Dogs In Costa Rica – Stray, Puppy Mills and Abuse

abused dog

  About 2 to four times a month we get these heartbreaking emails from animal lovers about stray dogs that wander the streets.  And of course the story of the man who took a machete to a street dog, who only survived by a generous veterinary,  pretty much had animals lovers in rage. Those loving and caring pet owner know that owning pets, especially dogs, is a big responsibility. … [Read more...]

Costa Rica’s Dry Law – Eliminate the Prohibition Ley Seca?

Costa Rica Local Bar

One of the things that Gringo's have always been puzzled on is Costa Rica' very old "dry law” (Ley Seca); a liberal law that prohibits sales of liquor, wine and beer at Easter and Christmas, besides elections and such sectarian holidays as Sept. 15 (Independence Day). Bars are supposed to be closed … but as most know, it usually is the front door only! Establishments … [Read more...]

Social Media Marketing Costa Rica

Social Media Costa Rica

Years ago when a client's only bullheadedness concern was getting in the top five at Google under a few very major Costa Rica keywords, I said to myself, Oh boy, here we go again! I had to shake my head. It took me about six months (after his keywords hit the top five) for him to realize, even if keywords are good way to drive traffic to ones websites, it is not the only way. In my … [Read more...]

Paypal and Costa Rica – Banco National, Scotiabank, and Citibank

Costa Rica Paypal

Paypal has been hyped as the best way to send and received money anywhere in the world and personally it is the simplest and easiest way to accept credit and debit cards and e-checks. So you’re an expat, and you start a business in Costa Rica. Then you signup for PayPal (which is free), so you can start accepting credit card payments instantly. Right? Well, as many know, not so true! The … [Read more...]

Increase of Phone Solicitations in Costa Rica

Spam Texting in Costa Rica

At the end of January two major events took place in Costa Rica. 1) The iPhone craze finally took place when three primary cell phone operators (ICE Kölbi, Móvistar and Claro) started selling the iPhone 4S with numerous plans. At some of the major shopping centers customers bounced like pin balls comparing prices and plans - all three companies say sales have been [very] good in the last … [Read more...]

Costa Rica Tilapia Recipes – BBQ, Fried, and Baked

tilapia topped with mango salsa

Tilapia inhabits a wide range of fresh water habitats, including shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Word-wide, Tilapia is the fifth most important fish in fish farming and to farm one needs warm water as Costa Rica has because of its tropical environment. So, it is understandable, why, just about every eatery in Costa Rica you will find Tilapia on the menu. Tilapia is a mild-tasting … [Read more...]

What Does SOPA and PIPA Have To Do With Costa Rica?

Craigs List Blackout

Yesterday many websites were in a World-Wide Blackout against The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill, and it's sister bill, Protect IP Act (PIPA), that is currently working their way through the United States Congress and the Senate. These new bills threaten every facet of the internet by letting government regulate what can and can not be seen; a form of censorship -  just like China and Iraq … [Read more...]

Costa Rica’s Mediterranean Fruit Fly – X-Rays and Regulations

Mediterranean fruit fly on Coffee Berry

In 2011 National Geographic had a photo contest and ironically one of the winners in the nature category was a picture of a fruit fly resting on a green coffee bean in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Obviously unknown to the photographer, it  implicated one of Costa Rica's worst nightmares is alive, well, and continues to threaten Costa Rica's multimillion dollar agriculture business. The … [Read more...]

Higher Traffic Fines, Tolls, Corporation Tax in Costa Rica

Costa Rica Toll Road Incease

One again, as the New Year gets started, Costa Rican's will find themselves paying more to the government. Ticos by nature are non-aggressive, but this time the government may experience what American's have seen, "country wide protests" and what some of the Bloggers are writing about, "WTF - The don't understand land!" Starting today (Jan 1, 2012) Costa Rica will see ( to name the few) … [Read more...]

Costa Rica Coffee and Produce Get Trademark Protection

Genuine Costa Rica Coffee

Coffee has always played a major role in Costa Rica's history and economy. Up until a few years ago it was Costa Rica's #1 exported and very commercialized product. The largest growing areas are in the provinces of San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Puntarenas, and Cartago.  It is grown just about everywhere in Costa Rica. Even if I like all the commercial brands like Cafe Milagro and Britt, I … [Read more...]

Are Costa Rica’s Internet Service Providers Going to Be Charging Extra for Excessive Bandwidth?

Bandwidth Cap for Costa Rica

In the last couple of weeks one of our accounts has been having a hard time logging into their server. So after they rebooted the router a few times and then cleaned the ends of the cables the problem still existed. For a while it was driving me a bit crazy why this was happening until suddenly that light bulb clicked on; I remembered the article I wrote back in April, 2010,  Net Neutrality For … [Read more...]

Costa Rica’s Internet Future – IPv6, Competition and Fraud

Internet Birthday

The world’s most advance technology will have it  20th Birthday on Aug, 8th; thats when the “World Wide Web (www)” first gained a public face in 1991. CERN, which straddles the border between France and Switzerland, publicized the new World Wide Web project, two years after,  British scientist Tim Berners-Lee had begun creating HTML, HTTP and the first few Web pages at CERN. The … [Read more...]