The Recycling Alliance has expanded the types of solid waste that it is collecting on the Caribbean Coast. Nearly everything can now be recycled. Recycle for a safer community and environment!

The following clean and separated items are now accepted:

• Glass bottles (topless)
• Aluminum and clean metal cans
• Plastic Bottles Pet (#1)
• and all other plastics; separated and CLEAN: jugs,gallons, food containers, bags from the super markets,
• Tetrapak! AKA Wine boxes or juice boxes and that metal-plastic bags examples: bags from coffee, powered milk, cookie and potato chip wrappers if they are that shiny metal!
• Cardboard, dry, separated, and broken down
• Office paper, dry separated packed in plastic bags, remove staples please
• Newspaper and magazines! Dry and separated
• Car batteries
• Used cooking oil

Collection Schedule:

Mondays: From Cahuita to Hone Creek

Tuesdays: From Manzanillo to Rockin’ Jay’s on the edge of Puerto Viejo

Wednesdays: Puerto Viejo to Black Beach

Thursdays: Collections from Banana Farms

Fridays: 1^st and 3^rd of the month: BriBri, 2^nd of the month: Gandoca, 4^th of the month: to the Indigenous Territory including Volio, Rancho Grande, Shiroles, Suretka, Bambu, Chase

Businesses and individuals can bring their recyclable materials to the Solid Waste Transfer Center in Patiño any time. The Center is open during normal business hours.

The Recycling Alliance is sponsoring an event on Saturday, the 31^st of July at the Super Hone Creek starting at 9AM. The event is the first of several called “Talamanca Reciclando por la Vida” Or “Talamanca Recycling for Life”. It’s a grand opening of a community recycling deposit at the Super in Hone Creek. There will be music and information. Bring in your clean, separated recyclables and learn more about what’s going in with recycling in Talamanca.

Due to the new Integrated Waste Management Bill passed in Costa Rica in May, 2010, separation of solid waste is required for households as well as businesses (see article below…) The Recycling Alliance encourages other communities and community members to create their own community recycling points or “Puntos Verdes.”

More information is available on all these initiatives at www.greencoast.com.

The Tourism Association of the South Caribbean (CATCAS) is offering free English course to employees of its members. The 3 hour/twice weekly courses begin Tuesday July 13 at 8:30am and will continue Tuesday and Thursday mornings for 3 to 4 months.

El Cámara de Turismo de Caribe Sur les informara a todos los interesados que el curso gratis de ingles practico se iniciara el próximo martes 13 de julio a las 8:30 am. Los clases continuaran cada martes y jueves para 3 o 4 meses. Están gratis para empleados de los asociados de CATCAS.

The courses will take place at Koki Beach Restaurant in Puerto Viejo and will be taught by Steven Polk. Los cursos estaran en Restaurante Koki Beach en Puerto Viejo. El maestro sera Steven Polk.

For more information or to register call 2223 1213 during office hours or email turismocaribesur@yahoo.com. Para más información o para registrar llame a 2223 1213 (hrs de oficina) o envía correo electrónico a turismocaribesur@yahoo.com.

When the residents scream enough and protest to the local municipality, we sometimes got the potholes filled with material from the nearby Sixaola River, only to watch it get washed away in the next downpour and the potholes getting bigger and deeper each time.

As a local resident and owner of a vehicle, I can personally attest that our biggest expense is THE CAR….and I am not talking about the gas! With horrible roads, it is impossible to stay away from the numerous highly trustworthy and knowledgeable mechanics – on average monthly! I could easily say that I have had to revise, update or change most parts of my suspension at least 4 times a year – every year!

A few days ago an unbelievable site appeared from the horizons: a caravan of heavy-duty road building equipment rolled in through Puerto Viejo, past Cocles, past Playa Chiquita, through Punta Uva and down to Manzanillo….”could it be” we thought to ourselves?

The answer is mostly yes! As it turns out, they are redoing the road (in reverse order from Manzanillo towards Puerto Viejo), with the best material and thickness these roads have ever seen. Unlike the first coat from 10 years ago which was a mix of gravel and tar, this time, we are getting a full 5 cm of hot asphalt…compressed and rolled on top of the bad road. Upon speaking to the “engineers” on the side of the road, we are learning that they are fixing only the stretches that need it most, and supposedly they will return in “about a month” to do the remaining (that part is the remaining mystery!) We don;t know what the final product will be….but at least we already know what we are seeing: The new road is slightly narrow…and leaves very little room for bicycles or pedestrians – in fact cars will even have to slow down when oncoming traffic is approaching – but a mostly smooth ride should be expected from Puerto Viejo down to Manzanillo.

While most, including myself, are thrilled to have a new road, there is also a new fear that the tourists and our children will be less safe walking or bicycling on the road, as drivers a will be tempted to drive “super fast”.

In an ideal world – we would love to see some bike lanes or trails and speed bumps along the way……perhaps this is something our local community can work towards!

Drive safely!

Article by Manuel Pinto. Manuel, along with his wife Emmanuelle, are long time residents of Costa Rica’s Caribbean and owners of Caribe Sur Real Estatem a full service real estate company on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, assisting clients to buy or sell eco-friendly properties and businesses to people from around the world. More information at www.caribesur-realestate.com

The free publication has gone to the printers and is expected to be available all over Puerto Viejo any day now. They have also launched their website, www.Caribizine.com.

One of the magazine’s writers, Brooke Heaverlo, explained that the goal of the new magazine is to provide community residents and visitors an easy way to access information and reviews on everything in the area. It will also offer free classifieds, a calender featuring monthly events that can be hung up, as well as guest articles and local photos.

The launch issue includes articles on the upcoming Puerto Viejo Open Pro surf tournament, articles on local activities such as horseback riding with the Caribe Horse Club or getting a chocolate facial at Pure Jungle Spa, and restaurant, hotel and shopping reviews.

The tourism association of the South Caribbean (CATCAS) will hold their annual general assembly on Sunday Mar 14 at the Casa de la Cultura in Puerto Viejo starting at 2:30 pm.

The agenda will include reports from the president and treasurer and election of officers for the coming year.

CATCAS is involved in many community projects and lobbying for the community. The participation of the community is important so CATCAS can move forward with their plans and initiatives that are of benefit to the whole canton.

Courtesy of the folks over at Greencoast, here is the new schedule for recycling pickup:

Monday:
From Playa Negra to Cahuita

Tuesday:
From Manzanillo to Rockin’ J’s

Wednesday:
Puerto Viejo

Thursday:
A day to catch up on routes that were too big to finish on the other day’s of the week.

Friday:
The first and third Friday’s of the month to BriBri

Please recycle your

• squished aluminum cans,
• clean and squished #1 and #2 plastics and
• clean topless glass

Contacts:
Tirza: Cocotir2@hotmail.com
Noemi: zequynoe@hotmail.com
Sonia: soniet4@hotmail.com

ReciCaribe provides a valuable service and cannot survive without community support.

Please Support Recycling in Talamanca by making a donation:

Asociación de Reciclaje del Caribe Ced. Jur. 3-002-356594

Banco Costa Rica colones AHORRO (Savings): 399-638-6

Puerto Viejo is a global melting pot. Getting to know people from all over the world is a really enjoyable part of the Puerto Viejo experience.

Estimates of the permanent population that I’ve heard have been around 2,500. It’s hard to pin down by just looking around the streets, where a mixture of blacks, whites, and ticos are easily seen, along with a relatively small number of indigenous Bribri. The number of Bribri is usually so small it’s easy to assume there are only a small number of them in the area.

Daniel & Alejandro. Photo © Maisie Crow.

We were given a copy of a study done in 2003 by the Ministerio de Salud (Health Ministry). They wanted to understand the health conditions of the indigenous, and the delivery of services to that segment of the population. They counted heads by province. The two provinces that affect us here in Puerto are Talamanca and Limon, and the total population of indigenous they counted in those two provinces was 20,121. The indigenous in these provinces are largely Bribri, who have a total tribal population in Costa Rica of about 35,000. Piecing together data in the report, there were about 11,500 Bribri within service range of the Hone Creek Clinic, which serves Puerto Viejo, and draws from both Talamanca and Limon provinces.

In the Puerto Viejo area, the indigenous living areas aren’t easily visible. Look toward the hills behind Puerto, where it is difficult or impossible to reach with a motor vehicle. Some of the indigenous “Bridge Kids” we put in school are on top of that hill, and even though they are relatively close to Puerto, they walk nearly two hours each way to go to and from school. There are other walking trails out of the Reserve, one of which goes right past my house.

Timoteo and his daughter show Daniel Leonhard, of the California firm Earth Source Organics, Cacao seeds in the process of being made into Chocolate.

What does this mean as a practical matter? The Bribri are a voting majority in Puerto Viejo. This most recently came to light during the angry debates over the marina that was being touted for Puerto Viejo. I witnessed one exchange between Timoteo Jackson, a tribal elder, and the Alcalde of Talamanca, a Bribri, in which Timo went nose to nose with the Alcalde and said something like “if you let that marina in, you’re out!” He said a lot more, but my Spanish isn’t that good. The Bribri have voting control, and they are beginning to think of how and when that control can and should be applied. One of the Bribri beliefs is that they are here to protect the environment. I have a feeling they will be less and less of a Hidden Majority.

Article by Barry Stevens. Barry, along with his wife Nanci Wright, are the team behind El Puente-The Bridge. El Puente provides educational assistance, food support, and microloans to mainly indigenous people in Costa Rica to help them help themselves to self-sufficiency. More information is available at www.elpuente-thebridge.org.

2009 brought us 189.5 inches. The average for the past 8 years was about 150 inches. February was the wettest month, with 36.2 inches. September was the driest with only 6.8. For those of you who where here in November 2008, you’ll see in the graph below that the records confirm how exceptional that month was.

Click the image for a larger version.

Phase 1: Tragedy prompts action

The statistics could have made grisly headlines:
“5 people drown in 8 days on spectacular but deadly Cocles beach.”

Those tragic deaths around Easter 2001 on Cocles beach galvanized a few individuals into action to help prevent further loss of life. Dean, a lifeguard from the Baywatch beach area of USA and his girlfriend Rosario, organised a group of lifeguards, funded by local donations. The initial goal was to maintain one lifeguard per day. And so the Cocles Lifeguard project was born.

Phase 2: Training & Problems!

In 2002 Eddie Ryan and Charlie Wanger became involved, taking over from the founders. This second phase involved the National Association of Costa Rica Lifeguards, training local candidates to a professional level of expertise involving extensive in-water training and 1st Aid.

Cocles Lifeguard project funded half the cost of the lifeguard training course and candidates paid the remaining half in the understanding of employment once qualified. Seven candidates were trained.

However, things did not go smoothly. Three experienced lifeguards from the Central Valley (sent to Puerto Viejo to assist new candidates) became dissatisfied with the housing conditions and meagre salary, whilst the association wanted to take over the programme. Midway through the first collection drive the association lifeguards left town with the donations and over $US 2000 of equipment!

So it was back to the drawing board…

Phase 3: 2003 to Present situation.

The current program was initiated 25th August 2003. This involves a team of 3 lifeguards working a shift system, so that there are 2 lifeguards present from 09.00hrs to 17.00hrs each day, 7 days a week.

The administration is still voluntarily undertaken by Eddie Ryan but encouraging and obtaining adequate donations to fund the project remains a constant struggle.

The Financial Picture.

Despite a list of approximately 70 business donors, Cocles Lifeguard project has a current deficit of Colones 50,000 and operates at a loss of Colones 125,000 monthly. Although a certain number of businesses donate willingly and regularly, some cannot be relied upon to consistently contribute. From the 70 businesses currently listed only 31 have consistently contributed during 2009. Obviously this reflects important lost revenue with far reaching consequences.

The minimum monthly bill for running Cocles Lifeguard service now stands at approximately Colones 660,000. If the lifeguards can expect a small salary increase and in accordance with labour law would be paid Aguinaldo, Socio Seguro and Riesgos de Trabajo, the monthly bill would increase to approximately Colones 750,000.

The expenses can be broken down as follows:
• Salaries of Lifeguards: Currently paid Colones 11,000 per day. Lifeguards are responsible for their own Riesgos de Trabajo, Aguinaldo and Socio Seguro.
• Donations Collector: Paid 7% of donations collected.
• 1st Aid kit & Equipment: Incidental expenses for replacing 1st Aid supplies and equipment such as flags, fins and flotation boards.

So what does that mean for our Lifeguard Service?

Due to the financial deficit, the lifeguard service was forced to cut back to 1 lifeguard per day instead of the required pair. The remaining 2 lifeguards of the team were laid off due to the inability to pay them. By laying them off for two months the project anticipated using the saved salaries to reinstate the full team for the busy month of December.

On 1st December 2009 the service was able to operate normally again with 2 lifeguards on duty.

A real problem here is that if these two qualified lifeguards cannot be permanently re-employed it is probable that they will find other work and become unavailable. Without a team of 3 lifeguards, the service is severely compromised.

An important point to remember is that it takes 2 lifeguards to offer a rescue service. A single lifeguard can only offer preventive services, due to the significant danger of rescuing a swimmer in trouble.

In conclusion, that means that our Lifeguard service is severely compromised and the lifeguards lack job security despite their commitment and the significant level of responsibility demanded of them.

A Noble Project.

Cocles beach is not only well known for exciting surfing (and strong rip tides) but also well documented in numerous travel guides/websites. Consequently it is visited by a large volume of people, locals and visitors alike. Wherever visitors are staying they are likely to spend some time on Cocles beach, if only because everyone from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo travels past it at one point or another and it is so immediately accessible. For an area such as this where survival depends on healthy tourism numbers, the need for a lifeguard service is obvious.

In conversation with Eddie, it was clear how committed he is to maintaining this invaluable service and his belief that it could be expanded to increase the safety at beaches from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo. Justly proud of this service, he stated that this is the only community in Costa Rica that has kept a lifeguard programme running for so many years. Though there have times when Eddie felt like giving up on the problematic administration of the service, just last December Costa de Papito’s bartender got into serious difficulties at Cocles beach. He was rescued by the lifeguards and lived to swim another day.

Lifeguards have rescued more than 1,500 swimmers at Cocles beach since the service began. That is a lot of lives that have been saved. Estimates of how many deaths have been prevented run into the thousands.

Save our Lifeguards so they can Save you!

If this lifeguard service can not only be saved from extinction but expanded, the whole area stands to benefit – and not only by diminishing the number of deaths on the beaches.

But a salutary thought is that if this lifeguard service were to disappear through lack of funding, how would we feel the next time someone drowns? Without a lifeguard service there will certainly be too many ‘next times’.

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Many thanks to Eddie Ryan for all the information contained in this article and for giving so generously of his time and insights into Cocles Lifeguard project.

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

Since the taxis in Puerto Viejo operate without meters this is especially true.  There are customary rates that exist between points in the area. The taxi company Transportes Privados Jireh has made their rate sheet publicly available to Puerto Viejo Satellite and others for some time – we have just updated it on the transport page where you can find the latest rate sheet at any time.  

This doesn’t necessarily negate the need to negotiate and confirm the price before you start your ride. Knowing the rates will make people feel more comfortable in this process. The owner of Transportes Privados Jireh assures local businesses that if drivers charge you significantly more than is shown on the price sheet, call it into the office and they will be disciplined.

Transportes Privados Jireh can be reached at 2570-2073. They located on the main road in town just in front of the Sunrise backpackers lodge.

The other taxi company has categorically refused to publish a fixed price schedule and has not responded to complaints of customers being over charged. So if you use them, you’re on your own.

In the spirit of making travelers feel more welcome and comfortable with taxi service, local business owners are encouraged to print out the list of taxi rates and also avoid patronizing taxi drivers and companies who are charging exorbitant rates.