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Howler magazine serving the Gold Coast of Costa Rica
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THE HOWLERCed. Juridica: 3-101-331333
Publisher, editor and productionDavid Mills
[email protected] Tel: 4702-5771 8323-2795
All comments, articles and advertising in this publication are the opinion of their authors, and do not reflect the opinion of Howler Management.
www.tamarindobeach.netwww.tamarindohomepage.com
Howler advertisingThe Howler offers a wide range of advertising sizes and formats
to suit all needs. Contact David Mills • [email protected]
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Deadline for February: January 15
ELLEN ZOE GOLDENTONY OREZTOM PEIFER
JEFFREY WHITLOWBARBARA DEPPE
SUSAN SMITH
JEANNE CALLAHANJESSE BISHOPMARY BYERLY
ROBERT AUGUSTKAY DODGE
LYNDA ESPADA
CONTRIBUTORS
FEATURES
DEPARTMENTSJanuary Forecasts
Yoga
Sun & Moon
Rain Gauge
Tide Table
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32
36
36
37
Stage Review
Book Review
August Odysseys
Dharma Corner
Shape Up
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11
12
17
25
Cover Caption: Tiki’s Restaurant, BrasilitoCover Photo: Maureen ThompsonCover Design: David Mills
14 Around TownOpenings, closings, parties, music. The Gold Coast has it all, and bar-hoppin’ David is in the groove.
Surf ReportNoe Mar McGonagle won the Costa Rica Open of Surfing; Lisbeth Vin-das takes the Women’s; Fillingim first Tico to win ALAS Championship.
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Howler • Mono Congo
Surviving Costa RicaOur columnist is once more a dog owner, and introduces us to Lily, his shar-pei puppy. No doubt we’ll be hearing more of her.
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January 2015 Founded 1996
Volume 20, No. 1Issue No. 218
The Silent ForestDeforestation is the topic this month, as Tom sees large tracts of pochote cut down, taking with it his beloved monkeys.
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What’s Developing?In Brasilito is Catalina Cove, a 100-lot development backed up by the resources of Cabo Vida homebuilding.
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14 Dining OutA new restaurant is Parrillada de Puerto Potrero, specializing in sea-food and grilled meats.
Here’s to a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. Let’s hope 2015 is as interesting a year as 2014!
Finally it seems that they are about to finish the road to 27 Abril; work is continuing on the bridges and may well be finished by the Christmas season.
And it is great news about the fire station coming soon to Huacas. It will serve Tamarindo, Cabo Velas, Tempate, and Cartagena, and is to be built in Huacas, on a lot of area 3,500 square meters, donated by Reserva Conchal. The estacion de bomberos will serve 24,500 people, and will sig-nificantly reduce the response time for emergen-cies. In the next few weeks, bomberos will use the installations at Reserva Conchal while a temporary building is constructed, then within five years a major station will be built in Huacas.
Congratulations to the management of Nibbana, in Tamarindo, who have fixed the appalling sidewalk on the street outside after years of trouble for pe-destrians. Some other establishments could take a lesson from them.
JetBlue inaugurated a Saturday flight in November between Boston and Liberia, using an Airbus A320 with a capacity of 150 passengers.
And a new service between Houston and San José will start in May, 2015, by Spirit Airlines.
And after dengue, Chikunguya. This is another mosquito-borne virus, whose symptoms are similar to dengue - muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. There is no cure, but it can be avoided by use of mosquito repellent. There have been cases reported in Santa Cruz. The breeding places of mosquitoes should be destroyed.
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Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible!’
Audrey Hepburn
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Against my normal rules, we tried a new restaurant. Normally, I like to give a new place a chance to sort out the glitches. This was
Parrillada de Puerto Potrero, open just a couple of weeks. The chef, Miguel, a Costa Rican, has 35 years experience in all types of cuisine.
The menu specializes in seafood and grilled meats. For openers, there are salads: ensalada Caprese; ensalada Potrero; salad with fried shrimp, and ceviche: sea bass
ceviche; ceviche Peruano; ceviche mixto sea bass & shrimp; ceviche “Vuelve a la Vida” – sea bass, shrimp & octopus; mixed shrimp salpicon. We started with ceviche and a dish of mussels. The main crime with mussels is overcooking, easy to do, but these were per-fectly done.
There are also soups: seafood, fish soup with coconut milk; Potrero cream.
Main dishes: filet de corvina al ajillo; breaded corvina; filet of corvina a la suizo; marlin medaillones; rice with mixed seafood;
mixed seafood special plate; breaded shrimp. We had the tuna filet and a whole sea bass (all very good, the crunchy fries were delicious).
Meat dishes: brochette of seafood; grilled tenderloin steak; rib-eye steak; New York steak; filet mignon; sirloin rump steak; all
with selection of side dishes; grilled chicken breast; hamburger.
For those who favour a snack, there are breaded fish filet chunks; adobo fish chunks; mixed dish; breaded shrimp.
And for those who like a taste of comida tipica, there are casados - with meat, chicken or fish.
All together, a very enjoyable experi-ence, despite the unavailability of a couple of dishes.
Parrillada Puerto Potrero is on the main street in Potrero, oppo-site the commercial centre. Tel: 4702-1837; [email protected]. All credit cards accepted. Live music several nights a week.
Stage Review Tony Orez
Chocolate Factory Rolls into Town
Beachnuts Theatre enjoyed another com-pletely sold-out set of four shows last month, this time with their adaptation of
Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” at The Village in Brasilito. It was the ninth in a series of productions brought to the community by Paul Belanger over the past seven years. There were some familiar faces onstage, seasoned veter-ans at the ages of nine and ten years old. Rebecca Akin, for example, had been in five previous Beachnuts presentations. I thought she did an in-credible job as Mrs. Gloop and definitely did some live coaching during the play with the more novice actors. Grace Herman was in her fourth play for the troupe and I believe Grace is “a natural”, leading the younger actors by example. She took on two roles for this play and pulled it off flawlessly, even with a fever of more than one hundred degrees! Newcomers to the group seemed ready to fit right in. Margaux LaPointe, for example, played Willy Wonka himself & the Popcorn Man (who is really Wonka, as the audience comes to find out) with true espirit décor, very impres-sive for her first Beach Nuts part(s). Technically, this is Charlie Firth’s second role, but he was a real scene-stealer as reporter Mike Refone & Shoompa as every eye in the audience drank in his performance and talked about it later, as this reporter learned. Elizabeth Gunton-Bunn and Harris Fellman provided the needed stage-backbone as Charlie’s parents and should be commended for their contribu-tions. I also thought Charlie Herman as Grandpa Joe and McKenna Fellman as Grandma did an excellent job of staying in character while delivering comedy relief, as did Liisa Vexler, portraying the wine-swilling Mrs. Flabbergizzard in her debut performance. The singing and dancing provided great diversion for the younger crowd gathered; I saw many youngsters stop their fidgeting to dance to “Sugar Sugar” & “My Boy Lollipop” as their parents mouthed the words. Special kudos go to the details: the making of “Charlie” candy bars, Mandy Bel’s impeccable costume design, Darwin Akin’s always dependable & timely sound production, make-up by all the moms, Mr. Tom’s extra effort on the printing, DJP Design’s painstaking work on graphic and internet design. It was truly another community effort. Personally, I’d like to thank Carolyn Herman, who I consider an unsung hero, a perfect stage mom because she is anything but the stereotype of that. Then there’s Paul Belanger who has more than thirty years in The Business, works countless hours to make it happen, getting paint on every shirt he owns, mediating every tiny crisis and somehow pulling it off, much to the commu-nity’s collective delight. How? I really don’t know. But it definitely works. So, what’s next for Beach Nuts? Well, early this month, there will be audi-tions for “Mirror, Mirror”, a series of pantomimed plays, scheduled for this Spring. Interested parties check beachnutstheatre.org
Psssst! Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but there are rumors of dinner theater blooming, too. Keep it under your hat though, please.
Music Review Tony Orez
The Returnof Alex Shelter
Alex Shelter likes to visit Tamarindo every so of-ten. He always brings his
guitar and plays around town while he is here. The last time he visited, he brought his debut CD, which received very nice reviews. I saw Alex back in town recently & he brought me his newest CD, “In Peace”, an eleven-song set of new songs. The album opens with “Where the Ocean Meets the Sun”, a great opener that jumps out at the listener, a song that Alex wrote dur-ing one of his extended stays in Playa Tamarindo. He actually wrote it after what he called “a perfect day in Avellanas with some dear friends of mine visiting from California”. Alex told me that they each wrote one verse about their impressions of this wonderful visit and the collaboration was complete in just fifteen minutes. Sometimes the magic just happens like that. Alex also told me that they are talking about filming a video for the song on location.
Listening to the recording, I noticed right away a maturing in Alex’s songwrit-ing and recording. Part of this might have to do with his choice of producers, Malcolm Burn, for this project. Malcolm has a portfolio of credentials that include production work with Iggy Pop (American Caesar), Bob Dylan (Oh Mercy), Patti Smith (Gone Again) and two Emmy Lou Harris albums, with “Red Dirt Girl” receiving a Grammy.
Malcolm also provides keyboards and some guitar and backing vocals on the album, which spans nearly forty-five minutes. I think the use of Jane Scar-pantoni on cello also add to the depth of the album, particularly on songs like “Sorrow”. Some of the songs, such as “Breaking Down” sound influenced by Leonard Cohen, especially with the female supporting vocals, while at other songs seem to has a Dylan influence, both very positive role models. One thing that is obvious to me is that Alex has grown as a songwriter and arranger, has matured as a musician. The title track, “In Peace” has a lush, mature quality to it, a confidence that can only come with experience. And I really like the closing song, “Nuedi” as well, a seemingly sparse number that is actually richly layered, including a few whistling passages by Alex. Shelter collaborates with six different songwriters on four of the album’s songs. He uses Matthew Cullen, a British sound engineer and incredibly inven-tive guitarist on lead electric guitar for three different songs. The aforemen-tioned Jane Scarpantoni provides evocative cello throughout the album and the great Puerto Rican session player Manuel Quintana contributes a variety of percussion for a single song. All this collage equals a richer, deeper and very listenable new album by Alex Shelter. The album itself was recorded at Maison Bleue Studio in Kingston, New York. The album is available at Jaime Peligro bookstore in Playa Tamarindo, where they can sample the album in the shop. Further adventures of Alex Shelter can be followed on his Facebook site.
August Odysseys Robert August
One of our stops while filming for The Endless Sum-mer was in New Zealand. In comparison to Australia, where we had just travelled from, and South Africa,
New Zealand was a very quiet country. In both Australia and South Africa we surfed good waves and did just a little bit of partying, but not much was going on in New Zealand. However, the countryside was as pretty as you ever have seen. We did a lot of driving from coast to coast and it was such pleasant scenery. The rolling, beautiful green-grassy hills makes the countryside look like a really nice golf course, but with a lot of sheep instead of golfers!
With all the driving we did, we found some fun things to do besides surfing and partying. There are a lot of mud hot springs in New Zealand where you can stop, hop in the springs, and then shower off at a hotel nearby. We also hap-pened to surf the wind chop in a lake we encountered during all of our driving. But it was so quiet that even the sheep started to look cute!
Thinking in the “endless summer” mentality where you could spend your whole life in summertime just by crossing the equator, we thought that the weather would be nice and the water temperatures would be warmer. Well, the weather was nice but the water was freezing cold! One day during our trip we surfed Ragland, a super long left, but we were freez-ing because we did not have wetsuits back then. The waves were really nice in the morning, but Bruce wasn’t filming because it was overcast and ugly looking out. Just when the sun came out, Bruce started filming, but then the wind was a little onshore.
After a long day of surfing Ragland, without seeing hardly anyone all day, we went to get some food and sleep. Out in the middle of nowhere, Bruce realized it was Christmas. We were so busy during out trip looking for waves and traveling that we had completely forgotten what day it was. Plus, there was not much going on in New Zealand as far as celebration wise. We just rented a room, said “Merry Christmas” to each other, and went to bed. A few days later, we headed back to the airport in Auckland to head to Tahiti.
Christmas in New Zealand
“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational crea-tures. None of us wants to be in calm waters all our lives.”
Jane Austen, Persuasion
Champion’s LeagueForthcoming dates for La Sele are, in the Concacaf Champion’s League:
Feb. 24 Liga v DC United Pachuca v Montreal ImpactFeb 25 Saprissa v Club AmericaFeb 26 Olympiad v HerediaMar 3 Montreal v PachucaMar 4 DC United v Liga Club America v SaprissaMar 5 Heredia v Olympia
National FootballThe Summer Championship starts on January 18th.
Goalkeeper StatisticsPatrick Pemberton, Liga goalkeeper, tops the League with an average of .64 goals per game, followed by Daniel Cambronero (Heredia, .88), and Lionel Moreira (Heredia, .89)
FIFA Women’s World CupThe Seleccion Femenina, which will represent the country in Canada June 2015, gained the Bronze Medal in games of Concacaf in Veracruz, Mexico, last November. Their rivals, in Group E of the World Cup, will be Brasil, South Korea and Spain. Twenty-three teams will compete.
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
Maya Angelou
AROUND
TOWN
IMC Property Management reduces your basic monthly fee to nothing. Rental sales, solar air-conditioning services, too. See ad page 2.
Water Pump Supplies now offers irrigation systems to their wide line of services. See ad page 19 for details.
Casa Leo Loco is for sale. Luxury home of 605 square me-ters, and a magnificent ocean view. One of Tamarindo’s most prestigious houses. See ABC ad page 5.
The famed astrologer Peter Williams is paying his annual visit to Tamarindo, and is available for readings. See ad page 20.
Looking for a new home? Catalina Cove offers custom-built homes in a quiet neighborhood, yet in the center of things, in Brasilito. See article page 30.
Hotel Condor is open daily to outside guests, with air-con-ditioning, private bathroom, hot water and queen beds.And a host of outdoor activities. See ad page 23.
U.S. residents will be glad to hear of the new amnesty on tax payable. US Tax specializes in Americans living abroad; Costa Rica tax services...and more. See article and ad page 22/3.
Call Guanaco Real Estate for information on homes, proper-ties, businesses or developments. See ad page 18.
An Anti-aging Clinic, Aesthetic Dentistry and Spa - all in one place, at Health & Beauty, See ad page 14.
“The Jimmy Buffett for the next generation” Darin Talbot is performing at The Barcelo, Nibbana (Latitude Blue), Beach House and Tiki’s, on various nights. See ad page 4.
Las Ventanas is a horizontal condominium featuring lots of 1,700 square meters, and an owners’ clubhouse. See ad page 25.
Nimbu Salon & Spa offers a wide range of beauty treatments from facials to body to massage to nails. See ad page 42.
Surf ReportEllen Zoe [email protected]
a perfect 10 on Day 1, and Aldo Chirinos (Playa Negra) who has really improved his level for such a young age.
Two heats later, in the Open Final, he had to face down Tomas King, a newcomer to Costa Rican competition. King gave McG-onagle a run for his money, even equaling him with a final score; however the tie-breaker went to McGonagle who posted a higher single wave. Luis Vindas was also in the Open final heat, and he ended up in third place. “I feel so happy to have managed to win in both categories,” exclaimed McGonagle. “I would like to congratulate all the other athletes that surfed incredibly. In addition, the organizers of the event did very well. I’m happy to close the year this way, and to get home after several months of being away.” McGonagle announced that he will contribute a part of his win to be used in a Pavones event that takes place every year for the children in the area who want to learn to surf. The surf camp took place in December. Meanwhile, at the Open of Surfing Costa Rica Lisbeth Vindas of Jacó (photo) proved she’s still the queen of Tica surfing. Her final heat included Maddie Peterson (US), Nataly Bernold (Jacó), and Leilani McGonagle (Pavones). Vindas remained in 4th place for most of the heat, until the last five minutes when she moved on a great wave and jumped to become the leader earning, $900.
She commented: “I am surprised and grateful for this event that collaborated to bring incredible national surfers. For me, person-ally, this kind of prize money is not seen every day, especially in the female category.”
(continued page 28)
Professional Costa Rican surfers now have plenty to do year-round. Half the year there is the Circuito Nacional de Surf, and there’s the Puerto Viejo Pro with its short
track from the Caribbean to the Jaco/Hermosa area. In addition, starting this month is the Guanacaste Circuito, in its second year. Not to mention the various international competitions that take place around the world, either the International Surfing Asso-ciation (ISA) events or the Association of Surfing Professional (ASP) World Qualify Series (QS) contests and the odd NSSA dates here and there.
Joining the fray is the new Costa Rica Open of Surfing 2014, which had its debut last month in Hermosa. According to Carlos Brenes of the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica (FCS), this new competition was initiated as a once-a-year deal, which awards major money in the primary categories of Open, Women’s and Junior. It provides an opportunity for major national athletes to earn some more money; of course, the plan of many of these top-notch Tico surfers is to earn a living from surfing and the Costa Rica Open of Surfing helps them with this goal. “The Open of Surfing Costa Rica was born out of a demand for professional surfers in the country to have an event that is organized for their high levels,” said Brenes. And they came: Noe Mar McGonagle (Pavones - photo above), Anthony Fillingim (Malpais), Tomas King (Tamarindo), Jason Torres (Jacó), Maykol Torres (Esterillos), Jair Pérez (Jacó), Carlos Muñoz (Esterillos), Luis Vindas (Jacó), and Gilbert Brown (Puerto Viejo) were among the participants. In the end, McGonagle set the bar very high because he ended up winning both the Open and the Junior categories, earning about $7,500. Brenes called him “one of the most lethal surf-ers” at the end. In the first final—the Juniors—McGonagle bested Leonardo Calvo, who was looking very good that weekend, having earned
Photo - Anthony Barquero
Photo - Anthony Barquero
(continued page 19)
Tamarindo’s Original Residents works to raise funds to assist the Howler monkey in and around Tamarindo. Your donation goes to both SalveMonos and The
Refuge for Wildlife.
SalveMonos (working since 2004) provides education, funds for monkey bridges, transformer covers and line insulators, reforestation and more here in the Tamarindo area. They have
reported these statistics from their intervention:
25 babies per year are sent to Nosara (survivors of electro-cution or dog attack)65 electrocutions occur in our immediate area20 dog attacks per year60% of dog attacks and vehicle accidents are savedNearly every electrocuted monkey dies within days because they literally cook from inside out.
By Nancy Cobband Susan Adams
Dharma Corner
Sue Smith
No You and Me - Just Us
As I write this, there’s a march going on in Washington to protest the killing of three very different black men by the police in three different cities. There is an atmosphere
of racism and division. We are fortunate to be living in Costa Rica where there does not seem to be so much divisiveness. But, do not be fooled, there is still enough “us and them” attitude to go around. All of our minds fall victim to discrimination at one time or another. So, how do we deal with that??
The spirit of Buddhism is inclusiveness. The base… the founda-tion of everything… is the same. When you look at the ocean you see waves of all different sizes and shapes but all have water as their base. Just so, if we look deeply we can see that we may all be different but we are the same... all made of the same star dust, we have the cosmos as our base, our ground of being.
Discrimination, intolerance and suppression stem from a lack of knowledge and a lack of understanding. Someone who discrimi-nates against you because of your sexual orientation or the color of your skin is ignorant. He doesn’t know the ground of his own being, that is why he can discriminate against you.
Someone who does not understand the ground of their own being is not happy within themselves. They spend a lot of time looking outside themselves for happiness, fulfillment and validation. But, it is only when we look deeply within ourselves and touch our ground of being that we can feel the love for ourselves and find the compassion and tolerance for others through the realization of our oneness. It is when we are still and looking deeply that we can see who we truly are... we are the cosmos, all of us, we are the same.
Society cannot cure the ills of discrimination. Only we can do that, one person, one heart at a time. So as we begin this New Year of 2015 let us take time to realize the ground of our being. Let us take time to realize our oneness and see just that in others. Each day make a conscious choice to see just how you are the same as each person you encounter, rather than seeing how you are different. When we see ourselves as the same, discrimination and intolerance will die.
Happy New Year!!
Pura Vida Sangha, a sangha in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, meets on Mondays at 4:00 PM. For information contact [email protected]
Rip currents are the leading surf hazard for all beachgoers. They are particularly dangerous for weak or non-swim-mers. Rip current speeds are typically 1-2 feet per sec-
ond. However, speeds as high as 8 feet per second have been measured--this is faster than an Olympic swimmer can sprint! Thus, rip currents can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea. Over 100 drownings due to rip currents occur every year in the United States. More than 80% of water rescues on surf beaches are due to rip currents.
How to Identify Rip CurrentsLook for any of these clues:a channel of churning, choppy wateran area having a notable difference in water colora line of foam, seaweed, or debris moving steadily seawarda break in the incoming wave patternNone, one, or more of the above clues may indicate the pres-ence of rip currents. Rip currents are often not readily or easily identifiable to the average beachgoer. For your safety, be aware of this major surf zone hazard. Polarized sunglasses make it easier to see the rip current clues provided above.
Never swim alone.Be cautious at all times, especially when swimming at unguard-ed beaches. If in doubt, don’t go out!Whenever possible, swim at a lifeguard protected beach.Obey all instructions and orders from lifeguards.If caught in a rip current, remain calm to conserve energy and think clearly.Don’t fight the current. Swim out of the current in a direction following the shoreline. When out of the current, swim towards shore.If you are unable to swim out of the rip current, float or calmly tread water. When out of the current, swim towards shore.If you are still unable to reach shore, draw attention to yourself: face the shore, wave your arms, and yell for help.If you see someone in trouble, get help from a lifeguard. If a lifeguard is not available, have someone call 9-1-1 . Throw the rip current victim something that floats and yell instructions on how to escape.
Remember, many people drown while trying to save some-one else from a rip current.
NOAA
Don’t Be a StatisticLearn to Identify Rip Currents
This morning, as I watch the giant winter storm devouring the Mid-West, I don’t regret my leaving Michigan twenty-plus years ago to live permanently on our ranch in Guanacaste.
When I was driving to college every day to Kalamazoo, Michigan, I remember 24 inches of snow in twelve hours ending in 36 inches in twenty-four! Everything was at a standstill and I, being a com-muter student at Western Michigan University, was trapped for three days and my car buried for a week in the low W lot. Winds pushed the snow to rooftop levels, and the only thing moving were snow trucks clearing the way for emergency vehicles. Fireplaces were stoked and the hot chocolate and board games came out. I remember snow, and this time, however, I saw it only on CNN.
I have been thinking, soon, the naysayers will again refute global warning, not knowing the warming of the atmosphere and world’s oceans and the rapid melting of the glaciers are pushing the Polar vortex, which “normally” circles the North Pole with its frigid air, but now, is curving deep down, into the south. Just watch the jet stream. It was always interesting for students to realize during glacial times, Alaska was ice-free and, with the large amount of water tied up in glaciers, sea levels dropped and early man from Asia traveled over the land bridge into Alaska, hunting many of the large mammals that fed in the Alaskan basin. At the same time, there were mile-high, yes miles, of ice covering, what would be the Great Lakes, after they melted. Given enough time, everything changes. The critical problem is we have to add the “Man Effect” to what nature already does and the equation changes.
At times, I feel a little like Sheldon Cooper when my mind switch-es channels. Now I am thinking about the changes right here at home on the ranch. Two plus years of “dry”, rainy season are cre-ating a great deal of concern for Guanacaste. I came to the ranch the first time 22 years ago, and this is the first year that the river
flowing through the ranch, still is not running. We nor-mally consider the back of the ranch bajura or wetlands, because usually it is knee-deep in water this time of year, but this year it is barely muddy. I fear for the surface wells around
here, but even more for the coastal communities that are drawing out so much ground water.
I Always Get Pensive
When It Snows By Kay T Dodge, PhD
(continued page 33)
This is not including other areas of our province or other rescue centers and villages, so the numbers can be multiplied up. Follow progress on Facebook SalveMonos Tamarindo.
The Refuge for Wildlife located in Nosara cares for, rehabili-tates, and releases monkeys back into their natural environ-
ment, along with working to put up bridges and transformer covers in their area. Go to their Facebook page, Refuge for Wildlife, to follow the heartwarming stories of their 30 or so babies and adult monkeys in various stages of recovery.
Katie, found alone, covered in mud, with burned hands and eventually requiring amputation of a finger, is happy and en-ergetic after Brenda Bombard and her volunteer’s care. One day an adult male dropped off his little baby girl and now visits regularly and sends her vocal messages through the for-est. Then there is Jacob, electrocuted, fell to the ground, cut open his head, and was attacked by dogs, who is now healing and playing.
We would like to thank everyone who has stopped by our table at Tamarindo Feria and purchased items such as t-shirts, mouse pads, and coffee mugs and given donations. Please while you are considering your New Year’s resolutions remember our monkey friends who give us such pleasure and photo ops. They are suffering greatly due to our moving into their areas. They were here first!
Like our Facebook page …Tamarindo’s Original Residents and send us your monkey photos!
(from page 16
Sistemas de Riego
Irrigation Systems
Julia Boogaard passed away Saturday, November 22, 2014. She is survived by her daughter, Ilka, son-in-law Warren, grandchildren Martin and Renée and brother Pim.
Julia was born in the Netherlands. Her father was a well-known flower exporter and she had two older siblings. She had a good childhood and traveled a lot with her father on business throughout Europe. She was a popular girl, and living in a university town, her dance card was always full.
At age 24 while w o r k i n g a s a receptionist in Noordwijk she met Koen. They married and very shortly thereaf-ter had a daugh-ter. After a few lean years, they started a cosmet-i c s who lesa le business which became very suc-cessful.
In 1979, at Julia’s insistence they sold the business and moved to (then undiscov-ered) Costa Rica.
They bought a house on a quiet beach in a part of Tamarindo that would not have electricity for a year, but made it work.
In 1986 Koen and Julia separated, although they were never divorced. Ever the entrepreneur Julia opened Tamarindo’s very first tourist of-fice, video store and rental business, and was landlady to her daugh-ter’s bookstore in the same building. Always looking for adventure, she bought a house in Mexico a few years later, and also opened up a vacation rental business.
Eventually she would spend more time in Mexico, sold her business in Costa Rica and would come back to Costa Rica only to visit her family. Traveling was her passion and she circumnavigated the world several times. In 2013 she decided to spend six months of the year closer to her family in California; three months later she had a stroke, and a year and a half later she passed away.
She was a very intelligent woman, passionate about traveling and her family. She was a people person, a very good businesswoman, and well-remembered as a pioneer of Tamarindo, Costa Rica. As an avid supporter of World Animal Protection, she would have loved for people to make a donation in her memory.
ObituaryJulia Boogaard
If you are a U.S. Citizen or Resident and you invest, work or live in a foreign country
Do not fall into the IRS TrapBecause you are abroad, you may have some additional IRS filling requirements. Failure to meet these requirements could cost you thousands of dollars!
Banking and Other Investment AccountsIf the total value of all your foreign bank accounts worldwide exceeds $10,000.00 (for even one minute of one day) you must report these accounts on the Report of Foreign Bank Accounts, also known as the FBAR. This includes any accounts you have signature authority over even if you do not own the account. The form does not carry any tax and is easy to file, but failure to do so is not easy to resolve. The interest or dividends you received during the year must be included on your individual tax return. See FinCEN Form 114.
Foreign corporationsIf you are an officer, director, or more than a 10% stock holder of a foreign corporation, you are required to attach an additional set of forms to your tax return. The amount of information that you must supply on these forms depends on the amount of your ownership in the corporation and your position with the company. Failure to file this form can result in a variety of fines and penalties that can reach anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. You must file this form even if the corporation does not do business or make a profit. In some countries, it is customary to own personal assets in a corporation. These corporations do not conduct business and exist solely to own personal assets. These corporations must still be reported to the IRS by filing Form 5471.
Statement of Specified Foreign Financial AssetsAnother recent form for reporting your financial assets is Form 8938. On this form you will report all of your foreign financial assets, such as:• Financial accounts maintained at financial institutions outside the United States, such as bank accounts, investment accounts and mutual funds;• Stocks, bonds or other securities issued by a non-U.S. person and not held through an investment account;• Any interest in a foreign entity, such as a foreign corporation, foreign partnership, or foreign trust;• Any financial instrument or contract that has an issuer or counterparty that is not a U.S. person.
Much of the information on this form will already be reported on the FBAR or Form 5471, but you will need to report it again on this form. If you report it once but miss it on this form, you can still be subject to a $10,000.00 penalty!
Costa Rica Phone: (506) 2288-2201 Panama Phone: (507) 836-5714 U.S. Phone: (786) 206-9473E-Mail: [email protected] Web: ustaxinternational.com
It is with gratitude and pleasure that I recently became a resident of Costa Rica. While this was somewhat of a complex endeavor, the peace experienced living amidst nature is profoundly worth
every bit of the extensive process.
This peace is enhanced due to the way Costa Ricans value all aspects of nature, plus their warm friendliness.
Recently, I hosted a group of ten writers from the U.S. and Canada. Only one exhibited the distinction I am about to make. I was excited to share my home and new land. This was the first time any of them had been to Costa Rica.
Some of what I have observed over the years, notable with personal visitors, are the differences between tourists and travelers. There are those that visit a new environment to discover, even embrace the culture, nature’s beauty, the wisdom of the people. These are quali-ties that enrich one’s spirit, help you become an expanded human being. I call these folks the travelers. Then there are those that pack another suitcase filled with anxiety. I call them the tourists. They run from one “adventure” to another mindlessly, unaware of their impact on the folks they meet. A tourist, again, may seem to want to check off a new country like adding a cell to their acquisition-focused ego. “I have been to…..” They may stay at an all-inclusive. Their luggage includes T-shirts emblazoned with “don’t leave the resort as something terrible might happen” or “don’t drink the water” (Costa Rica is a third world country, remember.) A tourist needs the familiar, they criticize the roads, anxiously exclaim at the dogs in restaurants or shudder at the cats. “Will I get cheated?”, “Are there robbers here?”, “How dangerous is it here?”
My husband would laugh at my defensiveness trying to dodge oblique criticisms. The stench of fear beneath all the questions and nervous laughter were difficult for me to separate from.
Part of my reaction was a form of loyalty, part disappointment. How can you have a true experience lugging the extra baggage of fear? The expectation that somehow all should follow North American ways is a veil that blurs a deeper experience. It made me wonder if other transplants have had the experience of managing their guests’ anxiety while trying their best not to catch it. How can we help, at least some guests, be like the curious monkey peering out of the camouflage of leaves? How can we empower a desire to connect with a wonderful people, to truly experience the peace that comes from inside when we deeply listen to the culture, and see nature without the film of fear?
Do I sound cynical? It truly comes from a deep-felt desire to em-power a spirit of oneness, a spirit of appreciation for the humanness across all differences.
Traveller v. Tourist
(continued page 25)
The Condor Lodge Hotel is situated 800mts from Playa Conchal. We have 18 rooms – air-conditioned, private bathroom, hot water, queen bed. Our main building has a swimming pool for adults and children with the most beautiful panoramic view of Conchal Beach, Flamingo Beach and Potrero Beach. Our bar and restaurant has a varied menu and drinks, and we have the best pizza in the area. Our hotel is surrounded by a great quantity of secondary forest that transforms it into a special place to rest. However, in our area you have the possibility of activities such as deep-sea and inshore fishing, diving, snorkeling, canopy, mountain bike, horse riding, etc. OUR HOTEL CONDOR LODGE IS YOUR BEST CHOICE TO RELAX AND ENJOY!
A joint meeting was held in Tamarindo between the Asosiación de Desarrollo Integral de Tamarindo (ADI):
Urs Schmid President ADIAndrea Cisana Vice-President ADIHelen Soto Secretary ADIDoris Acosta Rosales Vocal ADI Heroina Rojas Rojas Vocal ADIMartin Salerno Fiscal ADIJuergen Gerner Coordinator Security Committee
and the Camera de Comercio y Turismo de Tamarindo (ACCTT)
Federico Pilurzo Treasurer ACCTTLuz Ramirez Board member ACCTTDeyler Mena ConsultantSimonetta Daniele Committee – Salvemonos
Security Project: Juergen Gerner; Trevor Bernard; Hernan Im-hoff; Deyler Mena. Among the projects identified are:
Temporary space for police while new office will be finished; more officers and secretary; trucks and motorcycles and other equipment for police; security cameras and monitoring staff; pay the debt for current premises – Maleko; build the new station; improve communication between community and police; report and monitor all incidents in Tamarindo.
Infrastructure Project: Alonso Jimenez; Hernán Imhoff; Argerie Cordero Morera.
Highway from Tamarindo to Langosta; guarantee of potable water; asphalting of Calle Guanacaste.
Sports Project to promote sports in Tamarindo: Andrea Cisana; Urs Schmid
Clean up Oneida Park; build a multipurpose sports field; build a useful soccer field.
Events project: Federico Pilurzu; Trevor Bernard; Luz Ramirez.
Open-air artisan market; control events on beach; assist in planning of Tamarindo Marathon.
Emergency Project: Simona Daniele; Doris Acosta; Luigi Cisana; Maria Cubas; Argeri Cordero; Silvia Rodriguez
Evacuation plan; prevention of disease epidemics; volunteer fire prevention brigade.
Committee of Communication and Advertising: Juergen Gerner; Helen Soto; Luz Ramirez; Martin Salerno
Determine ways of communication with community; define advertising strategy to support the committees.
Maintenance and Cleaning; Martin Salerno; Heroína Rojas Rojas
Maintenance of beaches; recycling program.
Management of Projects: Alonso Jimenez; Hernán Imhoff; Argerie Cordero Morera
Contacts:Fb: [email protected]
ADI / ACCTTTamarindo Associations work together ADI / ACCTT...
Once I, too, took one of those structured tours to Africa. The driver of our van stopped at a huge market. As I eagerly jumped out to ex-plore, the others sat inside or hugged the outside of the van trembling visibly. I strolled far into the array of goods spread over the ground, the only white face amidst the throng of sellers and buyers. Children clamored around me gleefully, an obviously mentally-ill woman spoke gibberish until she was pulled aside, friendly folks showed me strange new vegetables. I was honored to experience a tiny sliver of daily life across the world. A small ripple of connection changed me, broadened my understanding. I still feel how it added a piece to who I am, how I relate to strangers for instance. This is my humble wish for all, to make the world a smaller place, to experience the connection between all, to lessen the fear of differences.
Remember how I said trembling? There is so much fear outside our familiar tribe. Fear of an overpowering Change? Fear of the unknown? Fear of a debilitating illness? All can happen or not. Meanwhile, the traveler enjoys themselves and grows inside.
Many friends have visited us here, more will come.
Therefore, this leads me to the question, how can I make it easier for them? How can I plant a seed of transition from tourist to traveler? How can I help deepen an appreciation and world view vs judgment and fear? I visualize a tiny stone sending ripples across the pond. For starters I would make a list that answers commonly-asked ques-tions. This could be sent in advance to cushion their trip.
1. Can I use dollars? Yes.2. Do some speak English? I always suggest some Spanish is respect-ful. Bring a small translation book or APP.3. Check the weather/temperature in the area you are visiting and do not over pack. Keep it simple. 4. Bring water proof shoes, both for rainy season and a rocky beach. 5. Plenty of bug spray and sun tan lotion are essential. We are near the equator. 6. Take time to relax, don’t try to do it all. Come back again! Anxiety loves exhaustion! It can also lead to poor decisions, like an unmarked cab.7. If it would make you feel safer in an emergency buy exit Insur-ance and have a plan. 8. If you plan to trek into the mountains you may want to buy bottled water, otherwise please do not litter the land with plastic bottles.
Water is safe! The veggies are often organic and likewise safe. Think traveller! Be free to absorb the country, its wonderful ap-preciation of nature, the lovely people. Let the conditioned chains of tourist melt in the sun. Enjoy Yourself! Breathe!
Judith Donovan
Traveller v. Tourist(From page 22)
A Slice of LifeMy Friend Jack
Rick Casorla
We met in re-hab, it was my fourth time and his twelfth. Well, you know what they say “it takes what it takes”. We became fast friends and when we got out he invited
me over to his house in the Hollywood Hills.
Jack had great stories to tell. He was a famous musician and com-poser. He worked with Phil Spector, and together they created the famous “Wall of Sound”, in the 1950s. Later he arranged some of the first Rolling Stones albums. As a matter of fact that’s where his addiction began. Keith Richards of the Stones invited him into a bathroom during a party, and that was his first introduction to heroin. Something he struggled with the rest of his life; I heard he finally lost that battle a few years ago
He had an amazing career, working with the Stones, Elvis, Ann Margret, etc. but strangely enough, he was always interested in talking about New Orleans and...Voodoo.
One night he showed me a small piece of brick tile, that he said he took from the tomb of Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, circa 1820. Marie was a hairdresser in New Orleans in the early 1800s but she was also a devout follower of Voodoo.
She, like many of the followers of the Black Arts, was a devout Catholic. Sunday morning she would go to church, then Sunday afternoon she could be seen at Congo Square practicing Voodoo ceremonies, and incantations.
Marie was the daughter of a white plantation owner and a black slave. She had the designation of being a free Black woman. Ma-rie learned the Dark Arts from Dr. John, a Voodoo priest, who had come from Benin, the small West African country, where Voodoo was said to have originated. He taught her spells and incanta-tions. He showed her how to make a Gris-gris bag, a powerful charm for protection, which she wore around her neck. As her reputation grew politicians and rich plantation owners would come from miles around to offer her great wealth if she could help answer their prayers.
One story goes that a man whose son was being tried for murder came to her, and if she could get his son out of harm’s way, he would give her a house! Six months later she was living in that house! Another example to all of her mystic powers. Her reputa-tion grew and soon she became known as the powerful Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.
Marie had a daughter who was as powerful as she and when...
...but I digress. I was talking about my friend Jack...
ith a menu that includes something for every palate, Ti-kis Seaside Grille features a 100-seat main floor dining room and a new sushi bar on the upper level with seat-
ing for 30. Located on the main corner in Brasilito, guests enjoy a pleasant view of Playa Brasilito, complete with some of Costa Rica’s most magnificent sunsets.
Starters include coconut shrimp, ceviche, potato skins and much more, while our lunch fare features schnitzel on a bun, turkey avocado club on our fresh baked baguette, crispy buffalo chicken wrap, salads and the best burgers in Costa Rica. We also serve all the local favorites such as casados, arroz con pollo and arroz con camarones.
For dinner you might try our macadamia encrusted mahi-mahi or steamed sea bass in a banana leaf served with a coconut curry sauce. Another Tikis’ favorite, the seafood platter, includes fresh lobster, catch of the day and shrimp. For shrimp aficionados we have a shrimp lovers’ feast, combining coconut shrimp, shrimp scampi and a garlic butter marinated jumbo shrimp brochette. Other seafood favorites include seared tuna and fresh whole red snapper prepared to your liking, either fried or grilled.
Land lovers are invited to choose from a selection of pastas, chicken tiki baked with mushrooms, bacon & melted cheese or a fabulous, cooked-to-perfection rib-eye steak.
For children 12 and under, Tikis offers a kids’ menu. Plus we have a full playground so mom and dad get a date night in while the kids entertain themselves.
Early risers will appreciate Tikis breakfast, served daily from 8:00 a.m. and featuring homemade biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs Bene-dict, breakfast burrito, typical breakfast and much more.
For those craving something different, drop by Tiki’s Seaside Grille on Thursday evening for Pasta Night, featuring a complete pasta dinner including Caesar or mixed salad, choice of house made lasagna with a creamy béchamel sauce, or spaghetti carbon-ara or one of our three weekly choices, plus wine or dessert, all for ¢6,000 col / $12.00!
Our new sushi bar offers a spectacular view overlooking the ocean and a large choice of fresh sushi, fresh sashimi, teriyaki, tempura, bento boxes and more.
Tikis guests are invited to enjoy happy hour daily from 4-6 sipping on 2-for-1 margaritas or rum punch and live entertainment most weekends from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Open daily from 8:00 a.m - 9:00 p.m. for breakfast, lunch and din-ner.
Prices mentioned do not include tax or gratuity.
Tiki’s Seaside GrilleA little paradise in every bite
Surf Report(from page 15)
(continued page 33)
Open of Surfing Costa RicaPlaya Hermosa
December 6, 7, 2014 Open1. Noe Mar McGonagle $6.0002. Tomás King $3.0003. Luis Vindas $1.0004. Angelo Bonomelli (Jaco) – All Ocean Surfboard Women’s1. Lisbeth Vindas $9002. Maddie Peterson $4503. Nataly Bernold $2004. Leilani McGonagle - All Ocean Surfboard Junior1. Noe Mar McGonagl $1.5002. León Glatzer (Pavones) $7503. Leonardo Calvo (Baranca) $2504. Aldo Chirinos - All Ocean Surfboard In El Salvador, after the completion of the Herbalife Latin Pro date of the Asociacion of Latinamerica Profesionales Surfistas (ALAS) in November, Anthony Fillingim (photo) had placed high enough to score the points he needed to win the whole ballgame. Fillingim is now the first Tico ever to become the ALAS Latin American champion. After hearing his name called as the winner on the beach in Las Flores, Fillingim celebrated with his parents, and told everyone that he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
The greatest variety of toursand riding experiences for all ages, featuring
spectacular countryside, howler monkeys, colorful small towns and fun-filled fiestas.
Cantina Tour - Nature Tour Fiesta & Tope Rental - Old Tempate Trail Tour
Located near Portegolpe on the main road,opposite the Monkey Park,
just 20 minutes from the beach.
Phone us at: 2-653-8041 • [email protected]
The best horses on Guanacaste’s Gold Coast!
Casagua Horses
Shape Up!
Happy New Year to everyone! For most of us after consum-ing extra holiday foods and alcoholic beverages, it is a time to make those New Year’s resolutions to lose weight
and get in shape. But as I have written in earlier articles, change is something to be added slowly so it becomes part of your every day. Weight-loss studies have found that people who made better eating choices saw the bigger short-term results over those who just exercised and continued with their same eating patterns. It’s much easier to cut calories than to burn them off! Below are listed just a few simple ideas to incorporate in your new year.
*Limit Processed Foods: Many processed foods are full of excess sodium, sugar and fat. An easy way to clean up your diet is to look at the ingredient list on packaged foods. If the list is long or includes lots of ingredients that you can’t pronounce, try to stay away from it.
*Eat more veggies and fruits: Visit your local farmer’s markets for great choices in vegetables and fruits full of vitamins essential for healthy immune function and to keep your bones healthy. Fresh vegetables and fruits are also high in heart-healthy fiber, which helps you feel full.
*Cut Down on Saturated Fat: You don’t have to cut out fats when you’re eating clean; instead, just focus on healthy fat like olive oil, and the kind found in nuts and fatty fish. These fats are good for your heart and can help raise your good HDL cholesterol.
*Reduce Alcohol Intake: This one can be a bit difficult when you live in a tourist area where there is always a happy hour some-where. Alcohol in moderate amounts may be good for your heart, but too much alcohol dehydrates you and adds excess calories to your diet.
*Cut Down on Sugars: To clean up your diet, cut down on added sugars in your diet by limiting sweets like soda, candy and baked goods. Also keep an eye on sugars added to healthier foods like yogurt (choose plain varieties with no added sugar), tomato sauce and cereal.
*Choose Whole Grains: Whole grains include more nutrients than refined grains because the bran and germ are not removed. Outside of whole wheat, choose whole grains like quinoa, oats and brown rice.
*Eat Less Meat: Eating clean doesn’t mean giving up on meat entirely, but eating less meat can help eliminate extra saturated fat from your diet. A serving of meat is just 3 ounces (the size of a deck of cards).
Hopefully, these tips have inspired you to clean up your diet with better eating resolutions.
Better Eating ResolutionsLynda Espada
Recipe ofthe Month
Coconut Pudding Ingredients
4 cups coconut milk1/2 cup sugar1/3 cup shredded coconut1/4 teaspoon sea salt1/4 cup water1/4 cup cornstarch
Method:
Put coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar and salt dissolves. Next, add shredded coconut and cook for 5 minutes until the coconut meat is soft. Make a slurry in a separate small bowl by gradually whisking the water into the cornstarch then whisk the slurry into the coconut mixture and allow to reduce until thickened (about 5 minutes). Pour this layer of pudding into serving glasses or dishes and chill. Note: clear glasses make it look much cooler when finished.
Chocolate Pudding Ingredients
2 cups whole 3.5% milk1/2 cup sugar1/3 cup pure cocoa powder4 teaspoons cornstarch3 large egg yolks2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Method
Put 1 1/2 cups of the milk, the sugar, and the cocoa in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then remove from the heat. Whisk 1/2 cup of the milk, egg yolks, cornstarch, vanilla and salt in a bowl. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly until the pudding comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue whisking until thick, about two minutes or more. Pour the chocolate pudding layer over the coconut layer evenly into each glass or dish and chill.
Garnish/top with fresh, shredded coconut and slivered almonds.
Enjoy!
By Chef Mike at Sprout
Barbara’s Pet Stories
A chicken, a coatimundi and a cat
I keep chickens in my garden to have fresh and healthy eggs. Usually I can find up to six eggs each day. But the last days I could not find that many eggs….only one here and one there. I was wondering
if maybe the raccoons come at night to steal them, or if my dogs had more luck “to find“ the eggs before I go into the garden… but then all of a sudden I noticed a new nest, and one of my chickens was sitting on eight eggs. Ok, good… there will be babies.
After the needed time, 21 days, two chicks hatched out of the eggs. As I was afraid that the other wild animals that live in my gardens, too, will “smell“ the babies and may try to get them, so I closed the door to the room in which the nest was in. Opening it up again the next day I could see one more egg hatched. Still five more eggs in the nest, Mama Chicken kept sitting on them and in between in her feathers, the three baby chicks. This was at 7 am in the morning…then at around 10 am I saw Mama Chicken and the 3 kids running around in the garden …..I went to the room, looked into the nest and saw the 5 eggs still lying inside the nest. I ran after Mama Chicken, grabbed her, carried her back into the nest, she was screaming and picking at me. I went back out to get the kids, but then coming back into the room, Mama Chicken was close to fake as Nasi, one of my Coatimundis, was sitting in front of the nest: he had gone into the nest with his long nose to check out the eggs. This was the reason why Mama and the kids took off. No way she will ever sit again in this nest. I did not want to lose the eggs, the chicks inside, so I was looking for what I could do… YES !!
I took the five eggs, put them into a basket, covered the eggs with a small towel and I placed this basket into my cat–tent. The cats that always sleep inside this tent, just laid down on the towel and with the body heat they kept the eggs warm. At night time I placed the eggs back into the nest, grabbed Mama and the kids (they all were already sleeping under a bush) and put them on top the eggs. The next morning: eggs into the basket, cats on top of the eggs, at night the eggs back into the nest, Mama and kids on top the eggs…Next morning, three more chicks had hatched! Thanks to the cats!
P.S. (the other 2 eggs Mama Chicken had kicked already out of the nest, as they were not fertilized).
by Jeffrey Whitlow
The Streets of Tamarindo
This month I want to write about the program we started for the homeless and the street people of Tamarindo to give some
follow-up.
Once again, I would like to thank Chef Mike Finch at Sprout and Jay at FT’s for their help with this project. Chef Mike runs Sprout, a small restaurant located on the right hand side of the road to Vil-larreal. Chef Mike has a long history in the foodservice industry. He has even had the privilege of being a chef to celebrities. He is very good with his recipes, and my wife and I dine with him at least once a week. He makes the best sandwiches and salads in town, and his Cajun potato chips are to die for. Chef Mike was gracious enough to give us food that he could have served to his customers. The guys I feed love his fruit salad and potato salad.
Jay from FT’s provides me with four casados a day for the price of three. My guys describe them as “casados on steroids”, they are that big and that delicious. He also has the Tamarindo-famous “Monster Burrito”. You better bring an appetite if you want to fin-ish one of those! Jay and his staff have been extremely supportive. One night I was running late and they stayed open twenty minutes after they should have closed just to make sure that my guys had a good meal that night. I ask the people of Tamarindo to support both of these men’s establishments, as they have done some good work for the community.
I would also like to commend Patrick McNulty from Witches Rock and Russell Wenrich from Dona Lee’s for their support. Their advice and experience have been invaluable, and I count it a privilege to know them and to be able to call them friends.
Finally, I want to thank all of the members of the community who have made it a point to thank us for what we are doing and have done. We didn’t do it for the praise, but it feels good nonetheless. I personally take great pride when I look out to the street from my bar stool at Sharky’s and all I see are smiling faces and tranquility. It is such a change from a few months ago. One of the tourists who has been coming back every year for years said to me recently, “What in the world has happened here?!? How did it get to be so quiet?” I told him what we had done and he had to laugh. Then he said, “Is that all it took?” I said, “Yep. All it took was to have a few people who cared enough to do something.”
I am asking all of you who live in and love this community to make sure that everyone here is well fed. Also, I still have two people who need a roof over their head. I will be reaching out soon to try to find someone who will help me to find those guys jobs and a permanent home. A final thanks to all of you for mak-ing Tamarindo such a wonderful place to live.
I love you all…
I see the Mega Drought that is occurring in Cali-fornia which is becoming a national emergency, and fear something equally serious here. Again, the ocean currents are warm-ing and affecting the weather driven by them. The years, not so long ago, when the Tempisque river twice flowed over the “erector set”, metal bridge on the way to the airport, leaving branches and debris in the girders, now are just a memory. We waited for the hurricanes that, this year, never came, dying mid-Atlantic on their journey from Africa. Ah, things are changing, but somehow, more dramatically in shorter periods of time. I haven’t even got my green rubber boots out this year.
I have other worrisome thoughts, but pushing them from my “here”, I think about the wonders and gifts that I have been given recently. Our new foal was born at night, so we had to rip off our PJs, get dressed and put on the boots to run out and imprint the foal at midnight. He was a perfect gift, because our recently purchased Ibero-Americana filly was very ill with West Nile Fever and Esteban
with the help of Kim, our vet, worked to control the symptoms and prevent brain damage, or death. The foal, named Diamante Negro (Black Diamond) lifted our spirits, and the calf born the next day helped even more. Our filly is recovering and fortunately our other horses were vaccinated. Boosters on the way for all.
Here in our corner of Para-dise, blessings come in all forms, flowers blooming in the garden with humming-birds feasting on their sweet offerings; lush green pastures with horses grazing or cattle
sitting under a shade tree filled for the day; good friends who care; or a Pacific sunset ending a good day with a promise for more tomor-row; and of course no snow.
I Always Get Pensive...
Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.
Anne Frank
(from page 18)
by Jeanne [email protected]
NamastéVisit Jeanne’s site at CelestialAdvisor.com
Your Stars in
JanuaryAries: 21 March - 20 April Lots of planetary action in your solar tenth house this month so make the most of with your professional mojo! Mars in your eleventh house gives you an additional boost, too, as friends will be very supportive to your hopes, wishes and dreams. Saturn has entered your ninth house so make sure you do everything with a long range visions and the highest integrity to reap the most gains over the next 2.5 years. Best days for unexpected delights are the 24th and 25th. Taurus: 21 April - 21 May The month begins with four planets in your solar ninth house, giving you a big picture approach to your future….great, after the last two years you need to create a big vision for what’s possible for yourself. Stay con-nected to people who have helped you in the past. Saturn will be moving through your eighth house for the next 2.5 years, giving a solemnity to your sense of values and money. End of life matters and planning will become important. Best days for fun, however, are the 26th and 27th.Gemini: 22 May - 21 June While you are looking for financial support or guidance, you have defi-nitely noticed it’s hard to come by, thanks to four planets transiting your solar eighth house. You might also be spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about death due to this same stellium’s placement. You’ll be getting over that soon when Venus and Mercury enter your ninth house of long range vision, faith and mind expansion. Best days to snap out of the funk are the 1st, 2nd, 29th and 30th.Cancer: 22 June - 22 JulyYou begin the New Year with your mind on partnerships, contracts, mar-riage or business relationships. This is a great time to get something new started for yourself or expand to new territories. Pay attention to details after the 21st when Mercury goes Rx. Saturn has entered your solar sixth house so be disciplines about all health matters as it’s a great time to get medical checkups and tests done over the next 2.5 years. Days to enjoy life to its fullest are the 4th, 5th and 31st.Leo: 23 July - 23 August This month is a taking care of business kind of vibe with four planets moving through your solar sixth house of health, work and habits. Great year to start a whole new way of taking care of your body! I mean it, drop the bad habits and get serious about adopting a healthy lifestyle. You are feeling pretty optimistic overall which will attract more new people into your life. It sounds like a positive transition is in store for you. The 6th, 7th and 8th are your best days.Virgo: 24 August - 22 SeptemberThere’s a big focus on your children and family of origin this month as you may get news that someone is having some problems at home. These issues will divide your free time considerably but don’t get too anal about trying to control everything. Some of this is just in the beginning stages of development so you need to go with the flow instead of micro-managing it. Trust that the way will be revealed as it will. Your good days are the 9th and 10th, but use them to get some more rest, not for accomplishment.
Libra: 23 September - 23 October Keep your focus on family and partnerships this month as the stellium of planets passing through your solar fourth house brings a deeper involvement with your family of origin. Partnerships are still a bit wobbly with Uranus in your seventh, shaking the foundation of things and bringing change. Let yourself be willing to see things differently and you might find that a little freedom in your closest partnership feels pretty darned good to you The 11th, 12th, and 13th are your stellar days.Scorpio: 24 October - 22 NovemberThe month begins with four planets transiting your solar third house of siblings, communication and short trips; busy, busy, busy is what you are going to be! The month should also be good for your professional image as Jupiter, the benevolent fatso, is Rx in your tenth house. Great time to make a big name for yourself, so make some public appearances or do public service. Remember your goal for the next 2.5 years is to bank some seri-ous coin and live below your means. The 14th and 15th are your best days.Sagittarius: 23 November - 21 DecemberWith your ruling planet, Jupiter, in your solar ninth house you have a more optimistic attitude this year than you’ve had in a long time. Saturn will be traveling through your sign for the next 2.5 years making you more serious about leaving some kind of legacy or respected reputation during this time. Money comes in but can also go out pretty fast so make sure you track of all purchases. You think you pay attention, but you really don’t. The 16th and 17th are days to have an adventure.Capricorn: 22 December - 21 JanuaryWith four planets now transiting your sign, you have lots of opportunities and not enough time to pursue them all. There are big changes you are considering with Pluto in your first house. You are changing in ways you never anticipated but that’s just what life does to people when big slow planets like Pluto and Uranus aspect their sun sign…. sudden and unusual transformation starts happening! Take it one day at a time and maintain your integrity. Good days to rest and recover are the 18th and 19th. Aquarius: 22 January - 19 FebruaryThis is a month when you might need some extra rest or possibly a vacation or retreat. It you don’t take good care of yourself now you could be risking depression or another kind of health issue. Slow down and if work is too much, delegate. With Mars transiting your sign you have probably been a bit out of sorts or cranky. Venus will be giving her grace after the first week so listen to the women in your life as they will be offering good advice. Best days to get a massage are the new moon day of the 20th and the 21st.Pisces: 20 February - 20 MarchWith four planets moving through your solar eleventh house you may find yourself dealing with new groups of people, meeting potential new friends or getting involved with some new professional organization. All this is very positive. Saturn will be transiting your tenth house of profession and public image so you are in the spotlight. This will be going on for the next 2.5 years so you can definitely make or break your reputation by your actions. No pressure. The 22nd and 23rd are your best getaway days.
Now Begins the Study of Yoga
Mary Byerly is one of the owners and the yoga teacher at Panacea. An oasis of tranquility and health 10 minutes from Tamarindo.
Discover Paradise and Bring a Peace Homewww.panaceacr.com • 2653-8515
Happy New Year and Namaste,
Mary
Kapalabhati
Otherwise known as “skull shin-ing breath”, Kapalabhati is one of the six shatkarmas (cleans-ing techniques) of Hatha yoga. These six techniques were de-signed to help a yogi purify his or her body so that the energy of the body could flow freely. Considering that January is the time many of us decide to make
renewed commitments to our health and well-being, this is a good time to add this breathing exercise to your yoga practice. Although there are three forms of Kapalabhati, the most commonly used is Vatakrama, or “air cleansing”. This practice can help to clear mucus from the cranial sinuses, as well as invigorating the brain and the abdominal muscles. Kapalabhati breathing can be done at the beginning of your asana practice to help you get centered and focused, or it can be used prior to pranayama and meditation.
This breathing technique uses a forced exhalation and a passive inhalation, reversing our normal breathing pattern. Begin by sit-ting with a tall spine. You can rest your hands on your lap or on your abdomen. An alternative is also to raise your arms up into the air. Close your eyes. Breathe in and do ten fast exhalations out through the nose, drawing your navel strongly towards your spine with each exha-lation. Let the inhalation take care of itself. After these first ten, stop,
and let your breath stabilize. Do three rounds of this. As long as you feel comfortable with this, begin to increase the number of exhalations working your way up to three rounds of 33 – 50 exhalations.
If at any time, you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, simply stop and return to your normal breath. The only conditions in which you would not want to practice this would be if you are pregnant, have had recent abdominal surgery, if you have clogged nostrils due to a sinus infection, cold or allergies, or if this leaves you feeling dizzy. The exhalations should not leave you feeling breathless, so if this is hap-pening, lessen the intensity of your exhales and see if this helps. If not, check in with your yoga teacher to help figure out why this is happening. If you are doing Kapalabhati prior to meditation, you will breathe less forcefully than if you are doing before your asana practice.
After your three rounds, keep your eyes closed, allowing them to focus on the third eye center. Become aware of how your body and mind have changed as a result of this practice. In Sanskrit, the word kapal means cranium or forehead, and bhati means light, splendor, perception, or knowledge. Thus this form of pranayama is believed to bring about an awakening of the areas of the brain responsible for subtle perception. In this simple breathing exercise, enjoy the benefits of clearer sinuses, activated abs, and awakened awareness.
Surf Report(from page 28)
That’s all I’ve got. Looking forward to hearing what you think. Keep those emails coming at [email protected]. Send your comments, information, errors or praise, because I can’t do this column without you, the real surfers.
“I would like to thank all my FB friends, close friends, sponsors and family for helping to carry me to this goal to become the champion of Latin America and the ALAS tour 2014 in the Open category. The whole year I was waiting for this. The truth is I feel super happy and motivated to go ahead and bring more good results for my country. I’m happy to be the champion of Latin America,” he wrote later on Facebook. Costa Rica’s national surf team had the opportunity to travel to China for two contests in November because of their 6th place finish last year in the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games 2013 in Panama. The Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival took place in November and included both the ISA China Cup and then the Men’s Hainan Classic 4-star ASP contest. Our little medal magnet, Leilani McGonagle (photo), who already has a silver and a copper from her work at the ISA Junior World Surfing Games earlier this year in Ecuador, was able to maneuver her way to 4th place at the ISA China Cup. The 15-year-old earned a copper medal behind surfers from Peru, Australia and South Africa, yet giving Costa Rica its 6th world medal this year.
“The truth is I’m very happy to have met my goal to reach the final of this great event, and in doing so won another medal for my country. Yes, we did, viva Costa Rica,” Leilani stated. The rest of the team—Luis Vindas, Gilbert Brown, Maykol Torres, Jair Perez and Lisbeth Vindez, ended their rounds early, and the result was an overall 6th place finish for Costa Rica at the ISA China Cup.
Final ISA China Cup Team Rankings: 1 - Peru 13,3782 - Australia 13,2323 - Brazil 9,7664 - South Africa 9,7605 - Argentina 9,2706 - Costa Rica 8,9107 - Panama 7,6408 - China 7,140 The guys participated in the Men’s Hainan Classic following this contest, but the results were insignificant. It looks like Carlos Muñoz missed out on his chance to move up to the Top 10 of the international QS rankings. Although seeded for Round 2 in both the Reef Hawaiian Pro and Vans World Cup of Surfing, he never made it out of those heats. These results placed him #26 out of 959 surfers, just 16 short of the necessary Top 10 placement which will allow him into the World Championship Tour (WCT). Meanwhile, Noe Mar finished up his debut run in Hawaii. In both the Reef Hawaiian Pro and the Vans World Cup of Surfing, he was able to pass through Round 1 into Round 2, which was a great start for the Costa Rican. However, there he wasn’t able to count on his skills and the waves to get to Round 3.
Photo - Rommel Gonzales
Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow; don’t walk behind me, I may not lead; walk beside me, and just be my friend
Albert Camus
Story by Jesse [email protected]
CSurvivinghapter MMXVCOSTA RICA
Observations on A New Dog
I have made it no secret over the many years that I have been writing this column that I am a dog person. Although I came to this calling
somewhat late in life I embraced this condition enthusiastically, something I share with a whole lot of other people here in the Greater Tamarindo Metroplex.
If you’re one of my six or seven devoted readers you’ll recall that when faced with the perennial Howler deadline with absolutely no idea of what to write about I could always just have my dog Sun Tzu write one for me, which he had to do several times over the years. You may also remember his tear-stained obituary in the Howler, March 2014, issue.
It was decided that we would get another Shar Pei and my wife searched online, eventually contacting a family from way down south Costa Rica in San Isidro. They had had a litter of six pups and still had four six-week-old females.
San Isidro is a pretty fair distance from our neck of the woods so a plan was hatched where Susan, accompanied by two stalwart Langosta types, would travel down to Quepos and rendezvous the next morning with the Whites, who traveled up from San Isidro.
The girls headed off in our trusty Terios and headed down south to Quepos where they found a nice hotel, spending the night and apparently consuming an appropriate amount of white wine.The next morning, while they were having break-fast by the pool a large group of good-looking Costa Ricans approached them, four of whom each carried a Shar Pei puppy.
We had already picked out a name we liked, Lily, so she had the four puppies placed on the floor to see who responded to the name. Three came towards her, one of the white puppies just ignored her, and went looking for something to eat.
Of course that was the puppy that ended up be-ing Lily.
Lily had her first long car ride at this very early age and apparently handled it very well, perhaps due to the lap travel provided by her new mom and aunties. I was playing with Saxophone Joe at the El Vaquero when the girls showed up with the new puppy, and I met Lily for the first time.We are big fans of the Shar Pei breed, which originated in China where it was used to hunt lions and protect mansions.
Mao Tse Tung at one point tried to wipe out the breed because of its past association with Chinese royalty.
Fortunately he didn’t succeed and the breed is still going strong, as demonstrated by a Facebook page we belong to called “I Love my Shar Pei” where other pathetic dog nuts like ourselves can post pictures of their pets and tell each other how adorable the dogs look.
We had ten years with an “A” type male dog per-sonality so we decided to try a female this time. Sun Tzu matured early and was pretty mellow other than the burning desire to kick every other dog’s ass, the bigger the better.
Those of you who have lived as long as I have may have realized that females of a species can be quite different from their male counterparts.Lily seems to get along with all the dogs in our little canine world here in Playa Langosta, and
not just because she’s turned into a gorgeous dog, although there was a noticeable decline in interest after her recent spaying.
She may be a beautiful puppy but she’s also been an unholy terror, growing out of that cute but vulnerable puppy stage to an increasingly larger variety that seemed to use her teeth as her favorite form of showing affection. During our first three months with Lily both Susan and I amassed an impressive group of puncture wounds which ended only with the loss of her puppy teeth.
Lily is nonetheless extremely fond of us, once again to a rather manic level. Recently she ran through a plate glass door in her eagerness to get outside and watch us leave the house. As I was walking to my car I heard a very loud shattering noise coming from inside the house and re-entered to find glass all over the place and a dog that was very happy to see me. Bad dog.
Sun Tzu was a very quiet dog who didn’t really bark at all until he was about four months. What came out was a very impressive authoritarian
bark that would alarm and concern anybody hearing it for the first time.
Lily hasn’t shut up since she got here and seems to be very comfortable with telling you just what exactly she really isn’t happy with. The feng shui in our home has dramatically re-oriented as the two quiet males and one not so quiet female arrangement has transformed to its opposite.
Lily is still a puppy, albeit a big one that, in case you haven’t guessed, is spoiled rotten and very lacking in discipline. It remains to be seen how she might handle writing a column for The Howler Magazine, which requires maturity and discipline, something not being displayed by Lily who is chewing up one of my brand new sneakers as I type this last word.
The Silent ForestTom Peifer
(continued page 40)
There’s a line in an old song by Joni Mitchell, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Here’s a case in point: Surrounded by forest here in Gua-
nacaste, for 20 years I’ve been practically able to set my watch by the sound of Howler monkeys. Just like in the Bible, After the Last Supper, Jesus predicts Peter’s betrayal “before the cock crows twice.” When you live in a natural setting, the sounds of animals become part of your points of reference with your surround-ings. At 4 a.m., a motorcycle goes by on the highway about 100 yards away, the monkeys go off. The bus to San Jose goes by at 5:15 and the mon-keys’ roar works like a natural alarm clock. On trips to San José I often tell people that I’m eager to get back home ‘cause I miss my monkeys. The landscaping near my home incorporates several trees that flower, or sprout new leaves, throughout the summer, so, typically, they’re always hanging around for months on end. Sure, they eat some of the plants and fruit that I might have other plans for, but by and large we have a peaceful coexistence. What can I say, it’s totally cool to have a distant cousin peeking in the window while I’m working at my desk, or lying in bed.
From the looks of it, it ain’t gonna’ be that way this year.For three months, my alarm clock has been powered by an internal combustion engine, or several at once. Think “habitat fragmentation” on steroids. For a few months I’ve felt like those Amazonian Indians who see their lush, green, three-dimensional world give way to the onslaught of men and machinery only to be replaced by a dry, dusty flatness, littered with a tangled jumble of severed limbs. Thousands of pochote trees came out of the hills, onto flatbed trucks
and off to be processed. In my mind, I could reconcile it with the economics of reforestation. At some point, you have to harvest to recoup your investment. The resident monkeys weren’t into rationalizations. Quite literally, they seem to have simply headed for the hills.
If you’ve noticed a lot of pochote being harvested recently, here’s a bit of history. Some 25-30 years ago, the govern-
ment promoted reforestation with pochote—a native spe-cies—instead of just support-ing the non-natives like teak, gmelina and others that were sort of the first wave of refor-estation efforts. Thousands of hectares of pochote were planted, just like teak and gmelina, on three-meter spac-ing. Basically it didn’t work, one reason being that you couldn’t thin the plantation at 5-7 years and get something useable, as is the case with teak.
Participants in the program fought back and got their debts cancelled. The trees, even though planted too close together to permit maximum development of that nice red heartwood that is a dream to work with, finally began to be harvested for tongue and groove paneling. Just like gmelina, which used to be under-appreciated around here, plantation po-chote is now used for studs, beams and rafters. Use drives demand, demand seeks a supply and my neighbors finally got an offer they couldn’t refuse. As the deforestation continued along on side of my land and the around the back and up into the hills, I was confident that the monkeys would flock into the mixed forest cover
The Howler Monkey is an endangered species, primarily due to habitat fragmentation.
Sign outside Howler exhibit at the San Diego Zoo.
....
(from page 39)
Rainfall Nov/Dec2014: 49.9 cm2013: 4.4Year-to-date
2014: 122.8 cm2013: 104.2
that I’ve tried to manage as a blend of native tall species and fruit and nut trees underneath. Hey, I’d even read an entire book on ecological corridors, “Landscape Linkages and Biodiversity”; I considered myself pretty savvy on the theory behind this stuff. There is a wide swath of 35-50 ft. high canopy all around my home, a perfect refuge, or so I thought, for my tree-loving cousins. As the silent days turned into silent weeks, and the weeks became months, it became obvious that reality, as it so often does, was not living up to expectations.
The hills behind my home, once covered in native forest, used to support so much wildlife that a neighbor, heading off to hunt, would tell his wife to put the pot of water on the fire, and return with his prey in hand before the water began to boil. Then came the deforestation to convert the slopes to grassland for raising beef, the preferred flesh of urban carnivores. Thirty years of ‘reforestation’ had restored the hills once again to a suitable ‘habitat’ for a diversity of native fauna, but once again they’re forced to beat a hasty retreat. The thick volume on Landscape Ecology is chock-full of information on ‘patch sizes’, calculations as to the length and width of “biological corridors” for different species, etc. The theme has been studied intensely, it is a complex topic, but as a good friend remarked, one of our primary tasks here it to restore what he called ‘connectivity’ to the landscape. That way our four-legged friends will hopefully realize that we’ve taken their needs into account, that we’ve provided them with nice, wide highways on the ground and ‘canopy tours’ up in the trees. And that way, hopefully, in the near future, I’ll be rudely awakened by the sound of my arboreal amigos, registering their complaint about the noisy whine of the 2-cycle motorcycle, whizzing by on the highway at 4 AM.
Tom Peifer is an ecological land use consultant with 19 years experience in Guanacaste. 2658-8018. [email protected] Centro Verde is dedicated to researching and promoting sustain-able land use, permaculture and environmentally sound develop-ment http://www.elcentroverde.org/
The Silent Forest...
Contact: Don H. at 2-654-4902
Flamingo Tuesdays: 5:30 - 6:30 pm (open) Fridays: 5:30 - 6:30 pm (open)
Location: Hitching Post Plaza Unit 2, Brasilito
Alcoholics AnonymousSchedule of Meetings
TamarindoSaturday: 10:30-11:30 - Open General MeetingMonday: 5:30 - Open MeetingWednesday: 10:30 - Open MeetingThursday: 5:30-6:30 - Open MeetingLocation: Behind Pedro’s Surf Shop
Contact: Ellen - 2-653-0897 / Steve - 8377-1529
J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5( a l l t i m e s l o c a l )
1st -15th -31st -
rise 6:01; set 5:33rise 6:05; set 5:41rise 6:06; set 5:47*
Sun
Full:Last quarter:New:1st quarter:
4th
13th
20th
26th
10:54 p.m.3:48 a.m.7:14 a.m.
10:49 p.m.
Moon* latest sunrise Jan. 26th - 6:06:24
RAINFALL - November/December 2014Howler Meteorological Observatory
HuacasTotal rainfall: 19.0 cm (7.5 inches)
c
m
s
November December
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.016 20 25 30 1 5 10 15
RAIN GAUGE
You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.
Al Capone
