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
- Last blog post on Costa Rica and Cuba
- First-ever group motorcycle tours of Cuba successful
- Cuba’s Mariel port readying for Panama Canal expansion
- Musings on wildlife encounters on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula
- Cuba’s Steam Trains puffing their last gasp
- My top five thrilling activities in Costa Rica
- Cuba’s fun February festivals include Harleys, Books, Cigars
- Five top volcano viewing experiences in Costa Rica
- New road along Costa Rica / Nicaraguan border mired
- Cuba’s Hotel Campoamor at Cojímar to be restored?
- Cuban revolutionary Celia Sánchez honored in new book
- Christmas challenge for Costa Rica’s sexually abused girls
- Costa Rica opens Chinatown in downtown San José
- David Soul films Hemingway’s car restoration in Cuba
- National Geographic Expeditions receives license for Cuba tours
Costa Rica's new National Stadium is rising like a Phoenix
I wonder if Costa Rica will officially rename its Puente de Amistad con Taiwan (Friendship with Taiwan Bridge). The huge suspension bridge spanning the Río Tempisque opened in 2003, and was a gift from the Taiwanese government in exchange for commercial fishing rights in Costa Rican waters.
Well, this is a new Millenium. Taiwan is out and China is in.
In 2007, Costa Rica and China established formal diplomatic relations. President Oscar Arias promptly ditched the country's long-term benefactor, Taiwan, in favor of its far wealthier and more powerful neighbor. China one-upped Taiwan by promising to build Costa Rica a brand-new national multi-purpose stadium. more >>
Bill to lift travel restrictions to Cuba almost has enough votes to pass!
On Sunday, September 13, I spoke as a panelist on Cuba at The Trade Show, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Fellow speakers included Bob Whitley, President of the U.S. Tour Operators Association; Lisa Simon, President of the National Tour Association; and Tony Martínez, foreign policy adviser to Gov. Bill Richardson.
Last Monday, Whitley and Simon got together in New York with Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus, to promote unrestricted travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens.
"We're here because there's a new wind blowing in America about lifting the travel ban on Cuba," said Farr, who claims that the House of Representatives is very close to having the 218 votes needed to pass the "Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act." As I type, it had garnered 181 supporters. He even claims that it even has enough votes to clear the Senate.
With plenty enough time left in the current session, hey... the bill may actually pass! more >>
Miami's Cuban-Americans rabid over Juanes' free concert in Havana
Why is it that Miami's Cuban Americans can't let go of sour grapes and ditch their support for an utterly failed and counterproductive U.S. embargo?
The question was forcefully raised this weekend when Colombian pop-rock star Juanes, a 17-time Latin Grammy winner and Miami resident, performed a free concert–"Paz Sin Fronteras" (Peace without Borders)–in front of several hundred thousand people in Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion.
"We are all brothers, and we all have to be connected," said Juanes, bringing cheers from the crowd. Meanwhile, in Miami rabid Cuban Americans smashed his recordings in public. Inevitably, Juanes has received death threats. His house is now under police protection. more >>
Did you see this missing hiker on Costa Rica's Rincón de la Vieja National Park?
On Tuesday, August 11, 2009, David Gimelfarb, a Chicago graduate student, disappeared while hiking in Rincón de la Vieja National Park. His disappearance triggered an extensive search by the Costa Rican Red Cross assisted, eventually after much urging by family, by helicopters with infra-red sensors from the U.S. air base at Sato Cano, in Honduras.
Gimelfarb set out on a solo walk of this extremely wild 35,000-acre park, near Liberia in Guanacaste. It's daunting terrain where trails lead to bubbling mud pools, into dense montane rainforest, and to the very summit of the active volcano.
Apparently, no formal investigation is currently being undertaken by the OIJ, Costa Rica's equivalent of the FBI. The sole search efforts have been organized and funded by Gimelfarb's family and friends.
A signed affidavit by a local resident of Rincón, who claims to have recently twice seen Gimelfarb in a disheveled state, suggests that he may still be alive. more >>
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