Cuba & Costa Rica Blog
About this blog
Written by Cuba and Costa Rica expert Christopher P. Baker, this blog will update readers on life in these two diverse and exciting countries.
Recent Posts
- Costa Rica Elects its First Female President
- Costa Ricans Assist Haiti Earthquake Rescue & Relief
- Second U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit Scheduled in Cancun
- National Geographic Expeditions cruise to traverse Panama Canal
- Castro's Guerrilla Headquarters in Cuba open to visitors
- Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano Erupts
- Passengers arriving from Cuba face enhanced security screening
- Havana's Che Guevara mural gets a twin
- Join Cuba expert Christopher P Baker in Orlando for a public lecture on Cuba
- Four recent changes in Cuba that affect tourists
- Howler Monkeys of Costa Rica (and their lion-like roar)
- Exploring Costa Rica's Bat Jungle in Monteverde
- Costa Rica's Oscar Arias Administration Pulling Down Hotels
- Ten Pointers for Ethical Tourism in Costa Rica
- Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast gets its first contemporary hotel
Costa Rica Elects its First Female President
Laura Chinchilla Miranda, candidate for the ruling Partido Nacional de Liberacion (National Liberation Party), was elected yesterday as Costa Rica's first woman president.
Costa Rica has always been a progressive nation and an exemplar for the Americas in advancing the equal rights of women. Women outnumber men in many occupations, and the nation has had several female vice-presidents, including both vice-presidents in the 1998-2001 Angel Rodriguez administation.
The historic victory in the election held on Sunday, 7th February 2010, also demonstrated the electorate's faith in the outgoing Oscar Arias administration's policies, as Chinchilla defeated second-place candidate Otton Solis, of the Citizen's Action Party, by an unprecedented two-to-one margin with 47 percent of the vote. Otto Guevara, of the Libertarian Movement, came in third with a respectacble 20.9 percent. more >>
Costa Ricans Assist Haiti Earthquake Rescue & Relief
Haiti's tragic earthquake reminded me that one year has passed since a 6.1 Richter quake shattered the lives of Costa Rica's living near the epicenter, at Cinchona de Sarapiqui. The village was competely destroyed and about 30 people were killed during the January 9, 2009 tremblor.
"In my opinion, no one can return to this place," commented Ignacio Chaves, geologist for the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) after reviewing the area, where high rainfall, steep slopes, and deforestation exacerbated the damage and future danger. Daniel Gallardo, head of the CNE, said the entire area should be declared uninhabitable.
Nonetheless, the area's main attraction, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, reopened in June 2009, and its Peace Lodge hotel was back in business the following month following extensive repairs. more >>
Second U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit Scheduled in Cancun
In 2003 I attended the first (and so far, only) U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit, in Cancun, Mexico. At the end of the summit, the Cuban Ministry of Tourism flew a small group into Cuba, where we met with Fidel Castro.
After a six year hiatus, Alamar Associates has scheduled a second U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit in association with the National Tour Association and sponsored by The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA). The summit, to be held at the Gran Melia Cancun Hotel in Cancun, Mexico, March 24-26, will bring together representatives of the U.S. and Cuban travel sectors, including executives of major U.S. airline cruise lines, hotel groups, and tour operators plus more than 20 Cuban Ministry of Tourism officials and other travel specialists from Havana.
Senator Byron Dorgan, sponsor of S.428: Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, has been invited to make the keynote address on Friday, March 25. more >>
National Geographic Expeditions cruise to traverse Panama Canal
Simple in conception, monumental in scale, and a genius of design and construction, the 50-mile-long Panama Canal is a supreme triumph of man over nature. Its construction also spawned a revolution, toppled a government, and even gave birth to the Republic of Panama.
To cross the isthmus by cruise ship is one of life's great adventures. To do so with National Geographic Expeditions aboard the organization's 62-passenger Sea Lion is to turn a fascinating passage into an enthralling adventure. And not simply from the mind-numbing feat and statistics involved in excavating a man-made passage through Panama’s continental divide. The banks are cloaked in deepest verdure. Pelicans skim the soupy waters. And crocodiles can be seen hauled out on the banks, motionless as logs, soaking up the rays on sunny days. more >>
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