Jun

29

Playa Negra Croc Captured and Relocated

June 29, 2011 | Tags: Environment, Nature | Comments Off

This morning at around 5.30 am, a dog seems to have cornered the crocodile and continued barking until a local resident spotted the crocodile. The dog didn’t back off, the police were called and before you know there is a crowd there trying to find out what’s going on.

The police then left an officer there to make sure no one would harm the animal and called MINAE, the environment ministry. Before MINAE arrived at about 9 am, some bystanders had caught the crocodile. When MINAE officials arrived, the group helped them load the crocodile in the MINAE truck.

MINAE then took the crocodile to Puerto Vargas in Cahuita National Park where they will release it in a river. According to them it looks like it is a female looking for a place to lay her eggs.

There was some speculation that the multiple sightings over the last few days were more than one animal. So keep your eyes open in case there’s more to this story.

The crocodile pre-capture:

Catching a crocodile is a community event in Puerto Viejo:

Loading in the croc taxi:

Jun

27

Pictures of the Playa Negra Crocodile

June 27, 2011 | Tags: Critter of the week | 6 Comments

A number of people have spotted this crocodile (or is it a caiman?), which is about 6 to 7 feet in length, on Playa Negra.

This shows you how close nature can be in Costa Rica!

They’re really not that dangerous to humans, we’re bigger than the prey they like.  While it has been a long while since anyone can remember one of this size in this area, when this has occurred in Manuel Antonio the only time a human has been harmed is when a surfer actually bumped into one in the water.

But I did see it take a small dog in front of my hotel in Manuel Antonio so please take care with your pets and make sure they are on leash on Playa Negra.

The appropriate environmental authorities have been notified at MINAE who will decide if it represents a risk to people and needs to be relocated.

And now the pictures you’ve been waiting for:

And here he is swimming in the surf:

Jun

25

Cocles Lifeguard Program Faces Funding Crisis

June 25, 2011 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | Comments Off

The Cocles Lifeguard program is again facing a funding crisis that may cause the program to be suspended if additional funds cannot be raised.

As of June 5, the program account had a deficit balance of 24,127 colones and generally runs short about 75,000 colones each month unless there are special donations or fundraising events to cover the difference.

The lifeguard program receives no government support, it is supported only by donations from supporting businesses and individuals.

Please see the www.Cocles.org page for the latest information on the program and which businesses are regular supporters.  Let local businesses you see on the list know that you appreciate their support for the program which has saved many lives in its almost 10 years of existence.

To make a donation, the donation page gives options for how you can support the program through regular monthly donations or via a one-time bank deposit or credit card donation (Puerto Viejo Satellite will process any donations received and pass them on to the program).

Jun

23

Tourists report problems at Caribbean Bus Terminal

June 23, 2011 | Tags: Transport | 4 Comments

Terminal Caribe in San Jose. Photo by Saphira.

A number of tourists have contacted local travel company Gecko Trail Adventures about dishonest or unsafe behaviour at the Caribbean bus terminal in San José or onboard the MEPE buses to San Jose.  We at the Talamanca News are concerned about the safety of the tourists visiting us and so we ask that customers report problems and keep in mind the following safety tips.

One of the problems is very aggressive pirate taxi drivers who harass customers coming off the bus offering them an onward ride to their hotel or their airport. Sometimes they even grab their luggage and try and take it directly to their vehicles. This usually ends up with the customer being horribly overcharged and at the mercy of the pirate taxi driver. We remind everyone that they should never get into an unmarked cab, either at the Caribbean Bus Terminal, the airport or anywhere else unless they have prebooked  the ride with a reputable agency or hotel desk and the driver is waiting there with their name displayed.  If they have not prebooked a ride, then they should only use the marked red taxis and make sure they use their meter.  All licensed taxis in San Jose are red with appropriate taxi markings and must have an operating taxi meter and must use it. If the meter is not turned on you may ask them to “ponga la maría por favor”.

There have also been reports of customers looking for their prebooked / prepaid driver and the pirate taxi drivers pretending to be their driver. Any prebooked transport should have the name of the person they are picking up. Again, they should have a sign or at least a receipt with your name on it.

There have also been reports that in some instances the MEPE company or some of the drivers of the MEPE buses are not acting in a honest, safe and responsible manner.  The kinds of incidents we’ve heard reported include:

• Some tourists have reported the driver just disappearing on arrival in San Jose and leaving a free-for-all with the luggage. This obviously does not feel very secure especially when pirate taxis and touts are circling. The driver of your bus is also responsible for unloading luggage from the bus and making sure people get their items so this is not acceptable.

• Drivers using their phone during the ride to either make calls or send text messages

• Selling tickets to clients to stand the whole ride and then charging the full fare

• Charging extra for your luggage when you want to put it in the luggage hold below the bus. This is illegal as by law you’re allowed up to 2 pieces luggage included in your ticket cost.

For the most part we find buses in Costa Rica to be easy to use, professional and very affordable. These complaints have been forwarded to the various agencies and action is being taken to resolve them. If you’ve seen any of these behaviors or others you can share your experiences in the comments here or on the Puerto Viejo facebook page discussion board. Adding specific information such as the date and schedule of the bus and bus numbers or photos of the incident or people involved would be particularly helpful.

Jun

19

Second Annual Walter Ferguson Festival in Cahuita

June 19, 2011 | Tags: Community Calendar, Entertainment | Comments Off

July 4, 2011toJuly 10, 2011

The second annual Walter Ferguson Festival will take place in Cahuita from the 4th to the 10th of July.

The festival honors calypso legend and Cahuita native son Walter Ferguson with Live music, painting, theater, dance, calypso, literature, poetry, and many more Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous Cultural Events.

Sponsored by the DInamica Empresarial, Caribe Communication, and the Development Association of Cahuita.
For more information call 8892 2895 or email caribecomunicacion2@gmail.com

Thanks to ATEC for the heads up on this.

Jun

16

Next meeting about water treatment facility set for July 7

June 16, 2011 | Tags: Community Calendar, Environment | 1 Comment

July 7, 2011
3:00 pmto6:00 pm

There is broad community support for getting a proper water treatment facility operating in Puerto Viejo but the community still has many questions about the location, the methods used and how it will affect its neighbors if it is built in the proposed Cocles location.

The next community meeting with AyA and MINAE is the place to bring your questions and get more informed about the project. It is set for July 7 at 3pm at the Cocles School.

You can see more information on the event and sign up for updates on the event’s facebook page. You can also subscribe to the facebook group for more discussion on the project.

Updated: date of meeting moved from June 29 to July 7

Jun

15

Scheduled Flights to Resume to Limon

June 15, 2011 | Tags: Transport | 4 Comments

Starting sometime in July, there were will regular flights between San Jose and Limon on Sansa according to an announcement yesterday issued by the Casa Presidencial yesterday.

The initiative is part of the “Limón Ciudad Puerto” project which aims to revitalize the province.

A number of agencies and companies have come together to make this happen include the airline Sansa, the National Tourism Institute (ICT), the tourism chambers of Limon and of the South Caribbean, local governments and the Limon airport.

There are expected to be at least 4 flights per week with fares ranging between ¢30,000 ($60.00 US) and ¢75,000 ($150.00 US).

Sansa operates from the domestic terminal at the main international airport in San Jose so with a good connection from a morning flight, a visitor could easily be in Puerto Viejo or Cahuita by lunchtime.

As soon as schedules are posted, the Talamanca News will update you here.

More: La Nación: Turismo podrá volar a Limón a partir de julio

Jun

12

Cocles Neighbors Confront AyA Over Water Treatment Plans

June 12, 2011 | Tags: Environment, Government and Politics | 1 Comment


AyA engineer Ana Martinez tries to answer questions from the residents of Cocles at a community meeting.

Residents of the Playa Cocles area are asking the Costa Rican Water Agency, Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA), for more details on a planned water treatment facility.

While residents are supportive of improved water treatment plant they are critical of “lack of information and transparency” from AyA regarding the project and want to know more details about the facility and where it will be based. Plans for the treatment facility first came to light about a year ago when some local residents found AyA surveyors on their properties looking for sites for the facility.

On June 8, there was a community meeting to try and get some answers and residents asked many questions of the AyA representative.

In an interview published yesterday by La Nación, José Francisco Valverde also responded to questions about the project and why it is being proposed for Cocles instead of Puerto Viejo (where presumably most of the waste water will originate).

More:

Jun

8

Mexico’s Telehit TV Program Visits Caribe Sur This Weekend!

June 8, 2011 | Tags: Arts & Culture, Entertainment, Tourism | 1 Comment

The Telehit channel, part of the world’s largest Spanish language broadcaster Televisa, is visiting Costa Rica and will spend two days filming in the Caribe Sur this weekend.  Telehit is a music and entertainment channel aimed at a youth audience.

The channel will film be filming for the Telehit Verano program in various locations on the Caribbean Coast.   Locations will include various local beaches in both Puerto Viejo and Cahuita.  They will visit the community of Yorkin to learn more about local indigenous cultures and put the spotlight on the local community’s goals to attract more tourism.  They will take a snorkeling and dolphin watching tour. And they will film at segment on Caribbean nightlife on Friday night at KOKi Beach Restaurant in Puerto Viejo.

One focus of the program will be to discover the unique Caribbean food traditions.

On their way back to the coast, they will be doing the whitewater rafting trip on the Pacuare River.

Good luck and may we all put our best first forward this weekend!