Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

Worldwide surfing organization Ticket to Ride is now offering a sweet adventure in the love paradise of Costa Rica. Surfers from all over the world are able now to opt for a nice 5 weeks trip to Costa Rica where they can enjoy world renown surfing, learn some of the culture of the country and give back to the community teaching English, sports, music and arts in different Costa Rica locations.  

As part of the Ticket to Ride Costa Rica deal, interested surfers will combine learning to surf, with learning Spanish and each Rider will give something back into the local community by teaching in the local school. The first location offered by Ticket to Ride is Nicoya, where surfers will have easy access to some of the most impressive Guanacaste beaches.

In the words of Will Hayler, co-founder of Ticket to Ride: “Costa Rica is a country of outstanding natural beauty. To be able to integrate our Riders into the Costa Rican way of life marks another exciting milestone for what we are all about a Ticket to Ride - Worldwide Surfing Adventures“ The Ticket to Ride Costa Rica adventure will take place twice a year for the moment and depending on the increase of the demand they will set up more yearly trips. All the pertinent information about the Costa Rica trip can be accessed on their website: http://www.ttride.co.uk. They also run surfing adventures to worldwide locations such as South Africa, Mozambique, Portugal and Morocco.

Guanacaste beaches are already one of the surfers’ hotspots so these kinds of trips to Costa Rica can be more accessible and will give the surfers much more than nice waves since they will also learn and help those locations in Costa Rica they enjoy so much.

This upcoming December, Costa Rica tourism will set a record to be remembered: for the first time Costa Rica will receive the visitor number 2 000 000 in year and the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) plans to make a huge celebration about it.

The person that arrives on Costa Rica shores or international airport as number 2 000 000 will be part of a huge party as a welcome will be treated like a king with complementary stays in renowned Costa Rica hotels, the person will also receive personalized tours of the country and a lifetime access to Costa Rica will be granted.

It is certainly amazing how much the tourism in Costa Rica has grown this year, almost twice as much as it did in 1999 when the 1 million visitor broke the record. Tourism enterprises in Costa Rica are very excited about the upcoming event and a lot of planning has been involved into receiving the luck 2 million visitor.

At this moment we don’t really know where the lucky Costa Rica tourist will arrive, but after a few studies a prediction has been made and it has been predicted to pass through the Juan Santamaría airport in the first week of December. If you have scheduled a vacation in Costa Rica during those days, cross your fingers since you might be the lucky one.

Costa Rica is well known around the world for having extensive natural beauties that include, volcanoes, beaches and rain forests. In Costa Rica, the tourism industry is one of the most important economic activities and they take this matter very seriously, since it means that their efforts to increase tourism activities in Costa Rica is paying off nicely.

The beautiful Costa Rica girls have again the opportunity to represent their country in one of the most important beauty pageants nowadays: Miss Hawaiian Tropic. The selection of the 12 finalists to represent Costa Rica will take place on November 15^th between 12 m. a 6 p. m. at Mall San Pedro, in down town San Jose, Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica, women are definitely beautiful and very educated, so far it has been really hard to find a woman in their 20’s without college education and most of them also work, don’t have children too young and don’t seem to be in any rush about getting married. Costa Rica high rates in education are definitely real, since I have to admit that most Costa Ricans: women and men are very well educated.

Regarding the Miss Hawaiian Tropic Pageant, the 12 finalists that will be chosen on November 15^th will compete against each other in Playa Flamingo in January and the winner will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada in May, 2009 to represent Costa Rica among the most gorgeous girls in the world. This year, during the Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant 2008, the girl participating for Costa Rica, Kimberly Zúñiga actually won the pageant and hopefully this next year will be just as successful.

It is actually not uncommon that girls from Costa Rica are somehow recognize in the pageants they participate, most of the times they come back with recognitions and not empty handed. I certainly wish them all good luck and we can just sit and enjoy watching beautiful Costa Rica girls in the meantime.

To anyone interested the exact location for the casting at Mall San Pedro will be announced in the next few days, so just be patient and keep looking, so far the only confirmed info is the date (November 15^th). Good luck!

Although Costa Rica religion is officially Catholic, a lot of people love doing Halloween parties for their friends or just dress up for the occasion as part of the party spirit of the country. This year I have actually seen at least 4 Halloween parties announced everywhere yet there is one that caught my attention:

 ASART is an organization that works with abused children in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, basically their job is to try and help these children go through the trauma through art therapy and monitored check ups with psychologists and social workers. This non-profit organization is throwing a huge Halloween party at Jazz Café Escazu on October 31^st and all the money the collect will go towards financing their work here in Costa Rica. Besides the party, they will have live music by local bands Cardamomo (who also presents belly dancers in their show) and the reggae sounds of Kingo Lovers. Another great surprise will be a Singles Auction to collect money for the organization as well.

Costa Rica has many non-profit organizations for many different and important causes, ASART focuses on abused children and UESPRA focuses on abused animals, the main thing these two organizations have in common is that they have managed to gather people to join and collaborate by giving the people what they want: entertainment. In the case of UESPRA, they have given huge concerts with local rock bands in their Rock Animal shows. Costa Rica organizations in pro of good causes are, in most cases, neglected by the government, therefore they need to finance themselves.

So now you know, if you are in Costa Rica during Halloween, get your outfit together so you can experience nice Costa Rica music, watch amazing costumes, help the Costa Rica children and maybe even get a date, who knows, maybe you will get more from Costa Rica than just memories and souvenirs.

If you are planning on visiting the lovely Costa Rica during the holidays you better hurry up, there isn’t so much room and reservations are running out.

Costa Rica experiences its best weather from December through April and people (locals and visitors) do take advantage of this at its maximum. If you wish to spend a quality vacation in Costa Rica during December you will need to begin making your reservations now, otherwise it is going to be very difficult to find a place later, especially if you are planning on visiting Guanacaste. Costa Rica has many different choices: luxury villas, regular rental homes and hotels that vary from small cabins up to celebrity status accommodations.

Since I lived here for a while now, my recommendation is to get a rental villa, Guanacaste has too many beaches and they are all pretty close from each other so a villa in Guanacaste, no matter the location will give you different choices and you can use your time to its maximum: visiting natural reservoirs, volcanoes, beaches and getting into fun activities such as ATV, Canopy and snorkeling; also costs are lower, therefore you can also save some money to buy souvenirs and rent a car a for example.

Tourism in Costa Rica is one of the biggest products, sort of speak, it is one of the few countries in the world that haven’t compromise their natural resources to include technology and nowadays development. Vacation packages in Costa Rica are also not expensive at all and once you come here, you definitely fall in love with the place, I can’t begin to tell you how many people I have met that came here for a short vacation and decided to stay for good.

Another good thing about renting a Villa during you Costa Rica vacation is that you can get an actual taste of what living here is like and trust me, you cannot regret it. The peaceful ambience, the liberty of going wherever you want and the easy access to services, grocery stores and fun activities makes a huge difference, while staying at a hotel may not be so suitable for exploration of the area.

We are all very well aware that Costa Rica is indeed a paradise: pristine beaches surround the entire country with clear water and stunning views; the soil is rich and many vegetables are grown and commercialized every year as part of the best products; rain forests protect and hold beautiful animal species. The culture is rich and very interesting and Costa Rica is probably one of the most developed countries in Latin America when it comes to democracy.

It is also well known that a huge part of the economy of Costa Rica relies in tourism and although they seem to take advantage of it, I just saw a country that has gone even further into advertising themselves as a vacation destination: Panama.

The type of tourism advertising used by Panama is way more impressive, where they actually sell a product combining the cultural and natural elements of the country itself, making me think that Costa Rica uses to much the “word of mouth” type of publicity. While following the curse of Latin American Idol and all the support Costa Rica has given to their participant, Maria Jose Castillo; I noticed that Panama, as tourist destination was one of the sponsors of the show, why didn’t Costa Rica took advantage of this opportunity?

The show was followed by millions of people all over the continent, people with acquisitive power to consider visiting the Costa Rica where one of the finalists to become Latin American Idol is from; wouldn’t you say it could be beneficial?

I wonder if maybe the opportunity didn’t knock, or that maybe no one thought it until it was too late, yet Costa Rica as a tourism giant should be more focus on how to increase the income of one of the most important businesses in the country.

Believe it or not, it is true: Costa Rica will now begin to play American Football professionally. An American Football coach named Benjamin Vega has created the Costa Rican American Football Association (ACFA) with the future goal of actually creating a Football Federation in a near future. Apparently, several highschools (mostly private schools) have signed up to play a national championship, among these schools are  Country Day, Kamuk, Light House, San Paul and Saint Clare. The national football championship which will begin competing next year in what would be the first official competition of its kind in the history of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has several professional leagues in different sports such as swimming, volleyball, basketball and of course soccer, which is the most followed sport in Costa Rica. Organizers have high hopes with the inclusion of this sport in Costa Rica and they expect that at least 16 university teams may compete using soccer fields, as they have similar dimensions as typical U.S. football pitches once the American football league is put together. At the moment, Reyhan Fraile, president of ACFA, has expressed his wish to create an adult league once the federation is established. The first American football tournament is scheduled for the second Saturday of January, with seven high schools confirmed

In Costa Rica, athletes have proved that discipline and strength can be reached no matter the social status, collecting several medals trophies and achieving high numbers in several championships worldwide. This effort has also been recognized by the Chinese government: this year the construction of a new and very modern national stadium was possible through a donation from that country to Costa Rica in an effort to motivate young athletes to pursue their dreams.

It is very impressive how Costa Rica continues thriving to give more and more positive activities for youngsters, the efforts made everyday to keep going further and further in education, technology and now sports proves that Costa Rica is definitely not the third world country some of us thought it was.

While everyone I know is getting ready for the daylight savings time change I sit here on a hammock and rejoice on my routine: there is no daylight savings in Costa Rica!

Usually by this time of the year I begin working on the schedule changes required on everyday life, in Costa Rica we don’t need to do that at all. Modern Daylight Savings time was proposed in 1907 by the English builder William Willett and many countries have used it since then; details vary by location and change occasionally, for example in Great Britain it is just called summer time. There are different views on this practice: Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours yet it causes problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun, therefore studies are still going on about how beneficial this change is for everyone.

Daylight savings time is practiced mostly in countries where that have the four seasons throughout the year, in Costa Rica there is only two seasons: dry and rainy therefore there are no really visible changes in the daylight, the main difference may be that it does gets darker about 20 minutes earlier than usual, but it is actually hardly noticeable.

Also, during the past few days Costa Rica weather has changed a lot and there are no more hurricane or storm threats, it has actually been very sunny and peaceful, usually September and October are the wettest months of the year so we should expect some more rain. Guanacaste beaches are receiving little more visitors than in the past three weeks and for what I experience last year the Costa Rica tourism rate drops after December for foreigners, but locals know that January and February are the best months to visit Guanacaste.

And we continue on with more impressive Costa Rica treasures: The Massachusetts senate may include the daughter of one of Costa Rica’s most influential scientists and the only astronaut in Costa Rica as a member. Sonia Chang Díaz, has been won these primary elections with a small difference of 200 votes but with a huge step towards the US senate; her father astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz, her mother and sister have lived in the United States since they were little so she has become very close to people as a well known activist fighting for equality of rights and searching ways to fight the issues created through climate changes.

Costa Rica people do have the tendency to be very political about their views, they fight for their rights and for justice with a strong mind and disposition so it is not surprising to see a Tica use her faith in her convictions to try and makes changes anywhere they are. Costa Rica education has been known to be always avantguarde and it is quite impressive to see how this makes a change in the world. Costa Rica has a very deep commitment with making things better for everyone: justice, environment and family values are probably the most important things Ticos cherish. Even businesses in Costa Rica are usually handled with extreme care, trying to make the best for all the parties involved.

Costa Rica heroes these days are really making a change: Maria Jose Castillo the girl compiting in Latin American Idol is now in the Top 4 contestants. Miguel Gomez and Ishtar Yassir opened up the audiovisual and movies world going beyond their limitations, Nery Brenes did an amazing job during the past Olympics and now a Costa Rica woman is aspiring to be part of the US Senate. You can’t really ask for more, Costa Rica is now breaking barriers and going places and I am proud to have moved to this wonderful country.

Doing some checking on this blog, I noticed I haven’ made a post on one of the most important things to know about Costa Rica: banks. I feel it is very important for everyone to know how banking works in this country not only for common knowledge, Costa Rica economy tends to work different than what we are used to so all we foreigners need to be on our toes.

There are two types of banking entities in Costa Rica: estate banks and private banks. The main bank is Banco Central de Costa Rica and they handle everything related with economy neutrally: nothing goes by unless it is approved by Banco Central first. This bank is located in San Jose. Costa Rica does not have any branch of this bank anywhere else in the country.

Banco Central de Costa Rica, San Jose. 

The other estate banks are Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), Banco de Costa Rica (BCR), Banco Popular and Banco Credito Agricola de Cartago. The BNCR is one of the oldest estate banks, their main offices are located right next to Banco Central in down town San Jose and they own the tallest building in Costa Rica; these two are the most trusted banks when it comes to personal use and business negotiations. Banco Popular was created to help middle low class and low class citizens achieve their goals providing them with helpful loans and helping them with their businesses. Last but not least Banco Credito Agrícola de Cartago is also an estate entity focused on helping agriculture expand, especially in the Cartago area.

Private banking is also very common in Costa Rica. BAC San Jose could be considered the biggest one and they handled one of the most important credit card companies in Costa Rica: Credomatic (as well as American Express). Scotia Bank has branches all over the world and in Costa Rica they are well known because they provide financing choices for middle class to high class citizens for business, housing and even car purchases. Other very important private banking entities are HSBC, Banco Cuscatlan, Banca Promerica and Grupo Uno, which provide regular banking services such as savings accounts, loans, credit cards and investment opportunities, yet they don’t handle businesses as big as the other private banks.