The end of the year in southern Costa Rica turns a little devilish. This is when the indigenous Boruca community celebrates their ancestral “Fiesta de los Diablitos", or the Festival of Little Devils, a four-day annual event happening from Dec. 30 to Jan. 2. The end-of-the-year festival takes place in the village of Boruca on the tribe’s indigenous reservation in the Talamanca Mountains, 25 km ...

Source: Flickr Commons In Costa Rica, Christmas and the end of the year holidays bring a lot of cheer to residents and visitors. One of the most expected events of the holiday season is called Toros a la Tica, which some people wrongly characterize as bullfights, but in reality they fall somewhere in between the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona and the North American rodeos. Ostensibly, these ...

Have you heard the one about the visiting tourist enjoying Costa Rican tamales? He says, “They’re really delicious, but the lettuce is little tough!” (Costa Rican tamales are wrapped in green banana tree leaves.) Ho, ho, ho! Tamales are one of the most time-honored Christmas traditions in Costa Rica. Like the rest of Latin America, tamales are a principal part of Christmas dinner. In Costa Rica...

Spending your Christmas holidays in Costa Rica and wondering what to do? The capital city of San José has a lot going on. So get your Santa hat and festive cheer ready, and let the rhythm of Christmas in Latin America dash you away! Christmas in San José, Costa Rica, is a lively, fun time. The city is ablaze with huge lighted Christmas trees adorning the front of the Children’s Hospital on Pase...

Knowing a little something about a country’s cultural and social nuances before you travel there could mean the difference between having a fun or a frustrating vacation. You’d want the same for a visitor in your own country, so why not make cultural awareness just as important as what you pack when planning an international trip. The more information you gather before traveling to a foreign...

Source: ANDRÉS GARITA, La Nacion It has been 192 years since the final defeat of the Spanish in the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821) when the authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America. And so now, every year a flaming torch is carried from Guatemala starting on Sept. 11 all the way to the former colonial capital of Costa Rica in Cartago, symbolizing th...

The border crossing at Peñas Blancas will be working overtime for the arrival of the Independence torch. According to the border officials, the border post with Nicaragua, will be working “special” hours Thursday and Friday. On Thursday the border will be open until midnight and on Friday from 6am and then normal hours after the formal “torch” ceremonies are over. The Independence Torch was...

This is a guest article from TravelMother.com. By moving from the States to Costa Rica with young children, we’ve allowed our surroundings to be replaced with a whole new society, a place where the village does indeed raise a child. Not wanting to keep my family in the bubble of set methods and practices, I have made an effort to observe the atmosphere that the local children grow up in. Here...

Source: UCR In order to comply with Resolution 64/460 of the United Nations, which calls for a ten-year period of research, study and celebration of the international heritage of African people around the world starting in 2013, the University of Costa Rica has organized a series of events throughout August in the Caribbean region. This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the Day of the...

Long live Nicoya in peace! With these opening words, Marta Arauz, coordinator of the Annexation International Cultural Festival, welcomed hundreds of people who attended to enjoy an evening of music and dance in the Colonial City. The Technical Professional High School (CTP) of Nicoya warmed up the stage with a presentation of “The Traditions of my People,” a group of Costa Rican dances from...

Arabs and Jews, blacks and whites, teens and seniors, Anglos and Mexicans, Ticos and Nicaraguans, Cowboys and Indians. In Costa Rica we can all celebrate cultural harmony in a world focused on differences, not similarities. Where else does this blending of cultures come so easily? Certainly not the French with the British or Germans and Turks. Perhaps we fail to sufficiently appreciate the pea...

At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, July 22, Nicoya's streets were filled with movement and color during the typical parade of cultural emblems organized by the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Education, which included a float devoted to foods. This activity was a favorite of Nicoyans, and hundreds of people enjoyed the event along the main streets of the city center, some even walking along with ...

If it was 25 years ago, you wouldn’t want to go to San Lucas Island. The small, forested island in the middle of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Gulf was the roughest jail in the country. Being sent to San Lucas Island was a terrible prospect; prisoners’ lives were short and often spent in torture. Thankfully, today, the prisoners are gone and San Lucas Island has been transformed into a national wildlife ...

Source: Miss Costa Rica Facebook When Fabiana Granados was crowned Miss Costa Rica 2013 over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of Ticos who tuned in to Teletica for the pageant’s broadcast on Teletica clearly heard her exclaim in surprise, and in English: Oh My God! Fabiana Granados’ choice of an English expression to express her elation and surprise at being crowned Queen of all Ticos cau...

Popular throughout Central American countries, though not readily available in the USA, “Guaro” is a distilled liquor originating in Costa Rica. Manufactured from sugar cane juice, Guaro has a high alcohol content, clear coloring and a strong but slightly sweet flavor. Most commonly mixed with fruit juice or soda (Fresca being a favorite), few people choose to consume this liquor in straight sh...

One of my favorite year end activities is watching the local version of the bulls. Ticos have developed their own version of bull fighting where the bull is the aggressor and the fans or “improvised bullfighters” try to get as close as possible without injury. The best runs feature a few poor souls running for their lives and possibly being tossed or trampled but hopefully with no serious inju...

Note: This article is a real life experience of a pig farm in Guanacaste Costa Rica. If you eat Chicharrones, you need to know where they come from and how the process works. This day has been in the works for months, the one my brother-in-law has been threatening me with. I'm back on the enormous rice farm in Guanacaste. I've had a day to settle in and fired off about 150 pictures wanderin...

Costa Rica, among most other Latin American countries, celebrates the deceased on November 2nd every year. This day has several names, including Día de Todos Santos (All Saints Day), Día de Todos Almas (All Souls Day) and the more common Día De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Although this holiday is celebrated more in other Latin American countries, Costa Ricans remember the deceased by visitin...

If you are presently on vacation in Costa Rica, or planning to make your getaway soon, Costa Rica's port town of Limón on the Caribbean side of the country, converts to an all out party every October to celebrate “Carnaval”! Vaguely disguised around celebrating Columbus Day (October 12th) or “Dia de Las Culturas” (as we know it in Costa Rica), locals as well as every strange character you c...

Note: This article is published in the Blog section, contains opinion, and was graciously given to The Costa Rica Star by Dave Playfair. “If you have a business, you didn’t build that.” Baffling as it may be to comprehend the sheer volume of misinformation and outright lies in today’s society, whether you are in the U.S.A. where this comment originates or in Costa Rica where misdirection...

After 15 years of visiting the pura vida of Costa Rica, we finally made the move from California to here 2 years ago. We wanted the perfect climate, the breathtaking natural environment, the tranquility---we wanted the pura vida; but we can’t have it, can’t get it and you probably can’t either. You see, it’s another state of mind; maybe even another dimension, like a Twilight Zone place. Pura...

Sight of Emptiness is a melodic metal band from Costa Rica that recently wrapped up recording of their third album, which has yet to be titled. The album was recorded at SoloHits Recording Studios in San Jose, and Swedish Producer Thomas "Plec" Johansson traveled to Costa Rica to work with the band for about three weeks. Mr. Johansson has previously worked with other renowned metal acts like Scar...

This weekend in Punta Leona, the community celebrates the arrival of the green season with live music, handcrafts, culture, sports, and fun activities for the whole family. Rain Fest is an annual event that greets the rainy season in the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. This is the second year of the event, which seeks to bring together visitors and the community of one the country's premier t...

SAN JOSE – The annual gallo pinto fair held at Paseo Colon earlier today managed to attract more people than the Calle 13 concert on Friday night at the nearby La Sabana metropolitan park. The culinary activity, which showcases the most representative folkloric dish in Costa Rica, was part of the "Smoke-Free Sundays" initiative that the Municipality of San Jose is promoting each year. During ea...

Putting aside social tensions, politics and conflict, I decided to venture inside the lives of the native Costa Rican Ngöbe tribe to see life from their perspective. The dusty road ahead seemed to never end, twisting and turning amidst the lush forests of Costa Rica’s southern region –for me, a new country altogether. The sun was up directly above us, shining with unforeseen intensity; the warm...

A few dear readers have asked variations on similar questions regarding the bills and sales receipts they get from restaurants located in tourist hotspots such as Jaco and La Fortuna, close to where Will Smith is currently filming After Earth.  A notable question came from a reader named Stacy who told us about the time she dined at a nice restaurant in Quepos and she asked the waiter to bring the...

National de facto news daily La Nación has published its annual list of the most newsworthy personalities and entities which consistently graced its pages with either positive or controversial developments in 2011. The following is a quick rundown of the people and entities mentioned and the category they made news in: National Affairs The global financial crisis left its most serious mark i...