Newsletters from Costa Rica

On March 10^th, Costa Rica had the oportunity to be part of one of the most important Latino American events The Latin American Surfing Event. The tournament is held in many different countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Argentina and Uruguay, so in Costa Rica it is part of the fifth date in the Latin American tour calendar.

On February 18th, Projects Abroad Costa Rica organized a special social event to one of the most beautiful hot springs, located near to Liberia, called Yoko. Most of the volunteer were part of this, we leaved early in the morning and spent most of time there, we had a delicious lunch, a time coffee and of course we could enjoy the different pools there and had a very nice time together!

In Costa Rica people have the blessing to enjoy a great summer from December to April of each year because of this there are many cultural activities like “Festivals” in different places of the country. It means that we have parties in the Central Valley, Guanacaste province and other places where “Ticos” can chose the place where they feel most welcome.

The Festival of Light originates in 1996 when the City of St. Joseph organized the first parade of floats and best bands in the country, on its route along the Paseo Colon and Avenida Segunda, to give Costa Rica a great show of color and joy, as part of the celebration of Christmas activity.

This is the November edition and I have to say that I am so happy, because we had a visit from some special people in our office in Liberia, Guanacaste. We had the pleasure to receive to Dr. Peter Slowe, the Director and Founder of Projects Abroad around the world, also the arrival of Grace Mitchell a staff member from the UK office, and finally Jenny Shulman a staff member from the U.S.A office.

September 15 marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United Provinces of Central America in Guatemala, where current Republics of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica declared independence from Spain.

The first celebrations of Mother's Day dates back to the ancient Greece, where it surrendered to honor of Rhea, the mother of the Gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, among others. The Romans called this celebration the Hilaria whem acquired from the Greeks. It was celebrated on March 15 in the temple of Cybele and for three days there were offerings.

Mrs. Leda Maria Vega is one of our sweet host mothers. She worked much time in the post office, she is pensioned. Now she has a student’s transportation. She has 1 year and 8 months of working with Projects Abroad. Around 15 volunteers have lived with her during this time.

We have a new staff member and we want to share it with you Her name is Jessica Brenes and of course we want to say to her Welcome to Projects Abroad Costa Rica.

Mon séjour au Costa Rica a été une expérience enrichissante au niveau personnel,parce que j'ai pu durant 7 semaines,vivre dans une famille qui s'est mise à ma disposition! Une gentillesse que j'ai apprécié à sa juste mesure,une disponibilité de tous les instants,pensant sans cesse à me rendre le séjour le plus agréable possible.

January is early in the Costa Rican dry season. The western and central regions of Costa Rica have little rain and mostly sunny weather. What little rain falls usually comes as afternoon or evening showers. On the Caribbean side of the central mountains it's wetter especially in the northeast where polar air pushes across the Gulf of Mexico picking up heat and moisture then depositing it as continuous days of rain referred to locally as “temporales del Atlántico”.

Doña Beatriz: Doña Beatriz has been working with us since April 13^th 2007, when she started to work with us she was taking care of tow of her kids but then they left and she really adopted our volunteers such her own sons, she feels grateful to be with them because she feels accompanied with them, now she has three of them: Kyle, Morten and Derek and she said that they are really nice with her, she said that she has never been complains with anybody so she is so lovely and really nice.

We are really proud to say that we have another happy placement in our community, “Las Ovejitas”, a community care centre located in Barrio Nazareth. Isabel Urbina Arias is the manager at the placement. We have one of our volunteers working there: her name is Kristina Beckord. Mrs Isabel told me that she feels really good with Projects Abroad’s support.

Costa Rica is one of the countries with more rivers per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world. Anywhere you go you will find some kind of float trip to enjoy nature from a very unique point of view. For many years, the rafting Mecca of Costa Rica was Turrialba, a large town embedded in the mountains near the Reventazon and Pacuare Rivers, on the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica.

Don Luis y Dña. Ania Quesada have been married since 1970 and had 3 children who already are married and live out of Liberia. They live in a nice small house in downtown Liberia and they always are ready to receive two volunteers from us.

The Caribbean province is a natural paradise, formed by a combination of dense jungles, imposing mountains, and stunning beaches. Limón has the highest percentage of protected land in Costa Rica, as well as a wide variety of flora and fauna. Its vegetation is exuberant, as are the cultures meeting throughout the province.

Also known as the Ancient Metropolis, Cartago was the capital of Costa Rica until 1823, when this title was transferred to the city of San José. It is a relatively small province, with barely 3.124 km2 and almost 35 000 inhabitants.

Costa Rica is divided into seven provinces, these are: San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Puntarenas, Guanacaste, and Limon. Together they offer an attractive tourist destination, of almost limitless possibilities, that include extensive rainforests, volcanoes, rivers travelling through the mountains, beaches and natural resources safeguarded by an important organization of national parks and forest reserves.

Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica, 52 miles northwest of Limon on the Caribbean coast, is the perfect blend of ecotourism adventure and coastal paradise. While Costa Rica holds limitless natural attractions, Tortuguero National Park's vast, protected beaches are most celebrated as one of the world's best places to glimpse nesting sea turtles and their tiny, scampering babies.

A National Park located some 330 miles southwest of the Costa Rican mainland, has the country’s best diving by far. While the Island is covered with virgin forest, the ocean that surrounds it contains abundant marine life, and the visibility is good year round. Divers at Coco’s Island regularly see impressive animals. It is famous for its massive schools of white-tipped and hammerhead sharks and eerie manta rays, pilot whales, whale sharks, delfins and sailfish.

Every year in Costa Rica each Town has its own Fair, and February is when we have ours! These pictures show how it looks like on a regular day, but just wait for the “Fiestas”!! Get ready to enjoy one of the most famous Fiestas in Costa Rica - full of parties, games, bull fights, dances and every thing you can imagine!!

The turquoise brilliance of the Pacific Ocean and the serenity of the Caribbean Sea surround Costa Rica, making it one of the most picturesque landscapes in Central America. The typical Spanish influence in Costa Rica has lead to a variety of types of celebration and festivities in the country. The distinctive cultural blend and the rich traditional Spanish influence further add to the magnificence of the celebration of New Year in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, as with many other countries around the world, has its own unique and special way to celebrate Christmas. As the last days of November pass by, the weather starts to change; it becomes colder, clearer and windy. As the wind starts to blow harder and the days start to get colder, the people begin the decoration of their houses.

Coffee and Costa Rica were meant for each other, and they have grown and prospered together, complementing each other in the pursuit of excellence. Costa Rica repealed the death penalty in 1870 and abolished the army in 1948, and coffee supported those reforms with its high productivity and environmentally friendly disposition. In a country which has enacted laws protecting 21% of its territory in order to preserve the 5% of the world's biodiversity it shelters, Costa Ricans are encouraged by their environment to love what they do, and to do it well.

September has been another hard month in Barra Honda. With the rains coming and going at random times, we have been trying to avoid the heavy downpours whilst still getting as much work done as possible. We have spent a lot of this month - like last month - focusing on maintenance of the trails and other areas of the park. However we managed to make some time to take our new volunteers to the caves around the park.

The Costa Rican City of Liberia was founded in 1769. In this dry and hot city you will find hotels that range from economical to upscale lodgings. The city has more than 30,000 inhabitants and is the transportation centre of north western Costa Rica. Freight haulers coming from and going to Nicaragua and the rest of Central America pass through Liberia´s outskirts via the Inter-American Highway.

Costa Rica boasts about having more teachers than policemen, and this fact is a source of great pride, since Ticos feel that their high education level sets them apart from many less fortunate countries in the world. Many of Costa Rica's leaders have been educators as well, and have placed great importance in the expansion of primary and secondary education even in the most remote areas of the country.

This park is just south of Quepos on the Pacific Coast, 132 km from San José. Perhaps it is so popular because of its expansive white sandy beaches, backed by an evergreen forest that grows right up to the high tide line. The principal habitants are primary forest, secondary forest, mangrove swamps, lagoons and beach vegetation. There is quite a varied fauna with 109 species of mammals and 184 of birds. The park includes 12 little islands just off the coast; there are a number of dolphins and, at times, migrating whales can be observed.

Costa Rica is a country rich with renewable energy. In fact, it gets about 99% of all its electrical energy from clean sources and it’s aiming to be the first country to become carbon neutral (more about that below). Some of Costa Rica’s energy sources include geothermal energy, the burning of sugarcane waste and other biomass, solar and wind energy. However, the largest source of energy is hydroelectricity. Its hydroelectric dams provide more than 82% of the country’s electricity.

My name is Catrine Genesteix and I am a 23-year-old Danish student from Copenhagen. During my time with Projects Abroad in Costa Rica I worked in a small kindergarten, whilst using my free time to visit other regions of this diverse and magical country. When I arrived in Costa Rica in late February I was overwhelmed not only by the heat but also by the sheer number of other volunteers that there were in Liberia.

Less than a decade ago, Costa Rica was virtually unknown as a destination for diving. Suddenly it is being applauded for its variety of marine wildlife. New facilities along the pacific coastline are now offering first-class dive boats and fully stocked dive shops. And divers have the excitement of truly virgin diving in areas never before explored.

He’s the stuff that heroes are made of. He was of an unknown father. He was a simple drummer boy in the small militia of Alajuela. He wasn’t honoured at the time of his great deed, probably because of his marginality. He died young. He died for his country. He was Juan Santamaria, the poor young soldier, who was destined to become Costa Rica’s national hero, almost forty years after his great deed and his untimely death.

The Panama Canal extends across the Isthmus of Panama from Colon on the Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea) side, to Balboa and the Pacific Ocean. It was built in two stages; 1881-1888 by the French, followed by the Americans, with their efforts completed in 1914. In 1883 it was realized that the tide level at the Pacific side was almost 19 feet higher than the Atlantic side. Engineers concluded the difference in levels would be a danger to navigation. It was proposed that a tidal lock be constructed near Panama City to preserve the level from there to Colon.

Nicaragua's most-visited town is probably Granada. Spending your first few days in Granada certainly makes for a "soft landing." There is good accommodation, an excellent selection of cheap restaurants, and the water is even safe to drink thanks to a modern treatment plant.

This historic building was the site of the 'epic' Battle of Santa Rosa in 1856 and has been preserved as a monument. There are displays of military paraphernalia and everyday life at a Tico Hacienda in the mid 1800's. Keep an eye out for the Longtongued Bats that roost in the eves of the buildings.

Alajuela is one of the most extensive provinces of Costa Rica, known as "The Land of Mangoes". Its territory spreads to the north, reaching the boundary with Nicaragua. Alajuela was founded in 1782 and gave birth to such famous historical characters like Juan Santa Maria, the national hero that burned down the "Mesón de Rivas" in 1856.

Traveling south, at an hour’s distance, we find Cahuita, a typical Caribbean town. This town has become "a must" for tourists, for it represents the essence of a culture, and the beauty of Cahuita National Park, which protects an important expanse of coral reefs.

Independence Day in Costa Rica. Celebrations start the day before in the evening with a parade of homemade lanterns representing the day the news arrive at night in Costa Rica. Big patriotic parades celebrate Costa Rica´s independence from Spain in 1821.

The Canopy: 11 platforms and 10 cables, gliding through the top of the trees of the semi- humid tropical forest enjoying the adrenaline to the maximum. While the visitor is travelling on the top of the trees it can enjoy a diversity of flora and fauna like birds, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and, white faced capuchin monkeys.

On July 25 every year locals from the Guanacaste region celebrate with verve Costa Rica's annexation of the area in 1824. Folk dancing, fiestas, horse parades, cattle shows, bullfights and concerts create a frenzy of territorial pride in the north-west of the country.
Celebration includes food, exhibits, cultural events, popular concerts, sports activities, horse parades, cattle exhibits, bullfights, through Sunday.
You will have a lot of fun!!

Costa Rica has six active volcanoes. One of these, found in the North-western corner of the country, is the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, which is located within Rincon de la Vieja National Park. One of the protected parks within the Guanacaste Conservation Area (ACG), the Rincon de la Vieja National Park, is one of Costa Rica’s most diverse ecological parks. Known for its stunning diversity of flora and fauna, this national park is home to two volcanoes, the Rincon de la Vieja and the Santa Maria, as well as six different volcanic peaks, and thirty two rivers and streams.

By late May rainy season weather patterns are once again prevailing, but there is still plenty of beach weather. The rains begin earlier on the Caribbean side of the central mountains and it's generally wetter, but rather than the continuous days of rain possible with the temporales del Atlantico in November through January afternoon and overnight showers are more common in May.

Our time in Liberia was amazing. We especially loved our placement at the Cin Cenai Day Care. The children there were so excited to meet us and play with us. We had prepared art projects to do with the children as well as basic English lessons. We landed up learning a fortune of Spanish from our new little friends and we felt very loved and appreciated at the school.

We have given the opportunity to visit Arenal for the weekend, organized by Projects Abroad. It was the first time the Conservation Volunteers and the Liberia Volunteers would meet, and spend the weekend together. We met on Friday night for dinner at "La Toscana", which proved to be a memorable night out for all.

Flamingo, named after the pink flamingos that once inhabited the coast, is a renowned area for its structured growth and has been ranked as one of the best destinations among the entire Gold Coast of Costa Rica. Flamingo is a modern community with an ever increasing number of activities, services, and accommodations.

Dilek, Tim, Catherine, a friend and the “happy face”, together with other Volunteers went to visit the beautiful beach and amazing area of Montezuma. As you see, they had lot´s of fun and took good pictures…

Besides the tree, another important decoration is the Portal. The Portal is the representation of the birth of Jesus, with the figures of Mary, Joseph, Melchior , Gaspar and Balthazar (the three wise men), the ox and the mule. The most important figure is the Baby Jesus; this is set on the manger the 25th. The day that the Christmas presents are opened. In Costa Rica Santa Claus doesn't bring the Christmas gifts to the kids, those are brought by Baby Jesus the night before Christmas called la "Noche Buena" while they were sleeping. At the same as the Baby Jesus appears at the portal the gift appears under the tree the 25th in the morning.

Despite all this, Ticos, rich and poor, actively support their democracy. On election day they honk horns, wave party flags, dress up in party colours, and proudly display their index fingers dipped in purple indelible ink to show they have voted. Even with the enthusiasm that turns their election day into a national fiesta, Costa Ricans are sceptical about politics and politicians, their roots are still in the soil and in the unity of their families. Babies are the acknowledged rulers of the household.

At the point called Borbollones, two different rivers join and turn the water of a new and larger river light blue. This is due of a high concentration of certain substances like sulfur etc. in these volcanic waters. You should not swim there. When you get to the very hot thermal waters you´ll have to be careful too not to burn yourself. At the waterfall you may finally jump into the water and take a strong shower.

Costa Rica boasts about having more teachers than policemen, and this affirmation is a source of great pride, since Ticos feel that their high education level sets them apart from many less fortunate countries in the world. Many of Costa Rica’s leaders have been educators as well, and have placed great importance in the expansion of primary and secondary education, even in the most remote areas of the country.

Because of Costa Rica's perfect surfing conditions, it has turned out to be one of the hottest places to visit and it is ideal for both the beginner and professional surfer. The warm water, beautiful beaches, sunny skies, spectacular nature, easy going locals, friendly sharks!...but especially the great variety of waves makes Costa Rica just perfect. Costa Rica also has an unusual strategic position that within just a few hours you can surf at sunrise at the Caribbean coast, and later in the day, watch the sunset over on the pacific side, catching a different set of waves!

I was going to start this article with a beautiful photo of the lava flowing down the side of Arenal Volcano (like the one next), I was going to say how the weather was perfect for viewing this spectacular natural phenomenon, except the `green` season has started (rainy season to everyone who isn't a tourist!) and we didn't actually see it, it was too, err, green. We did, however, have a lovely time, Arenal, La Fortuna, and the lake are beautiful.

Costa Rican Bananas Go The Extra Mile to Keep Runners Going. Whether training, competing, or recovering from one of Europe's gruelling marathons, bananas from Costa Rica are the super food for any serious runner - professional or amateur. Bananas provide more carbohydrates than any other fruit and give an instant energy boost as well as slowly releasing the energy that enables athletes to go the extra mile.

We had a great time out at Playa Soleil over the start of Semana Santa (Holy Week). We went as guests of the Valdelomar family. They visit the beach every year and really do camp in style. They build a toilet and shower, take a fridge, rig up a lighting system. I didn´t believe it till I was sitting under a light, drinking a cold beer from the fridge. They even took a proper bed for the great grandad (who is over 100!). There was fishing, sunbathing, cooking as well as tents, sand and sunsets.

Alba Ocampo Alvarado School (best known as Aplicación School) is located in the heart of Liberia, on 6th and 8th street and between 3rd and 5th avenue, right across the street from the post office. This school celebrated last year its 40th anniversary (1966-2006).

Ascensión Esquivel School is located in the heart of Liberia, on the corner of July 25th Avenue Central Street It is one of the oldest schools in Guanacaste. In 2004, this school celebrated its 100th anniversary.