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Nov
24
Puerto Viejo Visitors for Regatta Greeted by Arts
November 24, 2009 | Tags: Arts & Culture, Sports | Comments Off
Puerto Viejo made the front page of yesterday’s La Nación. With the Caribbean coast receiving lots of attention and visitors as a result of the Transat regatta.
The first boat crossed the finish line last night in Limon. The boat Crêpes Whaou! crossed the finish line at 22:31, taking the multihull prize and the boat Safran crossed the finish line at 02:52 to take the monohull prize.
In Puerto Viejo, visitors were excited to see 12 large 3 m x 1.5 m (9.8 ft x 4.9 ft) format artworks with a nautical theme displayed at KOKi Beach Restaurant by renowned Costa Rican artists Mario Maffioli and Fabio Herrera.
Puerto Viejo, by Fabio Herrera, is one of the 12 artworks being displayed in the show. Photo courtesy La Nación.
Sources: La Nación: Arte recibe a visitantes de la regata Transat,
SailWorld.com: Safran first IMOCA Open 60 home in Transat Jacques Vabre, Yachte: First multihull home in Transat Jacques Vabre
Nov
21
Minister announces paving of 18km between Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo
November 21, 2009 | Tags: Government and Politics, Transport | 5 Comments
Marco Vargas, the Minister of Public Works and Transportation, will being inspecting today emergency patching done on the 60 kilometers of the highway between the Limon airport and Puerto Viejo.
May travelers had been reporting the poor state of the road, which was loaded with potholes that made driving hazardous.
The Ministry (MOPT) has also announced the continuation of work on the 18 kilometers on road from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo. The ministry release did not specify the amount of money to be invested in the project or the timeframe.
Today’s MOPT inspection coincides with the visit of President Arias to the Puerto Limon, where he will be on hand to receive the first racers of the Transat.
More: La Nacion: MOPT realiza bacheo de emergencia en ruta Limón – Puerto Viejo
Nov
20
Transtica Race to Finish in Puerto Viejo
November 20, 2009 | Tags: Community Calendar, Helping Out, Sports | 2 Comments
| November 26, 2009 |
Thirty-one runners from as far away as Canada, France and Australia arrived in Costa Rica this week to participate in the second running of the cross-country Transtica.
The race begins on Saturday in the central Pacific town of Manuel Antonio and crosses 250 kilometers of terrain to arrive in Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side on Nov. 26. Runners travel either 20 or 40 km (equivalent to a half or a full marathon) each day, depending on the group they’ve chosen to compete with.
What makes the competition unique is not necessarily the distances or the difficulty of the race, but the fact that runners stop in select locations to participate in social projects.
More/Source: Tico Times: Coast-to-coast humanitarian run launches on Saturday
Nov
18
Internet Scammers Target Local Hotels
November 18, 2009 | Tags: Local Business News | 3 Comments
Español abajo
A number of local hotels and vacation rental properties have reported receiving reservation request emails which don’t ring true.
The request is generally for a large number of people and rooms and is on behalf of “clients”.
Other signs of of a fraudulent reservation request include:
• The request is usually written in awkward English, often very formal with language like “Dear Sir/Madam”
• Usually they will just email the property directly but there have been some instances where they are getting more sophisticated and are filling in the property’s reservation form or filling in the reservation form from the reserve link for the hotel on Puerto Viejo Satellite.
• Often the dates or the details or the booking are not specified or vague.
• They will offer to pay for the advance reservation all at once with a credit card.
Here’s an excerpt of an email that a local hotel forwarded me:
Dear sir ma, I will like to book for rooms in your place for my clients who will like to stay for some days in your country for business purpose .so i will really appreciate it if you can kindly get back to me with a good and urgent reply.Below is the details of my reservation. Reservation details Room Type. 3 Standard single rooms. check in :20/ 1/ 2010 check out:27 /1/ 2010 Number of guest…3 people. Days of stay…7 days Guest Names. Mr John Cole Mr Andre Martin Mrs Sandra Smith Thanks and get back to me fast with the total cost of the booking so that isend to you my credit card details. Note that all payment for the reservation shall be charged before the arrival of my clients. thanks Waiting for your reply soon Regards Mack Jones
If you write back, they will give you a credit card number and ask you to charge the room charges to it. Then they will contact you to cancel or change the reservation and ask you to refund them via Western Union or wire transfer, saying that the credit card they originally used has changed or some other excuse. The problem is that the credit card number they gave you originally was stolen and the amount will eventually be charged back (reversed) in full to you plus fees from the bank.
To protect yourself, never refund clients in another form of payment other than the way they paid in. If they paid using a particular credit card, refund via that method. Otherwise you’ll find that the credit card amount gets charged back to you by the bank some weeks later and you’ve already sent them money via Western Union or some other method.
If English isn’t the first language of whoever is replying to your reservation inquiries, they may have difficulty spotting these requests. I would recommend going over these guidelines with any staff answering emails and have them ask someone whose first language is English if the request looks genuine.
If it all sounds a little bit too good to be true, it probably is.
Algunos hoteles y casas de vacaciones han recibido correo electrónico solicitudes de reservas que no parece verdades.
Normalemente, La petición es para un gran número de personas y habitaciones y es en nombre de unos “clientes”.
Otros signos de una solicitud de reserva de fraude incluyen:
• La solicitud se suele escribir en Inglés torpe, a menudo muy formal con el lenguaje como “Dear Sir/Madam”
• Por lo general, enviaremos un correo electrónico directamente al hotel, pero ha habido algunos casos en los que son cada vez más sofisticados y están rellenando el formulario de propiedades de reserva o rellenando el formulario de reservas desde el enlace de reserva para el hotel en Puerto Viejo Satellite.
• Muchas veces, las fechas o los detalles de la reserva o no se especifican o son vagos.
• Ofrecerán a pagar por la reserva con una tarjeta de crédito.
Aquà es un extracto de un correo electrónico que un hotel local me transmitió:
Dear sir ma, I will like to book for rooms in your place for my clients who will like to stay for some days in your country for business purpose .so i will really appreciate it if you can kindly get back to me with a good and urgent reply.Below is the details of my reservation. Reservation details Room Type. 3 Standard single rooms. check in :20/ 1/ 2010 check out:27 /1/ 2010 Number of guest…3 people. Days of stay…7 days Guest Names. Mr John Cole Mr Andre Martin Mrs Sandra Smith Thanks and get back to me fast with the total cost of the booking so that isend to you my credit card details. Note that all payment for the reservation shall be charged before the arrival of my clients. thanks Waiting for your reply soon Regards Mack Jones
Si escribes de nuevo, se le dará un número de tarjeta de crédito y le pedirá que cargue la sala de cargos a la misma. Entonces se pondrá en contacto con usted para cancelar o modificar la reserva y le pedirá a la devolución a través de Western Union o transferencia bancaria, diciendo que la tarjeta de crédito que ha utilizado originalmente ha cambiado o alguna otra excusa. El problema es que el número de tarjeta de crédito que le dieron originalmente fue robado. Últimamente, el banco se invertirá la carga en totalidad y el hotel se ha perdido el dinero que habÃa sido enviado a través de Western Union.
Para protegerse no reembolsar a sus clientes en otra forma de pago distintos de manera que pagaron. Si paga con tarjeta de crédito en particular, el reembolso a través de ese método al mismo tarjeta.
Yo recomendarÃa que revise estas directrices con todo el personal cuya incumba la responsabilidad incluye la respuesta de correo electrónico. Si no está seguro, deben preguntarle a alguien que es el primer idioma es el Inglés si la petición parece auténtico.
Si una repuesta suena demasiado bueno para ser verdad, probablemente lo es.
Nov
9
Motorcycle accident claims two lives
November 9, 2009 | Tags: Accidents and Natural Disasters | Comments Off
An accident on Friday night tragically claimed the lives of two young men when the motorcycle they were riding hit a post.
The victims were identified as Humberto Traña Medrano and Guillermo Quesada.  They were apparently best friends who worked together at a local restaurant and played on a soccer team together.
They were leaving work to return home and change clothes when they came around a corner and encountered a slow moving vehicle. In trying to avoid hitting the vehicle they hit the post instead. According to the Red Cross, they were both instantly killed.
The accident happened 200 meters south of the entrance of town, in front of Abastecedor El Cruce.
More: La Nación: Motociclistas mueren al chocar contra un poste
Nov
6
Check out our new shopping page
November 6, 2009 | Tags: Site news | Comments Off
We’ve created a shopping page on the Puerto Viejo Satellite site so you can easily find what you’re looking for. Head there to find out where to go, to get phone numbers, etc.
If your favorite place to shop isn’t listed, please feel free to add it.
Nov
6
Artists Fabio Herrera & Mario Maffioli to exhibit at KOKi Beach
November 6, 2009 | Tags: Arts & Culture, Community Calendar | 5 Comments
| November 21, 2009 | ||
| 6:00 pm | ||
| 6:00 pm |
World renowned Costa Rican artists Fabio Herrera & Mario Maffioli will present their exhibit “Nautica” at KOKi Beach Restaurant from Nov 21 to Nov 29.
Both painters are well known in Costa Rica and abroad for their abstract painting. Fabio Herrera has been called the “the most important abstract painter in Costa Rica”.
The exhibit opens at 6pm on Nov 21.
Nov
6
Chain stores come to Puerto Viejo
November 6, 2009 | Tags: Uncategorized | 11 Comments
Until now Puerto Viejo had been completely free of chain stores, with a mix of local stores and restaurants opened by longtime residents and by ex-pats. But with the Mega Super about to open right in downtown, that’s about to change.
Construction has also started downtown (on the lot south of the new KOKi Beach Restaurant behind the Artisans Market stands) on a new AM/PM Market.
The new Mega Super about to open in Puerto Viejo
Construction site of the new AM/PM Market
Nov
4
Public Hearing re Suerre and Las Palmas set for Nov 27
November 4, 2009 | Tags: Community Calendar, Economic Development, Local Business News | 4 Comments
| November 27, 2009 |
A high court ruling on Monday afternoon was what led to the suspension of the eviction and demolition proceedings on Hotels Suerre and Las Palmas. More than 120 officials from the police, fire and coast guard who had arrived along with work crews went home on Tuesday to await the court’s final decision.
But the ruling was a temporary injunction only while the court studies the issue more. The next step will be a public hearing for all involved parties set for November 27.
The high court originally ordered the demolition of the two hotels in 2001. But action on this has been suspended by 11 injunctions, two lawsuits, one habeas corpus writ and now Monday afternoon’s ruling.
More: Tico Times: Caribbean hotels saved by high court halt on demolition
Nov
4
Transat racers expected to spend $25,000,000 in area
November 4, 2009 | Tags: Sports, Tourism | 2 Comments
The 2009 Transat Jaques Vabre sailing race starts in La Havre, France on November 8 and is expected to arrive in Limon 11 days later.
With it are expected to come some 20,000 visitors, 5,000 all the way from Europe. Those visitors have reserved local hotels rooms from Limon to Manzanillo and are expected to spend an estimated $25,000,000 while in the area. The estimates are based on the amount of economic impact that the race had on Salvador de Bahia, Brazil in 2007.
The race finished in Salvador de Bahia from its inception in 1993 to its last occurrence in 2007. The Costa Rican government is using these economic impacts to justify the investments they made to lure the race to Limon.
The biannual race is huge in Europe, considered one of the major sporting events of the year so will also bring lots of media attention and reporters to the area.
Transat route from La Havre France to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
More: La Nación: Regata dejará más de $25 millones en el paÃs
Nov
3
Demolition also averted at Suerre for now
November 3, 2009 | Tags: Local Business News | Comments Off
 Las Palmas has continued to assure callers they are operating normally. File photo courtesy La Nación |
With the owners, employees and supporters battling the action, the eviction and demolition of Hotel Suerre has now been called off.
At 2pm today, two busloads filled with police and a caravan of MINAE vehicles left town.
The saga continues…
La Nacion’s now out of date article from yesterday gives further background: Minaet desalojará hoteles dentro de refugio en Cahuita
Nov
2
Community Leaders Rally to Avert Suerre Demolition
November 2, 2009 | Tags: Local Business News | 1 Comment
While the eviction and demolition of Hotel Las Palmas is still planned for tomorrow, the demolition of Hotel Suerre has been put on hold.
Community leaders including the local tourism chamber of commerce (CATCAS) held emergency meetings with officials in the area and in San Jose and the proceedings against Suerre have been stopped.
Hotel Suerre employees and supporters took to the streets, in a caravan of cars honking horns, to celebrate the preservation of their hotel and their jobs.
Nov
1
Chocorart: A Refined Affair
November 1, 2009 | Tags: Tourism | Comments Off
“Forget love … I’d rather fall in chocolate…” – Anonymous
Sitting at Chocorart looking out at magnificent rainforest I sipped my freshly made hot chocolate and sighed with pleasure… Chocolate and Humans were made for each other.
It’s the smell isn’t it, or is it the taste or the velvety feel of chocolate melting on your tongue? Ah, but it’s all of that and more. Our love affair with chocolate is an ongoing global passion … we give it as gifts, use it to express love or friendship and associate it with luxury. It’s indulgent, delicious, uplifting…chocolate makes you smile.
A tour around Chocorart in Playa Chiquita is a pleasure trip for the senses culminating in a wonderfully aromatic tasting session!
Following owner Marcos along woodland paths it wasn’t only the coloured cacao pods that caught our attention, but also the beauty of the surrounding forest, alive with butterflies and birds.
As we tasted the fruits of a cacao pod and chewed on a sliver of sugar cane there was a subtle aroma of chocolate wafting from cacao beans drying in the sun.
Meanwhile at the rancho Claudia had been busy….and on arrival we were presented with the purest hot chocolate I’ve ever had. Delicious, smooth and strong, it was a taste-bud sensation. As we listened to a little about the history of chocolate, Marcos crushed the beans and a heady perfume of chocolate filled the air.
No wonder the Aztecs considered chocolate as precious food for the Gods, using it in religious ceremonies and also in trade. And did you know that Costa Rica was the last country in the world to use cacao beans as currency? My mind drifts with the mouth-watering possibility of paying in chocolate…
Originally from Switzerland (also synonymous in my mind with chocolate) Marcos & Claudia are mines of information on ‘chocolatey facts’, having been farming their cacao plantation and creating organic chocolate here in Costa Rica for the past 15 years.
Their hand rolled chocolate batons, some with ingredients such as orange peel direct from their farm, are on sale in this area and further afield. Whenever I taste them I’m transported back to that fun sunny day that smelt of chocolate.
But before we leave, Claudia and Marcos have a final treat for us…A paste of organic chocolate and brown cane sugar with a slice of banana. It looks like the perfect chocolate mousse and tastes…yes, you guessed it: sublime.
There’s one little problem I should warn you about before you decide to take a Chocorart tour: you may find it very difficult in future to accept anything other than the purest in chocolate perfection. You have been warned: Once Tasted, Never Forgotten.
To take a guided tour of Chocorart:
Telephone: 2750 0075
Tour duration: Approximately 2 hours.
Advice: Wear closed shoes.
Price per person: US$22
Reduced rates for children: please inquire.
Spanish, English, French, Italian and German spoken.
Email: Chocorart@racsa.co.cr
 Article by Zoë Courtier. Zoë along with her husband Tom Keller are the proprietors of Geckoes Rainforest River Lodge. Two luxurious holiday houses with private plunge pools in a magnificent rainforest and river setting minutes from Playa Cocles. More information at www.geckoeslodge.com |
 Gecko Trail Adventures also offers a combination tour which includes a visit to a local indigenous Bri Bri family which grows their own Cacao and demonstrates the process of making chocolate from scratch as they’ve been doing it for generations. You can get details on that tour here. |
Nov
1
Suerre and Las Palmas Prepare for Bulldozers
November 1, 2009 | Tags: Economic Development, Local Business News | 12 Comments
The government is set to begin demolishing not only Hotel Las Palmas but also Hotel Suerre on Tuesday according to a participant of a meeting the day before yesterday with people from MINAE, the municipality and local business leaders.
Hotel Suerre was notified Thursday evening at 6:30 to begin vacating he hotel. They have already begun to take all the steps to comply as best as possible with the order but do not feel it is humanly / physically possible to prepare the hotel in time for Tuesday.
It was apparently never clear to them that they were included in the original order put out last month.
They say that they signed an agreement in 2005 which indemnified them; and that they paid a fine that went towards infrastructure improvements in Manzanillo.
At Hotel Suerre, there are 20-30 employees that are losing their jobs and the hotel is booked this month for the Regatta – and all those reservations are being canceled.
Oct
8
Second Saturday Garage Sale at Puerto Viejo Farmer’s Market
October 8, 2009 | Tags: Community Calendar | Comments Off
| October 10, 2009 | ||
| November 14, 2009 | ||
| December 12, 2009 |
The Artists’ Collective group has been making useful art out of reused stuff for a while now and some of it has appeared for sale at the Saturday morning farmers’ market.
Starting this Saturday they’ll be appearing at the Puerto Viejo Farmers’ Market on the Second Saturday of each Month. They’ll be sponsoring art workshops and garage sales. Bring stuff you no longer need to the Puerto Viejo farmers’ market this Saturday and the second Saturday of every month. You can donate the items or sell them yourself and keep the proceeds. And bring your kids for the reused art workshop.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the Artists’ Collective group and making and selling useful art out of recycled materials then contact Karla at 8884 0093 or ATEC (Alaine, Tirza, or Erica) at 2750 0398 or 2750 0191.
Soon they’ll also be selling their products in more local shops (already many items for sale at ATEC) and they’ll take orders for specific items.
They are also collecting your used items for to make art. Bring them to the Second Saturday’s at the market or to ATEC:
Tetrabrik (Clean and squished only)
Old pants (not nice enough to wear)
Used hammocks and towels
La Nación newspaper
The material from broken umbrellas
Broken ceramics (plates, coffee cups even)
Fabric
Small tuna cans
Etc.–other unusable things you think could be made into art.
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