Swine Flu is slowly surrounding and is it targeting Costa Rica?
Well, you knew it was going to happen, and it did. Personally, I would have bet on Guatemala or Nicaragua claiming the first case. But Central America’s Costa Rica confirmed its first case of swine flu in a 21-year-old Costa Rican woman who returned to San Jose from Mexico.
Hours before the case was confirmed, assembly president Francisco Antonio Pacheco asked legislators to avoid handshake and kissing greetings. Costa Rica’s general public is being asked to up their hygienic measures and avoid body contact and kissing.
Hummm … no kissing … that not going to go over well in a country whose Faux Pas is embracing, and what about the adult industry, which the country is so well-known for. Another, interesting hummm! Is Pacheco now going to require full rubber suits for its prostitutes?
According to Costa Rica’s Health Minister Maria Luisa Avila, the patient “is not in danger.” so what does this tell us? Well, I hope Costa Rica’s media is not like CBS who help increase paranoia by four reporters this week on this “threatening disease” that is sure to turn into a @&%# pandemic! Read more... (659 words, 2 images, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)
With a tide change of nine feet, Golfito is a quite town, Costa Rica's last frontier that is unmarred by the rat-race of city and tourist life.
The first time I heard of Golfito, I thought it was some golf resort - not a sport that many (if any at all) Costa Rican’s knew about.
Golfito, literally meaning, “little bay” in Spanish, is referred to as the last frontier. It is considered a remote and secluded region of the country, Southern Pacific portion of the province of Puntarenas that’s separated from the open Pacific Coast by the famous Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica’s Golfo Dulce. It is about 360k from San Jose and about an hour plane ride in a 16 seater that lands on a single runway, flanked with tropical vegetation. A unexplored rugged wilderness, where the amenities are basic, but the where one can experience an alternative Costa Rica compared to the hustle and bustle of the more popular touristy destinations.
A short landing via airplane to Golfito. Tip: not uncommon for your baggage to be left behind, to be taken on the next flight if the plane is overloaded, so travel light Read more... (702 words, 4 images, estimated 2:48 mins reading time)
Limited Funds provide Limited Lifeguard Services. Over 98% of all Costa Rica beaches have no lifeguard services. And those that do, are threaten with lack of funding.
One of the questions I get asked all the time is, “How safe are Costa Rica’s beaches?” And having been a competition swimmer, driver, surfer, and former lifeguard in San Diego, my answer is three questions, “How good of a swimmer are you?” and “Can you spot a rip current and how to get out of one?”
Since about the early eighties when US surfers discovered the unreal wave action in Costa Rica, about the only people you saw in the ocean were surfers. Rarely would you see a Costa Rican swimming, at best it was wading ankle or the brave, waist deep in the ocean. Costa Ricans are smart; they know how dangerous their ocean can be. But even with that, a dangerous rip surge, even in waist deep water, can drag a body underwater and that is why, according the the Red Cross, there are about 120 recorded drownings a year. And only God-knows how many deaths occur from drownings that go unrecorded. Read more... (769 words, 2 images, estimated 3:05 mins reading time)
A fire in Puntarenas navel base, caused by a boat seized from drug-traffickers and burned 10 others Drug trafficking increasingly has become a concern in Costa Rica, as traffickers look for alternative routes to the U.S. Photo by Douglas Sancho of Tico Times Newspaper
With Mexico’s violent Cartel Drug War prompting the US State department to issue warning to Mexico travelers, the question now becomes, “Is Costa Rica Becoming the New Hub of Drug Traffickers?”
The US $200 million aid to Mexico hasn’t help stop the drug trade violence which is getting worse. Kidnappings and random killings are now a everyday occurrences. With that said, the traffickers are finding Mexico to be too dangerous and risky, which has caused them to look for other safer routes through Central America and the Caribbean.
In March, in the quite town of Golfito, a town known for its kick-back lifestyle, five men armed with pistols and machine guns ripped open a government storage that held about $9 million in cocaine on the US market and reseized it. A few weeks later police arrested 13 drug traffickers and seized six kilos of cocaine after a 2 year investigation. In Quepos, Puntarenas, and Jaco, there isn’t a day that goes by it seems where some confiscated drug smugglers’ boat isn’t tied up in the harbor. Read more... (592 words, 2 images, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)
Always try and tip, it gives respect and a service well done
Foreigners are told that hotels and restaurants add a percentage (usually 10%) into the bills to tip the employees, so there is no need to tip. Grant you that is true, but that percentage is suppose to get dispersed in fair and equal percentage to all the employees, like the busboy, cook, kitchen help etc. However, the time it filters down to the poor little waitress, that ran her ass off to service you, it may be a few pennies. Unfortunately, most goes to upper management, including the owner of the establishment. She may ONLY GET one percent of that $5 tip you gave.
In general, Costa Rican’s are polite and friendly and do not expect much, so they do not have a greedy hand out waiting for the tip. Tipping is a sign of respect and a big “thank you.” The majority of Costa Rican’s that eat out never leave anything extra, so it is simply not expected. The over-all labor force daily wage scale is less then $18 a day, so anything extra you can give them, helps make their day. Read more... (802 words, 1 image, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)
