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Feb
16
CATCAS General Assembly Mar 14
February 16, 2010 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News | Comments Off
| March 14, 2010 | ||
| 2:30 pm |
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.
Feb
12
ReciCaribe’s Announces New Pickup Schedule
February 12, 2010 | Tags: Community News, Environment | Comments Off
 The Recycling Center. Photo courtesy of Pachamama |
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
Jan
9
The Hidden Majority
January 9, 2010 | Tags: Community News | 8 Comments
 Willi helps with jungle laundry. Photo © Maisie Crow. |
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. |
Jan
8
What was the weather really like in 2009?
January 8, 2010 | Tags: Community News | 2 Comments
The folks over at Greencoast have updated their weather charts with the 2009 data collected by Playa Negra resident Charlotte who has been measuring rainfall since 2002.
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.
Dec
8
Save our lifeguards so they can save you!
December 8, 2009 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | 2 Comments
The Cocles Lifeguard Project – What it is and why you should support it
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?
| We need your help! • Local business and individuals are encouraged to contact Eddie Ryan at La Costa de Papito to pledge regular support. • Visitors and others who would like to make a one time donation can also do so by contacting Ryan or with a credit card on the Puerto Viejo Satellite donation page. Puerto Viejo Satellite will cover the credit card fees so that 100% of your donation will be passed onto the program • Watch here for information on the Christmas donations drive |
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’.
———-0———-
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 |
Jan
29
Getting a Fair Deal on a Taxi
January 29, 2009 | Tags: Community News, Transport | 1 Comment
A common complaint of tourists in almost any city is taxi drivers who overcharge them. It can be a tourist’s first impression of a place and so it leaves a sour taste in their mouth. Tourists are often vulnerable to this because they don’t know how much something is supposed to cost. But I’ve often run into travelers who thought they were overcharged but when I questioned them it turned out they paid the going rate.
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.
Oct
1
Some Good Road News!
October 1, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Government and Politics | 3 Comments
The good news below (my translation) comes to us from Rolando Soto, the president of our local tourism chamber of commerce (CATCAS) which has been working hard on a number of issues, including pressuring government to take action on our dangerous, dusty and bone-jarring road between Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo.
Finally JAPDEVA (Junta de Administración Portuaria y Desarrollo Económica de la Vertiente Atlántica or the Board of Port Administration and Economic Development for the Atlantic Coast) has made good on the offer they made 3 months ago to repair and pave 2 kilometers of the road between Puerto Viejo and Hone Creek. During the last 3 days, their equipment has been working to prepare the surface of the road for these 2 km that are between Hone Creek and approximately the Hotel Hawa. We will have to continue fighting to ensure that the remaining 4 km are paved and, in the short term, repaired.
The original in Spanish read:
Finalmente JAPDEVA cumplio con su ofrecimiento hecho hace tres meses de arreglar y asfaltar al menos dos kilometros de la carretera entre Hone Creek y Puerto Viejo. Hace 3 diss maquinaria de ese ente comenzo los trabajos de preparacion de la superficie a fin de posteriormente asfaltar esos 2 diolometros que estan entre Hone Creek y aproximadamente el Hotel Hawa.. Tendremos que seguir luchando para que el resto de este tramo de aprox. 4 kilometros tambien sea reparado en el corto plazo.
Thank you CATCAS for your hard work!
Aug
9
Recycle Clean Plastic Grocery Store Bags at ATEC
August 9, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Environment | Comments Off
ATEC will now accept clean plastic grocery bags for recycling at their office. Look for the box near the entry.
They will be used by a women’s group that weaves them into handbags and other products for sale and then further support of their activities.
Bags that look like this:
Will be transformed into this:
The finished product can also be purchased at ATEC.
Thanks to Greencoast News for the heads up.
May
31
Committee Against Marina Seeks Residents to Sign Petition
May 31, 2008 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News, Economic Development, Government and Politics | 1 Comment
| June 1, 2008 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
The anti-marina movement has prepared a petition with the help of a lawyer for which they are urgently seeking signatures this weekend in order to present it to the national government on Monday.
The movement, which is now known as the “Comité Unidos por Talamanca y Caribe Sur” with the goal of continuing to lobby for sustainable development of the area, plans to present the petition as soon as possible as they have found out that the Congress has the issue of the marina law on the agenda for the coming week. Congress is proposing to amend laws in such a way that would allow investors to get a provisional concession from the Municipalicity and Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) and a go ahead from the environmental ministry prior to the completion of a full environmental review. With this provisional concession, the investors would be able to start the project without waiting for their official concession and the full review of their plans.
The proposals before congress is intended to “speed up investments” in Costa Rica.
Puerto Viejo area legal residents, i.e. those holding a cédula de residencia or Costa Rican cédula, are invited to sign the petition.
| Update: The committee will have people going around collecting signatures this weekend. The letter can also be signed at Lourdes’s little clothes shop next door to ATEC. The next meeting of the committee is on Sunday, 1st of June at 2 PM at the Centro Pro Niño behind the PV school. |
May
13
MEPE raises bus rates on Limon – Manzanillo Route
May 13, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Government and Politics | 1 Comment
The fare increase that MEPE applied for in April from ARESEP (Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos) is now coming into effect.
The rate between Limón and Puerto Viejo will go up from 1,510 colones to 1,815 colones. MEPE routes between Limon and Bananito and San Andres will also go up.
More: La Nación: Ocho empresas de autobuses impugnan alza en pasajes.
Apr
19
Marina and Environmental Concerns Draw National and International Media Attention
April 19, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Economic Development, Environment | 5 Comments
 Tourists watch for monkeys along the canals of Tortuguero National Park. Government reports released last fall revealed that 97 percent of Costa Rica’s sewage flows untreated into rivers, streams, or the ocean. Photo by David Sherwood, courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor |
The hot issues of development and the environment and the way they are being played against each other continue to draw a lot of media attention to the Puerto Viejo area.
The Tico Times again features the story this week as their Top Story. The article, entitled Puerto Viejo Marina Plan Eyed Warily by Natives, discusses the effect that the marina project would have on the local Bri Bri people. The article proposes that the project could not only damage the low-key ecotourism that the area has developed on but could also herald the disappearance of Talamanca’s other resource, the indigenous culture.
Timoteo Jackson, a native Bribrí leader, is quoted as saying, “for us indigenous, this is only a bad thing.
“Right now, we have tourists coming to see nature, conservation and the indigenous way, but this will stop if the marina comes.”
The influential Christian Science Monitor recently weighed in on the struggle to find a balance between sustaining nature and continuing economic development in Costa Rica. The article, entitled Costa Rica sees tourism’s environmental dark side, goes into the water quality problems that recently caused the shutdown of several large hotels on the Pacific and the loss of blue flag status for a number of Costa Rica’s beaches, including our own Playa Negra.
The article strikes an alarming tone: “In the past decade, construction of hotels, second homes, and condominiums has surged in coastal regions, taking advantage of a vacuum in planning and enforcement. The total land area that has been developed grew 600 percent in that time, according to a government report. As a result, the biodiversity that has long lured visitors is disappearing, say scientists. Monkey and turtle populations are plummeting, and infrastructure is strained to a near breaking point.”
But it does go on to acknowledge that, despite all the problems, ”Costa Rica remains decades ahead of its neighbors” in environmenal protection and that the goverment “seems increasingly willing to listen.”
Televison news has not shied away from coverage either as this TV news report shows:
If you can’t view the video on this page, click here to see it on YouTube.
Apr
15
ATEC Plans 70km Trans-Talamanca Fundraising Trek
April 15, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | Comments Off
For more than ten years ATEC’s guide, Zenon from Alta Talamanca, has offered the “Trans-Talamanca Trek,” a 70 km mountainous challenge.
Along with being an experienced guide on the ancient trail though the Talamancas, Zenon is a community organizer in his small town of Coroma where construction on the “Casa de Esperanza” was started in 2004. The Casa is a dream to give the kids from his small community a head start. The frame of the Casa was built in 2004 with a grant from Glenn Scarborough but then the floods in January 2005 wiped out all the work he had done, along with wiping out any extra time or hope to keep it going.
“Many of our kids don’t speak Spanish,” Zenon explained, “many don’t have the basic concepts of mathematics or even counting. If we can give them a head-start before they leave home to attend school, they will have more confidence and more success.”
Now Glenn and Zenon are revitalized to re-initiate the project. “If we can raise $1,100,” Glenn said, “we can re-build the Casa, get school supplies and books to them, and the kids of Coroma will have a chance to be prepared when they are ready to head off to go to school in Amubri”.
As a way to help raise funds to complete the building and buy the supplies for our neighbors and the children of Coroma, ATEC is offering an opportunity to experience an amazing trek across the continental divide in the Talamanca Mountain range, through pristine original growth rainforest and cloudforest, with a Cabecar native and experienced guide from Coroma, Talamanca. Led by Zenon, this 70km journey would take you up the Caribbean slope through wonderful and dense forest landscapes, past rarely seen rainforest waterfalls, over windswept peaks as high as 2700 meters and to the indigenous community of Ujarrás on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera de Talamanca.
Proceeds from this trip will be dedicated to helping finish the building and purchase supplies for the Children’s Center, La Casa de Esparanza, in the community of Coroma.
Non-hikers are also welcome to donate. All donations will be completely transparent and posted through ATEC’s email list during the fund drive and on Greencoast.com after the deadline.
The trip is planned for early May, it takes between 5 and 15 days and it ain’t easy. Write to atecmail@gmail.com to sign up, with questions, or to donate.
If you’d like to donate with a credit card, Puerto Viejo Satellite is offering to process credit card donations and cover all bank fees so that 100% of your donation will go towards the project. You can do so on the Donate Page.
For more on this: Greencoast News: Fundraising Trek for “Head Start” Program in Alta-Talamanca.
Apr
4
CATCAS announces board executive for 2008-2010
April 4, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Local Business News | Comments Off
CATCAS, the South Caribbean Tourism and Business Board would like to present its new board that was elected in the assembly of members this past January 28th:
Presidente: Lic Rolando Soto Jiménez
Primer Vice Presidente: Sr. Edward Joseph Ryan ,
Segunda Vice Presidente: Sra. Leda Villa Porras,
Tesorero: Sr Frank León Chang,
Secretario: Sr. José Guido Bizet Delgado ,
Pro Secretario. Sr. Dennis Clark Bell,
Vocal Primero: Sra. Jacqueline Lewis Burker
Vocal Segundo: Sra. Marta Castro Bolaños,
Vocal Tercero: Sr. Junio Ortiz Navas,
Vocal Cuarto: Sr. Jason T. Ficociello.
Vocal Quinto: Sra. Silvia Rivera Guevara
Fiscal Primero: Sra. Gloria Gavioli
Fiscal Segundo: Sr. Mario Torres Madrigal.
CATCAS is involved in a huge variety of projects to promote and improve our area. They have done projects and continue to work in the areas of:
- Cultural and Educational Projects
- Security
- Promotion of the Area
- Health and Infrastructure
- Environment and Sustainability
The list of projects they have initiated or supported is huge! (See the document – in Spanish). If you’d like more information or to get involved with this organization contact turismocaribesur@yahoo.com.
And if anyone involved in those projects or in upcoming ones would like to write about them for the Talamanca News, we’d love to publish it!
Feb
1
Municipality Announces Marina Meeting for February 12
February 1, 2008 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News | 1 Comment
| February 12, 2008 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 1:00 pm |
The municipal government has responded to the letter signed by over 200 local residents asking them to hold a public audience in Puerto Viejo in order explain the proposed Marina project to the community (The Talamanca News, Jan 23, Court Action Threatened to Block Marina).
 Ol’aba Dance Group performing after the Paddleboard race that was held on Saturday the 26th to raise awareness about the concerns the community has about the marina project |
They will hold a the session about the “Marina New World” on Tuesday, February 12th at 10AM in the Casa Cultura in Puerto Viejo center. The community is welcome to attend and ask questions.
To get involved with the committee that’s working to organize questions about the marina please call don Guido at 756 8165 or write to atecmail@gmail.com if you have information to share or drop by ATEC´s offices to get a version of the plans filed by the developer.
Reported by: Greencoast News: Muni Annouces Marina Meeting February 12.
Jan
26
What’s Being Built on Main St?
January 26, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Local Business News | Comments Off
 Construction site on Calle Principal |
Anyone who’s been down Calle Principal in Puerto Viejo over the last few months has seen the large construction site where Chili Rojo used to be located. Perhaps you’ve been wondering what this large new space will be and how it will fit into our community?
Sources tell us it’s a “mini-mall” type of project planned by owner Chris Whitman. Of course, this being Puerto Viejo it won’t be a 7-11 and a gas station but small local businesses who want to expand and get new modern spaces to work in. The project is also said to be planning a large inner courtyard with many plants and perhaps some sort of water feature.
The biggest tenant will be Chili Rojo who will move back into the space when it was done with a huge new 300+ square meter restaurant on the 2nd floor. On the ground floor, plans are for 8 stores around the courtyard. We’ve heard that Chili Rojo owner Andrew is also planning a premium style coffee shop on the main floor with espresso machine and no doubt lots of tasty treats. Exploradores is also planning to move into the space with a new booking office for their rafting and other trips. So is Luna de Febrero which will sell souvenirs out of the site. An art gallery, another souvenir shop, a spa with massage and perhaps a bodega may round out the offerings that will be in place.
The site also has a parking area over by Cabinas Grant for customers of the merchants.
The site is being built by local contractor Tony, who also built Hotel Banana Azul as well as 37 houses at last count!
Best guesses for opening? Well estimates we’ve heard have ranged from May to September.
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