Kivu is an 18-year-old lion that had its home at the Simon Bolivar Zoo in San Jose until this week, when he was moved to his new home in the Zoo Ave facilities in La Garita, Alajuela. But Kivu is not just any lion, he is one that has created controversy for a very long time in Costa Rica due to the conditions he was kept in in the Simon Bolivar Zoo. Kivu arrived in Costa Rica from Cuba at the e...

President-elect Donald Trump's rejection this weekend of U.S. intelligence analysts' conclusion that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help him win the White House is the latest in a string of conflicts between Trump and the intelligence community he will command. Most of them involve Russia, which has grown increasingly aggressive - according to what U.S. intelligence agencies have tol...

Yacht-Style cruises are a different way to discover some of the most beautiful areas of Costa Rica, places that are best accessed by ship. We already went through the information on itineraries and tours offered by Windstar Cruises in the first part of this article. Now we will go over the options offered by Lindblad Expeditions- National Geographic to tour Costa Rica. First thing you sh...

The Burn Unit of the Costa Rican Children Hospital reached its maximum occupation capacity, this worries the authorities of the medical center, who reported that through November, 2016 reports a total of 378 cases of minors who have suffered a burn. “We are very worried ecause right now we are at 100% occupancy in the Burnt Child Comprehensive Care Unit, we even have the support of some pediatr...

120 students from different regions of Costa Rica experienced their first flight this Friday, the activity “Unforgettable Journey” was certainly a unique and life changing experience for this kids. The COPA Boeing 737-800 was full of laughter and even some tears this past Friday, December 9th when 120 kids had the opportunity to experience flying for the first time; the plane took them for a q...

The creation of protected areas and parks in Central America aimed at conserving tropical forests has pushed indigenous people off the land they have nurtured for generations, researchers said on Friday. Protected areas are more effective when the rights of indigenous people living on the land are formally recognized, said the report released on the sidelines of a U.N. conservation conference i...

The various sources of renewable energy represent an opportunity for Latin America to have its development shared by the entire population, and would particularly favor the more than 20 million people living in regions without electricity, according to World Wildlife Fund expert Tabare Arroyo. Arroyo, the NGO's adviser on the economy and energy, visited Asuncion this week for a series of meetin...

As it is common in Costa Rica, the end of the year comes with a dangerous influenza virus; according to the Ministry of Health in the last six weeks there have been ten reported deaths caused by it. The types of influenza viruses present in the country are the A (H1N1) and A (H3N2). The presence of risk factors generates complications in those patients affected by the virus, eight out of th...

Obnis App Costa Rica Private Transportation - Cab service Costa Rican company Obnis launched today their application, a competition of UBER. Obnis was created as an alternative in the private transportation sector, and in order to give clients a “Test drive” of their service they will be offering free trips for all new users for a limited time and with some restrictions. Over 4,000 users...

If you didn’t have a chance to go to the “La Luz Escalante” Gastronomic Festival last weekend, don’t worry about it, you will get a chance to try some of the delicious dishes presented at the festival during the next four weekends of December. Barrio Escalante, located in the east side of San Jose, will become a gastronomic boulevard every weekend of this last month, offering different cuisine ...

Contiki, the global tour operator specializing in once-in-a-lifetime experiences for young travelers, recently polled over 5,000 18-35 year olds around the world to discover what motivates them to travel and create the The No Regrets List, the top 20 bucket list travel experiences for 2017. According to the study, 71 percent of U.S. millennials and post-millennials, view experiences as the most...

Establishment Labs started operations in 2009 as a small enterprise of only six employees, in a garage in Pavas, San Jose. Seven years later, the company strengthens its services by investing USD$35M in the expansion of its global operation, of which USD$16.5M will go to its new mammary implant manufacturing plant in Costa Rica. The consolidation of Establishment Labs' global operatio...

December marks the beginning of the high season for tourism in Costa Rica, and despite the fact that prices are higher than usual this time a year (averaging $211 USD a night), hotels already report 84 of every 100 rooms reserved for the holidays according to the Hotels Chamber of Costa Rica. The probe was done in the past few weeks and it shows that Puntarenas is the province with the biggest ...

The annual study done by Reporters without boarders in relation to the state of the Freedom of the Press in the world in 2016 shows Costa Rica in the sixth position worldwide and the first in America. The ranking of 180 countries, shows Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and New Zealand in the top 5, followed by Costa Rica, Switzerland, Sweden, Irland and Jamaica in the next 5 slots. The ...

Summer time in Costa Rica is finally here and with it the tourism activity obviously increases, Costa Rica is the perfect place to escape the cold weather of North America and Europe during this next few months, for those that live in Costa Rica, school is out for summer break, many have vacation from work, so it is without a doubt the perfect time to explore Costa Rica and enjoy the wonderful wea...

Press Release / Corcovado National Park was included in the top 10 of the best National Parks in the World by Discovery Corp.  This recognition is based on criteria by National Geographic that considers this area as “the most biologically intense area in the world when it comes to biodiversity”. Corcovado encompasses diverse ecosystems, including cloud forests, montane forest, mangroves and tro...

There’s a great deal of tourists that are always looking for new places to discover and those hidden treasures that go unnoticed by many. If you are visiting Costa Rica or if you’ve lived here for a while and are looking for a new adventure, you might want to check out the region of San Gerardo de Dota and Los Quetzales National Park, just about two hours away from San Jose, located in the area kn...

Costa Rican BMX street and park rider Kenneth “Pollis” Tencio will begin 2017 with two big challenges, in January he will inaugurate his BMX freestyle track, similar to those used in international tournaments such as the (Festival International des Sports Extremes) FISE World Series, the initial plan was to make this his training facility and this way save money on traveling to train in different ...

The “Festival de La Luz” or (Parade of Light) in Costa Rica is already a tradition in Costa Rica and will take place December 17 in San Jose. But the Christmas activities are not exclusive to the capital city, and for the third year in a row, the neighbors of Quepos in Puntarenas will have their own Bright Lights Boat Parade. Around 15 to 20 boats will bring lights and fun to residents of Quepo...

Costa Rica is positioned third in the Latin American region in the last Program for the International Evaluation of Students (PISA) study, which evaluates quality, equity and efficiency of the educational systems. Chile continues to lead the list in the region and it takes position 44 globally, followed by Uruguay (47 in the world), Costa Rica (55), Colombia (57), Mexico (58), Brasil (63), Per...

(EFE).- The death toll in the electronic music concert fire last week in a converted warehouse in Oakland, California, has risen to 30, authorities said Sunday. Sgt. Ray Kelly, with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, confirmed the figure at a press conference warning that the number of dead could rise further because there are still people missing in the wake of the tragedy. "We antic...

EFE/ 43% of Mexican and 30% of Costa Rican children begin consuming alcohol before the age of 13, according to the first results of the study about the patterns of consumption of alcoholic beverages in Latin American minors. Costa Rican expert Jorge Mora Alfaro, associate investigator of the Social Sciences Faculty of Latin America (FLACSO), explained to EFE in Miami that those percentages are ...

Shortly after Venezuela’s former president Hugo Chavez passed away, many news channels reported on the fortune he inherited by his family, from valuable properties, to car lots, mansions, planes, and a lot of money in offshore banks. According to Venezuelan news website Noticias Centro in an article published in 2015 “the late president’s family owns 17 country estates, totaling more than 100,0...

Costa Rican boxer Yokasta Valle will be fighting for a World Title on Friday, December 16. Valle, currently undefeated with 11 professional fights will be facing Mexican Ana Victoria Polo, who holds a record of 10-1. The fight will take place in the Central Park of San Jose, and will be open to the public. The title in dispute is the International Boxing Federation IBF – Junior Mini Flyweigh...

The Telethon 2016 in Costa Rica surpassed its goal and was able to collect over 1,200 million colones, the equivalent to $2,196,140.76 USD. 27 hours of work paid off, as the night fell this past Saturday, December 3rd in Costa Rica, the board of the 2016 Telethon was not even close to reaching the established goal of 690 million colones ($1,254,310 USD), the attending audience and the different...

The Costa Rica National Theater will be the scenery of a classic story with a twist, Alice in Wonderland is the December proposal of director Maria Amalia Pendones and her company Danzay in collaboration with the National Theater and the Comprehensive System of Artistic Training for Social Inclusion (Sifais). The story of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland has been recreated through animated m...

Press Release / Wyndham Hotel Group announced its acquisition of Latin America's leading Fën Hotels, adding 26 management contracts across Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, (Esplendor Hotel in Tamarindo), Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and the U.S. including two new Fën-built Wyndham Grand hotels opening in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Asunción, Paraguay. With the addition of Fën Hotels’ signature Esplendor B...

Costa Rica has come a long way when it comes to the creation and development of medical devices. Going in a period of 15 years from designing devices class I (disposable devices such as catheters), to class III devices (those that are placed inside the human body). Five of the ten main cardiovascular companies in the world and 6 out of 20 most reputable enterprises of medical devices in the wor...

The Costa Rica International Film Festival returns for its 5th edition and is scheduled from December 8th to the 17th. A total of 58 feature films and 14 short films will be shown in five different theaters: Magaly Movie Theater, La Aduana Theater, Theater 1887, the Theater of Dance and the Amphitheater of the National Center of Culture. Entrance is free of charge for the 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. sho...

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Model and Reality Show Celebrity Kendall Jenner gets her wings.Photo Credit: Facebook page Kris Jenner /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, the Victoria's Secret Angels was filmed in Paris for THE VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW, to be broadcast Monday, Dec. 5 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The world's most celebrated fashion show will be s...

The Nutcracker has become a highly-anticipated event every December in Costa Rica. The famous presentations of this classic ballet will extend from December 2 to December 11, this time at the Melico Salazar Theater (traditionally this show has taken place at the National Theatre). A show specially designed to be enjoyed by the entire family, is directed by Patricia Carreras and former first dan...

This weekend the Antigua Aduana building will host an artisan fair where different Costa Rican handmade products can be purchased. 150 local artisans and 30 designers are part of the second edition of the fair “Hecho aquí con identidad”(Made here with identity). Among the products offered are: indigenous craftwork made with native elements, traditional craftworks in ceramic, wood, leather and k...

The Irazu Volcano located in the province of Cartago experimented some changes after the heavy rains received in the past days’ product of a tropical storm and also hurricane Otto. The water filled up three lakes in the volcano and a small waterfall is dropping in the main crater, the last time this phenomenon happened was back in 2012. According to Costa Rican volcanologist Gino Gonzalez, the...

The 15 finalists of the National Geographic World Legacy Awards were unveiled today. The World Legacy Awards, a partnership between National Geographic and ITB Berlin, showcase the leading travel and tourism companies, organizations and destinations — ranging from entire countries to small islands and from urban hotels to jungle retreats — driving the sustainable tourism transformation of the glob...

The 21st edition of the San Jose Marathon will take place this Sunday, December 4th with over 3500 participants distributed in three different categories. Representatives from 26 different countries, including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Germany, Russia and Italy will be part of this traditional event in Costa Rica that will kick off at 6:00 a.m. from the National Stadium and will extend un...

/PRNewswire/ -- Modern travellers seeking an authentic Costa Rican experience filled with immersive culture, adventure and romance will love the new Casa Chameleon Las Catalinas hotel opening February 2017. The resort is the first hotel for the up and coming coastal town of Las Catalinas on the Guanacaste coastline and the second Costa Rica property for NP International, the name behind TripAdv...

(Reuters) - Nestle, the world's largest packaged food group, said it had devised a new technology that has the potential to reduce sugar in some of its confectionery products by up to 40 percent without affecting the taste. The maker of Kitkat and Aero bars said its researchers have found a way using only natural ingredients to change the structure of sugar particles. By hollowing out the cryst...

The Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra will be presenting their next concert titled Philharmonic Rock December 18, 19 and 20 at the Melico Salazar Theatre. In this concert the Philharmonic Orchestra will play famous rock songs from the 90’s, from bands such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Blur, The Cranberries and Red ...

The fourth edition of the Gastronomic Festival “La Luz Escalante” will take place this Sunday, December 4, and will have the participation of 19 restaurants. Food, music and art, merge in this event which will offer a great variety of different dishes and gastronomic alternatives for the attending public in each of the participating restaurants, canopies and booths and food trucks . Barrio E...

The beautiful province of Guanacaste Costa Rica charms locals and foreigners with their impressive nature, and many looking to escape the stress and fast pace of the city look to make Guanacaste their new home, but how to choose where to settle? We have sought the advice of real estate experts at RE/MAX Ocean Surf and Sun to help us answer this question, and here we leave you the top 5 recommen...