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Swine Flu Arrives in Costa Rica
April 29th, 2009
Costa Rica has confirmed two cases of Swine Flu. The infected parties are a 21 year old woman and a 29 year old man, both returned recently from trips to Mexico. Costa Rica receives daily flights from Mexico. The woman traveled with 92 others on her flight home. Both persons were treated at Calderon Guardia Hospital.
Incredibly, the infected woman decided to ignore health officials and broke quarantine so she could attend classes at her university.
Thirty-five others are under watch.
A third person, a youngster, has flu symptoms (not yet confirmed as Swine Flu) possible infected by her father who recently returned to Costa Rica from Mexico. If confirmed, that would be the first case of swine flu caught within the borders.
The Ministry of Health this morning asked the passengers of two other flights, TACA LR 631 and Mexicana 387, to call 911 emergency so they may be tested.
Employees at the San Jose airport are wearing surgical masks, and many incoming passengers are having their temperatures taken upon arrival.
I am not going to go into this swine flu deal because unless my readers are living on another planet, you have been deluged with probably more information that you want to know.
I am more concerned though as my wife works at Calderon Guardia Hospital.
Filed under Costa Rica, Health, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica, Swine Flu, Tourism, Travel, Travel to Costa Rica | Comments (12)Coming to Costa Rica? Do You Like Cheap Fares?
February 2nd, 2009
I realize the audience for this post may be a bit smaller, but here it is anyway.
Did you see it?
Frontier Airlines ran an ad during the Superbowl that may interest you if you live near or can get to, Denver, Colorado (all flights specials originate there).
Price Denver to San Jose, Costa Rica is $139.00 (each way) and that ain’t bad… BUT you have to book and pay TODAY by 9 PM MST.
Rules:
* Purchase by February 2, 2009
* Complete travel by June 10, 2009
* 14 day advance purchase required
* Choose off-peak travel days
o Tuesday – Wednesday for US
o Monday – Thursday for Costa Rica
Can you do it? If so, come on down to Costa Rica! The weather is fine… though I DID see a cloud the other day!
Oh… and the temperature here this morning (in San Jose): 72 F
How is YOUR weather?
Filed under Costa Rica, Tourism, Travel, Travel to Costa Rica | Comments (8)At Least 30 Dead and Many Missing
January 10th, 2009
I guess it takes an earthquake to get me online again! My apologies for being away so long, but had some work issues that took a lot of time. Miguel will be happy though! Thanks to the others who wrote to inquire if we survived.
Those of us who live here deal with the many earthquakes. Just a fact of life. Those who live or have lived in California know all about it. The vast majority are small shocks (3-4) that rock the bed, make some noise and are generally not big deals. Buildings in Costa Rica generally are built with a LOT of Rebar and concrete and most are very safe and suffer little damage. There are, however, many homes, especially in the country and areas not prosperous, that fall apart in the quakes.
This earthquake was nasty… 6.2. It was supposedly the strongest in 150 years… though I am not sure how they know that as the Richter Scale was not developed until the 1930’s.
Filed under Costa Rica, Costa Rica Tourism, Earthquakes, Expatriate Life, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica, Travel to Costa Rica, Volcanos | Comments (2)Travels with Della and Joanna
July 8th, 2008
This post was actually sent in as a comment to an earlier post about crime in Costa Rica, but after reading it, I thought it not really relevant to crime… or maybe it was as these ladies apparently did a lot of cool things and experienced nothing but a fun time.
However, I did not want to discard it, and I decided it might be of general interest to a lot of readers, especially to older folks considering a trip to Costa Rica and more especially to older women who might like to travel together! Here is the account or the trip taken by Della and her female companion and written by Della.
Filed under Costa Rica, Costa Rica Tourism, Culture, Food and Eating, Retire in Costa Rica, Senior Travel, Tourism, Travel, Travel to Costa Rica | Comments (5)The Bug Man Cometh
July 7th, 2008
Ahhh Bugs! Bichos! Things with many legs! If you live here in the tropics, they are as much a part of your life as the sun, the beach, the mountains, and the bad roads! Certainly one of the most visited web pages in The REAL Costa Rica is about the creepie crawlies that are everywhere in Costa Rica. Not surprising I guess… hell, there was even a snake in the Garden of Eden right?
Those of you who follow my writings probably already know about Rolando, the Flying Cucaracha Affair, and the occasion tarantulas that come avisitin’ at Casa Ticogrande. However, for sheer annoyance, nothing can top the ants (hormigas). that look at this house as a giant smörgåsbord.
Filed under Bugs and Critters, Costa Rica, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica, Moving to Costa Rica, Tourism, Travel to Costa Rica | Comments (13)Learning Spanish
July 1st, 2008
Planning to move to Costa Rica to live, retire or work? Regardless of how well traveled you are, culture shock almost assuredly will be a big factor in how much you and your family will enjoy living in a foreign country and whether you will be able to adjust and enjoy the experience.
I was speaking to the owner of one of the larger moving companies some while back, and he told me that he is now moving back “home” more than 50% of the customers he moved here originally. That is a helluva statistic, and he should know. I tend to believe this as I get more and more email from people who have made the decision to move here after spending little and sometimes no time in this country. Sadly, some have no option as they are just now realizing that they simply cannot afford to retire and live in their home country. This is true especially of many folks from the USA.
Filed under Costa Rica, Culture Shock, Learning Spanish, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica, Moving to Costa Rica, Retire in Costa Rica, Travel to Costa Rica | Comments (3)Oops!
June 30th, 2008
I really do try to make sure everything I write is exactly correct (personal opinions excepted!), but on occasion, I experience what my late great-grandmother termed a “brain fart”. She was an earthy sort of woman!
This phenomena occured on 9 June when I wrote the post entitled “3,000 Jobs Gone? Why?“. I am 99% sure I read in La Nacion that the new regulation had been published in La Gaceta. It appears I was wrong and it was not published. As Bugs Bunny would say, “Whatta maroon!”.
Filed under Casinos, Costa Rica, Costa Rica Law, Costa Rica Tourism, Gambling, Life in Costa Rica, Opinion, Tourism, Travel to Costa Rica | Comments (3)Costa Rica Takes Action to Control Gasoline Usage Part 2
June 27th, 2008
This week, the government of Costa Rica asked for an increase of ¢145 in the price of gasoline, this to offset their recent request to lower the price of diesel fuel by exempting diesel from government taxation.
The price of super gasoline would go up to ¢801 per liter and diesel prices would fall by ¢97. Gasoline today is $5.10 per gallon for super, $4.97 for regular and $4.82 for diesel. One US gallon = 3.79 liters, so after this change, a gallon of super will be ¢3,036 or $5.88. With the regular monthly increase coming in July, $6.00 per gallon gas is pretty much assured.
Currently, the cost for a gallon of diesel is $4.82, so this will drop to about $4.11. Sounds like a nice windfall for those who chose to buy dieseled vehicles right? Nope… the government giveth and the government taketh away.
Filed under Cost of Living, Cost Of Living Costa Rica, Costa Rica, Expatriate Life, Gas Prices, Gasoline, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica, Travel, Travel to Costa Rica | Comment (0)Costa Rica Takes Action to Control Gasoline Usage Part 1
June 27th, 2008
For quite some time now, the government has placed restrictions on what vehicles could enter San Jose. This was more done to lessen the overwhelming traffic in San Jose during peak hours than to control gasoline usage. All non commercial vehicles were affected.
The system was/is simple enough. You were restricted from entering San Jose for about 2 hours each morning rush hour and two hours during the afternoon rush based on your license plate. For me it was rarely an issue, and when it was, I just drove the circunvalación, the road that runs around San Jose and locally known as “the rotundas” because of the numerous traffic circles in that route. Sometimes I’d drive the La Uruca route. No big deal.
Well this all changed this week as the government expanded enormously the restricted areas and the hours of restriction, and yesterday, over a thousand folks learned this the hard way and got a little $10 traffic citation for their ignorance.
Filed under Cars - Automobiles, Cost of Living, Cost Of Living Costa Rica, Costa Rica, Expatriate Life, Gas Prices, Gasoline, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica, Travel to Costa Rica | Comment (0)Arenal Volcano is Putting on a Show!
June 19th, 2008
Tourism is getting big boost these days as travelers from all over the world are descending on Costa Rica to see the Arenal Volcano, always a big draw at any time.
Lately, the active volcano has been strutting her stuff, and this has been going on for some weeks now. Customers of mine witnessed a fine show just this week.
The volcano is near the town of La Fortuna de San Carlos, about three hours northwest of San Jose by car. We go fairly often and rooms are always easy to get, especially now in the low season. The beds in many of the hotels are positioned so you can watch it at night. Beats Leno!
Wanna see something cool? Come take a peak! Bring the camera.
Filed under Costa Rica, Costa Rica Tourism, Tourism, Travel, Travel to Costa Rica, Volcanos | Comments (3)