appearance or assigning employees tasks that are considered denigrating? The Special Permanent Committee on Women's Affairs of the National Assembly in Costa Rica is looking into the matter and is proposing legislative action. ...

Alba Rodriguez - Source: Facebook The Miss Costa Rica 2013 beauty pageant has been filled with controversy and animosity, which in turn have been fueled by the eternal flames of online social networks. The latest scandal is centered on allegations by contestants who are not the winner, Fabiana Granados, and who have gone on record to claim that the fix was in. We are either looking at a sordid...

Jair Perez. Photo by Alfredo Barquero. Source: FEDESURF CR In the pro surf circuit of Costa Rica over the last few years, a few names keep coming up time after time: Carlos Munoz, the McGonagles, Luis Vindas, etc. This year, however, a name seldom heard before is being talked about as one of the strongest contenders to win the coveted National Circuit: Jair Perez. Although Jair Perez is jus...

Good fences make good neighbors. It is easier to be friendly with your neighbor if neither of you trespasses upon the others property or privacy. For decades that hasn’t been the case between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, who at one time or another have been in a squabble over territory. The latest is a claim by Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Enrique Castillo, who on Monday accused Nicaragua of off...

Tenant laws in Costa Rica are pro-tenant in that even if a tenant refuses to pay rent they can continue to live in the property until the landlord exhausts all of his or her legal hurdles to evict them, a process than can take years in the worst case scenario. But that may soon change with the passage in first debate of a reform to the Landlord-Tenant law that expedites the process of eviction,...

Arabs and Jews, blacks and whites, teens and seniors, Anglos and Mexicans, Ticos and Nicaraguans, Cowboys and Indians. In Costa Rica we can all celebrate cultural harmony in a world focused on differences, not similarities. Where else does this blending of cultures come so easily? Certainly not the French with the British or Germans and Turks. Perhaps we fail to sufficiently appreciate the pea...

The Costa Rica Star has published an article in the past about Marijuana usage and culture in Costa Rica. Independent activist, Diego Grooscors, will begin today collecting the 160,000 signatures required to present to the Legislative Assembly a bill to legalize marijuana consumption in Costa Rica. Grooscors explained that the proposal is based on citizen initiatives presented in the past bu...

Source: Flickr Creative Commons Monsanto, the global agro-industrial corporate giant that is used to having its way around farming operations around the world in the name of big profits, is experiencing one setback after another. The next disappointment for Monsanto in the near future could arrive in Costa Rica via the country's Constitutional Chamber (informally known as Sala Cuarta). A fe...

Jairo Mora proved just how deadly poaching turtle eggs in the province of Limón along Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast has become. “They arm drug addicts with machetes and knives, sometimes even with makeshift or low-caliber weapons, so they can steal the eggs,” Mora told the Costa Rican daily La Nación, adding narco-traffickers pay the thieves with drugs to fuel their addictions. Twenty...

At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, July 22, Nicoya's streets were filled with movement and color during the typical parade of cultural emblems organized by the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Education, which included a float devoted to foods. This activity was a favorite of Nicoyans, and hundreds of people enjoyed the event along the main streets of the city center, some even walking along with ...

Cutter Sherman. Source: U.S. Coast Guard After a series of previous snubs in 2013 and delayed legislative review, a committee of 42 legislators in Costa Rica gave the green light to vessels from the United States Navy and Coast Guard to dock in the country. These ships, which are part of the Joint Patrol Agreement between the U.S. and Costa Rica to combat drug trafficking in the Atlantic and C...

Source: Fuerza Publica Public surveys commissioned by La Nacion and performed by UNIMER, as well as crime statistics compiled by the Ministry of Public Safety (MSP in Spanish), indicate that security has increased in Costa Rica in the last few years. Although President Laura Chinchilla’s approval rate has plunged to the lowest levels in Latin America -a sad fact she shares with her Brazilia...

Costa Rica Forest Coverage 2010 - Source: MINAE Before World War II, almost 75 percent of Costa Rica was covered by forest land. What happened in the next four decades was particularly damaging to the national ecosystem: The national forest coverage decreased to 21 percent. In just 33 years, from 1950 to 1983, more than 46 percent of forest land in Costa Rica was lost due to lack of refores...

The Costa Rica Star recently published an article that explains that the people of Guanacaste are disappointed in the broken promises from Laura Chinchilla over the years, and were going to not allow her into the province. A little after 9 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, July 23, President Laura Chinchilla's helicopter touched down in the plaza of Maquenco in the Canton of Nicoya, thus avoiding pos...

In the distance I see Las Catalinas’ Islands; it’s one of our destinations today. The Costa Rican captain of our vessel, WetAssII, navigates each wave with precision. He anticipates each swell before effortlessly maneuvering the boat so that we barely feel the dips that can often lead to seasickness. This is actually turning out to be a smoother ride than most roads in this country. As we race...

It has been more than five years since public officials from the National Tourism Board in Costa Rica (known by the initials ICT in Spanish) traveled to Playas del Coco in Guanacaste to give their approval for an ambitious development project that will bring a massive luxury marina with enough dock space to accommodate almost 300 yachts and host of administrative and business facilities. The Ma...

The Republic of Costa Rica has been selected as the host of this year’s Adventure Racing World Championships, which will see 80 teams from around the world competing for the adventure prize. The championships consist of 140 hours of non-stop challenges including trekking, kayaking, abseiling and inner tubing between 29 November and 12 December. The country has recently been putting a big emp...

The entire country arguably could be considered one big outdoor classroom – filled to the brim with amazing nature and exciting adventure. For this reason, Costa Rica has become one of the top family vacation destinations in the world. All in one small country you can find warm tropical weather, beautiful beaches along two oceans (Pacific and Caribbean), rainforest, cloud forest, volcanoes, riv...

Around 1995, Rene Castro, during his stint as Minister of the Presidency, kicked the gold miners out of Corcovado National Park on the lush Osa Peninsula. But they are at it again after having returned just months after Castro's stern verdict. Gold is profitable in an era of economic uncertainty and the penalty is minimal. Environmentalists estimate that more than 2,000 truckloads of earth have...

U.S. actor Matt Damon, famous for films like "Invictus" and "The Bourne Identity", is vacationing in the Pacific beaches of Costa Rica, local media reported Monday. The actor arrived in Costa Rica on July 15 and has been seen in the northern Pacific beaches of Costa Rica, which are often visited by celebrities worldwide due to its natural beauty and privacy. Damon, who likes surfing, signed ...

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla signed a bill on Monday to slash taxes on hybrid cars by 20 percentage points, in a bid to cut fuel emissions in the Central American nation. The 2006 tax will be cut to 10 percent, well below the 30 to 53 percent tax rates levied on vehicles fueled exclusively by gasoline and diesel but still higher than the zero-tax status enjoyed by electric vehicles. ...

The government of Costa Rica announced Monday that it will transform its two zoos into botanical gardens or urban parks in order to eliminate the practice of displaying caged animals. Simon Bolivar Zoo in downtown San Jose, and the Santa Ana Conservation Center west of the capital, will be modified in response to “a change of environmental conscience among Costa Ricans,” Environment and Energy ...

Street Racing or “Picones” are common in many areas of San José, mostly due to the lack of enforcement by the Policia de Tránsito (traffic police) during night hours. Street racers can easily find straightaways and other sites that naturally lend to street racing and without fear of traffic cops showing up and cutting their dangerous fun short. However, an “anti-picones” unit made its debut ...

The Big Mac Index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. It “seeks to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible”. The index takes its name from the Big Mac, a hamburger sold at McDonald’s r...

The situation is more and more desperate for local fishermen, and here I’m referring to the ones that have a panga (small fishing boat), canoe or an off-board motor. The capitalist model of extraction and commercialization of fishing resources doesn’t allow for recovery, and the mistaken policies of the people in charge of organizing and directing fishing in Costa Rica, Incopesca (the Costa Ric...

Once a year, on July 25th, the whole country turns its attention to Guanacaste and mainly to Nicoya. It is during this single day that the media devote complete reports to the historic annexation to Costa Rica by the Party of Nicoya. But the pretty face of the annexation has another side to it with deeper dimensions that is always obscured by the splendor of the formal events and the presence o...

Did you know that Nicoya was the name of the reigning monarch in this area at the time of the arrival of the Spanish in 1520? This and many interesting Nicoyan historical facts will be commemorated on July 25th during the Nocturbano, a guided city tour, starting at 7 p.m., that is taking place due to the initiative of Nicoyan native Cesar Rodriguez. The Nocturbano is an initiative launched in 2...

Andy Najar interrupted a defensive struggle with a goal in the 49th minute, and Honduras squeezed past Costa Rica 1-0 on Sunday night to earn a matchup against the United States in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. After Najar scored on a header off a fine crossing pass from Alexander Lopez, Honduras goalkeeper Donis Escober made the advantage stand up. Honduras and the U.S. will vie ...

There is a brand new tattoo shop opening in one of the beaches of Guanacaste, however the exact beach will not be mentioned as it is a secret, for now. The owner is seeking tattoo artists who have proven experience working in Costa Rica and also have their own tattoo equipment. There is a possibility to become a part owner in the business depending on the quality of the tattoo artist, the equip...

The most evenly matched quarterfinal in Gold Cup is the last one. Honduras and Costa Rica meet in Baltimore for the right to face the USA-El Salvador winner. A strong start to the Gold Cup has given way to a couple of lackluster performances for Costa Rica, and they're slight underdogs against Honduras in what will likely be the best of the quarterfinal matches. The Ticos downed Cuba 3-0 to ...

Fulham have completed their tour of Costa Rica with a 100 per cent record after triumphing 5-3 in a penalty shootout over Deportivo Saprissa. Hugo Rodallega scored the decisive penalty for Fulham, who were forced into a shootout after Saprissa scored the only goal of the second half to level the game at 2-2. Fulham had earlier come from behind in Saturday's friendly at the Estadio Nacional d...

John Mauro and Amber Kasic call it an “early honeymoon”. The couple recently returned from spending nearly three weeks in Costa Rica, working with survivors of human trafficking. “We both knew that we wanted service to be a part of our honeymoon,” explained Mauro. The pair of high school teachers said they wanted to make the trip before the start of the school year and tying the knot...

Churches throughout Costa Rica are expecting 30,000 people to join in on a march in defense of traditional marriage slated for August. The gathering is meant to counter attack recent legislations allowing same-sex civil unions, abortion, in vitro fertilization and challenges to the ban on the morning-after pill. Organizers are calling for Evangelicals and Catholics to unite against what they...