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Aug
30
Biological Corridor announces 2nd annual Environmental Festival for Life
August 30, 2007 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News | Comments Off
| September 27, 2007 | ||
| 8:00 am | to | 5:00 pm |
This year’s theme will be “Protection of our Water Resources.”
The festival is planned for 27 of September, 2007 starting at 8AM at the BriBri High School Gymnasium. There will be drawing, theater, singing and poetry competitions in which the school kids get to be the stars! There are 9 schools participating, including over 250 kids, all kinds of adults helping out, 20 invited artists, government representatives, agriculturists, and local NGO’s and businesses.
 People visting some of the stands at last year’s festival |
This activity is the result of the energies of many many of your neighbors joining together to work for the education of our youth and for the protection of our natural resources. Therefore they are inviting the community to contribute in any possible way. You could help us defray some of the costs with a donation of materials or money. Please click here: (English | español) to download their list of what they need to make this festival a success—help with buying awards, food, transportation, etc.
In this second annual Environmental Festival they’re hoping that with your support we’ll all help to build an even better Talamanca.
You can read more about Biological Corridor on their website.
If you’d like to make a donation with a credit card, Puerto Viejo Satellite is helping out by processing credit card donations on their behalf. We will cover all processing costs so that 100% of your donation will reach the group. Please visit our Donation Page to make a secure donation.
Aug
30
Shooting suspects ordered held in preventative custody
August 30, 2007 | Tags: Crime & Punishment | Comments Off
 The suspects tried to flee in this car. Photo courtesy Marvin Carvajal for La Nacion |
The three suspects in the double murder last week in Puerto Viejo have been ordered detained in preventative custody for 3 months pending the outcome of the investigation into the crime. They are being held in Limon.
The three suspects have been identified only by their last names: Hernandez and two brothers with the last name Angulo. Hernandez was apparently shot in the abdomen by one of the victims, Marvin Arroyo García, before he died. Hernandez was arrested when he was dropped off at a clinic by the other two suspects. The two brothers were arrested at a road block.
Investigators are calling the shooting the result of a personal quarrel between the parties involved.
Read the source: La Nación: Tres van a la cárcel por doble crimen en Limón
Aug
30
Hone Creek School Needs a New Roof
August 30, 2007 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News | Comments Off
| September 4, 2007 | ||
| 5:30 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
 Rusting roof at Hone Creek School |
This story comes to us via the Casa Milagro Foundation who along with Helping Hands Costa Rica are raising funds to replace the badly damaged roof on the Hone Creek School. They need to raise $4,000.
If you happen to be in the Escazu area, they are holding a fundraiser this Tuesday Sept 4 from 5:30 to 9:00 pm at the Time Out Tavern in Escazu. Tickets are only $10 and include beer, burgers and door prizes.
If you can’t make it, you can check out the Crazy Jungle blog for more info on how to donate or find out more about the project.
Aug
29
A Big Thanks from ReciCaribe!
August 29, 2007 | Tags: Community News, Environment | Comments Off
We received a letter from ReciCaribe yesterday with a big thanks to all of you. They did it! They raised the $1500 they needed to make the repairs to their truck and get it legal which will enable them to get the recycling program back on the road.
They ask for your patience in the coming month as the repairs to the truck get made. They expect regular service to resume in October. If you’re itching for the truck to come back sooner, well Alaine wants to tell you a little story:
When I spend time in West Texas, I have to bring my recycling 30 miles on Saturdays only—separated—to get our recycling out of the back yard. Here in Talamanca we are lucky to have the that we do have. If you get frustrated with our hit or miss service these next (and past) few weeks, we would like to invite you to come visit the Collection Center in Patiño (down the road from Kekoldi’s Iguana project) and drop off your own materials. We’re open from Monday to Thursday from 7AM to 2PM, or just drop off materials on the front porch anytime. Or bring it by ATEC.
If you’d like to see the list of donors to this project, you can see it here.
And íf you’d like to help out with other community initiatives that need your support, please check the Puerto Viejo community donations page — rememember our offer still applies that if you use that form to make a donation to one of the listed organizations we will cover all the credit card processing fees so that 100% of your donation will make it to the project.
Aug
25
Informacion de transporte ya esta disponsible en español
August 25, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Comments Off
Yes, the Transport page is now available in Spanish! Our aim is to eventually provide a fully bilingual site but so far the map page and transport page are it. More will be coming soon.
Ver la pagina de información de transporte en español | See the transport page in Spanish
Thanks to Ángel Flores Olivares who did the initial translation. Apologies to all for those sections I had to do myself and butchered the Spanish in. Corrections/suggestions for clearer communication are most welcome.
Aug
24
Shooting leaves 2 dead, 1 injured, 3 arrested in Puerto Viejo
August 24, 2007 | Tags: Crime & Punishment | 2 Comments
 Injured suspect who was shot in the abdomen. Photo by Marvin Carvajal, courtesy of La Nación |
A shooting Wednesday about 9:30pm in Puerto Viejo left 2 people dead, another injured and 3 suspects under arrest. The incident happened as the Costa Rica-Peru soccer match was winding up on TV. According to witnesses and investigators from the OIJ, four men drove up to the house of one of the victims. Two remained in the car and two went inside and shot the man and his friend. Apparently fire was returned by one of the victims before he died and one of his attackers was shot in the abdomen.
The victims have been identified as Marvin Arroyo García 46 years old, whose house it was, and Luis Eduardo Monestel Avilés, 40 years old. The injured man has been identified only by his last name, Hernández and age, 31 years old. He was arrested when he sought medical care for his injury at the Hone Creek clinic. Two other suspects were arrested at a police road block.
Local talk is that both the victims and their attackers were involved in the drug trade and that the incident was likely some sort of dispute between rivals. The event has actually left some locals feeling safer; that a number of criminals have been taken off the streets.
In an odd twist, the story was reported this morning in A.M. Costa Rica with the headline “Two men on Caribbean coast killed by home invaders”. This implies a home invasion style robbery, which is not a version of events that either witnesses or police or even the account on A.M. Costa Rica itself bear out.
We expect to report more on this story as it develops.
Links to the other reports:
- La Nación: Balacera deja dos muertos en Limón
- A.M. Costa Rica: Two men on Caribbean coast killed by home invaders
Aug
23
Dengue fever spike on Caribbean
August 23, 2007 | Tags: Health | Comments Off
There isn’t much specific information for the South Caribbean and Puerto Viejo but A.M. Costa Rica is reporting today on a spike in Dengue fever in the Caribbean. Levels are much higher than last year. The Ministry of Health graph shows Dengue cases for 2006 (in green) compared with 2007 (the blue line).
The Ministry plans to attack the problem by seeking emergency funds for more spraying. Some local businesses and homeowners are not crazy about the idea of chemicals being sprayed inside their homes. Of course, the best way to prevent dengue is to make sure there are no places for mosquitoes to breed on your property, i.e. no sources of stagnant water.
You can read the entire article on A.M. Costa Rica.
Aug
22
Kids clean up Playa Negra
August 22, 2007 | Tags: Community News, Environment | Comments Off
On Saturday, 11 local kids, 10 from the neighborhood and one tourist, cleanup up the Playa Negra beach all the way from near the park boundary to Magic Moon.
Afterwards, they were rewarded with some ice cream. They thought the day was fun and asked when they can do it again! What a great way to learn about the environment and taking care of your community.
This cleanup was sponsored by the Playa Negra Resident’s Association. But the kids want to do it again so why not get some local kids out to your beach?
Aug
22
Latest update from ReciCaribe – Getting closer!
August 22, 2007 | Tags: Community News | Comments Off
Here is the letter from ReciCaribe:
| Dear Friends,ReciCaribe, the Association of Recycling of the Caribbean, sends you warm wishes and many thanks for your support of our association.We write to give you an update on our fund drive announced a couple of weeks back.We wanted to let you know that we are making progress; so far we have collected $710!This means we still need at least $800 more dollars to get the truck going safely. We had said that we need $1000 to get the truck in good working order and legal, but we realized that we will now need at least $1500. We’ve made the deposit to have the new cajon—truck bed—made. We’re planning to do all the fix ups the first week of September!! And then we will have to suspend service for a few days to take the truck in for revisions. Nobody’s got a rich uncle?
We are currently fundraising internationally to get a new truck, a potentially lengthy process, plus we will need to get this truck in running condition in order to keep service going and to eventually trade in the truck. So we still need help right now. Again, we send our regrets about the irregular service. On top of all of our problems, Baco, our beloved chofer, had Dengue and was out for 8 days. Yikes. But this brings to mind the importance of supporting this association that gets the trash out of communities and away from the Dengue mosquitoes who love it. Please write with any comments or to help out with some funds. Danny Umaña Gutiérrez Alaine Where to Make Deposits… Nacional and internacional Credit Card donations: www.puertoviejosatellite.com/donate.php THANKS TO OUR DONORS: A friend asked us recently “Why isn’t ReciCaribe sustainable yet?” There was an article in the Tico Times about the Recyclers in the dump in San Jose who were making a living. Here’s why: A. Overhead—we pay a fair wage to 6 full time employees, put gas in and attempt maintenance of that truck, maintain the recycling center. B. We don’t just recycle products that make bunches of money. We also recycle several kinds of plastics which are not profitable, but are collected and recycled for the benefit of the community and the environment. Our mission is to reduce waste, and reduce the amount of materials sent to the dump. C. We are unable to collect and recycle some waste products that do make bunches of money. Individuals collecting aluminum cans are competing with our community endeavor. Pura Vida, Ecotourism is a cooperative relationship between the local community and those sincere, open-minded visitors who want to enjoy themselves in a natural ethnic setting and enrich their consciousness by means of a significant educational and cultural experience. |
And in Spanish:
| Queridos Amigos,
ReciCaribe, la Asociación de Reciclaje del Caribe, le manda un saludo cordial y agradecimiento por su apoyo.Escribimos para darles un informe de nuestra búsqueda de fondos para la reparación del camión, anunciado hace unas semanas.Hay progreso, ya tenemos unos $710 (¢355.000). Entonces todavía necesitamos unos $800 (¢400.000) más para arreglar el camión. Antes dijimos que necesitamos un $1000 para cumplir el trabajo, pero parece que vamos a necesitar un poco más. Ya hemos depositado el dinero para hacer el cajón del truck, vamos a hacer los arreglos la primera semana de Septiembre y llevarlo al RTV antes del 5 de septiembre. ¿Nadie tiene un tío rico que pueda ayudarnos? Estamos buscando fondos internacionales para ayudarnos en comprar un camión nuevo, pero todavía necesitamos reparar el camión que tenemos para seguir ofreciendo nuestro servicio gratis de recolección. Por eso estamos todavía pidiendo su ayuda. En los últimos dos meses el servicio ha sido irregular por varias razones: en primer lugar el mal estado del cajón y la RTV atrasado, y luego encima de todo, nuestro querido chofer Baco, tenía Dengue y no pudo trabajar hace unos 8 días. Esta enfermedad nos recuerda la importancia de dar apoyo a esta asociación que quita la basura en donde se reproducen los zancudos transmisores de este virus. Por favor escribanos para cualquier sugerencia, recomendación o para donar unos fondos. Mil Gracias; Danny Umaña Gutiérrez | Alaine—mejor el ingles Donde hacer depositos: Para hacer donaciones seguros con tarjeta de crédito Nacional o internacional siga este dirección www.puertoviejosatellite.com/donate.php. Miles Gracias a nuestros donantes: www.greencoast.com Un amigo mío me preguntó el otro día “Porque no es sostenible ya ReciCaribe?” La respuesta es: A. Gastos Generales: pagamos un salario justo a 6 empleados, mantenemos el camión como podemos, y mantenemos el centro de acopio. B. No Solo reciclamos los materiales que son rentables. También reciclamos plásticos que no pagan mucho dinero— por nuestra meta de limpiar nuestras comunidades y proteger el medioambiente en general. C. No podemos reciclar todos los desechos que traen mucho dinero. Hay individuos colectando el aluminio en competencia con nuestro proyecto comunitario. |
Remember that Puerto Viejo Satellite will cover all credit card processing fees if you use the donation form so that 100% of your donation will go to ReciCaribe.
Aug
19
Drug Dealer Arrested
August 19, 2007 | Tags: Crime & Punishment | Comments Off
La Nación reported Friday that a 31 year old man, identified only as Rosi, was arrested for dealing drugs in Puerto Viejo. Found in a search of his home was cocaine and 2 m tall marijuana plants as well as a pistol and ammunition.
Read the full article (in Spanish): La Nación: Detenido vendedor de drogas en playa.
Aug
13
New listings on the map
August 13, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Comments Off
 Tropical Dreams Real Estate  Chimuri Beach Cottages  El Encanto Bed & Breakfast Inn |
We had five new listings added in the last 2 weeks to the map:
- Tropical Dreams Real Estate is is a real estate company specializing in properties throughout the Caribe Sur.
- Chimuri Beach Cottages are 3 Caribbean-style, fully equipped cottages right in front the beach in Playa Negra.
- Hotel Perla Negra is a hotel at Playa Negra.
- El Encanto Bed & Breakfast Inn is a small high-quality hotel in Cahuita.
- Selvin’s Restaurant and Cabinas is a restaurant serving fresh local food and basic cabinas at Punta Uva.
Still haven’t added your own favorite place to the map? What are you waiting for? You can add your own listing to the map at any time.
Aug
8
Grease: You’re the one that I want!
August 8, 2007 | Tags: Community News, Environment | Comments Off
The recently formed Cooperative for a Sustainable Talamanca is seeking ways to produce locally produce alternative energy sources. They are looking at producing biofuel from biomass and from used cooking oil. They need to find sources for these products locally and find out how much they could typically collect in a week from your restaurant, home or business.
They also need your support. You can suppport them by becoming a member of by donating. If you’d like to make a secure credit card donation, you can do so on the Puerto Viejo Satellite Community Donations page and we will cover all credit card processing fees so that 100% of your donation will make it to them.
The full letter from them follows (in English then Spanish):
We are writing from the new cooperative COOPETALAMANCASOS (Cooperative for a Sustainable Talamanca) which is a coop formed out of ADELA (Acción de Lucha Anti-petrolera; www.grupoadela.org ) and with fellow community members. The main objective in the coop’s by-laws states:
We are seeking to promote and produce sustainable alternatives to petroleum based energy sources. We are working to eliminate fossil fuel dependency in Talamanca. We have begun several investigations in order to find sustainable substitutes to petroleum consumption locally. One super example is KAF—Klean Air Fuel—which is a bio-fuel produced from biomass waste—that’s to say, we’re not taking out forest to grow a crop in order to produce fuel, but we are using the wastes from other crops (like bananas and plantains and palms) in order to produce the bio-fuel. Another alternative we are investigating is the production of a bio-diesel from leftover kitchen oils. The idea is to collect used oils from you, from restaurants, hotels, and homes and convert it into a bio-diesel that can be used directly in diesel vehicles. For this reason, we’re writing to you– please forward the message to your friends too—to gather and evaluate the data on how much used oil you produce weekly and are willing to donate. With this inventory we will be able to proceed in producing the biodiesel. Another great opportunity for recycling in Talamanca!We also write to cordially invite you to become a member of CoopeTalamancaSos so you can participate in this effort and eventually enjoy the benefits of what we will produce–clean, friendly, cheap fuels. Write us with questions or come to the next coop meeting in September. Also, the cooperative will be putting out a newsletter in English shortly, and the third edition in a series of magazines published by the anti-oil coalition ADELA to inform about petroleum issues and cleaner alternatives. This magazine will serve as a guide to inform us about how we can reduce hydrocarbons consumption and the causes of global warming from Talamanca. ADELA plans to have the magazine ready for distribution next month. Keep an eye out for it- it’s gonna be great! Ok, we look forward to hearing from you, please write to Enrique Joseph or to Alaine at ATEC about your cooking oil production and we will keep you posted on the coop’s activities as we get these renewable fuel projects under way. Any suggestions are welcome. THANK YOU! Alaine, ATEC |
Versión español:
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Estimados y Estimadas vecinos de las comunidades del Caribe Sur y circunvecinos;La presente es para informarles sobre la creación de la Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples Talamanca Sostenible R.L. Esta cooperativa nace por medio del grupo ADELA (Acción De Lucha Antipetrolera), el objetivo de esta nueva organización es buscar alternativas a las fuentes energéticas no renovables (hidrocarburos).Dentro de esta búsqueda, hemos elegido combustibles alternativos para permitirnos, poco a poco, ir eliminando la dependencia sobre los combustibles fósiles en Talamanca. Hemos iniciado algunas investigaciones que se encuentran ya muy avanzadas para sustituir el petróleo por otro tipo de productos, como es el caso de un combustible que se fabrica de la biomasa, como desechos organicos del pinzote de platano, KleanAirFuel (KAF) y otra alternativa en la cual queremos trabajar es en la producción de biodisel de aceite de cocina.La idea es recoger de los restaurantes, hoteles y casas de habitación el aceite de cocina que ustedes ya hayan usado preparando sus alimentos y que usualmente los desechamos después de un uso razonable. Este desecho lo podemos convertir en biodiesel, para un uso directo en los vehículos que utilizan diesel como combustible.
Es por esto que les solicitamos que nos informen si usted desecha aceite de cocina y las cantidades aproximadas que usted desecha semanalmente y si estaría dispuesto a donarlo para nosotros en la cooperativa iniciar nuestro proyecto. Cabe mencionarles que cada uno y cada una de ustedes están cordialmente invitados a afiliarse a esta cooperativa y de esta manera gozar de los beneficios que esta producirá, como lo es el consumo de combustibles limpios amigables con el medio ambiente y de menor costo que los fósiles. La información solicitada la pueden enviar a mi correo electrónico, Quien les escribe. |
Aug
5
Hone Creek – Puerto Viejo Roadwork Meeting Announced
August 5, 2007 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News, Government and Politics | Comments Off
| August 5, 2007 | ||
| 7:15 pm |
The local government has announced a public meeting to discuss the roadwork between Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo. The meeting was requested by the local tourism association CATCAS. Adriana Manso of CATCAS has passed this announcement on to The Talamanca News and asked that we all attend to make sure the municipality understands the importance of this project to the community.
The meeting is this Thursday August 9. Please come at 9:30am to the Talamanca Municipality offices in Bribri.
Please pass on this announcement to all your neighbors and anyone else who may be interested.
Here is the original letter from the municipality (in Spanish) to CATCAS:
| 03 de agosto de 2007Señores: Asociación de Desarollo Integral de Puerto ViejoSeñores: Cámara de Turismo del Caribe SurEstimados Señores:
En atención a su nota de fecha 25 de julio de 2007, en la cual solicitan audiencia al Concejo Municipal con el fin de analizar temas relacionados con la reparación de la Carretera Hone Creek – Puerto Viejo, me permito comunicarles que dicha audiencia se les estará brindando en una Sesión Extraordinaria para el dia jueves 09 de Agosto de 2007, a partir de las 10:00 a.m. en la Municipalidad de Talamanca, a la cual quedan cordialmente invitados. Agradezco su atencíón. Atentamente P/CONCEJO MUNICIPAL Yorleny Obando Guevera, Secretaria |
Aug
3
Police Clash With Local Private Security
August 3, 2007 | Tags: Community News, Crime & Punishment, Government and Politics | 1 Comment
In today’s La Nacion & and Local Channel 7 news, they covered a meeting that took place in Puerto Viejo with heads of local police, private security and local business representatives from the Puerto Viejo area. Local police officials looked surprised by the presence of media and were very cautious in their responses to local business reprsentatives and media.
It seems that having private security firm help patrolling Puerto Viejo center had very immediate successful results in lowering the crime rate in town. These private security patrols were financed by local businesess and was to work in conjunction with local police.
The success was however shortlived as police officials first stripped security guards of arms, then night sticks and then even made them remove security shirts that identified them after rounding them all up and taking them all to the police station.
Despite clear success of the program, it still remains unclear why local police officials would hamper these efforts, especially since it was made clear by the security minister months ago, that the only way Costa Rica could provide security level needed to protect tourists was in partnership with private security.
Police officials are now supposed to be meeting with local private security to come up with solution to work together. We hope to report the results of that meeting here shortly.
Read the story from La Nación (in Spanish): Hoteleros de Puerto Viejo critican a Fuerza Pública.
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