Costa Rican authorities, with the help of Interpol, turned Henry de la Hoz over to U.S. Marshals last week to be returned to Miami to serve out a 12-year prison sentence. De la Hoz had been sentenced in absentia for killing retirees Victor and Olga Lisabet on Easter of 2003, as they headed to celebrate Easter mass with fellow worshipers. De la Hoz had spent the night before the tragedy in a sports...

Two drug-chasing boats donated by the United States last November to Costa Rica’s National Coast Guard Service (SNG), have scored a huge victory of drug interdiction recently: six tons of cocaine seized since January of 2019. The boats were donated by the Government of the US via the Office for Counternarcotics, Citizen Security and Justice of the US Embassy. Christopher Harris, Director of th...

Costa Rica has contributed yet another amazing animal to the field of Herpetology – a river anole lizard that can remain underwater for up to sixteen minutes, seemingly by using an air bubble on the top of its head to refresh the air in its lungs. Two scientists were filming anole lizards hurling themselves off of rocks and branches in Coto Brus, when they realized the little guys were staying un...

The Sloth Institute of Costa Rica (TSI) is the headquarters for the cutest animals on the planet. They were founded in 2014 with the mission of “enhancing the welfare of captive and wild sloths through research and education.” They are a non-profit institution based in Manuel Antonio, supported completely by donations. TSI is truly leading the world in sloth research, especially the study of 3-toe...

Costa Rica proudly welcomes the World Veterinary Association (WVAC) to the new Convention Center in Heredia, on April 27-30, “Life Connects All. Pura Vida!” There will be 1,500 veterinarians in attendance, with specialties ranging from wild animals to family pets, large animals to tiny critters -- the full range of state-of-the-art animal medicine and care. The programing will focus on continuing...

Is Costa Rica still the happiest place on earth? Travel agencies and tour groups – within Costa Rica and without – have continued to dub Costa Rica the “Happiest Country on Earth”, which would seem a ridiculous notion, were it not for the fact that there is a Happiness Research Institute which tracks such things, and Forbes Magazine just published their official Happiness findings for 2019. The...

Limon has long had a reputation as a remote Costa Rican port handling exports of of pineapples, bananas, sugar, coffee, and … cocaine. While the nearby Port of Moin has undergone a complete expansion and renovation recently, including brand new scanning technology, Limon has been left behind -- but not by astute drug smugglers. One of the largest drug busts ever in Europe happened last October...

Kudos to Costa Rica for having finally ended a two-decade squabble with conservationist Captain Paul Watson of the nonprofit conservation organization, the Sea Shepherd. Costa Rica's Criminal Appeals Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of San Jose has ruled in favor of Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, dropping all charges against him, thereby shutting down a ...

When people are trying to decide whether to move/retire to a foreign country – or even visit a foreign country – the number one question asked is, Can I Afford It? The latest cost of living statistics are now out for Costa Rica, courtesy of Numbeo, and they discovered that the cost of living for Costa Rica in 2019 is 26.81% lower than in the United States. In 2018 Costa Rica’s rate was 23.08% lowe...

The world is on a path to becoming almost insect free, according to the latest study published by the Journal of Biological Conservation, who declared the 2.5 percent rate of insect annual loss as “shocking”. “It is very rapid. In 10 years you will have a quarter less insects, in 50 years you will have half less, and in 100 years you will have none,” said scientist Francisco Sanchez-Bayo, author o...

Costa Rica used to import between 12,000 to 15,000 tons of avocados from Mexico – the world’s largest exporter and producer of this popular fruit. In May 2015, Costa Rica banned this Mexican delicacy due to the risk of Avocado Sunblotch Viroid (ASVB) disease. Trees infected with ASVB show no signs of the disease until the fruit is opened, and inferior quality is revealed. Infected trees have a 30%...

Costa Rica took a big hit over the holidays with female tourists and visitors. Women were murdered in Costa Rica – brutally and viciously – with the most famous being the Venezuelan/American from Miami, Carla Stefaniak, who visited in December to celebrate her birthday. She was found partially buried behind the Airbnb she was visiting, and the hotel security guard stands accused of her murder. ...

Harper College Associate Biology Professor Craig Stettner died on Christmas day while on a family vacation in Costa Rica. Stettner had arrived in Costa Rica a few days before he was to lead a Study-Abroad Course for Harper students from January 3-13, doing field research in the Costa Rican Rainforest. Stettner had conducted this very popular course for Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, for the...

In the last five years, scientists in Costa Rica have noticed a marked increase in Black Mantled Howler Monkeys -- who are turning blonde. Howler Monkeys (called Congos in Spanish), comprise 69% of the primate population of the country. Howlers are renowned for their vocalizations made by adult males, which can be heard more than one kilometer away. They are called “mantled” howler monkeys due to ...

On Wednesday, November 14th, the American biologist being treated at San Juan de Dios Hospital in San Jose, died of cardiorespiratory failure, after having been bitten by a rabid bat while exploring a cave in Copey de Dota with his family. The scientist was 43 years old, and his name is being withheld at the request of his family. The biologist was admitted on October 21st to the Intensive Care...

Meet the Rhinoceros Beetle-Probably the strongest animal in the world  and maybe one of the ugliest. They are BIG. The heaviest known Rhinoceros Beetle (Dynastinae), weighed in at 8.4 oz, the size of a female rat, but this badass bug can fly. There are some 300 different species of Rhino Beetles, many of them native to Costa Rica. They can lift 850 times their own body weight, which is like a huma...

An alarming number of guns have disappeared recently in Costa Rica, 14,000 to be exact, and they are a danger to everyone, especially if they fall into the hands of organized crime or independent criminals. The Direccion General de Armamiento recently reported that they suspect local security companies are responsible for many of these missing firearms, reporting that security companies who have g...

UPDATED: January 12th 2019 William Sean Creighton, a 43-year old American known as one of the three most important sportsbook operators in Costa Rica, disappeared on September 24th at about 10:00PM, as he was leaving work. His wife, a Tica, reported him missing the following day, and the Costa Rican police began investigating the case as a possible kidnapping for ransom. The OIJ, however, repor...

This was a hot topic for discussion at the Break Free from Plastic Initiative held Tuesday in Manila, where it was revealed that Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Nestle are among the companies that contribute the most to ocean-pollution via single-use plastics. Back in August 2017, Costa Rica announced its goal of completely eradicating single-use plastic by 2021, thereby becoming the first country in the wo...

An all-women drug gang was busted for drug trafficking in Golfito, on the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, near Panama. These alleged drug damas were operating near the Sports Park of Pueblo Civil de Golfito, in Puntarenas Province. They were apprehended by agents of the Drug Patrol Police (Policia Control de Drogas, PCD), on October 5, 2018. The leader of the group was identified by the l...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 6-7 million people in the world are infected with Chagas Disease, a possibly fatal disease spread by the bite of a bug with the cute name of the “Kissing Bug”. Most of these people live in Latin America, usually in areas up to 1,600 meters above sea level, and Costa Rica has thousands of infected individuals, many of whom are completely una...

Like it or not, Costa Rica is experiencing a mini crime wave, and it will surely affect the tourist trade, including hotels, restaurants, tours, taxis, B & B’s, etc. Even Bloomberg Business News took note of the crime uptick, publishing an article this week on the upward trending Costa Rican crime statistics. This is worrisome to both Ticos and expats, and here’s why. Tourism is Costa Rica’s m...

The group responsible for a shipment of 133 kilos of cocaine hidden in Costa Rican pineapples have been identified as the Kinahan Cartel. The cocaine was discovered in pineapples specially outfitted with waxy, yellow tubes in which the cocaine was hidden. The cocaine was discovered on August 14, aboard a Spanish boat registered as carrying bananas, on its way to Cork, Ireland. The boat was interce...

Scientists are now predicting that due to global warming and disease, chocolate may be virtually unavailable by the year 2050. Costa Rica could be one of the lone holdouts in the cultivation of cacao, the source of chocolate worldwide. Sweet! Cacao trees only like a particular temperature range. They will not grow outside of a very narrow geographic band, 20 degrees North and South of the equat...

Drug dealers and smugglers in Costa Rica are diversifying their drug portfolios to include Ketamine, Ketamina in Spanish, a club drug better known for its use in veterinary medicine as a horse tranquilizer. Dealers have discovered that “Special K”, or “El Gato” as it is known in Costa Rica, is very affordable, easy to transport, can be taken easily in pill or liquid form, and perhaps most appealin...

Emojis are those fun, cute cartoon symbols we use in texts and add to social media posts. Today we celebrate all 2,800 of them, from the over-used face with tears of joy, to the seldom-used person playing water polo. World Emoji Day was founded in 2014 by Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge. The purpose of the celebration is to “promote the use of emojis and spread the enjoyment that they bring to ...

The General Directorate of Armaments in Costa Rica has destroyed 191 firearms this month, firearms which had been used in various crimes including homicide, robbery, drug trafficking, and illegal arms possession and sale. The Guns destroyed included 133 short weapons and 58 long weapons which have been in custody since 2012 and were previously used as evidence in criminal proceedings. They had bee...

On July 11, 2018, the Policia de Control de Drogas (Drug Patrol Police PCD) arrested a mother, her boyfriend, and her son, for drug violation charges in Pavas de San Jose, on the San Juan de Rincon Grande Farm. The family called themselves, “Los Craqueros”. This is the 22nd narco-family busted by the PCD this year, including busts in Guacimo, Coto Brus and La Cruz de Guanacaste. They have also ...

An amazing new beetle was discovered in Costa Rica at the La Selva Biological Station in the lowland Atlantic rainforest of Northeastern Costa Rica. This beetle rides around on the backs of army ants as though it was horseback riding. To its predators or to the human eye, it looks like a second ant abdomen, given its hard, hairy shell. Scientists who discovered the beetle named it Nymphister Krona...

It is a known fact that incarcerated criminals in Costa Rica still manage to start new businesses, restart operations closed down by law enforcement, or maintain thriving organizations they bring with them from the outside. How can this happen, right under prison officials’ noses? The answer? Cell phones. Cell phones are, of course, prohibited in Costa Rican prison facilities. According to Costa ...

What happens in Costa Rica when a rescued wild animal is too injured to ever return to the wild, but is not at the end of its natural life? iRescue Animal Sanctuary steps in. And what a blessing that is for both the animals and the over-crowded animal sanctuaries throughout the country. The sad truth is that Costa Rican animal sanctuaries are overwhelmed by wild animals, many too injured or ha...

Most expats and Ticos alike remember the infamous death of multi-millionaire hedge fund manager John Felix Bender in Florida de Baru in 2010, and the subsequent three trials of Bender's wife, Ann Patton Bender, for Intentional Homicide. The Bender case put the Southern Zone of Costa Rica in the international news spotlight, and its infamy was spread far and wide by extensive television coverage on...

Here are five lesser-known magical spots to visit the next time you are in Perez Zeledon. Airborne Arts Aerial Flying Trapeze, Hotel and Retreat, (San Salvador de Baru, 8320-0929 www.airbornearts.com) Want to learn trapeze flying, while enjoying amazing views of Costa Rica like the birds enjoy? Airborne Arts are the winners of Luxury Travel Guide’s Most Unique Adventure Award. They offer year-...

Spanish police report that they have broken up one of the biggest drug trafficking operations in Europe, one that has been operating in Europe for forty or more years. How were they caught? Authorities tagged a suspicious shipment of Costa Rican pineapples, and discovered fruit loaded with cylinders coated with yellow-colored wax, made to look like pineapples. Eleven people were arrested in Malaga...

In June, 2017, the former head of the Costa Rica Public Force (Fuerza Publica) was arrested for traveling in a false-bottom truck with 237 kilograms of cocaine – probably destined for the USA via Mexico.  In October, between 800-1,000 kilos of cocaine were found floating near Golfo Dulce. Last week, 785 kilos of cocaine were seized by authorities near Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia. Last Friday ...

What is better for Costa Rican tourism than an adorable talking sloth? A beautiful neuroscientist, yoga teacher and adventurer named Brittany Fair is better. In the last decade, Costa Rica achieved a 54% increase in tourists. Compare that to an 85% tourist increase for Panama, and a staggering 158% increase for Nicaragua, and you can see that Central American tourism is a highly competitive bus...

John Felix Bender, an American multi-millionaire hedge fund manager was found dead in his bed in Florida de Baru, Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica, with a bullet through the back of his head, in January 2010. His widow, Ann Patton Bender, was the only one at home with him at the time of his death. Since that tragic night, Ann Bender has been through three trials for intentional homicide, has served ni...

On June 21, 2017, the former head of the Costa Rica Public Force (Fuerza Publica) was detained and arrested near Orotina for possible drug smuggling. Pizarro and three others were stopped on Highway 27, at Kilometer 57, in the Province of Alajuela. They were traveling in a truck with a false truck bed which contained 237 kilograms of cocaine. Pizarro was appointed Director of the Fuerza Publica...

Roger Leiva Calderon, President of AQUA and co-founder of FUDEBIOL Biological Center of Quebradas, led this year’s campaign to plant 500 new trees near and bordering the Quebradas River of Costa Rica’s Southern Zone. The last of the of the 500 trees was planted on Sunday, in celebration of El Dia del Arbol (The Day of the Tree), celebrated annually on June 15th, as signed into law by President Alf...

Farmers from a small coffee collective close to Parque Internacional La Amistad remind each other (and visitors) to come off the mountain before dark – because of possible jaguar encounters. Café Britt has partnered with the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica Conservation and Wildlife Management International Institute (ICOMVIS) in a remarkable new “Programa Jaguar”, destined to help save the end...