Sarapiquí is one of my favorite places in Costa Rica. Rust red-orange earth meets up with jade green water of the Sarapiqui River, next to fluorescent green grass and darker emerald-green, thick rainforest. Jewel-toned birds and butterflies swoop here and there, and this time of year, the cicadas bring a tumultuous cacophony to the sunshine....Read More
Suspended on cables gliding through the tops of giant tropical trees, amid hidden, dripping, hanging gardens full of plants and animals in the rainforest, is a pretty cool experience. Rainforest trees are tall, really tall, even towering up to more than 100 feet high. The microcosm of life happening at this level is abundant and...Read More
Costa Rica’s amazing natural attractions make it an incomparable vacation destination. You’re in paradise here in the tropics with lush rainforest, active volcanoes, spectacular mountain ranges and valleys, and endless beaches on both Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Domestic flights are the perfect option for travelers who want to visit as many places in Costa Rica...Read More
Tantric Yoga is kind of touchy. The ancient Hindu practice gets a lot of press for its sexual image. However, if you delve deeper than the popular hype, you find that the 1,600-year-old ritual is not concerned with sexuality, but rather the goal of Tantric Yoga is to awaken and harmonize the male and female...Read More
Headlines this week reported most of North America, Europe and even China locked in winter’s icy grip. A mix of sleet and snow, accompanied by lightning, made travel a mess in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metro area. A swath of snowfall from portions of Mississippi and northern Alabama/Georgia spreads through the Central Appalachians. Trees snap in...Read More
There’s nothing better than a day at the beach. The sun, the surf … what could be more fun? Especially in Costa Rica, where the sun, sand and sea are warm all the time! Long beaches of gold, rich black, pearly white, beige and even pink sand, fringed with palm trees and other greenery –...Read More
Once, Santa Teresa was a small fishing village, home to a handful of families who lived off the sea, along with small-scale agriculture and cattle ranching. Like many of Costa Rica’s top beach destinations along the Nicoya Peninsula, Santa Teresa’s isolation from poor or non-existing roads kept this tropical paradise off the beaten track for...Read More
Traveling to the Central American isthmus of Nicaragua–Costa Rica-Panama presents travelers with a unique panorama of diversity. This narrow bridge between North and South America may be small in size but is packed with an exotic mix of steamy jungles, rugged volcanoes and mountain ranges, fabulous tropical coastlines, charming colonial towns and growing tourism destinations....Read More
When traveling around Costa Rica, there’s nothing better after a big day of hiking, rafting, zip lining or other adventuring, than slipping gently into steamy thermal springs so hot they make you tingle all over. Decadent, sultry, igneous water laps your tired muscles into spaghetti-like relaxation. Finer still to have a frosty tropical fruit drink...Read More
The world as we know it has certainly shrunk a great deal due to the interconnectivity of the internet, and especially social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. When the number one music video rocketing around the world is from South Korea (“Gangnam Style”), and kids in places like Costa Rica have memorized the dance...Read More
More than 700 miles of beach on Pacific and Caribbean coasts, warm water, tropical climate, lush rainforest and cloud forest, jungle wildlife, stable country, and friendly people – Costa Rica entices millions to visit every year. If you live anywhere in the Americas, and most likely even in Europe, then you have heard the buzz...Read More
The new wildly popular “Author’s Cuisine” culinary movement that originated in Spain over a decade ago is not simply cuisine by the “author” or chef who cooked it. “Author’s Cuisine” is a vanguard of culinary arts favored by Spanish and other European chefs who are praised for their creativity. Dishes incorporate unusual textures, aromas, and...Read More
Costa Rica’s 2012 “Christmas Bird Count” at Veragua Rainforest Research & Adventure near Limon scored great success. A historic number of 417 different bird species, and 12,665 individual birds, were identified in a 24-hour period – the highest number registered in Central America for the annual bird count. Beginning at 12:00 a.m. on December 5...Read More
Costa Rica’s fabulous year-round sunshine, balmy weather and remarkable championship golf courses are fast earning the country the reputation as an “ace” place for world-class golf. The best part? Located just a few hours’ flight away from North America, Costa Rica’s weather is best when all points north are frozen in winter’s icy grip. Missing...Read More
Walking in a winter wonderland is just a tad different on Costa Rica’s Santa Teresa Beach. Rather than the traditional “white Christmas” and “snow glistening in the lane” scene, it is closer to Frosty the Snowman’s situation … “The sun was hot that day. So he said, let’s run and we’ll have some fun now...Read More
Personally, I prefer staying in small boutique hotels. Large chain hotels have their function, though I rather like when the receptionist remembers my name and is personable enough to care how I am and how my stay is going. I like waiters who remember I favor water without ice and that my mid-afternoon coffee is...Read More
They live in the sea, are on the World Wildlife Fund’s “Endangered Species List”, and frequent the waters around Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast Tortuguero National Park. Their lives, though on similar paths, are a bit conflicted. I’m talking about sea turtles and manatees. One draws crowds of up to 50,000 tourists each year; the other...Read More
Christmas carols, traditional ballet, concerts, art tours and exhibits, and the magnificent annual Parade of Lights are all coming to town this holiday season in San José, Costa Rica. The vibrant capital city is looking very festive these days in preparation for Christmas, New Year’s, and the kick-off to the summer “fiesta” season for 2013....Read More
Any Olympic athlete or professional athlete, or high school or university athlete, or even a child on a sports team for that matter, has a coach. Actors have coaches. Singers and dancers have coaches or trainers. Over the past decades, executives and businesspersons have joined the ranks of seeking coaching for success. In today’s modern...Read More
Take a deep breath. Now imagine your lung capacity reduced by one-fifth. Find it a bit harder to breathe? What if that lessens? Now take your focus out to a global view, and you have a clear picture of what is happening in the Amazon Rainforest. The Amazon is the largest contiguous tropical forest in...Read More
Do you like to work out in your hotel’s gym when you’re away? If you happen to be staying in Denmark’s Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, keeping fit while traveling will help generate the hotel’s electricity and earn you meal vouchers in their restaurant. The flagship eco-hotel is the first hotel in Denmark to generate all...Read More
Traveling with kids. For the seasoned traveler, it’s no big deal, they say. A bit more luggage and stuff to carry. For first-timers they tend to fall into two camps – optimistic or terrified. My sister is probably the most efficient family traveler I know. She has her work cut out for her with 2-year-old...Read More
Dreamy, breezy, sun soaked days. Should I lie in the sun on my terracotta tiled terrace, or splash about in my private pool? Or maybe I’ll go for a swim in the sea in an azure blue cove edging a blindingly white sand beach. Later, I’ll take a siesta on my cushy white sofa, terrace...Read More
One of the most amazing things I’ve learned how to do is scuba dive. It’s the closest thing to flying I’ve ever felt, and given my fear of heights (or, rather, falling from them), it feels a whole lot safer. When you get your buoyancy worked out right, being weightless under water, drifting here and...Read More
