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COSTA RICA NEWS 2008            Travel Tips

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COSTA RICA NEWS 2007

(from the BEACH TIMES)   

Please read our new TRAVEL TIPS page before coming to Costa Rica

(We add to Costa Rica News without deleting, so the most current news is on top)

DECEMBER 2007

ICE continues to protest CAFTA, and we are without electricity on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Pura vida!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OCTOBER RAIN REPORTS  show that we had 7 times our normal rainfall in October and set records. All considered, our roads and infrastructure held up pretty well, and Arias is showing a good effort to maintain the roads. ICE has vowed to strike until Government fails to pass the laws necessary for CAFTA to go into effect, but electricity and phone service seem unaffected.. All 1 Dream Getaway resorts are full for December, so we look forward to booking your 2008 dream vacation. Our weather for all of December has been absolutely spectacular with light, breezy sunny days and temperatures from a morning low of 70 to an afternoon high of 85.  The trade winds have brought cooler water to the beaches, and fishing has improved greatly.  In short words, Paradise is just that.  Let us make your travel to Costa Rica the most memorable of your life. In a few weeks we'll be relegating this page to our archives, and welcoming a prosperous and happy new year with a new page of Costa Rica News.. 

JOIN US !!!!!!!!!

NOVEMBER 2008

YELLOW FEVER INOCULATIONS REQUIRED!!!!!  Beginning 30 November 2007 all foreigners and residents arriving in Costa Rica from:Americas: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia - including San Andres,  Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, and Venezuela. Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Sudan are required to have a YELLOW FEVER inoculation 10 days prior to their arrival in Costa Rica.

Currently,  Yellow Fever inoculations are not available in Costa Rica; therefore a person departing Costa Rica for one of the above named countries must obtain a special permit from the Ministerio de Salud allowing them to depart Costa Rica and return to the country without the inoculation.Costa Rica Immigration has stated that persons arriving in Costa Rica from any of the countries named above countries without proof of the Yellow Fever inoculation will be returned to the country that they left and will have to obtain the inoculation there and then wait 10 days prior to returning to Costa Rica - thus suffering time and economic damages without compensation. The above inoculations are NOT required for Costa Rican Citizens.

Well, after we reported the stable dollar against the colon in Costa Rica, the dollar's value dropped 5%. We still price our adult vacations in dollars and have not changed our prices---but you may want to consider sending us spending money with your deposit, which we can give you in our local currency when you arrive.

HAVING FOUND FECAL MATTER in the last 13 water samples tested at Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica has pulled their water quality (Blue Flag) rating. If you have read our comments on Tamarindo throughout www.1dreamgetaway.com., you know this is no surprise to us---but now Government has verified what we say. We chose to live/work here largely for the proximity to one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, but now massive unplanned growth has totally destroyed the beach and the town. The road parallels the beach a few feet away, but you have no idea you are near the ocean. Traffic is horrible (as is the road) with countless businesses and no parking. Crime is high and prices are the most expensive in the country.

ICE HAS GONE ON STRIKE AGAIN, protesting CAFTA.  The news reporters here say: "But telephone service will not be interrupted." However, we cannot pay our phone bills. As streets have no names, buildings have no numbers, and mail service is iffy, we do not get bills for anything.  We have to know what store or house in our area gets our bills, when they are due, and go there to pay them lest our service is terminated. We are able to pay phone bills online---however ICE has terminated that service. ICE's computers automatically terminate service on the due date.  So if you try to call or we do not answer your email, it is because we are without phone and internet.

GOOD NEWS in Costa Rica for international travelers.  As the dollar plummets around the world, it has been holding steady for months against our Costa Rican colon at 517.  More good news is that our heavy rains appear to have ended, and our roads have held up very well. The bridge near Liberia Airport is back to one-lane, but other than that travel is a pleasure here in Paradise. More good news is that in March 2008,  CAFTA is scheduled to take affect, meaning our prices should be headed downward. Travel to Costa Rica is often quicker than within North America and always hassle-free to Liberia International airport, so now is the time to book your adult vacation, honeymoon, executive meeting, anniversary, wedding, or any event in 1 Dream Getaway territory.  We'll work with you one-on-one to make your stay everything you wish it to be. No one else in the world can say that.

OCTOBER 2008

As this is my site,  I take the liberty of making a non-Costa Rica editorial comment. After seeing tanks rolling over cars in the parking lot of a Texas church and choppers firing 50mm rounds into the women and children huddled inside, I first realized I could not remain a proud American. Countless events in the ensuing years left me more ashamed of the country which my family, friends and I once suffered to to defend. Government and the people's response to the tragedy of Katrina left me with the impression that America was lost. However---HOW REFRESHING! to see Government and the people's responses to the tragedy of the California fires. This is the America of which I was a part, and it seems more-than coincidence that California is as far from Washington DC as one can get in the Continental United States.

This written October 23 while watching local news showing the city of Filadelfia underwater. We have to drive through Filadelfia today to pick up a client.  The rain has ceased for the last 12 hours, and help (largely by boat) is reaching the people who have been stranded for days with their houses in lakes and no food available. Throughout Costa Rica, dozens have died and thousands are without homes. Government laments lack of funds and employees to help. Yet strangely absent in this scenario of neighbors helping neighbors is the most prominent and wealthy organization in Costa Rica---the Catholic church. I reminisce in the hours spent outside the Priest's office at Correzon de Jesus in Alejuela awaiting his return from his three-hour breakfasts and unable to make a 9 Am appointment (which he made) in preparation for Nora and my marriage (which we found out a year later was never registered). Next to the office door was a sign: We do not help the poor, so don't ask.------The trip with our client came without incident, and the ride (and roads) were beautiful. Two days of sunshine have made our national disaster a memory, and Paradise has returned!

RAIN dominates the news for Costa Rica. Many bridges are washed out, towns are under water, and sewers are flowing backwards in San Jose, Puntarenus and Jaco. Travel to our volcano resorts (Costa Rica Naturally and the Dry Forrest Volcano) and our Undiscovered Beach Resort is all-but impossible, but our clients have been very content at our HPH Resort. We get rained on occasionally while fishing/snorkeling/sightseeing on Albani's boat, but it is still warm and beautiful. If you like walking in the rain with a Latin beauty on a lovely beach in Paradise, we're still ready to pick you up at LIR and turn your dreams into realities. Heavy rains are typical for the end of our rainy season in October, and then we will not see rain for six months.  PURA VIDA!

We'll include these two recently-acquired pieces of knowledge here and on Travel Tips.

1. Although there are two banks (Bancredito & Banco Costa Rica) at Liberia airport (LIR) for collecting your $26 Tourist Exit Tax, neither of them accept Mastercard. Bring a Visa or cash.

2. Costa Rica's local airlines (Sansa and Nature Air) have a twenty five pound (25#) limit on baggage.

Well it appears we'll have to eat our words---kind of---but as a famous NY Yankee philosopher once said, it ain't over till it's over. In the first-ever public vote of a trade agreement, CAFTA passed by a 51% margin. ICE protested by turning off our electricity. However our legislature has to pass 13 laws before March, 2008 or it is dead.

CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement), known here as TLC, is coming to a popular vote this month. The monopolies and labor unions are fighting it with all their might, and now sending mass mailings to vote no against it. We've been predicting for years now that it will never be signed, and the people of Costa Rica will suffer financially---but it may curb some of our explosive development.  We will soon know.

You should understand the significance of CAFTA (or TLC). www.1dreamgetaway.com is rife with comments about the work ethics of Ticos, and ICE is a prime example---and the reason CAFTA  will not be signed. ICE supplies our electricity, telephones, cell phones and broad band  EXCLUSIVELY by law. We are without electricity two days per week. It took 5 years for our phone line to be installed. To have a cel (Costa Rica is the third largest user in the world---largely because it is so difficult to get a phone line) , one must purchase one for $200 to $1000 and then stand in line at the ICE office (sometimes for days) to get a cell number and pay ICE $25 for the privilege. There are often months at a time where there are no cell phone numbers available. Broad band is available in very few places, and takes years to get where it is available. CAFTA would permit other companies to compete with ICE, and as ICE's employees don't know how to work, ICE would soon cease to exist. For that reason, ICE has literally paralyzed Costa Rica with protests each time signing CAFTA is considered.

Other aspects of  CAFTA knock down tariffs and trade barriers in all directions. The Costa Rica melon industry (our third largest exporter) has already has announced its departure from Costa Rica if CAFTA is not ratified, and every other Central American country has signed it. Bush has announced that CAFTA will not be renegotiated if not signed, and other trade deals with Costa Rica will not be renewed when they expire. From this writer's perspective, CAFTA presents Costa Rica's only opportunity to climb from the Third World, but on the other hand perhaps the Third World is a good place to be.

The US dollar has fallen against all world currencies making foreign travel much more expensive. In our years in Costa Rica, we've seen the colon fall against the dollar from c200/ $1.00 to c522/ $1.00. The decline has been a predictable monthly devaluation. However for the past few months the colon has been stable and you'll find Costa Rica to be a country where your money still has value.

Our Thailand offer is being re-visited. We take this opportunity to explain that we've never been there, and our friend, Richard Patrick, does not offer companion escorts. They do have several resorts which are apparently near "the action", and the Thailand offer is to acquaint people with their various deals (like timeshares and a travel club). However with current problems like the Tsunami, plane crash and government instability combined with our inability to personally answer questions bout their services, we are considering removing the Thailand offer from 1 Dream Getaway and concentrate our efforts on what we know---the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

Our rainy season should be coming to an end. As weather in most of the world has changed, so has ours. As we need lots of rain for our season because it does not rain at all for six months, we welcome the excess rain this year. Aside from two weeks of all-day rain separated by sunny days, we've been having great daytime weather and heavy rain at night. As our clients usually have indoor activities planned at night, they have reported perfect weather.

SEPTEMBER, 2007

Jesus Christ  has come to visit us.  This contribution from a client:

LIR is changing. Although no one seems to be working on the new terminal, a new Immigration section opened last week.  Continental has a flight that comes in at night, and the crew lays over for a 7 AM flight that seems to be popular with our Houston clients. The rule has always been that you cannot check your baggage until you pay your Exit Tax and fill out the form. We brought a client at 5 AM, but had to wait an hour for the bank employees to show up for work. So by the time he paid and we filled out his form, Check-in would not accept his bag, as it was 55 minutes before the flight and all bags had to be checked an hour ahead. The following day he was able to check his bag 20 minutes before the flight after standing in a long line.  Apparently the plane left empty the day before as they would not accept anyone's baggage.

So as we arrived early with the next client, we found the same situation, but a guard friend at the airport told us we could go check his baggage without having the form. As he was doing so, he summoned me over and we went in back.  It turned out they were checking out some new security people, and wanted to place a hand grenade in his carry on.  Needless to say, he was a little nervous and wanted a witness. I stayed in eye contact until he got through security and they found his hand grenade. Another good story for the folks back home.

A week after reporting 16,000 cases of Dengue this year, the figures have risen to 18,000 cases. Liberia patients is turning people away as they are out of beds, and report one case per day of hemoragic type. As we never have (and never will) have a 1 Dream Getaway client the victim of a crime, we will never have one as the victim of a mosquito. Our personal service is what keeps us in business.

Transitos are achieving new lows in public service. While driving two clients to Costa Rica Naturally, a cop stepped in front of our car and asked for my driver's license and Residency card. He proceeded to demand papers from our passengers.  Then he wanted the car's documents. When everything was in order, he ordered all of us out of the car and began searching luggage and a cooler where we had brought snacks and drinks.  Then he announced that one client had been in Costa Rica longer than the 90 day limit, and suddenly his passport was gone. Fortunately our client had his airline ticket in his pocket, which clearly showed he had arrived an hour earlier. Our policy is to never pay off thieves, and obviously this one was looking for a donation.

After our coastal evacuation as the result of a tsunami warning, it was determined that Costa Rica's Pacific Coast is ill-prepared for disaster.  We have one employee to handle natural disasters.

We have not been to San Jose in years, but many have friends/relatives/business obligations, and in fact many Government services are only available in San Jose. Most often people travel on one of two bus lines running from here and across the Tampisque bridge.  Now government has denied use of the bridge to one of the bus companies, and so service has been cut in half and one can no longer just get on a bus without buying a ticket well in advance.

On Costa Rica's National Parks Day it was learned that 180 national park employees may lose their jobs. (National parks are not in San Jose, and so our Roach Motel theory applies.)  As government has not been financing the parks, they have subsisted on private funds and donations.  Those income sources have now been declared illegal.

Marriages of convenience, the means by which many foreigners gain their right to stay in Costa Rica, may be on the way out. Ticos often marry foreigners for a fee, and sometimes lawyers arrange marriages where the couple never meets. Some lawyers just pick Ticos out of a hat, and they don't even know they are married.

Two of our volcanos, Turrialba and Arenal, are rumbling and coughing. Scientists are watching them closely.

For the last month ICE has been unable to supply electricity to our area (Tamarindo to Huacas) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It goes off like clockwork at 8 AM and returns at 2 PM.  This means no banking, no post office, no ATM's, no use of credit cards, and restaurant food is not stored at proper temperatures. We just completed a water tower at our office, so we do have water---but our neighbors do not when the juice goes out.

16,000 cases of Dengue have been reported so far this year. Limon has the hemorragic kind that often kills children, and has been declared a disaster area. Playas del Coco is rampant with the normal kind. Also garbage pickup is sporadic from Samara (where Mel Gibson lives) to Santa Cruz, as Government has closed the local land fill in Filadelfia.  We believe these facts are all directly related.  

We often state that San Jose is like the roach motel.  The money pours in and never comes out. Now Government is studying how to "decentralize" the government.

On September 12, the U.S. Consulate published their guide on Costa Rica.  We placed the entire Information Sheet (thanks to a client) on our Travel Tips page. As the law and the reality are often in conflict, we share here our experience and thoughts in hopes of helping you understand our country. Obviously our "reporting" (as with all reporting) is biased by our own experiences and beliefs.

Ticos are by-and-large a peaceful, polite, accommodating and honest people. As the Government and most Gringos are in San Jose, the government of Costa Rica is very racist and anti-American---while at the same time thirsting for Gringo money. It doesn't help that the decades-old policy of the U. S. is to bomb sovereign nations and throw their Presidents in jail (or hang them)---or that Ticos see daily on their TV's Americans breaking down the doors of people's homes and holding families at gunpoint. Remember America did just that to our neighbors to the north and south (and was convicted in the World court of State-sponsored Terrorism in 1989), and now Daniel Ortega is back as President of Nicaragua and our President, Oscar Arias, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his help in the Nicaragua War. In late August, Arias and Ortega met for the first time in decades and traded jabs.

A bill is currently in Costa Rica Legislature for a "Luxury Home Tax". A big incentive for Gringos to move here are our modest property tax rates. They are about all most Ticos can afford, so this new law translates into special Gringo tax rates. Most of the money is slated to go (you guessed it) to San Jose slum projects. Costa Rica has also formed task forces to go after Gringo businesses. A Gringo building a home here will pay a substantial Permit tax, and will likely be required to have an Environmental Impact Study, while a Tico just builds and no one bothers him. We rarely service a client without getting at least one traffic ticket. We've had three tickets for non-functional stop lights---even though the cops never saw the back of our car, and in fact our stop lights were working. Yesterday a cop jumped out in front of my car (as he waived the Ticos by) bound-and-determined to find something wrong. He checked the car, it's paperwork, the Inspection papers, my license and Residency. To get my wallet out of my pocket, I undid my seatbelt, so he wrote me a ticket for not wearing it. Transitos are dispatched to the main routes leading to Gringo areas and set up road blocks, pulling over every car with a white face behind the wheel and waiving the others by. The Transitos laugh at you and taunt you as they are doing this, and make it clear that their occupation is stealing money from Gringos.

As clearly demonstrated by the sign behind the reception desk (bottom of About Us) at a popular Gringo resort, gangs of thieves (mostly from San Jose) are prevalent at both Gringo resorts and Gringo neighborhoods. The attitude of the Costa Rican police toward Tico thieves is "so what", and the fortunes spent for a private police force have been wasted as all they can do is take the predators to the local police, who simply let them go.  As we reported below, a huge Tamarindo drug bust of 5 Gringos and a Tico resulted in the Gringos going to jail (still there) while the Tico went home. Nicas are hauled across the border in pickup trucks and return the following week. Our advice to crime victims is not to bother reporting the crime, unless forcing the police to write a report can result in collecting on an insurance policy.

We comment on our all-inclusive resorts as being like cruise ships. Recent news reports about cruise ships indicate a multitude of serious crimes, including murder, and the cruise lines with their foreign registry have no culpability under U. S. law. Although Costa Rican all-inclusive resorts are what we consider Gringo resorts, your chances of being a crime victim are next to zero. Security is excellent, and employees are Ticos (who are an inherently honest, non-violent people). As Costa Rica has distanced itself from U. S. policies, the Terrorist threat is (and should remain) close to zero. As we've often advised clients that they missed the land buys here---and then values double the following year---it seems this is still a good place to relocate and invest.

AUGUST 2007

Our last client was telling us about extreme fare differences between flying into SJO and LIR (like $500 difference), although he did say the difference in hassles between the two airports is worth flying into Liberia. But we thought we would mention that if you can fly into SJO and catch a same-day local flight ( http://www.centralamerica.com/cr/tran/nathigh.htm ) into Tamarindo airport or LIR, we welcome you to do that.

1 Dream Getaway is aware that something happened to our website, as our hits are 10% of what they were previously.  This happened when we changed hosts, and if anyone would like to look at the HTML of our Index Page and correct the problem, we would sure welcome it.  However, growth of our company is not our objective. How can we remain the only personal service if we begin importing large groups of tourists like everyone else? We are thankful that most of our clients are now those who have come with us before.

LIR IS CHANGING.  A new room has opened for clearing you for departure, and they are still figuring out how to use it. A week ago, a client insisted on being at the airport three hours before his morning Continental flight as instructed, so we stood around for an hour and a half until they opened. So Monday, we brought a client 1 1/2 hours early for that morning flight. As you cannot check your bags until you pay the Departure Tax and fill out the form and this took 35 minutes, we went to check his bag 55 minutes before his flight and they would not accept it citing the rule that bags must be checked an hour before the flight.  So he went to book the 1 PM Continental flight, and they announced it had been cancelled.  Fortunately our client was happy to spend another day in Paradise, and we had a great time.

Yesterday morning we returned to LIR only to find a long line at the Continental check-in counter. Obviously the early Continental flight had left half-empty the day before, and when our client got to check-in 20 minutes before his flight, his bag was happily accepted. Certainly the rules will change again, so we post this without advice---just so you have an understanding of how things work here.  A few years ago, Costa Rica charged pretty much what they felt they could get away with as a Tourist Exit Tax.  Then a law was passed establishing a uniform $26 tax and making a deal with the bank to print the forms. When the law went into effect, the bank had not yet printed the forms and people were stuck for days in SJO because they did not have a form which did not exist.  This is the charm and frustration of Costa Rica.

(BELOW EMAILED BY A CLIENT) :

Saudi Arabian Prince Visits Papagayo, in Style
The prince of Saudi Arabia, Al-Waleed bin Talal, one of the richest men in the world, arrived last night in Costa Rica, to take a rest at the Four Seasons hotel in the Golfo de Papagayo in Guanacaste.

The prince and his entourage of 48 people landed at 9:3opm when his custom designed Boeing 747 landed at the Daniel Oduber (Liberia) International airport and a luxury bus and a fleet of 18 Toyota Prado's were waiting to take the party to their destination only 20 minutes from the aiport.

The Saudi prince has a reportedly  net worth of us$21 billion dollars and holds 22% of the stock and major stockholder of the the Fours Seasons hotel chain and has investments in banks, hotels and more around the world.

The arrival of the place at almost 70 metres in lenghth and the interior design is reportedly to have cost us$80 million dollars, is a big deal, overshadowing the other planes on the tarmac, for the small airport that is not accustomed to receiving such a large aircraft.

Officials of Migración y Extranjería (immigration service) processed the visitors while inside the aircraft, checking passports and stamping their arrival to Costa Rica, while the visitors lounged in the air conditioned space that includes high definition televisions, a bar and a cafeteria, much more than the immigration centre at the airport terminal.

The Saudi prince occupied 48 of the 153 rooms at the hotel and due to the presence of the distinguished guests, other visitors at the hotel will have restricted access during the entire weekend.

The Four Seasons has been host to many important international figures from the world of politics and show business.
 

TAMARINDO was evacuated in anticipation of a tsunami from the Peru earthquake. It never happened.

Costa Rica just signed an agreement with China to hold a Trade Fair, the first of which begins the end of August. I guess the Chinese are anxious to get some good publicity for a change.  It should be interesting.

As we have said below our new president, Oscar Arias, is bringing Costa Rica into the 21st Century and changing Government's thinking that Costa Rica is San Jose.  He came to Liberia to celebrate the annexation of Guanacaste, and announced the following:

    1. Costa Rica's policy of patching our roads only after they have become impassible will be replaced with full-time equipment/crew to maintain our roads year round.

    2. Autostar (selling Jeep, Mercedes) is opening a dealership in Liberia.

    3. A new Guanacaste museum was dedicated in Liberia.

    4. In October, a Duty Free store will begin operating at Liberia airport (LIR). Profits will be used for housing projects and scholarships for the poor families here.

    5. He reaffirmed his commitment to CAFTA (although we'll believe it when it is passed).

    6. A new university was dedicated in Guanacaste and will start with a library and sixteen classrooms. 15 hectares have been dedicated, and construction is to begin in 2008.

    7. With Steve Case standing beside him, Arias praised his Casique project (below) and said it would open in 2010. This should fast track the problems stated below> 

In addition, Costa Rica is advertising more in the UK as the result of direct London/Liberia flights.  Studies show the average tourist stays two weeks and spends an average of $6000/week.

Having closed the related National Park for a while, scientists no longer feel our Turrialba volcano poses a serious risk of eruption, and so the park has reopened.

HBSC, a banking conglomerate, has come to Costa Rica and in fact bought up our bank (Banex). Banco Nacional remains THE bank of Costa Rica and it takes hours or days to get to a teller.

JULY 2007

Many who immigrated to Costa Rica over the last decade lived the good life by investing in the "Brothers", who paid 3% /month cash interest. The IRS hounded the Brothers for decades for records of U.S. investors, and were legally refused.  In 2002 they found some $300,000 invested from a Canadian drug dealer, so ATF stole everyone's money ($600,000,000), seized all the records and many who had come to rely on that income committed suicide. Of the two Villalobos brothers, Osvaldo was jailed for Fraud and Illegal Financial Intermediation---but acquitted of money laundering---and Luis is still on the run from Interpol. Government just ruled (surprise!) that they can keep the money, and the IRS is having a ball with all the records of the investors.

Tamarindo has been selling T-shirts to save the moneys by building bridges so they don't fry on the power lines. So far, six bridges have been built---but this is in rural outskirts.  In the city, all the monkeys and their habitat are dead. This as an Inter-institutional Commission (through APMT) was formed in Costa Rica to "save Tamarindo".  The "Main Street" is now all-but impassible, Tamarindo residents applied to Santa Cruz for permission to redo and beautify the road, but were denied.

70% of the road repair machines in Guanacaste are inoperable. MOPT has begun buying new ones and hiring crews to maintain them.

Cervical cancer in the poor areas of Guanacaste is a major problem for your girls, and is caused by undiagnosed HPV (Human Papillomavirus).  Although it kills half the girls it affects, Costa Rica has denied providing a vaccine to its clinics citing cost reasons. 300 teenage girls contract the virus in Costa Rica annually, and half of them die. 

The plant in the hills above Garibito treating drinking water for Jaco, Herradura and Playa Hermosa has been shut down, as development has caused the water quality to decline beyond the plant's ability to treat the water. AYA is now supply water from reserve wells. This while ICE hikes electricity rates by 8%.

DANIEL ODUBER AIRPORT (LIR) terminal is to receive a major remodeling, and 150 contractors have so far bid on the concession. The new terminal is supposed to be operating in January, 2009---(Tico Time?)

Six years ago, when I lived in Playas del Coco, the big news was a golf community being developed by Greg Norman, and his name appeared prominently on the yellow wall.  At the same time, our President came to Coco to dedicate the new marina and condemn the houses on one-half of the beach.  The marina was never started, the houses are still condemned, and Greg Norman's name disappeared from the yellow wall in nearby Playa Hermosa.. Then Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, bought the 198 hectare property and announced a $333,000,000 project there called Cacique.  Now Case has been denied his building permits citing 14 objections. History teaches that money rules, and certainly Case will prevail---but Cacique will surely remain in limbo for quite some time to come. 

With great sadness we report the death of another beach in Costa Rica.  We located near Tamarindo, as it was a beautiful, expansive white sand beach.  However thousands of Gringos felt the same way, and now everything that was there to enjoy has been destroyed. Today, for the first time in years, we went to Portrero Beach.  The only building around the entire bay is a bar (Las Brisas), and Portrero was one of our options for "our own private beach".  I put my hands in the water, and they disappeared in two inches of depth. As the tide receded, countless items of trash were deposited in the sand/muck. At the high tide line was a huge dump with metal beds, old trailers, beer cans, and a variety of trash. In what used to be swimming distance (I wouldn't think of swimming in that water now) was a beautiful view of Flamingo.

You have to pay a $26 Tourist Exit Tax at LIR at a bank located in the airport, and then fill out a form before you can check your bags or get your boarding pass. . We brought a client to leave on a 7 AM Continental flight, and he had given his money to his companion. We were surprised to learn that the bank will not exchange Canadian dollars (you can pay in US dollars or colones) or accept Cirus cards. 

We are writing this in a rush, as we have to move a client who decided at the last minute to extend his stay. As sometimes happens, he spent the weeks before his arrival browsing the Web and finding all these great websites for resorts in Costa Rica.  When he moved his return flight ahead a week, he asked to go to one of those resorts.  We took him there yesterday afternoon, and he called at 7 this morning asking us to take him to one of the places on our Packages Page. That resort is in Coco, and while booking him into his resort, our Agenda with all our business information was stolen.  Since then, we have learned there is an outbreak of Dengue in Coco.  Although we have a responsibility to take our clients where they want to go, we have good reasons for not putting popular resorts on our Packages Page and for including places you will not find on the net.  Trust us!

On the 4th of July, Costa Rica's supreme court certified the constitutionality of putting the Central American Free Trade Agreement to a public referendum. Frankly, this has us confused---as everything we've read indicates that a public vote will take 14 months to effect, and if CAFTA is not signed by March, 2008 it cannot be signed. I assume they know what they're doing, but ASSUME makes an ass out of U and ME. We celebrated the 5th of July (and a new client's first full day with 1 Dream Getaway) without cell or phone service, electricity or water.  Perhaps it was just a coincidence.

As 3/4 of Costa Rica's population is concentrated in San Jose (the Central Valley) and Government has long-considered the rest of our country (the Real Costa Rica) superfluous, our commercial fishing industry is dying---if not dead. Using our beautiful rivers as San Jose's toilet (most of it flushing to the Jaco/Puntarenus area) has resulted in contaminated fish and the European Union has now banned Costa Rican white shrimp. Other reasons for problems with our fishing industry include the banning of commercial fishing in national parks, lack of testing facilities, global warming, destruction of habitat, turtle protection, overfishing and (largely) shark finning.

To supply the huge demand for shark fins (Orientals believe shark fin soup helps their sexual problems), an industry has emerged where fishermen catch sharks, cut off their fins, and release them to swim for weeks until they stave to death, as they can no longer navigate. Costa Rica passed a law stating that fins must be attached to a shark when the boats come in.  So the clever fishermen bring one shark into the boat, and then tie all the fins to it with a rope.

163.5 megawatts of Costa Rica's electricity comes from geothermal plants---tapping the heat from our volcanoes. Our first geothermal plant came online in 1994.  ICE is now building a 6th plant on our Dry Forrest Volcano which is supposed to come online in 2010 and produce 35MW of electricity.

In the Communist Revolution of 1949, Mao Tse-Tung  drove the government of China to the island of Taiwan.  Since then, Taiwan has claimed to be the legitimate government of China. About 5 years ago the Taiwanese government finished Costa Rica's suspension bridge over the Tampisque River.  When it opened (replacing a ferry) there were weeks of celebrations, people came from all over the country to see the bridge, and vendors set up to handle the crowds.  It remains the most professionally constructed road in Costa Rica. But a condition of our signing the Free Trade Agreement with China is that Costa Rica no longer recognize the government of Taiwan.  Oscar Arias has signed the documents breaking 60 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and it is expected that our Latin American neighbors will follow.

The US revoked the Visas for 22 Cost Rican Immigration officials for selling passport stamps to help Costa Ricans travel to America. As we say in other areas of www.1dreamgetaway.com, getting a visa for your companion to visit or live with you in the States has become a long, expensive and involved process with no guarantees of success.

In the next 5 years, 20 additional high-end resorts and hotels are expected to be operational in 1 Dream Getaway territory.

JUNE, 2007 

Oscar Arias has proven to be a great President for Costa Rica, as he was during the Nixon administration when he won the Nobel Peace Prize. As Able Pacheco (who Arias replaced) apparently just stole our country's entire income for 4 years and did nothing (even basic road maintenance), Arias has really worked to make things right.  A major platform in his election campaign was promising the signing of the Central American Free Trade Agreement.  As this would abolish the inept monopolistic practices of Costa Rica, those fat cat monopolies (mainly ICE, our utility company) have fought hard to prevent the signing---and apparently won. Given the current trend of countries to distance themselves from US government and political leaders watching Tony Blair lose his job, Arias as signed a free trade agreement with China. Our guess is that the long-anticipated influx of foreign (US) competition to provide reliable services (like phone, cell, electricity, water) will not happen, but probably more products will be available here at a lower cost.  Hopefully no more poison toothpaste and dog food. ICE has announced a huge hydroelectric project to provide both power to the country and water to Tamarindo using water from Lake Arenal.  However a similar project was planned in the 1960's and scrubbed in 2005.

Well-below is our story of how 42 Costa Rican cops stormed the thriving Flamingo marina years ago and stole the property from its owners/developers. The excuse given was environmental, and they solved the environmental problem by towing all the tour/dive/fishing/private boats off the docks.  Now fuel trucks drive on the Flamingo beach and stretch great lengths of fuel hose out into the water to fuel the boats. Costa Rica swore they would find new environmentally-friendly foreign investors to reopen the marina by last October. Now Pedro Abdalla, who has been overseeing the bidding process, has resigned.  The process of reopening the Flamingo Marina---already a year behind---is starting over again. Five years ago I watched the President of Costa Rica dedicate the new marina in Playas del Coco, and condemn half of the beachfront homes.  The homes remain condemned, but inside information tells us the marina will never be started.

6000 foreigners lived here for over 20 years on the money they invested in Brothers. The IRS fought for years to get Brothers' list of investors, and were refused.  Then the US and Canadian Governments decided $300,000 of the $billions Brothers was holding was drug money, so they took it (all of it).  Many retirees suddenly left with no income committed suicide. Now one of the brothers in the Brothers (Osvaldo Villalobos Camacho) has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for money laundering.  His brother is hiding as Interpol has been seeking him for years.

Costa Rica's local airlines, Nature Air and Sansa, are hurting because of the number of tourists flying into Liberia (LIR) instead of San Jose (SJO).  They have been flying tours over some of our spectacular volcanoes (of course, they occasionally run into them) enroute to LIR, but now realize that Costa Rica is not just San Jose.  Coming soon should be local flights from LIR.

The Tarcoles River has become a major sewer line from San Jose to the Pacific (near Jaco). The Costa Rican Courts have ordered the 34 municipalities who use that river as their toilet to stop. However no one is stepping up to the plate with treatment plants, and Costa Rica is closing rather than opening dump sites.

Edward Sides, an American resident outside Jaco, had parts of his home burned with Molotov cocktails and his private security force assaulted by 200 squatters he is trying to evict from his property. It is imperative that one act so when buying land, as Costa Rica law gives title to property occupied by squatters over a given period of time.

When I came to Costa Rica and for years following, we received periodic visits to our home and property from fumigators spraying for Dengue. This is an African disease which affects 2 million people per year, and is spread by mosquitoes which thrive in water collected in garbage. Symptoms range from aching bones and joints to death, and there is no vaccination. Those visits by motorized sprayers abruptly stopped a couple of years ago, and I have no idea why. Reported instances of Dengue (364 in 2006, 1914 in 2007) are five times higher this year over last. Costa Rica, which provides no garbage collection nor requires it, has closed our only dump (Carrillo).   

FIRST CHOICE AIRWAYS has begun direct flights from London to Liberia. An 11-hour flight, they offer comfortable seats, TV and video games.

The Liberia Tourism Board and the US Embassy invited 350 hotels, and business representatives to a conference on crime. It was sparsely-attended, and presented statistics showing the vast majority of Costa Rica's crime is in San Jose, but 7% of all reported crime in the country comes from Tamrindo. The fact is that most crimes are not reported, or the police do not accept  crime reports. Only one policeman attended.

At a Town Meeting, Tamarindo residents discussed the same old stuff---that their drinking water source is in perilous danger of contamination, and they have a new contact in Santa Cruz to discuss the possibility of sewage treatment (see below) and how to pay for environmental studies. Their tact is a huge membership recruitment drive, as obviously Costa Rica is not about to clean up the mess in Tamarindo. Tamarindo residents are thrilled to have a fresh vegetable truck come weekly, and do not seem bothered that another roadblock is placed to ingress/ egress of a city already bogged down with stalled traffic. The tourists interviewed in Tamarindo state that they came because they do not speak Spanish and Tamarindo is their option to know the locals. Unfortunately, the "locals" who speak English are not Costa Ricans and the beauty of Costa Rica has already been wiped out in that town.

The Costa Rica power outages (below) have stopped (by edict of President Arias), but the problem has not. Intelligently, Costa Rica has for 40 years been planning a huge hydroelectric project to supply Costa Rica's needs well into the future.  However its concern for displacing 1000 indians caused Government to cancel the project without providing alternatives.  This writer believes CAFTA will not be signed, the massive influx of foreign investment will divert to our neighbors, and hopefully Costa Rica can supply energy and water (somehow) to those of us remaining.

 They really are doing a good job on the roads, and it is a big job.  Most bridges outside of San Jose are 1-lane.  One of those bridges on the highway we have to drive to Santa Cruz has had a hole for a year now.  Today we decided to take a photo of it so you can understand what we mean by the conditions of the roads. As this bridge has heavy truck traffic, the big trucks have been driving round the bridge through the river bed, but that will not happen when rainy season cranks up  Falling through this hole means falling about 20 feet, and the 3" thick edge of the concrete you see is dangling from (3/8") rebar.....

THE WORLD

With deepest regrets I lament unfolding current events involving my former country. Sadly the media must torture Miss USA by repeatedly replaying her stage stumble to the world, but the true disgrace is the world booing her. For generations the U. S. has been compared to the fall of the Roman Empire, but the facts support a parallel to Hannibal---who inadvertently formed the Roman Empire. In like manner, the United States is forming new empires and destroying itself. For 60 years the United States fails to recognize the fact that a war can only be won when the adversary admits defeat. This gives America the distinction of having won every battle and lost every war in those six decades.

Koreans, Vietnamese and Sandinistas were not about to lay down arms and say: "OK, we quit."  Obviously the purveyors of drugs are not about to change professions, yet America provides free needles to those who are at the heart of that War.  When Noriega quit the CIA, bombing the country proved a short-term solution, but a long-term problem. O. J. Simpson plays golf while thousands of U. S. families are destroyed each year by his resulting Domestic Violence legislation. The Jews and Arabs are not about to make nice after signing a document. Counting the countries with whom the U. S. is currently at war or rattling sabers brings visions of WWIII, and I do not see it as a nuclear holocaust.  As economists now measure the War debts in the $trillions (with a T), China, India and Dubai extend equal spending to building rather than destroying. I've often predicted this, but never thought it would happen in my lifetime.

Solutions are not that complex.  The first is forcing American Government to read its Constitution and follow it. The last legal war began Dec. 7, 1941. The second would be to ban all lobbying and riders to legislation.  Let each proposed legislation stand on its own merit and make the lawmakers actually read and understand it before voting on it. The third is to prohibit legislators from exempting themselves from the laws they pass. The most glaring example of this is Social Security. Finally, Americans are proud to support their country, but the IRS pits them against their own government. Elimination of the IRS and instigating a fair system of taxation would bring more money to the tills while the Constitution would keep it from draining out through all these WARS.

Editor's note: One reaches an age where he wants to contribute something significant. I answer the negative comments about THE WORLD by saying I am neither smart enough nor informed enough---even with hindsight---to know whether America's wars are justified. But the people who sacrificed life/limb/families/wealth  to form America had the insight to know that an involved legal process should be required before going to war. I don't know if the UN is a good thing or bad thing, but it seems that if America supports it, they must also abide by its decisions. If instigated with good intent, the Patriot Act and Domestic Violence laws have only served to negate the Constitution upon which the U. S. is based. An hour after publishing THE WORLD (below), CBS, NBC and ABC reported that 1/3 of American women killed are by husbands or boyfriends---and many with Restraining Orders in place. This is significantly higher than before Domestic Violence "laws" were in place.

 It only makes sense that the people who write and pass American law should be bound equally by it.  Lobbying and riders have made America a country of the lawyers, by the lawyers and for the lawyers. My efforts are directed at exciting Americans to take control of their country and make it what it was and should be.  I apologize if it offends. You cannot legislate morality nor force it militarily. The time has come to say "What will we do about these problems?" rather than: "Someone should do something."

Ticos have never experienced free trade, and so do not have the intestinal fortitude to fight for it. I believe March 2008 will come without signing CAFTA and there will be an exodus to our neighbors by foreign investors. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and perhaps what is left of Costa Rica will remain so. It is unfortunate that after Americans used their power of the vote to send a clear message as to what they expect from their government, that it is still the SOS. I attribute that to what I say below, and just hope Americans will fight to take back their country.  Much of Costa Rica will remain Paradise, and we want to show it to you.

MAY, 2007 

May 25 & 6 were rainy days---something we do not get in 1 Dream Getaway Territory except for the final days of October. I guess that is how Costa Rica is experiencing Global Warming.  The temperatures here have been 70 to 80, but they say it is freeing in San Jose.  The roads are holding up great so far!

The 5 countries of Central America had a summit, and one agreement was to allow people to travel within those countries without a passport. Costa Rica refused to sign.  So we warn that not only is everyone who travels to Costa Rica required to have a passport, but that passport must be current for at least three months after your arrival. We had a client from Canada for the May Birthday Party whose passport was only good for a few more weeks, and they tried to refuse him entrance to Costa Rica.  Had he arrived in San Jose instead of Liberia, he would have been sent home on the next plane.

Rainy season is here. It means sunny mornings and rainy afternoons. The May birthday party villa suffered a day without water and two hours without electricity.  Not bad! Knock wood, but so far the new road work is fairing well. Costa Rica's economy took a good hit in 2006, and they finally guessed that it was because tourists could not get to the tourist places. Our temperatures remain 70's/80's and sunrise/sunset are always at 6. We understand that American Airlines bought TWA, and if they hire TWA employees before December, 2007 they become responsible for their benefits. (God forbid that a mega-corporation would want long term employees to have the benefits for which they have dedicated their lives.) So apparently AA will be short crews for the balance of this year, and possibly that is why American has been canceling flights to Liberia and causing delays.

We all had a blast at the May Birthday Party, and put up some photos.  You can CLICK HERE to see them.  In the three Cd's of photos we took, it was difficult to find any without clients in them.

Further proof that Costa Rica's problems are political. Friday, President Arias announced that the electrical blackouts were costly to the country, and there will be no more---and VIOLA no more blackouts. Kind of reminds one of when the US ran out of oil in the early 70's. 

First, we have to eat our words about the "Gringo Highway" from Belen to Huacas (below). It is finished, well-done, and has cut our trip to Liberia Airport in half. Next we should pass along a couple of experiences on airlines.  We had a client come on Continental a couple of weeks ago, and when he tried to leave they announced they had over-booked the flight, and offered him $800 to take one 6 hours later.  Today we went to pick up a client on the AA flight arriving at 11:15. They told us it was cancelled---not late, but cancelled due to mechanical problems.  A couple hundred people checking in to return to Miami on that flight were asking how they were going to get home, and American said they didn't know. So first they told us our client would arrive tomorrow on a Continental flight, and when we checked again this afternoon they announced he was arriving to San Jose at 2 PM. He called at three from San Jose, and said AA offered him a free bus ride to Liberia (a 5 to 10 hour ride) and no money. We advised that his resort is on a toll road that closes at 9:30 PM, and are waiting as we write this to learn what he is going to do. He left NYC at 3 AM to fly to Miami, and so has now been 13 hours enroute here with possibly another 12 hours to go.  It sounds like next time he will either fly to Houston and come on Continental, or to Atlanta and come on Delta. It also sounds like 1 Dream Getaway is much more reliable than American Airlines.

As both power outages and wholesale construction continue in Tamarindo, two Government inspectors checked out the sewage status there and were appalled.  This after President Arias commented that "...we've already lost..." Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio.. As we often comment on www.1dreamgetaway.com, San Jose is like the Roach Motel.  The money pours in, but can't get out. 18 months ago a Tamarindo association got a $2 million loan to build a sewage treatment plant, and Santa Cruz (county seat) was to provide the land. They didn't, and now it appears the promise of $2 million is disappearing and Tamarindo will wallow in its own sewage for the foreseeable future as thousands of toilets are being readied to go online. As Costa Rica is a country of government-run monopolies, this sewage project was to be the first public utility run by private enterprise. The only contractor to bid on the sewage project was Swiss, and the bid $16 million.  As I am undergoing treatment for a staph infection and bottled water is now a necessity in Tamarindo, one of our favorite beaches is no longer on the menu for swimming.

In the meantime, Government ordered Santa Cruz's landfill closed in 2004, and they have been trucking their garbage to Liberia's (Carrillo).  But that dump has also been declared illegal and ordered closed, although Liberia continues to dump 35 tons of garbage daily in two ditches there and there are no alternatives. As it is not San Jose, it doesn't matter. Numerous companies from Europe and the US would love to bid on Costa Rica's problems, but CAFTA remains unsigned and ICE shuts down San Jose each time the idea is considered. The power outages (160 in April) are projected to continue through 2008. CAFTA is now being proposed as being put to a popular vote (which could take 14 months), but Costa Rica will be permanently excluded if it does not sign by March, 2008.

Demonstrating their inability to think in other-than the present moment, Costa Rica acknowledges that much work needs to be done to prevent severe flooding.  2007 is predicted to be a La Nina year, with 12% more rainfall in the Central Valley and 15% more in the Central and Southern Pacific regions. Last year, San Jose's drainage systems were so clogged with garbage there was major flooding.  An important dike was in need of major repair, but the engineer underestimated materials needs by 50%.  Dry river beds need to be dredged and other cantons need repair, but as rainy season hits in earnest any day now, nothing will be done. 1 Dream Getaway Territory is projected to receive its normal rainfall.

a day in the life

This typically verbose diatribe is to help you understand us, our business, 1 Dreamgetaway Territory and Cost Rica. Four days ago the new management at 1 Dream City refused to take our reservations in person.  After numerous calls and countless minutes of listening to music, we reached the Reservations Desk in San Jose, where we were asked to send an email complete with business information and Cedula. For 4 days, our emails were returned as undeliverable.  We did receive emails from Reservations, but REPLY only resulted in another UNDELIVERABLE message. During the periods of those days when we had electricity, we noticed we did not have cable. Of course, two hours after the electricity goes out, we also lose water.

First thing Monday morning, we called Amnet to learn our service was cut for non-payment.  As neither houses nor businesses nor government buildings have addresses, Costa Ricans do not receive bills in the mail for ANYTHING. To pay our electricity, we see Jose at the local pulperia and ask if we have a bill yet. .If we don't ask in time, it is cut.  Our water is paid in a crippled lady's home, our phone at the bank, and our cable at the Amnet office in Tamarindo. So at 9 AM we headed into Tamarindo (a ten minute drive without traffic), and sat in traffic for 1 1/2 hours.  As Tamirindo is at the end of a dead-end street, has a huge exploding population, and no parking:; the length of the city is lined with cars on both sides of the road leaving one lane open for two-way traffic.  That lane is always jammed with busses, delivery trucks, construction equipment, and Gringos in their rental cars holding their 9 AM beer and waiting to move. Half-way through the traffic jam, Costa Rica's electricity went out again. So Amnet could not take our payment, but would not restore our cable without payment.  It didn't matter much, as Amnet had no juice to provide cable, and our TV was without power. Tried to mail an important letter, but the Post Office---also without power---was unable to sell a stamp without power.

So we headed back through traffic to our bank.  We were unable to learn if we had a pending telephone bill or get cash, because the bank is without power or a back-up generator. Tamarindo's urban sprawl is headed our way,  and we stopped in a new plaza near home to the pharmacy. As the buildings in the plaza are designed to be air conditioned, the trees have been cut down and buildings block the breeze;  it was sweltering hot inside and the employees dripped sweat. As with our previous stop at the local super, the pharmacy was unable to take credit cards and we were unable to get cash from our bank. But life goes on (no problem, man) and they both (the super and pharmacy) told us to take what we want and stop back to pay when the juice comes back on. This is the charm of Costa Rica.

 Well, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the lights went out.  There are lots of rumors as to the real reason, but ICE is planning black-outs across Costa Rica, as there is not enough electricity to go around. Intel scrapped 150,000 chips, and the plastic companies had their products solidify in the molds and injections machines.  Of course, that does not stop Costa Rica from the mega-construction going on. It is also suspicious that all this comes as, once again, CAFTA is on the table in the Costa Rica Legislature. If there were ever free trade in Costa Rica, prices would drop, services would improve, and ICE would disappear.  We spent 8 hours today without lights, and six without water. With nothing to do, I sat on the back porch and a violent storm came through with hurricane force winds from the south.  Costa Rica does not get hurricanes, but perhaps that will change with global warming.  The storm only lasted about 20 minutes, but it sure was a wake-up call. The first annual May Birthday Party is about to begin. Pura vida.

APRIL 2007 is showing a transition into our rainy season, although we have not had a drop of rain in five months. The "highway" from Cartegena to Huacas is still closed most days, leaving trucks, buses, locals and tourists to drive through farmers fields to get to/from Flamingo, Portrero, Brasilito, Tamarindo, and many other popular tourist spots. It seems they really want to get the roads done before rainy season, and time will tell how it holds up. 3 million Ticos come to 1 Dream Getaway territory to enjoy Easter Week, and we shut down for that week. The Transitos are out in force to profit from all the traffic, and still up to their old tricks.  Yesterday a traffic cop jumped out in front of my car and wrote me a ticket for not having brake lights---even though he never saw the back of the car until I was pulling away with my ticket (The lights are fine.) This is the second time that has happened.

ABOUT SAFETY  I often joke with clients about an acquaintance who is in Costa Rica with a secret police organization---paid with millions of American dollars---whose task is to bust drug-dealing cops.  The guy himself is a user, and to me this is simply another example of the US's silly "wars" that cause nothing but bad will and a drain on the American economy. I understand the elderly ex-special forces tourist who killed a robber on a bus in Limon got a lot of play in the US media, but it got very little here. Costa Rica does not want people to know they have violent crime.

As we receive many inquiries from new clients about safety, it seems prudent to discuss it. A friend with a news organization spoke recently of crime in San Jose, and said: "We just set the bodies out with the garbage." A major national problem here is that a minor cannot commit a crime.  There are simply no laws against underage criminals. The average Tico has different values than most of the world, but he is generally honest and definitely non-violent.  But gangs operate with relative immunity and go where the money is---namely the most popular tourist areas and resorts with the best websites.  The most shining example is Tamarindo.  These communities have hired really professional law enforcement people to curb skyrocketing crime---but Costa Rica denies them any powers except to take the criminals they catch to the local police---who generally release them without even investigating.

Following the murder of a tourist, like we had in Tamarindo yesterday, the police set up roadblocks on the only road to Tamarindo---intensifying a traffic problem that is commonly intense. The cops are not seeking the actual murderer, but rather anyone without proper documents on his person. They love deporting illegals, but rarely incarcerate a Tico. We have never had a client harassed, threatened, or robbed, and advise our clients they can wander the streets and beaches any time without worry. Our resorts are often nearby ones that post signs like you see in the center of our ABOUT US page. But the pickings are so good for thieves there, they do not wander. Costa Rica removed its signature from the Alliance of Nations, which supposedly invaded Iraq, so there is absolutely no threat of terrorism here.  Our clients often comment on how smoothly their flights go, and are usually in our car within 1/2 hour of when their planes touch down in Liberia.

More Tourists Arrive Via Liberia
Twenty percent more tourists arrived at Daniel Oduber International Airport, in Liberia, Guanacaste, the year that ended this January and as compared to the same 12-month period, official sources disclosed.

They added that most of the passengers are beach-bound tourists, who arrive in scheduled flights operated by American Airlines, Delta, Continental, US Airways, United, and Northwest, as well as by charter or seasonal carriers such as Sunwing, Sky Service and Air Canada.

On the other hand, at least three European airlines are planning to bring passengers directly to the Guanacaste beaches via the Liberia airport, the sources said.

LATE FEBRUARY NEWS is dominated by water.  If you haven't figured out by reading www.1dreamgetaway.com, we are not fans of San Jose, where three quarters of Costa Rica's people live. It is also where Costa Rica's manufacturing takes place, and the rivers are their sewers. In fear of Bird Flu, they have studied the 500 brown pelicans found dead from the Central Valley to Puntarenus (They think many more were eaten by crocodiles and sea life.), and found the cause to be heavy concentrations of sewage and heavy metals in the fish the pelicans eat. El Nino and the shifting of gulf currents means San Jose's waste is no longer being swept out to sea.

In 1 Dream Getaway territory, Playa Hermosa---the high-rent residential area near LIR---is having two and three day periods without water. Restaurants are closing and people are making coffee from and bathing in their swimming pools. The problem---as in Tamarindo---is that Costa Rica has allowed wholesale building without a thought to infrastructure. When Residents complain, Costa Rica (San Jose) says "Tough!  We need the water for the hotels."  One reason we discontinued our most popular resort, White Beach, is that we had clients spend hours and days without water in their rooms.  But the building continues. Costa Rica's goal is to increase Tourism by 4% per year and build lots of hotels to accommodate them. Water be damned.

FEBRUARY ROAD UPDATE: The conditions of our roads has hit this country right in the wallet, so now they are starting to work. They have completely torn up the highways leading from Cartegena to Tamarindo, Villareal, Conchal, Brasilito, Portrero and Flamingo.  When they are not completely blocked off, they are washboard dirt/stone. Rainy season will start in a couple of months, and we don't see much prospect of them being done.  So this will likely be the situation for quite a while. Costa Rica weather has broken heat records in much of the country, but it it is beautiful here in 1 Dream Getaway Territory.  'Comon down.

WARNING: The road to Tamarindo/ Playa Negra/ Pinellis is closed with an alternative route that is a one-lane cow pasture. But our latest trip to Liberia was scary, as the dust encompasses the vehicles and you just stare at tan glass. Our next door neighbor, a missionary used to driving all over Central America, was nearly killed when he ran into a Tico who decided to stop his car in the middle of the road. This is seriously dangerous driving, and we advise you avoid Flamingo, Portrero, Conchal, Brasilito, Tamarindo, and Playa Negra until rainy season starts at least.  When it starts to rain, it will be slow and uncomfortable, but at least doable.

We have had lots of questions about the "Columbian Connection" mentioned below. The best way we can explain it is that Tamarindo has grown so rapidly and promotes itself so well, that it is always jam packed. The streets are lined with hookers, and they have become very street smart. An X-friend has brought some of these prostitutes to our door and given us a different story, and after these girls get with our clients we caught them harassing them for money both when they were here and after they went home. These Columbians managed to convince us and our clients that they were serious. 1 Dream Getaway NEVER shares any information about a client unless he asks us to, and the final straw came when a doctor had his business card stolen by his companion, then she called his office and harassed the doctor's secretary for money. Protecting you from these scams is one reason for planning your dream vacation with us, and we apologize for exposing you to it.

COMING SOON: In our efforts to make your dreams realities, we hope to soon have a U. S. associate with an 800 number, in case you are having trouble getting through to us by phone here in Costa Rica. We also hope to soon have a client online form to make your selections of place and companion more convenient and scientific here in the Paradise of Costa Rica.

This morning we received our very first international call on our new phone line.  I don't know if it was just a fluke, or if our line is now working, but you are welcome to try ((011-506) 652-9017).  The bad news is that the call was from a client/friend who exposed a plot by some 1 Dream Getaway companions.  Apparently we have been duped, and if you have been harassed by one of our (Columbian) companions giving a sob story and demanding money, we apologize and assure you it will not happen again.  Please ignore any sob story about sick children in desperate need of money.  We live and learn, and apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused.

We keep telling you why the most beautiful, attentive women in the world don't want Ticos. Here's another example:  3 years after requesting a phone line for our office---right on the main road to Santa Rosa---fiber optic cables were run within three feet of our connection. Then we waited six months for them to install the junction boxes, and were told we would have our phone line with DSL any day now (2005). As per our HOME page, our connection came a year later. We now have our own internet connection (dial up), and can receive calls from within Costa Rica at 652-9017, and call out within Costa Rica. HOWEVER, we can neither call out of the country, nor receive calls from outside Costa Rica. We also cannot call our office from our cell phone. Since 2007 began, we have been calling every office of ICE in every city in Costa Rica, and they do not answer.  Today we went to Filadelfia and Santa Cruz, and finally found an ICE office open.  We waited 2 hours to get to the window, and were told that they are working on the problem and have no idea when it will be solved. So for our clients and potential customers, communications are status quo. If you really feel a need to talk to us on the phone from outside Costa Rica, our cell is the same (011-506-389-7479), but if it rings most of our time will be spent saying hello, hello, can you hear me now? and we will be wandering around the office looking for a good signal. Our 2006 email problems (which were with our United States host) are now solved, and we always respond to our email.  So write us (info@1dreamgetaway.com) and we'll answer.  We're all looking forward to a great 2007, and hope you accept the lack of communications and roads as part of the charm of Costa Rica. We've had several clients come looking to open businesses here, and they got scared away by Costa Rica's lack of services, but that's fine with us.  Let's not pave Paradise and put up a parking lot. If you are looking for property or a business, we will answer your questions as honestly as we can before you come, and show you what you want to see when you come

We enter 2007 in this effort for you to understand Costa Rica, Ticos, and 1 Dream Getaway. No Tico knows war---or for that matter discipline.  A typical Tico lives with his mommy until he marries, and if he never marries he always lives with Mommy. If the family needs support and no work is available, he steals or deals drugs or both.  Catholicism is not a religion here, but the law and a subject taught in school. As the family always reigns supreme, stealing from foreigners to support it becomes something God admires and rewards---just as some Arabs believe their place with God is gained by strapping a bomb around their waist. With many exceptions, a father is a penis.  Once his job is done, he moves on. Most 1 Dream Getaway companions are the abandoned mothers, willing to do anything to provide for their families.  The men---even those with important jobs and responsibilities---don't take those responsibilities seriously. If you never do anything, you never do anything wrong. Generally, a Tico will not face adversity.

At this writing, Costa Rica is the only country who has not signed CAFTA.  I believe they won't, but many of those who know it is essential to Costa Rica's future are hopeful.  Also at this writing, our President is asking the US to forgive $400 billion in debts. I believe Arias (our President) got elected by making that promise to the US---but as US Democrats got elected by promising to get the US out of Iraq, and are now committing more troops---so Arias will promise to sign CAFTA if the debt is forgiven, but Costa Rica's monopolies (lacking discipline, a work ethic and responsibility) will not allow CAFTA to be signed, as they know they would not exist if expected to compete with real companies in areas like utilities, internet, and manufacturing. Costa Rica's government is so quagmired in beurocracy, vague and conflicting laws, padded payrolls and corruption that they have little option but to remain vestigial. Stupid buck-passing is certainly not unique to the government of Costa Rica.  Kathy's passport application submitted to the US Embassy was rejected because it was on green paper and the US requires it on yellow paper.  As Costa Rica will not print it on yellow paper, Kathy loses her citizenship.

A country whose economy is based upon tourism and foreign investment, Costa Rica has few (if any) English teachers who can speak English.  Yet Costa Ricans are so patriotic and egotistical they they refuse help (offered for free) from a true English-speaker. We can speak and joke about the races here because racism (against Tico races) is non-existent and we do/say things that would put an American white man in jail---without causing offense. Yet it is human nature to have someone to look down upon, and the primary target of Ticos is Nicaragua.  As American Latins and blacks perform work most white Americans would never do, so Nicaraguans clean up the Ticos' messes. And behind the scenes, a Gringo is always someone of lower stature, but with a yard full of money trees where he can harvest whenever he runs short of cash. In my unique Tico/Gringo status, I find myself both accepted and looked down upon. For a long time, our news (from CR and Hong Cong) discusses the "invasion of Iraq" and daily footage shows American soldiers breaking down the doors of people's homes and holding women and children at gunpoint. There is a genuine fear Americans will invade Costa Rica as they have invaded our neighbors to the north and south. Yet food on the table is largely dependent upon the Gringos coming here. It is easy to understand why they don't understand us or know how to deal with us. But the women know a Gringo is likely to think of her first and look to her needs, and that a Tico thinks only of himself.  Most of our first-time clients ask: "What would she like to do?  Where would she like to stay?  What would she like me to bring her?", and 1 Dream Getaway companions know they would never hear those things from a Tico.

As Gringo towns sprout (like Portrero, Flamingo, Tamarindo), the professional thieves are finding lots of work. Ticos don't arrest Ticos, so those communities have hired their private police force comprised of trained, professional law enforcement people. The deal is that ONLY CR POLICE can arrest someone, so when these rentacops catch thieves in the act, the Police don't respond ("we have no gas or cars") , and when the thieves are brought in with signed statements from witnesses, videotapes and photos, not one criminal has actually been detained or charged. In short, the government of Costa Rica has made a clear statement that thievery is permitted. Unusual to the nature of Ticos, the crimes in the Gringo areas have become violent and confrontational.  Again, the Tico ego and knowledge that nothing will happen to them regardless. HOWEVER, this is only the attitude of Costa Rica government (themselves thieves) and very much against the true nature of a Tico. If you read our TESTIMONIALS, you'll see that 1 Dream Getaway really does give you the real Costa Rica, where you can leave your things out in the open and walk the roads, woods and beaches without fear.

HAPPY NEW YEAR: The 1 Dream Getaway limo ends the year in need of repair, and we tried to leave it for a post-New Years appointment and rent a car----however there is not one rental car available in 1 Dream Getaway territory. It seems many people don't bother reading where we say "Don't even try to come Christmas-New Years or Easter Week (Semana Santa). It just isn't possible. However as other Latin American countries are working on incentives to bring Gringos and businesses, Costa Rica is thinking up new ways to tax and harass them.  Our clients who have come to investigate business ventures here have gone elsewhere, as Costa Rica fails to provide basic services like roads and communications. Of course the big boys---like Hyatt, Regent, 4 Seasons, Marriott---can buy the favors of Costa Rica's monopolies, and make their own roads. In our area, nothing has been done about the "highway" to those bit resorts, but as supply currently outstrips demand for 5 Star accommodations in this area, those resorts are still packed and up-scale people appear willing to suffer the dust, mud and potholes to get there.  We lament the loss of our favorite resort---White Beach---which was purchased by Gringos who are trying to run it from afar while planning to tear it down and build another cruise ship on wheels. There is a wonderful new surprise that 1 Dream Getaway will soon be offering.

 After 4 years of pestering ICE for our telephone line, we were finally told it was ready and to rush to Santa Cruz to pay for the installation.  However 2006 ends with us only $100+ poorer, and still no phone line. Oh well, 2007 is another year. Costa Rica's biggest curse is its monopolistic government, and CAFTA was our hope of changing that.  But alas, all these years of waiting for a signature have resulted only in more study groups and ICE (the utility monopoly) shutting down the country each time the Treaty is to be signed. For the rest of the world---accustomed to free trade---we explain by example how a huge, corrupt, inefficient system prevails: We've had numerous responses to our request to help 1 Dream Getaway obtain decent communications. Frankly, our hope was that someone would pack up some new technology to link us into a satellite and come for a Dream Vacation (If we had it shipped from the States, Aduana (Customs) would steal it). Most of those responses proposed simple, inexpensive, and obvious (to the rest of the world) solutions. For instance: Costa Rica has Direct TV, and we could have it installed (legally) and working in a few days.  DTV offers Internet service, which is our primary goal.  HOWEVER Costa Rica has its monopolistic ISP (Racsa) who charges by the byte transmitted and the byte received, while their Cousin (ICE) charges for each minute connected to their phone lines. Had we a phone line, we would gladly pay the $hundreds each month for Internet service. But as ICE will not give us a phone line, so Racsa cannot give us internet service.  But they also will not allow DTV to throw the switch providing satellite Internet. In short, they will not provide the service, nor allow anyone else to do it. CAFTA would change that, so they will not allow CAFTA.

Costa Rica has been the "51st State" for many years, but as anti-American sentiment grows throughout the world and Costa Rica's faith in America to defend it (as we have no army) diminishes because US forces are spread so thin in the Middle East, Costa Rica is no longer a puppet for the US. Of course the government of Costa Rica will always be for sale, and hence the big boys get what they want as long as they provide their own services. Relations are strengthening with the Chinese. The unfortunate result is that these massive construction projects destroy everything that made Costa Rica so desirable. We still know the real Costa Rica, and are looking forward to showing it to you.  2007 will be another great year.  We hope you will join us.

Please note our new TRAVEL TIPS page about Costa Rica

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