For more than 100 years, every year at Christmastime, rather than searching for the perfect present, tens of thousands of active passionate folks explore the great outdoors looking for the most splendid birds. Outfitted with binoculars, bird guides and checklists, birding devotees throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, rain, or maybe even tropical sun, to...Read More

I’ve been reading about ocean pollution, and the facts are really quite shocking. Apparently, it was once a common practice to “get rid of trash” by dumping it into the ocean, and there was even a positive catchphrase: “The solution to pollution is dilution.” People assumed that the oceans were so vast and deep that...Read More

Imagine this Costa Rica vacation: Traverse the entire country from coast to coast and north to south, but only using mountain bikes, kayaks, rafts, zipline cables, and your feet. Sleep under the stars wherever you may be – mud, sand, grass field, rocky stream bed – but only for a few hours at a time....Read More

As healthcare costs skyrocket in top nations around the globe, many people are going on sick leave and vacation at the same time. The world medical tourism industry has become a $10.5 billion business based on the availability of high-quality medical services at reasonable rates in many developing countries. Patients are traveling abroad not only...Read More

What makes a sustainable business “sustainable” and why should we care? Here’s a news flash for you – we all live on the same planet Earth. In many ways we humans, and all of the living and non-living things and elements that exist on our planet, are connected. The dust storms in Africa that cause...Read More

Santa Teresa is one of those iconic Costa Rica tourism spots. Paradise found for so many international and Costa Rican tourists who “discovered” Santa Teresa’s pristine beaches, world-class surf breaks and lushly forested coastline. Yet as more and more travelers flock to experience these beautiful treasures, the isolation bubble stretches to the max, bringing with...Read More

Normally, you don’t see tough, radical conservationists attending lectures by land developers. But there they were, 100 strong, from the Nature Conservancy, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and from all over Latin America – all raptly listening to how land development can actually preserve forests. Nervous before his formidable audience, Guillermo...Read More

How many species live on the Earth? Scientists estimate roughly 8.7 million, according to a 2011 study in the journal PLoS Biology, published by the Public Library of Science. The crucial point, however, is that approximately 83% of those plant and animal species have yet to be discovered. Scientists calculate that there are probably 6.5...Read More

I love traveling in off-season. High season travelers and summer vacationers are gone. Back to school and back to work, which means better travel opportunities for me and you. Off-season is when crowds disappear and prices drop, as hotels, tour operators and airlines look to attract travelers with deep discounts. Granted, it’s not the low...Read More

Costa Rica is known for its rainforests, beaches, nature and biodiversity. True, indeed. But do you know that Costa Rica is the most innovative country in Latin America? Or that the Central American nation has celebrated well over a half-century of peace with no military forces? Or that it is home to a highly-educated society...Read More

What do a tomato, blueberry, onion and dark chocolate have in common? They are “superfoods,” so-called by doctors and nutrition and health experts for their amazing beneficial properties that can help you keep the right weight, fight off heart disease and cancer, live longer, and even put you in a better mood. You don’t need...Read More

Long, fat, round pipes in dark brown and off-white snake along the rust red ground through the underbrush.  They remind me of giant worms from some prehistoric setting … though not quite like that terrible 1990 movie Tremors. The pipes belong to the Pailas Geothermal Power Plant at the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in...Read More

As you head south along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica from Jaco down past Quepos/Manuel Antonio toward Dominical, vast forests of palm trees stretch for miles along the highway. Lush and thickly planted, with emerald ferns growing on the trunks and a dense carpet of green underneath, the palms always remind me of a...Read More

At the very bottom of Costa Rica, the placid blue waters of the Golfo Dulce shine like a mirror most days, reflecting occasional clouds and the immense cerulean sky. Its calm surface is broken by the odd small, local boat cruising along, but the most action is caused by dolphins frolicking or fishing, sea turtles...Read More

If Costa Rica’s professional surf scene had an A-team, it would look something like this: Carlos Muñoz, Jair Pérez, Noe Mar McGonagle, Gilbert Brown, Anthony Fillingim, Luis Vindas, Leilani McGonagle, Lisbeth Vindas, and Nataly Bernold. The nine top surfers seem to shuffle places between being national champions and taking the top five slots at any...Read More

While massage may have developed a reputation as an indulgence for people who love pampering, studies reveal that it has wide-reaching, evident health benefits, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. Research over the past few years has found that massage therapy boosts immune function in women with breast cancer, improves symptoms in...Read More