Dona
Hello Quepolandia readers! Its Karma Casey, spokes-kid for KSTR. I just got back to Costa Rica, and I’m ready to help you learn more about saving the rainforest!
This month I will be talking to you about the Kids Saving the Rainforest wildlife rescue center, and some of the animals being helped there!
First things first, every animal that comes into KSTR goes straight to the veterinary clinic. There our clinic team comes to the rescue! They determine what is wrong with the animal, and quickly do what is needed to help save them. Take for example Senor Dona, a two-toed sloth I talked about in one of my previous articles.
Dona had a very bad day, getting electrocuted and then falling onto the road and being hit by a car. But luckily Kids Saving the Rainforest came to the rescue! Poor Dona used to be paralyzed from the waist down. As you may have read in my other article, the KSTR clinic/rescue team have tried everything they can to help Dona, even teaming up with an acupuncturist to help this very determined sloth regain the use of his back legs.
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Filed under: Karma Casey, Kids Saving the Rainforest
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Abigail Forbes
Tennis Club of Quepos has made a new partnership with Florida based Edge International. Edge International is a management company that provides trainers, physical therapists and nutritionists to promote young talented tennis players.
TCQ is proud to announce three new coaches Jason Zafiros, Rick Massi, and Robbie Poole. These trainers have worked with some of the best women in tennis, such as Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova, and the Williams sisters.
Here at TCQ they have been working with three exceptional young women Carina Scott, Gabriella Price, and Abigail Forbes.
Congratulations to Abigail Forbes who won the Culpa Cafe in San Jose two months ago and the tournament in Cuenca Ecuador last month…. Great Job.
Our goal here at Tennis Club of Quepos is to help guide train and develop young tennis players here in the area with premier coaches and facilities.
For more information: 8603-0473, tennisclubquepos@gmail.com, tc-quepos.com.
Filed under: Guest Writer
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By Benn Gilmour
What a GREAT start to the year it has been here in Quepolandia with some truly world class fishing taking place during January & February. Plenty of Sailfish & Blue Marlin were caught with some good numbers of Striped Marlin and several huge Black Marlin in the 500lb plus range. Quepos boats have been seeing Dorado on most Offshore trips with some good sized Bull Dorado still being caught which are always a welcome addition to any charter.
PELAGIC ROCKSTAR!
What a blast we all had at the Pelagic Rockstar Tournament held in January! The Marina Pez Vela was one big party for the weekend as a staggering 50 boats joined the action releasing a staggering 413 Sailfish & 11 Marlin between us! There were lots of Tuna and Dorado weighed also for good measure. Huge congrats to BIG OH for winning the big boat division with 26 Sailfish and Amy’s Dream for winning the small boat division with 9 Sailfish, great work guys! TAG TEAM won the Dorado division & The SEA HAWK PAINTS team won the Tuna division fishing on the stunning 50’ Maverick OPEN FLY. Congrats to all & I am already looking forward to next year’s event!
TUNA TIME!
We have enjoyed some great Tuna fishing recently with lots of fish in the 30-80lb class with some larger fish & several 200lb plus fish reported. Most of the larger fish are caught on live baits such as Bonitos, Blue Runners, Goggle eyes & Sardines. Surface poppers, artificial jigs and small tuna lures can also work great and account for many of the 30-80lb Tuna. Our Tuna form huge schools typically 20-50 miles Offshore and travel alongside Spinner Dolphin megapods which consist of several hundred dolphins, which provide some simply incredible scenes. Reason enough to take a fishing charter in itself and March should continue to provide some excellent opportunities for Tuna.
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Filed under: Benn Glimour, That's Fishin'
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By Andres Vargas
The shorelines of Costa Rica are some of the most majestic in the world. Playa Hermosa and Uvita’s Marino Ballena have been home to my family, my friends and a variety of turtles, birds, fish and other wildlife that live here. Over the years I’ve watched the numbers of those who visit the beach grow, and with it came increased concerns about rubbish and swimmer safety. I remembered what it was like to have safe, clean beaches. I wanted that for my children too, so I asked a friend, Josh Wendel, who is a Costa Rican resident, owns a few businesses in the community and happens to run an event near Uvita called Envision Festival, to support a plan that educates both tourists and Ticos to all do our part to keep the divine beaches of Costa Rica trash-free and safe.
We agreed something should be done and within a few weeks a plan was formed.
We wanted to pick up all the trash left at local beaches. Since New Year’s, I’ve organized three Beach Clean Ups attracting Costa Ricans from all over, including Tamarindo, San Jose, Heredia and Alajuela – just for a few. Today, we have three more beach cleanups planned including one the weekend after Envision Festival. Each has been more successful than the one that came before it, with a bigger turnout of participants and more trash cleared. In our most recent Beach Clean Up, almost 100 people gathered with trash bags in-hand to pick up a record 335 kilos of trash from Playa Colonia, Playa Uvita, Playa Ballena and Dominical. Over the course of a few weeks I watched our volunteers become heroes, as a record 1 ton and 30 kilograms of waste collected over 55 kilometers of shoreline.
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Time flies when you’re having fun…Time has passed me by…Time has taken its toll…Time stood still…I don’t have Time for that… She’s gotten better with Time…that’s a Timeless melody…to everything there is a Time… We all talk about Time as if we had a clue what it’s all about. We try to manipulate time or control it, or measure it, or define it—and we certainly write lyrics and songs about it. My personal favorite saying about Time doesn’t really mean a damn thing—it just looks good scrawled on a wall. ‘Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like bananas…’
Songwriters have penned some truly cheesy and simplistic things about time, but they occasionally hit on some profound thoughts that we can all relate to. The Stones wrote about being “Out of Time” (it was never played live—and is only on the UK version of the recording “Aftermath”). They also wrote “Time Waits for No One” and optimistically that “Time is On My Side”. Their fascination with the subject also resulted in “The Last Time”. The Doors asked the world to “Love Me Two Times”, Cyndi Lauper wrote about “Time After Time” and even vapid little Brittney Spears wants “Baby, One More Time”. That great band Chicago asked the big question—“Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” Cher had a hit with the song “If I Could Turn Back Time”, which she has apparently spent a good chunk of her life trying to do, at least physically! Clint Black wrote “Killin’ Time” and Ray Charles can make us weep with his song “Crying Time”.
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Filed under: Fiddlin' Around, Nancy Buchan
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We were very happy to have had 45 locations in Costa Rica and beyond with our neighbours Nicaragua & Panama, symbolizing that pollution has no borders, simultaneously cleaning on Jan 12th 2019. It was a successful event with more than 1250 volunteers united to collect approximately 8,600 kilos (1 ton) of debris from entering our precious oceans!
Find and join us on FaceBook and Instagram for information about our next activities, @OperationRichCoast.
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The lush and magical jungle of Uvita is hosting Envision Festival 2019 for its 9th year. We all know Envision as a four-day music festival, but did you know that it’s also a celebration dedicated to Movement, Art, Bio-construction, Health, Community, Permaculture, and Spirituality?
Envision aims to awaken each human’s higher self and full potential. It differs from other music festivals because it takes the experience deeper, beyond the music. The festival offers a healing sanctuary, yoga and other movement workshops, plant medicine workshops, retreats, tours, and excursions.
If you’re here at Envision this year, you’re sure to have experienced change, adventure, healing, and new friendships through yoga, self-love, meditation, dancing, chanting, and learning.
And when it’s all over, how do we re-enter the world outside the festival? How does your body and mind recover from such a spiritually and physically exhaustive weekend? Luckily, we’ve got you covered.
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Filed under: A Healthier You, Sisters that Stray
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Careers and lifestyle choices are heavy hitters in this game called life. I recently read that only 13% of Americans love their job. This saddened me profoundly. I never realized how small that percentage is. What are people afraid of? It is time to grow up and start living with those innate cues that every human has. The more you are polluted the less you will hear. Life does not have handcuffs—those are by your doing. I’m confused by the desperation or fantasy worlds that some people live in. Every damn thing that has worth takes work, time, effort, and sacrifice. My friends and I live by this creed, we have no choice.
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Filed under: Memoirs of a Masseur, Todd Pequeen
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By Karoline Gore
Kitchens are often renowned as the heart of the Costa Rican home, but these days, that heart might need some TLC. Traditional foods like casado and the morning batch of pinto de gallo are still being served in Costa Rica, but something might be missing from this tradition: a sit-down style family meal. Eating together as a family has been found to have a plethora of benefits. Unfortunately, life today is very fast-paced, and your family time might be paying the price. After a long, hard day, it’s quite a challenge to make a home cooked meal and rally the troops to have a family dinner. Of course, you can’t cut corners in life, but what you can do is let technology help you out!
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Filed under: Design Wise, Guest Writer
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SO MANY TOURNEYS, SO LITTLE TIME!
More than just the temperatures are hot this time of year, the recreational and competitive angling going on at MPV is at an all-time high and March kicks off the first leg of the Marina Pez Vela Championship series this year! In addition to all the public tournaments, MPV is also hosting private tournaments organized by groups of friends, professionals and anglers and whether you are looking to compete at the highest levels or want to create a new and fun way to share with friends and family, our team at IFISH Quepos can help you organize and create a memorable tournament experience. While the high season brings the world’s finest anglers to the project, Marina Pez Vela is MUCH MORE than just an anglers marina and our community events, movie nights, gastronomic offerings and services continue to play a prominent role in the lifestyle of the area and our visiting tourists!
Marina Pez Vela Tournament Series
2019 is on inaugural year linking our two signature tournaments, the Quepos BillFish Cup and the Marina Pez Vela open into a series of tournaments with prizes and Offshore World Championship qualification among the most coveted of opportunities. The MPV Tournament series uses a video release verification format with release points awarded to both teams and anglers. Each of the two tournaments are 2 day events, which have both the scoring ability for sailfish, blue and black marlin, as well as exciting game fish divisions for Dorado and Tuna, along with daily jackpots to raise the stakes even more. The first of the two events is the Quepos Billfish Cup scheduled for March 15-17th and the series wraps up with the MPV Open, which runs April 26-28th.
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Filed under: Marina Pez Vela, What's Shaking? @ Marina Pez Vela
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This dish called Mujadara makes me think of a middle eastern version of “gallo pinto.” The caramelized onions are the key and they should cook until they reach the darkest brown without burning. Don’t forget the fun toppings listed below that will add panache to these humble ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of green lentils
- 1/2 cup of olive oil + 2 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of cracked peppercorns
- 3 medium red onions thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup of basmati rice
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 small knob of ginger (approx 1 tablespoon)
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- A few teaspoons of lime juice to taste
Directions
- Place lentils in a pot with knob of ginger and cinnamon stick. Cover with water by 1 inch and set to boil. When reaches a boil, lower the temperature so the lentils stay whole and simmer for about 20 minutes. They should be cooked but not mushy. Drain in colander.
- Heat 1/2 of oil in a frying pan and add cumin seeds, peppercorns and onions. Cook onions until they are dark brown and some are turning crispy. This may take 10-15 minutes. Season with salt.
- Remove half of the onions and save them for the very end.
- Wash and drain the basmati rice and fry in the onion-cumin-pepper oil for a few minutes then add 3/4 cups of water and let the rice cook.
- To assemble the dish, heat 3 tablespoons of oil, add lentils, ground cumin and ground cinnamon, stir in the cooked rice, and finish by topping with the reserved onions, lime juice and any of the following options.
Options
Chopped nuts such as pistachios, almonds, walnuts, cashews.
Chopped dried fruit such as apricots or craisins
Chopped fresh herbs such as cilantro, parsley, or dill
Filed under: Chef's Corner, Desiree Brassert
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Envision Festival Co-Founder, Sarah Wu
Why does one decide to up and leave their life? To place distance between yourself and your blood family or to leave the place you were born? I imagine some do it to find new roots, while others do it to seize a chance to grow them. For others, it’s about creating the life that we think we should have, but the business class rigmarole and Whole Foods style marketing have got our heads spinning around about who we are in the world. Constantly questioning what niche do we fill or what value we have. When I lived in America, I frequently wondered how human potential might be stymied under the weight of our own expectations of who we should be. Costa Rica, on the other hand, has business casual, organic food, cultural expectations and hardship, but it also has an untouched rawness, a unifying element that draws people in and holds them to place. It isn’t a country for wanderers. Costa Rica is a place for migrators, for unique species and the naturally weird. It’s a place where integration and co-evolution are a part of the culture. For many, the Pure Life of Costa Rica is sort of beacon. A siren calling you home.
When I first heard the song and came to Costa Rica in 2001, studying Tropical Ecology and Environmentalism in my sophomore year in college, I was seeking to see beyond the default options and expectations I grew up with and Costa Rica offered me redirection, a lifestyle close to nature, a lifestyle that’s… Pura Vida. From the mists of Monteverde to the warm Caribbean Sea, Costa Rica had my heart the moment I touched her soil. As the years passed, I met more people, picked up more Spanish and ‘Pura Vida’ sprouted like a seed in my heart and my roots in Costa Rica grew deeper.
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Bienvenidos/ Welcome to Quepolandia, we are here to make sure you have an unforgettable adventure. So get out and enjoy being away from those freezing temperatures. So whether you are here for Envision Festival, hiking one of our incredible National Parks, or just chilling on the beach don’t forget to hydrate (not cervesas) and sunblock, sunBLOCK SUNBLOCK!!!
The 9th Annual Envision Festival is underway in Uvita (Feb. 28- March 3). This four day event is filled with music, yoga, art, and workshops to help open our minds to making this a better planet…..TOGETHER. Spreading peace, love, and knowledge not footprints and waste (100% plastic free event). We want to thank Eric Allen for sharing some love and an incredible sunset from Envision 2018 with this month’s cover shot.
A lot is happening here in March as the action continues. Marina Pez Vela is hosting the 8th Annual Quepos Billfish Cup (March 15-17) Always a great time. In addition to a fleet of boats, fantastic tours, spectacular restaurants, air conditioned shopping, the Marina is also the home of Gelateria Amorosi. So come and cool down with the area’s most delicious Italian Gelato and treats. Tell them we sent you; our advertisers love to hear it. Don’t miss movie night under the stars every Friday night on the big screen. It’s a wonderful night out for the entire family.
March Madness is upon us so all you college basketball fans can catch all the action and great food at Jolly Roger or Sancho’s on the mountain, or Kamuk Casino in Quepos.
We hope you enjoy our magazine and it helps guide you through this enchanting paradise we call home. You can always follow and share us here or on Facebook/Quepolandia. We appreciate and welcome your comments.
Peace and Enjoy…D
Filed under: Dave Bolger, Qué Pasa en Quepos
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Yoga is for everybody—but it can be intimidating if you’re a beginner. As we often say in class, “the hardest part is showing up to your mat.” Even if you’re already fit and healthy, there are so many benefits to yoga, including stress management, mood enhancement, better sleep, and increased flexibility, strength and balance.
The best way to learn yoga is by doing it. If you’re preparing to take your first class, here are some tips to take into consideration before your first flow.
Begin Where You Are
Research the studio and class type. Look into the studio and read up on their philosophy, teacher backgrounds and the class types they offer. As a beginner, you may want to start with a non-heated class and look for a hatha or vinyasa style class.
Try a beginner yoga video at home. There are countless online resources for yoga now—just search “beginner yoga flow” on YouTube and follow along from home.* Knowing the basic poses will help you to feel more confident going into your first class.
Touch base with the instructor. If you let the instructor know before class that you’re new to yoga, they will be aware to offer additional cuing and hands-on adjustments for poses as needed. It’s also important to let your instructor know if you have any injuries or are pregnant, and how you feel about receiving hands-on corrections.
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Filed under: A Healthier You, Sisters that Stray
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Male and Female Red-Headed Barbet
The Red-Headed Barbet is a very colorful bird found in the humid mountainous forests of Costa Rica. It has a wide range that also includes Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
This is another one of those bird species that shows a very different color pattern between the male and female. The male is on the left and the female is on the right.
The face reminds me of the angry bird video games.
The Red-Headed Barbets’ diet consists of insects and fruits and will often come down to feeders if offered bananas and papayas.
If you see one you will usually see the other as they do travel in pairs. I photographed this pair just outside of San Isidro at Bosque del Tolomuco Lodge. They are one more example of the beautiful birds that can be found here in Costa Rica.
Filed under: Let's Talk About Birds, Paul Gerace
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