Guide to Quepos & Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Bird Watching in the Killing Field

By Jack Ewing

Egrets Feeding

When the first settlers moved into the area around Dominical in the early 1900s, they found primary forests comprised of hundreds of thousands of species of living organisms. Over time trees were felled and the highly diverse forests replaced with several species of grass intended for the exclusive consumption of domestic animals which in turn would be slaughtered for human food. The ecosystem that evolved around this reality was much lower in biodiversity than the primary forest it had replaced. However, certain species that humans consider pests, such as vampire bats, ticks, lice, grasshoppers and rats, experienced population explosions; and, in the case of birds, the number of species increased significantly to include those that thrive in open spaces and near livestock.

Filed under: Jack Ewing, Nature and Local History Stories on May 23rd, 2013
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Carrot Cake

By Bill Dwyer

If you or any of the people you are serving happen to be lactose-intolerant, this recipe is free of dairy products

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup sunflower or canola oil
4 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger or grated fresh ginger
½ tsp salt
4 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped roasted walnuts
1 cup raisins or diced dried apricots
4 tbsp apple juice (for glaze
4 tbsp sugar (for glaze)

Filed under: Cooking Corner on May 23rd, 2013
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Water Safety Tips

By Glen Bain

MAY is Water Safety Month in the United States so I wanted to share a few “Best Practices” with you here in Costa Rica. I hope you take these safety tips with you no matter where your pool(s) are located. Contact Costa Rica Pools in Quepos 2777-1700 or in Jaco 2643-3227 for any safety item you want, we import items every month and we have several vendors we work with in the U.S. so there is a good chance we can find what you are looking for. We fulfill special orders/requests all the time.

Filed under: Costa Rica Pools & Construction, Pool Care Basics on May 16th, 2013
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Fishing is a disease and I’ve got it. Deal with it……

By Sarah Munro

So WHAT if it ended my last relationship, this one is working just fine……

I am so excited……… The OFFSHORE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE JUST ABOUT HERE. On the other hand, I’m soooo bummed out because the tourney happens after my deadline. Can’t win it all I guess. Otherwise, this chick is headed out for some onshore action and from what I hear – It is Totally hitting. I’ve talked to a few captains in town and apparently there’s been some massive sea bass and red snapper brought in by even rookie anglers…….That’s makin’ my day…….. how ‘bout yours????

Filed under: Fishing Report, Sarah Munro, That's Fishin' on May 10th, 2013
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¿To be or not To be? Parte I.

By Os

To be, or not to be; that is the question:

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles…

¿To be or not To be? That is NOT the question.

¿Ser or Estar? ¡That’s the question!

Today it’s not about Hamlet or Shakespeare. Today it’s about the verb TO BE.

Filed under: Os, Spanish Sucks on May 9th, 2013
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Bird Song…?

By Nancy Buchan

Every once in a while I’ll be rudely jolted out of a blissful sleep at like 5 in the freaking morning by the incredibly loud call/song/RACKET being produced by what I call the Maniacal bird. He mostly hangs out under dense foliage, and apparently likes to walk and talk right by my bedroom window. He’s got this raspy, rusty-hinge kind of voice for part of his call, then a weird whoop whoop thing and tops it off with a long anguished note that can wake the proverbial dead. It’s not quite as obnoxious as Woody Woodpeckers cackle in the old cartoons, but it’s definitely in the same category. I finally saw him one morning, traveling on the ground under a papaya tree and a tangle of hibiscus, and he is about a foot tall, has a long skinny neck, he’s shades of non-descript brown and a pretty clumsy flyer. I looked him up in my tattered bird bible, A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica, and he’s called a Chachalaca. Boom cha cha laca laca, boom cha cha laca laca. (Anybody remember Sly and the Family Stone?) Anyway, de-forestation of his habitat is taking its toll, and some species in his family are on a fast track to extinction – which would be a horrible thing ‘cause to tell ‘ya the truth I’ve come to enjoy his boisterous concerts, which is kinda like saying you like the sound of bagpipes or fingernails on a chalkboard.

Filed under: Fiddlin' Around, Nancy Buchan on May 6th, 2013
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Cosmic Confetti’s Horoscopes – May 2013

TAURUS - April 20-May 20

Everyone wants what’s best for you, in terms of reducing the amount of time you are allowed to show your face outside of your house. Your ideals are starting to shape the way you’re living, so congratulations.
RULING GEMSTONE: EMERALD

GEMINI - May 21-June 21

The law may be your friend today, or it might turn round and bite you in the ass. Either way the word “law” is going to crop up. Holiday, it would be so nice…to be on holiday. So why not go for it?
RULING GEMSTONE: ALEXANDRITE

Filed under: Cosmic Confetti, Horoscopes on May 4th, 2013
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