Probably one of the best bathroom signs I have seen at Los Amigos. They sell t-shirts with this logo on it.
I had not been to Jaco in a while - with said, a while back I wrote about how wild Jaco is and how I predicted that the desire for tourist bucks will change it. Needless to say, I spend some time checking out the ‘new’ Jaco a few weeks ago.
Those that experienced Jaco years ago had warnings about the lawless of the town. Druggies, prostitution, pickpockets etc, pretty much ran it. I’m impress how Jaco has changed. The last time I was there, old men with their bellies protruding from Hawaiian shirts with hookers on their arms was a common occurrence. And high-rise cranes littered the sky in development. Not anymore.
However, Jaco still has it problems, last August the mayor was arrested for embezzlement, illicit enrichment, misrepresentation and fraud and there are still those undesirables that cruise the streets and beaches, harassing gringos to buy drugs and other illegal items. Jaco has also become sorta the “no-mans-zone” for drug traffickers. This has increased the on-foot police force – which is a good thing as it gives the tourist a sense of security. Read more... (951 words, 5 images, estimated 3:48 mins reading time)
A few weeks ago at the Auto Mercado in Jaco, it was very evident that even if Thanksgiving is not a Costa Rican holiday, is sure is one of the most celebrated American holidays in Costa Rica.
Signs were up for the holiday and products were already being displayed. Frozen turkeys, stuffing mix (including popular brands like Stove Top), salad fixing, sweet potatoes, green bean casseroles, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce as well as apple, pecan, mince, pumpkin pie and all of the other gastronomical goodies.
And there is something about Costa Rica potatoes (which are a bit sweeter) that makes unreal mash potatoes!
Unfortunately, turkeys are either imported frozen from the U.S. or purchased locally from Pipasa (a meat and poultry company) and is not cheap for a fresh bird: at least $3.50 per pound. So a 20lb bird could cost you around $70USD, compared to one in the US, where specials for birds can be as low as $7USD for a 13lb turkey.
Most will go ahead and buy frozen. PriceSmart and Auto Mercando have 15-18lbs turkeys for over $40. Auto Mercado is probably the most Americanize superstore in all of Costa Rica and imports many American goods along with Thanksgiving products, including stuffing mix, canned pumpkin, frozen pie crusts, canned onion rings and cranberries. Read more... (506 words, 1 image, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)
For the last four years I have been drawn like a magnet to San Jose, Costa Rica for Halloween. A few years prior I read a blog where the Blogger wrote how Halloween in Costa Rica is considered nothing but a “Gringo’s” pagan holiday, that was designed to seduce small children with candy and “not” an acceptable celebration among Ticos. Then it went on about this haunting, peasant folklore of El Cadejos – a young man (Joaquin) from Cartago who loved to party. After Joaquin got blindly drunk for a week straight, his father cursed and transformed him into El Cadejos, a terrifyingly huge black dog with fiery-red eyes destined to haunt Costa Rica forever, scaring those who don’t know when to stop their drunkenness.
I have heard that El Cadejos is slang for massive hangover. Read more... (768 words, 10 images, estimated 3:04 mins reading time)
click on the city to view the current and forthcoming weather conditions
Alajuela | Cartago | Chacarita | Dominical | La Fortuna/Aerial | Golfito
Jaco | Liberia | Puerto Limon | Puntarenas | San Isidro de General
| San Jose | Tamarindo | Tambor | Tortuguero
Unlike the U.S and other countries, where there are four seasons, Costa Rica has no real summer, fall, spring or winter, only dry and rainy and/or very wet times of the year.
The dry season (or “tourist season”), generally starts during November and last to June.
The wet season starts in June and goes to November and a time when one can get the best deals on hotels and other forms of recreations.
Average temperature is around 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but in the high mountain areas it can get below freezing. Starting in December to April (the peak of the tourist season) normally there is little rain. Keep in mind that Costa Rica is a tropical country, so the average rainfall in the country is around 100 inches, some mountainous areas get over 200 inches of rainfall on a yearly basis with the heaviest rain period between September to October. Read more... (394 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)
Above NASA map shows the tracks of all Atlantic hurricanes which formed between 1851 and 2005, so in reality Costa Rica never receives the blunt force, but they sure can receive the effects when it is downgraded to a major Tropical Storm.
We get asked all the time, does Costa Rica get hurricanes? Well, yes and no, meaning “yes” they do receive the tropical aftermath of one, like heavy rains of what Tropical Storm Tomas did in November 2010 that caused sever damage and deaths.
In meteorology; a tropical cyclone (or tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, typhoon, or hurricane, depending on strength and location) is a type of low-pressure system, which generally forms in the tropics. Hurricane is the term used to describe tropical cyclones that form in the Caribbean where we are located.
Hurricanes need the warm humid air above tropical oceans in order to develop. That’s why they form over ocean waters close to the equator. In addition, that’s why they form only during the summer and early fall, when those waters are about 80 degrees Fahrenheit or above. However, you won’t normally see hurricanes form right at the equator. That’s because at zero degrees latitude there isn’t enough turning of winds in the atmosphere to give tropical cyclones the “spin” they need to get started.
Read more... (802 words, 2 images, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)
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