Calendar of Events and Posts
Jun
26
Recycling in the South Caribbean
Posted by Editor | June 26, 2008 | Tags: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
 Aluminum cans are ReciCaribe’s #1 revenue source. Please don’t throw them out! |
Did you know that ReciCaribe is a model recycling association for all of Latin America, even the world? We’ll soon have more options in recyclable materials in our little corner of the world than in New York City! Currently we recycle most plastics (#1, #2, #5), all kinds of glass (minus light bulbs,) and aluminum!
Did you know that ReciCaribe is a non-profit association that owes it success to the support of individuals and businesses in Puerto Viejo, Manzanillo, Cahuita, BriBri and other surrounding communities? Their financial and material support keeps the operation running. “Reci” currently employees six employees, all Costa Rican. Everyone else that works with Reci is an unpaid volunteer working to make Talamanca a healthier place.
Right now ReciCaribe is working with a grant* to expand the recycling center located in Patiño-between Hone Creek and BriBri. They’ll get a larger work space, a materials compactor, a glass breaker, and a washing station. This new equipment will allow them to increase greatly the amount of materials processed, to recycle All types of plastics, and soon to run a test project for recycling cardboard!
Don’t start sending in the new materials yet, they’ll let you know when they’re going to want to start collecting everything recyclable, to let nothing recyclable go to the open air dump in Olivia.
*The grant is solely for the purposes of this expansion, there’s not a dime for purchasing gasoline or paying salaries, so your generous support is still GREATLY appreciated.
They are working on a lot of other projects too - you can read the rest of this article updating you on the happenings of ReciCaribe on the GreenCoast News.
Jun
20
Informacion de tours y actividades ya esta disponsible en español
Posted by Editor | June 20, 2008 | Tags: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Yes, our tours page is now available in Spanish! It joins the map page and the transport page as fully bilingual pages. So we’re well on our way to providing a fully bilingual site! Thanks to the great translation services provided by Agustin at Hotel Banana Azul.
Ver la pagina de tours y actividades en español | See the tours and activities page in Spanish
Now you can read about all the tours and activities we recommend in either English or Spanish — and you can book them right online too!
Jun
16
Two Cahuita Policemen Arrested on Suspicion of Involment in Murder
Posted by Editor | June 16, 2008 | Tags: Crime & Punishment | Leave a Comment
 Two police officers are arrested. Photo by Mario Rojas courtesy of La Nacion |
Two policement in Cahuita, with the last names Cortés and Angulo, have been arrested on suspicion of their involvement in the murder of two men and the attempted murder of two others. Two other policemen are being sought for questioning in the same case.
This follows the deaths of 23-year-old Roy Gerardo Sotera Prenderas and 16-year-old Natanael Obregón Rodríguez, and the injury of two other men who apparently escaped death only by pretending to be dead. The two injured men, brothers Alexánder Dixon Obregón, 22, and Ricardo Armando Dixon Obregón, 25, are in hospital under police guard.
The policemen themselves are not directly accused of the murders but investigators from the justice division (OIJ) are speculating that the police caught the 4 men and then turned them over to gang members who went on to torture the 4 men and kill 2 in what was apparently drug-trafficking related gang violence.
The murdered men were discovered still wearing police-issue handcuffs. Their bodies showed signs of torture.
Investigators discovered a bag with $80,000 in cash burried in the yard of one of the accused officers, leading investigators to believe that the killings had some relationship with the drug trade.
More:
La Nacion: Policías en Limón fueron reclutados por banda de narcos
A.M. Costa Rica: Police officers are suspects in twin Cahuita murder
May
31
Committee Against Marina Seeks Residents to Sign Petition
Posted by Editor | May 31, 2008 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News, Economic Development, Government and Politics | 1 Comment
| June 1, 2008 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
The anti-marina movement has prepared a petition with the help of a lawyer for which they are urgently seeking signatures this weekend in order to present it to the national government on Monday.
The movement, which is now known as the “Comité Unidos por Talamanca y Caribe Sur” with the goal of continuing to lobby for sustainable development of the area, plans to present the petition as soon as possible as they have found out that the Congress has the issue of the marina law on the agenda for the coming week. Congress is proposing to amend laws in such a way that would allow investors to get a provisional concession from the Municipalicity and Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) and a go ahead from the environmental ministry prior to the completion of a full environmental review. With this provisional concession, the investors would be able to start the project without waiting for their official concession and the full review of their plans.
The proposals before congress is intended to “speed up investments” in Costa Rica.
Puerto Viejo area legal residents, i.e. those holding a cédula de residencia or Costa Rican cédula, are invited to sign the petition.
| Update: The committee will have people going around collecting signatures this weekend. The letter can also be signed at Lourdes’s little clothes shop next door to ATEC. The next meeting of the committee is on Sunday, 1st of June at 2 PM at the Centro Pro Niño behind the PV school. |
May
23
Greenpeace Denies Endorsing Marina
Posted by Editor | May 23, 2008 | Tags: Economic Development, Environment | Leave a Comment
Greenpeace has denied any endorsement of the marina project proposed for Puerto Viejo.
The newspaper Seminario Universidad of the Universidad de Costa Rica had quoted Walter Coto, an ex-government minister who now acts as the lawyer for Grupo Caribeño Internacional S.A., saying that the company projects “a design and use of construction techniques certified by the ecological organization Greenpeace.”
The article was first published in February, but got the attention of Greenpeace when it was referenced by the Argentinian news source Argenpress.info Tuesday.
“Greenpeace does not have, nor has had, any kind of relationship with the Grupo Caribeño Internacional S.A.,” said Milko Schvartzman, the ocean campaign co-ordinator for Greenpeace Latin America.
“Greenpeace has not certified any project of that corporation and does not dedicate itself to certifying projects,” he added
The organization’s statement also said that it opposes projects that have a negative effect on the environment. After analyzing documents by scientists and environmentalists about the marina, it continues, Greenpeace manifests its opposition to the marina project.
Due to pressure from environmentalists, who say the five-star marina resort will damage nature reservations near Puerto Viejo, the company has already said it will only be constructing a marina with 100 slips for yachts rather than the originally planned 398.
Source: A.M. Costa Rica: Greenpeace denies it has approved Puerto Viejo marina plan
May
22
Interbus Introduces Turrialba Service
Posted by Editor | May 22, 2008 | Tags: Site news, Tourism | 1 Comment
Starting June 1st, Interbus will be offering service to Turrialba from Puerto Viejo, San Jose and Arenal as well as intermediate points.
From Puerto Viejo to Turrialba they depart daily at 6 a.m. and arrive at 10 a.m. From Turrialba to Puerto Viejo the departure is at 8:15 a.m., arriving 11:30 a.m. The cost is $35 for adults and $17.50 for children.
Puerto Viejo Satellite offers booking of any Interbus route (and when we book it, it is easier to make changes or get a refund in case of a cancellation than if you were to book directly on the Interbus site). Click here to search fares and schedules and make a reservation.
May
13
MEPE raises bus rates on Limon - Manzanillo Route
Posted by Editor | May 13, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Government and Politics | 1 Comment
The fare increase that MEPE applied for in April from ARESEP (Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos) is now coming into effect.
The rate between Limón and Puerto Viejo will go up from 1,510 colones to 1,815 colones. MEPE routes between Limon and Bananito and San Andres will also go up.
More: La Nación: Ocho empresas de autobuses impugnan alza en pasajes.
May
11
Cahuita Map Images Added
Posted by Editor | May 11, 2008 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
Google has finally upgraded their map images for the Cahuita area, which formerly were blurry and cloud covered. Now there are crystal clear images of the Cahuita area, easily good enough to pick out individual businesses. The beach looks so inviting in the pictures that I want to jump right into my screen!
So now it’s time to add your Cahuita businesses to the satellite map.
Puerto Viejo Satellite isn’t just for Puerto Viejo anymore but for the whole of Costa Rica’s South Caribbean.
To see the images check out one or all of our current Cahuita listings:
- El Encanto Bed and Breakfast Inn
- Roberto’s Tours and Restaurant
- Cahuita National Park
- Cahuita Center
You can add new listings on the Add Listing page.
Apr
25
More Road Closures This Weekend and Next
Posted by Editor | April 25, 2008 | Tags: Community Calendar, Government and Politics | Leave a Comment
| April 26, 2008 | ||
| April 27, 2008 |
 Scenic Route 32 through Braulio Carrillo National Park. This route will be closed for part of the weekend |
The highway agency will again be closing the main road between San José and Limón for six hours both Saturday and Sunday for more work repainting lines on the road.
This week they will be working on a section between Río Sucio and the old toll station. There will be interruptions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, said the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes.
Work last weekend was called off due to bad weather. Motorists are being advised to use alternature routes from Turrialba to Siquirres and Vara Blanca to Sarapiquí. Officials plan on closing part of the highway again next weekend, too, they said.
Along the Caribbean coast workmen will be on the job at one of the pillars of a bridge over the Río Vizcaya some 25 kms. (16 miles) from Río Banano. Traffic will be halted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, said the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad.
As reported in: A.M. Costa Rica: More road delays planned by highway painting crews
Apr
19
Marina and Environmental Concerns Draw National and International Media Attention
Posted by Editor | April 19, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Economic Development, Environment | 5 Comments
 Tourists watch for monkeys along the canals of Tortuguero National Park. Government reports released last fall revealed that 97 percent of Costa Rica’s sewage flows untreated into rivers, streams, or the ocean. Photo by David Sherwood, courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor |
The hot issues of development and the environment and the way they are being played against each other continue to draw a lot of media attention to the Puerto Viejo area.
The Tico Times again features the story this week as their Top Story. The article, entitled Puerto Viejo Marina Plan Eyed Warily by Natives, discusses the effect that the marina project would have on the local Bri Bri people. The article proposes that the project could not only damage the low-key ecotourism that the area has developed on but could also herald the disappearance of Talamanca’s other resource, the indigenous culture.
Timoteo Jackson, a native Bribrí leader, is quoted as saying, “for us indigenous, this is only a bad thing.
“Right now, we have tourists coming to see nature, conservation and the indigenous way, but this will stop if the marina comes.”
The influential Christian Science Monitor recently weighed in on the struggle to find a balance between sustaining nature and continuing economic development in Costa Rica. The article, entitled Costa Rica sees tourism’s environmental dark side, goes into the water quality problems that recently caused the shutdown of several large hotels on the Pacific and the loss of blue flag status for a number of Costa Rica’s beaches, including our own Playa Negra.
The article strikes an alarming tone: “In the past decade, construction of hotels, second homes, and condominiums has surged in coastal regions, taking advantage of a vacuum in planning and enforcement. The total land area that has been developed grew 600 percent in that time, according to a government report. As a result, the biodiversity that has long lured visitors is disappearing, say scientists. Monkey and turtle populations are plummeting, and infrastructure is strained to a near breaking point.”
But it does go on to acknowledge that, despite all the problems, ”Costa Rica remains decades ahead of its neighbors” in environmenal protection and that the goverment “seems increasingly willing to listen.”
Televison news has not shied away from coverage either as this TV news report shows:
If you can’t view the video on this page, click here to see it on YouTube.
Apr
15
ATEC Plans 70km Trans-Talamanca Fundraising Trek
Posted by Editor | April 15, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Volunteering | Leave a Comment
For more than ten years ATEC’s guide, Zenon from Alta Talamanca, has offered the “Trans-Talamanca Trek,” a 70 km mountainous challenge.
Along with being an experienced guide on the ancient trail though the Talamancas, Zenon is a community organizer in his small town of Coroma where construction on the “Casa de Esperanza” was started in 2004. The Casa is a dream to give the kids from his small community a head start. The frame of the Casa was built in 2004 with a grant from Glenn Scarborough but then the floods in January 2005 wiped out all the work he had done, along with wiping out any extra time or hope to keep it going.
“Many of our kids don’t speak Spanish,” Zenon explained, “many don’t have the basic concepts of mathematics or even counting. If we can give them a head-start before they leave home to attend school, they will have more confidence and more success.”
Now Glenn and Zenon are revitalized to re-initiate the project. “If we can raise $1,100,” Glenn said, “we can re-build the Casa, get school supplies and books to them, and the kids of Coroma will have a chance to be prepared when they are ready to head off to go to school in Amubri”.
As a way to help raise funds to complete the building and buy the supplies for our neighbors and the children of Coroma, ATEC is offering an opportunity to experience an amazing trek across the continental divide in the Talamanca Mountain range, through pristine original growth rainforest and cloudforest, with a Cabecar native and experienced guide from Coroma, Talamanca. Led by Zenon, this 70km journey would take you up the Caribbean slope through wonderful and dense forest landscapes, past rarely seen rainforest waterfalls, over windswept peaks as high as 2700 meters and to the indigenous community of Ujarrás on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera de Talamanca.
Proceeds from this trip will be dedicated to helping finish the building and purchase supplies for the Children’s Center, La Casa de Esparanza, in the community of Coroma.
Non-hikers are also welcome to donate. All donations will be completely transparent and posted through ATEC’s email list during the fund drive and on Greencoast.com after the deadline.
The trip is planned for early May, it takes between 5 and 15 days and it ain’t easy. Write to atecmail@gmail.com to sign up, with questions, or to donate.
If you’d like to donate with a credit card, Puerto Viejo Satellite is offering to process credit card donations and cover all bank fees so that 100% of your donation will go towards the project. You can do so on the Donate Page.
For more on this: Greencoast News: Fundraising Trek for “Head Start” Program in Alta-Talamanca.
Apr
15
Environmental Inspectors Shut Down Construction at Several Hotels
Posted by Editor | April 15, 2008 | Tags: Economic Development, Environment | 6 Comments
 Inspectors confirm logging is occuring in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge. Photo courtesy La Nación. |
The inspectors from the environmental tribunal who arrived in a large group last week have shut down several construction projects.
The construction on a new hotel in Puerto Viejo was shut down with the inspectors saying that the construction was infringing upon the restricted maritime zone of Playa Negra. The property, owned by a lawyer whose name has not been reported, was apparently about to start operations.
Two other hotels, both located in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge protected zone, had their expansion construction projects halted.
At the hotel Villas del Caribe at Playa Cocles, inspectors said that the expansion of the hotel was not respecting the maritime zone boundaries. The hotel was apparently also using coral to line paths and gardens.
The inspectors also shut down the construction of a concrete building by Hotel Almonds and Corals (located between Punta Uva and Manzanillo). Apparently 2,500 square meters of forest had been cleared to build the project which is located at the entrance to the hotel.
The hotel is denying that the construction project is theirs.
The chairman of the Tribunal, Jose Lino Perez, lamented the disorder found in the area. “The Wildlife Refuge is not being respected. There are houses inside, logging and construction in public areas occuring without permits,” he said.
Still, Perez said the situation is not as serious as in the Pacific, where the same court closed three hotels with 380 rooms.
“Here there is less investment and it shows. Yet our intervention is timely to ensure that the tourism development begins to take off in the area is sustainable. We must try to preserve this paradise.”
Reporting from: La Nación: Tribunal Ambiental frena obras en Limón.
Apr
10
A Jungle Bridge
Posted by Editor | April 10, 2008 | Tags: Volunteering | Leave a Comment
 Mama Chicken with 2 of her brood on the job at The Bridge |
Barry Stevens, who along with his wife Nancy, runs the local not-for-profit The Bridge centre, publishes a newsletter “A Jungle Bridge” once or twice a month.
It’s filled with stories from the work they do and from their daily lives and makes an interesting read.
The story of the mama chicken in today’s issue was particularly poignant for me.
You can read the latest issue here and also get sign-up info for the newsletter at that link.
You can get more information about The Bridge on the Puerto Viejo Satellite Helping Out page or on The Bridge website.
Apr
10
115 Places Now Listed on the Map
Posted by Editor | April 10, 2008 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
With many local businesses adding their listings over the last few weeks, there are now 115 places listed on the Puerto Viejo Satellite Map! They represent an amazing diversity of places to eat, shop, stay or visit in our community. If your own favorite places are still not listed, you can add them here. The basic listing is completely free.
Visitors to the area and residents alike are also finding more and more on the site and we are optimistic this is contributing to a positive business environment for the area. Visits to the site continue to grow, with new records being set regularly. In March, almost 9,000 unique visitors came to the site! And on Tuesday, a new one day record was set with 482 different people coming to the website to research hotels, discuss topics on the forum, read the Talamanca News, get detailed directions and options on how to get here or get around or for many other reasons.
Some of the most recent additions to the map:
- Cabinas Guaranas (also a new Puerto Viejo Top Pick)
- Cabinas El Tesoro
- Cabins Mor Solutions
- Casa Viva Beach House Rentals
- Jordan’s Jacuzzi Suites
- Laundry
- Lotus Garden Japanese Restaurant
- Mighty Rivers Ice Cream
- Pan Pay
- Pulpería Manuel Leon
- Soda Miss Sam
Apr
10
Environmental Court Inspects Area
Posted by Editor | April 10, 2008 | Tags: Environment, Local Business News | 1 Comment
The Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo (Environmental Administrative Court) began on Apr 7 their program “Barrida Environmental Limon”, with 14 experts inspecting the developments and projects in Limon Province. According to La Nación, the inspections are to take place in the mountains, in farms, in the centre of the province and in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge.
One local hotel owner reported “1 van load and 2 SUVs of MINAE inspectors” arriving unannounced at his hotel yesterday to ask questions.
This is the second of its kind. The first campaign was conducted on the Pacific coast.
The Talamanca News welcomes this effort to root out the few bad apples who are not treating our tropical paradise with the respect it deserves.
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