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
Indignant Cuban-Americans fight to prevent an end to restrictions on travel to Cuba
In this week's Travel Weekly, Editor-in-Chief Arnie Weissmann wrote about the vehemence with which Cuban-Americans in the travel industry have attacked ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) executives and board members for reiterating their support last month for ending restrictions for travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. Weissmann began his piece with a poignant anecdote:
"My parents were buying a new car just as I got my first driver's license, so I had a vested interest in what model they would choose. I suggested a Volkswagen Beetle. 'Never,' my father said. 'They're made in Germany.' To a Jewish World War II vet, that was reason enough. To my baby boomer ears, it sounded like he was living in the past."
Thus it is with Cuba. The argument given by indignant Cuban-Americans is always that people who wish to visit Cuba are "supporting a dictatorship!" Under the same argument, here are a few other places that should be off-limits: more >>
Helping save turtles in Costa Rica
I have to admit. I have a soft spot for turtles. Yes, I actually cried the first time I witnessed a female leatherback turtle laying her eggs in the soft sand above the high-water mark. To think that a species that has been swimming the oceans for 200 million years is at the point of extinction was almost too much to bear. Was I witnessing the very last generation of leatherbacks to be born?
Six of the world's eight species of marine turtles nest on Costa Rica's beaches, and you can see turtles laying eggs somewhere in Costa Rica virtually any time of year. That doesn't mean that things are healthy. more >>
Huge media blitz about travel to Cuba
Wow! With all the media play about travel to Cuba this past week, you'd think that the restrictions had been lifted. Well, not quite...
Only 90 miles separate Key West and Havana, but the Florida Straits remains the widest moat in the world. President Obama's announcement last week that Cuban-Americans would be permitted to visit their families in Cuba freely whenever they want marginally narrowed the distance. But not enough.
This welcome move was a long overdue humanitarian gesture. Common decency required it. But what about the rest of us? Why is it that a Cuban-American is allowed to visit Cuba, but other U.S. citizens and residents cannot? What happened to the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing all citizens equal equal benefit of all laws and proceedings? more >>
Costa Rica Expeditions features an intriguing new website & superb hotel upgrades
I've always admired Costa Rica Expeditions for its quality product and top-notch service. Owner Michael Kaye, who cut his teeth as a whitewater rafting guide in California decades ago and founded the company in 1978, has always shown a cutting edge savvy. I was intrigued, therefore, when he recently told me about the company's revolutionary new website home page.
Simply put, you are invited to complete a simple yet detailed "wish list" by clicking on boxes that record your personal interests and preferences for a trip. Every preference you click is immediately saved. For example, the first box is for "Primary Trip Goal." You click on such options as "Lots of rest & leisure," "Physical Activity," and "Bond with nature." You can click as many as you wish. Other boxes record your preferences in 18 other categories, including "Pace & Activity"... "Romantic Celebration"... "Children." more >>
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