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NewsParadise From Ojochal, Post Costa Rica and Beyond July 2007 Updates from the Osa Inside this issue: ainy season is upon us again, Ror shall I say “Green Season”. The mornings have been breezy and New Flights to CR 1 clear, the sunsets spectacular and the afternoon rains refreshing. Locals Yale Environmental 1 typically favor the rainy months over the publication evolving a bit over the Index Report the dry months when the air is cooler next few issues so please let me know if and the rivers flow steadily. July is a you have requests or suggestions. Oro Verde 2 wonderful time to be in Costa Rica. As always I’m interested in The Scarlet Macaw 2 This is our summer edition of hearing about local events, charities and our quarterly newsletter and numerous businesses. Restaurant Review 3 people, in and outside of the Ojochal Ceviche 3 area, have expressed interest in participating and have requested copies. Hotel Villas Gaia 4 My secret “Ghost Connoisseur” is IESA Del Sur 4 continuing to review local eateries and [email protected] I’m amassing some writers throughout 305-295-0136 New Neighbors 5 the country interested in submitting News from Pacific Lots 6 articles for future issues. I anticipate Construction Update 6 Tour Pictures 7 New Flights to Costa Rica ue to the increasing desirability as a November. They’ll be flying a route Dprime tourist destination additional between Denver International Airport airlines are continuing to add Costa and Juan Santamaría International How Does Costa Rica as a regular route. This additional Airport, San Jose offering round- competition allows consumers more trip service scheduled on Monday, Rica Rate? route choices as well as lower fares. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday aboard Spirit Airlines has been flying direct their new fleet of Airbus A319s. ccording to the recently released from Fort Lauderdale, Florida for several Delta Airlines has also A“Environmental Performance Index”, months now and continues to offer announced new nonstop flights a joint study between Yale and Columbia unbelievable bargains. Last week there from New York’s John F. Kennedy Universities, Costa Rica is in much was a short window in which they were International Airport to Costa Rica better environmental shape than many offering round trip flights for only $16! effective mid February 2008. They’ll may have guessed. Costa Rica ranks Customer service may be spotty and be flying direct into San Jose as well as nd 2 to Canada in overall environmental the midnight arrivals and departures Liberia, Costa Rica. performance in the Americas and first are certainly not ideal. However, for a Also, beginning in December in water resources and sustainable rate that low it’s difficult to complain. of this year American Airlines is adding energy. Indoor air pollution seems to According to the Costa Rican Tourism direct service from Fort Lauderdale. be a problem with the percentage of Institute (ICT) Civil Aviation has households using solid fuels fairly high. additionally given the go ahead for Spirit More information on fares and For the full indexes visit: Airlines to open a route between Los schedules is available at: http://www.yale.edu/epi Angeles and San Jose. www.spiritair.com Frontier Airlines recently www.frontierairlines.com announced that they’ll be starting www.delta.com service to Costa Rica this coming www.aa.com dog who hung out at the town watering Paradise Post hole. Macho was small in stature but Oro Verde offers a variety of morning big on ambition. He originally farmed and afternoon guided hiking and birding the land to provide for his family and 10 tours as well as horseback tours through years ago his 6 sons transformed the the rainforest or to the Morete River wa- farm into a private nature reserve. terfalls. For more information call (506) Consisting of 150 hectacres 743-8072 or visit: (374 acres) of primary and secondary www.costarica-birding-oroverde.com rainforest Oro Verde (meaning Green Gold) offers guided tours, horseback riding and terrific birding. Home to more than 200 species of birds it’s not uncommon to spot toucans, parrots and many other colorful species. You may encounter one of three types of mon- keys; howler, white-face capuchin, and spider. Harder to spot are the sloths, ocelots, anteaters, and coatis. Trails are dotted with blue morpho butterflies as ro Verde is dedicated to preserving the well as a myriad of interesting reptiles O rainforest and has been family owned and insects. for more than 50 years. Located just south of Ojochal at Legend has it that Pepo “Ma- an elevation of 1,000 to 2,200 feet. Oro Yanán Duarte Monge – Guide Extraor- cho” Duarte was told to purchase the Verde overlooks Ballena Marine National dinaire land many years ago by a crazy black Park and stunning beaches. One touch of The Scarlet Macaw of Costa Rica nature makes the The Scarlet Macaw, one of the most on finding cavities that are high off the beautiful Macaws, lives high in the ground and have vertical entrances. whole world kin. trees of lowland deciduous or tropical Finding enough of such trees can be a evergreen forests gracing forest limiting factor for these birds to maintain canopies from Mexico to central South populations in an area, especially ~William America. because some bee species occupy the This brilliantly colored macaw same kind of tree cavity. A macaw pair is the only one found on the Pacific side Shakespeare of Costa Rica, and it rarely flies on the Caribbean side, where the Great Green are protected in every country in which Macaw lives. Macaws are the largest they live. However, in Costa Rica, their parrots in the Americas, and the Scarlet populations still have been reduced by Macaw is distinct both in color and the destruction of their habitat. They are shape. It’s bold colors include bright red, now constrained to the forests of the blue and yellow. It has a large powerful upper Golfo de Nicoya and the forests of bill for cracking tough seed coats and the Osa Peninsula. nuts. Both sexes of these birds have Their favorite food, at least in adult plumage from a young age. Costa Rica, is the almond sized and The scarlet macaw noisily flies shaped seed of Terminalia Catappa tree. high over the canopy and their travels will lay 1-2 eggs per season in such a They can be rapid foragers. A flock of 10 may range far both daily and seasonally. nest and raise them together. These birds can carpet the ground with three Their loud, resonant, boisterous calls macaws are serially monogamous, but hundred of these fruits in a single hour can often be heard as they fly, but they they may change mates after several as they look for the seeds. are usually quiet while feeding. Pairs, seasons. trios, or small family groups are often In 1900, these parrots could Skutch, Alexander F. and F. Gary seen, but these may sometimes merge still be readily seen in forests throughout Stiles. A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. into flocks of 25 or even 50 individuals Costa Rica; by 1950, however, due to Utica: Cornell University Press,1989. at large roosts in tall trees or mangroves. habitat destruction, they were absent Stiles, F.G. in: Janzen, Daniel H. The Scarlet Macaw nests in from the Caribbean slope except in the Costa Rican Natural History. Chicago: large holes in tall living or dead trees; Northwest. They have also suffered from University of Chicago Press, 1983. they do not dig these holes, but rely the pet trade; fortunately, today they Paradise Post Maracatú-Tropical Natural Cuisine the sauce of the day is soy based. I’ve had some pretty salty fish dishes there Once you become addicted Maracatú is Super Fresh and Skips the on occasion. to Maracatú, you can go back for the Flesh Moreover, skip the hummus. Maracatú Bowl, an enormous salad $7 - $15 Its more-watery-than-usual consistency with an impressive assortment of crispy Dominical makes it rather unsatisfying. There are colorful vegetables, to which you can Hundreds of inches of rain fall also some flavors in it that don’t belong, add several rare toppings such as every year in the Southern Pacific Zone. but it’s been so long since I’ve ordered it seaweed and flax seeds. Also wonderful One would think the area would be laden that I can’t readily describe them. is the Tomato Basil Eggplant, which with the freshest, largest, and juiciest Finally, if you loath or even have is essentially an Eggplant Parmigiana vegetables in existence. Well, for the a mild aversion to reggae music, I must without the breading. most part, not so. Unless you catch the warn you that it’s all they play there, and The fish specials change daily vegetables literally upon delivery, you’ll the volume is higher than you might be and oscillate between tuna and dorado be much more impressed with the fruits. used to when you are sitting to a meal. (mahi mahi) filets served in various Maracatú to the rescue! At For a reasonable high quality preparations. They appear quite the risk of being lynched, I will call this lunch, there are few eateries in the expensive (~$10 U.S.) relative to the rest high-end bar food with an emphasis on Southern Zone that beat Maracatú. Oh, of the menu, but if you choose tuna, it glorifying the many wonderful flavors by the way, I am virtually the antithesis will be the thickest and freshest filet you that can be found in vegetarian cuisine.