Our former Nobel Peace prize winning president, Oscar Arias, opened the recent TEDx Pura Vida event, with the following quip (and I translate), “I am here because the organizers of this event wanted to open it with the “nerdiest” person in Costa Rica, but Franklin Chang could not speak until 11:30 AM.”  Arias then went on to speak on a topic he has been vehemently advocating as of late, the need for Latin American countries to stop spending so much on their armies (See Recent Post on Arias speech of Latin American summit).  “Imagine,” Arias stated (reflections of John Lennon), “a world where we grant more power to designers and programmers and less to colonels and generals.”  “Where we dedicate more resources to buy books and computers, in place of missiles and tanks.”  During the last year, countries of the region directed some $60 billion to their armies.  Arias pointed out that in this region, the cost of just one military helicopter could school thousands of primary school children.  One military jet less could cover the cost of protecting 100’s of kilometers of forests.  One soldier’s salary less could pay the cost of a professor of English.  At the end of the talk Arias received a standing ovation.   I wonder if his words reached the ears of who most need to hear them, the authoritative “quasi-dictators” who spend the resources of their countries consolidating their military power rather than empowering their citizens.

Link to Tedx Pura Vida web site

Link to Article in La Nación

The government of Japan this week donated around $100,000 to provide better tools in the fight against illegal fishing in and around Isla del Coco.  Illegal fishing has received more attention as of late, mainly due to the National Geographic documentary as part of the Ocean Now project that spent time recently diving at Coco to explore new species and highlight the need to protect the rich marine biodiversity of this area.  The Isla del Coco was declared “Patrimonio Natural de Humanidad” in 1997.  The money will be used to hire another 10 park rangers and to create better housing for the island rangers.  The currently available lodging, known as Villa Beatriz, is not adequate to house the additional park rangers.  The donation will also be used to purchase equipment such as a generator, life rafts, and a mechanical apparatus that allows rangers to discover illegal fishing lines that will be used in the patrol boats known as Cocos Patrol and Faico II.  Also the money will be used to install a hydroelectric turbine that will convert water from a river on the island to electricity, which is a project of ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad) that studies show presents a very low environmental impact on the island. 

Link to Article in La Nación

Japanese landscaper, Mamoru Tsunoda, has created a garden in Santo Domingo, my former home, at the Hotel Bougainvillea.  The garden is to represent the peaceful and cooperative relationship that exists between the two countries, Costa Rica and Japan.  Tsunoda is best known for his participation in the Temple of Gold in Kyoto, Japan, one of the most recognized gardens in the world.  For Japanese language professor, Naoji Fujisawa, a self-proclaimed “japo-tico,” the garden signifies the relationship that exists within his own family, as he is married to a tica, Alejandra Rodriguez, and together they have two children, Mitsuki and Takeru.  The site contains ten large rocks that were brought from the area of Vulcan Irazu, each two tons in weight, the four principle of which represent the islands of Hawaii, Isla del Coco, Japan and Costa Rica.  Hotel Bougainvillea is one of my favorite weekend breakfast spots.  They have a beautiful garden that one can get lost in and learn a lot about Costa Rica flora.  This new addition makes the place all the more alluring.  I can’t wait to see it.

Link to Article in La Nación

Costa Rica decided thirty years ago to make the waters around Isla del Coco, located about 350 miles off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, a protected area.  And a recent expedition by National Geographic researchers entitled Ocean Now, reached the conclusion that the idea has proven to be a very good one.  In these waters there thrives a mind boggling variety of marine life, with a quantity of large predator fish measuring 3.5 tons per hectare.  For this reason the researchers concluded that this marine ecosystem is one of the healthiest in all of earth’s oceans.  However, just a few kilometers outside of the protected area, there is a completely different story.  In areas like Las Gemelas, a submerged mountain, there does not exist any thing comparing to the rich diversity around Coco.  The reason is because fishing in this area goes on unrestricted and much of it illegally.  Laura Chinchilla, who attended the premier of the film La Isla de los tiburones, vowed to take more expansive action to protect the marine life in these waters, maybe even by increasing the area of the protected zone so that marine life can travel from Las Gemelas to Isla del Coco without getting caught in illegal fishing traps.  The documentary film about the recent National Geographic expedition will be able to be seen on television in the U.S. beginning April on the channel NatGeo Wild. 

Link to Article in La Nación

Ocean Now Web Site

Laura Chinchilla first cabinet appointment is René Castro, an environmentalist who formerly was the Minister of Environment and Energy in the administration of President Figueres Olsen in 1994-1998.  This time Castro will occupy the position of Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores (sort of like a Secretary of State).  He replaces the outgoing Bruno Stagno, who Chinchilla thanked for his diligent service in the Arias administration and named him to the post as Costa Rica’s ambassador in the United Nations.  In making the appointment of Castro, Chinchilla highlighted his excellent record in maintaining good relations with other Central American leaders, as well as the instrumental role he will play in Costa Rica’s green agenda and the fight against Global Warming (Costa Rica has vowed to be the first carbon neutral country by 2021).  Castro himself stated that the Chinchilla administration will likely put forth an agenda that is “a little greener” than its predecessor.  The naming of Castro to this most important of cabinet posts shows that Laura’s favorite color, green, was more than just a campaign slogan.

The possibility exists, says a group of scientists, that American Bison were “home on the range” of Costa Rica pastures as late as the middle of the century XIX.  There have been no fossils discovered that would back their claim.  But a small sculpture was found in the southern zone of Costa Rica, near Brujo, that appears to be a bison.  The scientists who are making the claim are ticos, Guillermo Alvarado and Luis Diego Gómez, along with U.S. scientist, Spencer Lucas.  Their findings are published in the Geological Review of Central America.  The statute, referred to above, is believed to be from a date 700 to 1500 years after Christ.  What is also intriguing is the so-called “legend of toro amarillo.”  Before now, this was always thought to relate to volcanic activity, but among the elderly members of the community of bajos de Toro (and Torro Amarillo, one of my favorite places in Costa Rica and one I have written about often in this and other blogs) there is a tale of ancestors who spoke of bison in the area, or at least an animal that is described as having similar features, during the century XIX.  This was when folks first migrated and began living in the area.  The legend relates that at first this strange animal provoked much fear, but later was realized to be basically docile and harmless.  The conclusion?  Well with the dearth of clear proof it is difficult to say for sure, but the possibility certainly exists that the legendary American Bison once roamed in Costa Rica.

Link to Article in La Nación

Oscar Arias spoke to leaders at the recent Cumbre de la Unidad de América Latina y el Caribe, imploring them to continue the fight to bring democracy to the region and to eliminate poverty.  He had admonishing words for so-called “gobernantes autoritarios” (or, authoritative governments).  He didn’t name names specifically, but surely Chavez was squirming a bit in his seat.  But, wait, I believe he had already stormed out after exchanging words with Colombia’s Uribe.  Well, if he wasn’t there to hear, I hope someone relays Arias’ words to him, or at least he reads the transcript.  One thing Arias said that was particularly tinged with wisdom, and which Arias has every right to say, is how can leaders of Latin America complain of poverty when their countries are spending some $60 billion on military might?  Good question.  And since Costa Rica eliminated its military more than half a century ago, it is a question coming from exactly the right source.  Costa Rica has taken that money and spent it in places that matter, like education and health care, and it has paid off as Costa Rica is a tiny country that nevertheless stands head and shoulders above many more powerful nations, like Venezuela, in terms of economic development and the general well-being of its people.  Arias stated the democracy is more than simply holding frequent elections.  I hope the Nicaragua’s Ortega heard that one as “elections” that have kept his Sandinista party in complete domination of that country have been nothing more than a farce.  Arias exits Costa Rica and leaves behind a legacy that will be very hard to live up to.  I have lived here the four years he has served and I have seen major progress on many fronts, especially in terms of the respect and admiration that Costa Rica has earned from the world as a country the can prosper economically and still do the right thing environmentally.  Laura Chinchilla will now have to live up to the legacy set by her confidant and mentor.  They are big shoes to fill, but I got a hunch that with this Cinderella, the shoe might just fit.

Link to Article in La Nación

So says Bryson Robertson and Hugh Patterson who are sailing around surfing, diving and raising awareness of the need to keep our ocean waters and beaches garbage free.  The name of their boat is Khulula and their goal is to navigate the coasts of the world in search of adventure and in bringing their message of ecological purity in a mission they have dubbed, Ocean Gybe (the latter word signifying a change in direction, or repentance of sorts).  So far they have visited 30 countries and their rating of Costa Rica wasn’t too flattering…in fact they said it was just as dirty as the others.  Moreover, the junk, plastic, Styrofoam, and other unsavory materials, is not coming from other places and drifting onto Costa Rica’s innocent shores…no ticos and others who frequent those same shores are dumping the stuff there.  The beaches the duo visited during their time in Costa Rica were Playas Herradura, Golfito, Dominical, and Hermosa, which all receive heavy tourist traffic.  They noticed certain peculiar things, such as the fact that areas near hotels were clean, but venture a ways away and there was the filth.  Also they noticed that in some places there seemed to be an effort to collect garbage in plastic bags, that were then left on the beach?  The duo has already logged some 40,000 kilometers of coast in 30 countries where they are surfing, diving and collecting garbage washed up on the coastal shores for analysis of where it came from and its potential toxic effect on the ocean waters.  The plan is to use the information to educate young people on the need to keep the ocean clean.  Alvaro Morales, director of Cimar (Centro de Investigación de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología) has been saying since the late 80’s that Costa Rica needs to take action to clean up its act in terms of garbage collection both on the coast and inland.  One thing noted in particular is the need for people to reduce their use of plastic, which is a major source of contamination of both the land and sea.

Link to Article in La Nación

Read an interesting article in La Nación today (from the February 13th issue) in which bird experts are reporting seeing species of birds in the Rincón de la Vieja National Park that had before only been seen in other areas of the country.  Bird experts, or ornithologists, stated that reasons for the new sightings could be due to various factors such as air currents, climate, deforestation, and inadequate food supplies.  However, another, and perhaps more plausible, reason given is that there hasn’t been a thorough accounting of the birds in this area for a long time.  A recent counting cites 204 species.  Another counting is scheduled for next April.  The recent counting, which was conducted in September of 2009, found species not known to Rincón, but only common to the Central Valley, Caribbean and other areas.  However, this is based on reports such as the Guía de Aves de Costa Rica by Alexander Skutch, which is dated by some twenty years.  José Batalla, of the Hacienda Guachipelin, a hotel near the park, stated that findings of wider diversity in the birds of the region could be good for tourism.  He stated that while most of the tourism in the area is adventure related, findings such as this could attract more birding enthusiasts, which other areas of the country count as strong tourism draws. 

Link to Article in La Nación

Well now that I have utilized the new and greatly anticipated “carretera Caldera” that extends from Escazu to Esparza (where it connects with the Pan American Highway), I do have an opinion on the matter.  I have heard the criticisms about the fact that the road is only two lanes in some areas, that there has been some environmental damage and that residents in communities along the highway have been negatively affected in various ways.  But I guess with a project this big, there is always going to be some controversy, i.e., someone’s ox will get gored.  I am sure that some of the criticism is valid and deserved.  However, on the whole, my opinion is that this highway is the best thing that has happened in this country for a long time, at least as long as I have been here, even better than passage of the T.L.C., whose anticipated positive effects may take as long to be realized as the highway did to construct.  In short, the new highway cuts drive time by about an hour to points along the entire Pacific Coast.  I made a trip to Monteverde using the new highway to get from San Jose to Esparza and then the Pan American to the point where you exit to go up the mountain in a little over TWO HOURS!  That is nothing short of amazing.  Moreover, I used far less gas than I would have before and the trip was far less stressful, both to my car and to my nervous system.  This highway is a godsend for people who want to travel within Costa Rica and that includes just about everyone.  I anticipate it will be good for foreign investment and real estate values (I read recently that Atenas is already gearing up for it) and it will be good for tourism.  One of the most oft-heard complaints from tourists is the difficulty in getting from Point A to Point B in Costa Rica.  Well, this new highway, while not perfect, is a major stride towards fixing that issue.  The times I have used it, which have been both during the week and on the weekend, my average speed was around 80 kph, or more, versus the less than 50 average one would experience crossing the mountains either via San Ramon or the dreaded (though picturesque) Monte de Aguacate route.  The new highway should also relieve some of the congestion from those old routes as the many trailers will opt to take the new highway..and they were the principal source of the problem on those more mountainous routes.  I was highly skeptical of all the talk over the last decade of how great this new highway would be, primarily for Jaco.  However, now I am convinced and the benefits will extend far greater than Jaco, which as of late has gone from being Costa Rica’s most popular beach town to Cost Rica’s biggest eyesore.  My hats off to the Arias administration for getting the job done.  Thirty-two years was a long time in the making, but better late than never.  Okay Laura, let’s see some more of that over the next four years!  But start with a pocket full of ”monedas” for the many tolls on the road (5 in all) and gas up, because you won’t see any gas stations along this route, probably for a while.