Mike Jones displays this 100lb plus trophy Rooster Fish, but not after a 45 minute battle, out of Playa del Coco
Fishing often seems to take its cue from the Longfellow poem/nursery rhyme that most Americans and Canadians growing up in the 1950s and 1960s (and before) know: ‘… when she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad she was horrid’.
The final spring months off most of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, especially the Central Pacific (Quepos/Manuel Antonio, Los Sueños/Jacó) and North Pacific (Tamarindo, Flamingo, Papagayo) was exactly like that, either really up or really down. During one of the up phases, for example, Jamie Casey, owner of the 38ft Macushla out of Los Sueños with Captain Johnny Cerpas, called me to enthusiastically report that her clients raised an incredible 47 sails on a full day charter, releasing an arm-wrenching 25.
Playas del Coco
Mike Jones fishing with Captain Jimbo Lopez from Albacora Sportfishing Tours caught this huge Rooster fish weighing over 100lbs. He was using a PowerRod by Shakespear, Daiwa Spinning Reel (model 4500BL Regal Z), with 20 pound test line and it took him 45 minutes to bring it in. Read more...(735 words, 1 image, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)
Central Market (Mercado Central) Flea and Street market. Bordered by Avdas. Central and 1 and Cs. 6 and 8 Barrió La Merced San José, Costa Rica San Jose,
Costa Rica’s Mercado Central, or Central Market, is the largest marketplace in San Jose.
The Central Market is more than a common sale place. It is a congregation place, which city life passes day by day. It is a maze of shops and eateries and not for the claustrophobic.
Here one literally rubs elbows with locals. Everyone has a smile and there is no carnie hacking. Every time I’m in San Jose, I look forward of going here, it is usually the day before I leave because I get gifts and stock up on about twenty kilos of fresh ground coffee from various regions.
If you had to see one item in San Jose, Costa Rica, no doubt the Mercado Central would be it. Located almost in the heart of downtown pedestrian only street, Av Central and 6th street it is one of the best displays of Costa Rica culture and society. Read more...(602 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)
Silver-hair Oswaldo Villalobos with one of his lawyers. Photo from A.M. Costa Rica/José Pablo Ramírez Vindas
We posted back in Aug, 2009 (Government Get Sued) and Dec, 2009 (Investors Suing Costa Rica Government) thats when the Canadian investors formed a group to sue the government of Costa Rica in an attempted to recoup money lost in the Villalobos Ponzi scheme they would probably lose … they did in arbitration this past week.
About 200 creditors had organized (out of the 6000 who had invested) and sought $200 million dollars in damages from Costa Rica’s government, claiming they did not exercise sufficient oversight to prevent Luis Enrique and Oswaldo Villalobos from taking over $1 billion in a 20 plus year unregulated load scheme. The scheme also involved drugs in Jaco and a business center in San Pedro. The IRS also got involved investigating Americans who had invested.
The Villalobos investment scam paid up to 3.5 percent a month on deposits of $10,000 or more that started in the late 1980s; some put in millions. After a landslide of complaints, finally, in late 1990s the judicial department started to investigate which lead to the conviction and sentencing of one of the brothers, Oswaldo who got 18 years. The other, Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho, fled the country and still is a fugitive, convicted of fraud and illegal banking. His whereabouts is unknown. Read more...(475 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)
The small surfer town of Esterillos has had a major change - one that the townfolks are not happy about.
Maria used to send her eldest daughter, 13, down the hill to the supermarket to pick up vegetables and other products about twice a week. Her daughter had to pass the yellow house on the corner. But now Maria walks the 3/4 mile round trip herself, leaving her daughter in a newly installed locked house. She fears for her daughter’s safety; she does not want “this evil” – convicted pedophile Joe Baker lives in that yellow house – to know she even has a daughter.
Esterillos is one of those traditional Costa Rica beach towns with palms and almond trees lining the beach. Its crystal clear blue ocean is an invitation to take a swim. A person driving south from Jacó or north from Quepos can easily miss the turnoff sign. A few Americans and Canadians expats live there, and the town knows everyone. The only thing the police worry about is an occasional drunk. For a long time it was sort of a secret surf spot to a chosen few; but lately there have been a couple of changes. Read more...(1006 words, 2 images, estimated 4:01 mins reading time)
Hiring a person to pick a few bushels of coffee off your land may cost you more than you think, that is if you are not paying the payroll taxes
The scenario starts innocently enough. Expats come to the country and start looking for someone to help with household chores like maid or gardener service. If you are not living in a gated community where they have these services, it starts by asking around for references or putting the word out in their community.
Try not to place an ad in some local paper or post one in a market down the street, because all kinds of weirdos answer them. Some even are crooks looking to case out locations to rob.
Costa Rica’s labor is good, however, one must understand how the labor laws work, otherwise you may find yourself in court. Read more...(926 words, 1 image, estimated 3:42 mins reading time)
