Quepolandia

The Sloth Institute’s WISH Program

By Sam Trull

A question I get asked often is “Are sloths endangered?”. While the sloths of Costa Rica may not be categorized as endangered but they are still very much IN danger. Every day critical habitat is destroyed and sloths are injured by human encroachment. They can’t run across roads, jump through gaps in the forest or fend off dogs. In addition, underlying diseases and abilities to adjust to an ever changing world go un-detected without targeted research initiatives. There are active steps we can take towards creating a safer, healthier and happier future for wild sloths in Costa Rica. But first we need to learn, what makes a healthy sloth? What factors affect the health of individual sloths and sloth populations? In order to truly tackle these questions, through the generous donation of Dave Houck of Tulemar and our GoFundMe donors, we recently completed the build of Monster’s WiSH (Wild Sloth Health) lab.

¿What did you do during the rainy season?

Spanish Sucks by Os ¿Did you:

OBSERVE THE ENDINGS?;

ANALYZE THE BOXES?;

LEARN THE VERBS?;

MEMORIZE THE WORDS?…

I hope you DID those things. I hope you did use and invest your time into the Spanish language and those 12 verbs which I told you are súper importantes 😉

Filed under: Os, Spanish Sucks
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Titi Conservation Alliance – December 2016

Tree planting at the Gamboa family farm

As we approach the Christmas holiday and year end festivities, we would like to sincerely thank everyone who supported The Titi Conservation Alliance Annual Online Auction in November. We were so fortunate to have many generous donors and buyers this year and truly appreciate the support. Proceeds from this year’s auction will be earmarked to strengthen our Environmental Education program that has provided free environmental education to 4^th and 5^th graders in our area since 2003.

New Members

We are so pleased to welcome several new members to Titi Conservation Alliance! Mid World Costa Rica Adventure Tours, came on board in September followed by 2Costa Rica Real Estate a well known local realtor and finally Capris S.A. one of Costa Rica’s most important hardware and heavy equipment suppliers. We are also happy to be allied this year with Best Adventure Travel a local ground operator for the Road Scholar tour groups.

We truly appreciate the support of these new businesses! Please be sure to thank the staff and owners for making the decision to support our conservation projects in Quepos- Manuel Antonio and surrounding areas.

The Tourism that Dares not Speak its Name

shambling through paradise I was seated in the bar of a downtown San Jose hotel, waiting for friends to arrive. An attractive young woman took the seat next to me. We exchanged holas. Then she told me that I reminded of her of that ‘galan’ in Hollywood, “como se llama?” I looked at myself in the bar mirror—with my recent haircut and beard trim, and the gray in my beard offset by my still dark head of hair, I ventured: “George Clooney?”

“Si, si,” she said. “Yorzh Cloney!” Then she offered to have sex with me for 100 dollars.

Outdoor Rooms – Where Would You Rather Be?

By Shelagh Duncan

The outdoor living area has probably become one of the most important features in North American homes over the last few years. We however, have been lucky enough to enjoy our outdoor living areas ever since we arrived!

We love to spend our time outdoors – who would blame us! With the incredible beauty, and pure oxygen-rich air surrounding us, naturally the covered terrace is where we prefer to spend most of our time. Typically that area has also become larger than our indoor living room, but how do we bring the inside out and the outside in?

Quepos IS Safe & Friendly

By Vera Jones

The people of Quepos look forward to serving you and telling you about our town, a typical Costa Rican pueblo. Quepos provides access to all amenities, such as Supermarkets, ATMs, Post Office, Doctors, Dentists, Taxis, Buses, Souvineers, Shopping, Restaurants, a Casino and much more.

Quepos is safe and friendly. The people living here go out of their ways to be helpful, often speaking English as well as Spanish. So spend some time and enjoy shopping, dining and having a drink.

The streets have been recently repaved so walking and driving are easy. Quepos is on the ocean front and the boardwalk is the perfect place to sit and relax. There is an open-air market on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings with lots of exotic local fruits and vegetables.

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What’s Shaking at Marina Pez Vela? – December 2016

With our 91 new slips completed and our commercial plaza now full of fabulous restaurants, shops and tour companies, we are incredibly excited for what is going to be an AMAZING DECEMBER and kick-off to the high season. Make sure to start planning your month now, so as to not miss any of these amazing events. And please join us for a sunset, a Thursday night happy hour with the RadioDos show live with Evan luck, or outdoor movie night.

BRIGHT LIGHTS BOAT PARADE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9^th

The third annual Bright Lights boat parade promises to be bigger and better than ever this year. This year’s event is going to include the traditional boat parade, circus performers, fireworks display and a lot of fun with our expanded commercial plaza and a chance for everyone to celebrate the start of our holiday season. Charters are available so that you can enjoy the event FROM THE WATER and be a part of the action. Reach out to the team at iFish Quepos for details on a private or shared charter boat or to sponsor and decorate a boat.

¿Qué Pasa en Quepos? – December 2016

Bienvenidos/ Welcome to paradise we are glad you have arrived. The rains are slowing, the sun is shining, and the jungle is alive… so let the fun begin. Our pages are full of awesome restaurants of every flavor Barba Roja, Z Gastro Bar or Victoria’s just to mention a few. Tour companies to take your vacation to the next level (Quepoa Expeditions, Skydive Costa Rica, Titi Canopy). Transportation companies (Monkey Ride & the Marina Pez Vela shuttle) that will get you where you are going. Not to mention great articles to enjoy while chillin at the beach or by the pool.

The fish are jumping and so is Marina Pez Vela. The annual Bright Lights Boat Parade is December 9, what a great way to start off the Holiday season and wrapping it with a Spectacular firework show to light up the skies of Quepos for New Years Eve so make sure not to miss it. Great time to feel the Pura Vida this country has to offer.

Our shops are great for your holiday shopping. Check out La Tombola, Mot Mot Gallery and The Captain’s Booty for that one of a kind gift. Also lets not forget the Toys for Tots boxes in the area and help brighten someone’s holiday.

We want to welcome our new advertisers: Adis Arquitectura, Blue Horizon, Costa Rica Luxury Real Estate, Mademoiselle Salon, Picador, Quepos Fishing Charters, Sunset Sails, and Vidis.

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 at here or on Facebook. We appreciate and welcome your comments.

We at Quepolandia want to wish our advertisers, writers, staff, and readers a Wonderful Holiday Season and an Incredible 2017!!!

Peace on Earth & Enjoy…D

Filed under: Dave Bolger, Qué Pasa en Quepos
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Shrimp Remoulade

By Desiree Brassert

This classic recipe from New Orleans can be used as an alternative cocktail sauce for the typical ketchup and horseradish concoction, or as a dressing for a salad as pictured here.

For 6 to 8 servings or 1 kg of medium sized peeled, deveined, and poached shrimp. Allow to cool, and leave the tails attached if serving as a shrimp cocktail.

1 stick of celery, leaves removed
1 small white onion (no more then 1/2 cup if chopped)
2 strands of green onions
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and some for garnish
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons of good quality mustard, preferably whole grain, but Dijon is fine
2 tablespoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper or to taste
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup olive oil
1 cup mayonnaise

Place all ingredients except for the oil and mayo into a blender. Turn on lowest speed and slowly pour in the oil to obtain a thick emulsion. Check seasonings and then fold in Mayonnaise.

This sauce is best when made 24 hours in advance.

Filed under: Chef's Corner, Desiree Brassert
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KSTR Thanksgiving 2016

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Thanksgiving is a time when we all give thanks for what we have in our lives. We thank all of you who have helped us to continue saving the rainforest. We have much gratitude to you all!

Now a message from our spokeskid, Lexi.

As the spokeskid for Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR), I’m writing articles focused on a different program each month, and this month will be focused on our sanctuary. At KSTR, we have a sanctuary for animals that are either in the process of being rehabilitated, or cannot be released into the wild. We do tours of the sanctuary, which is part of our act to raise awareness about how the wildlife is treated, plus to teach people not to have wildlife in captivity, and last but not least, to show people how they can help save the rainforest. The sanctuary cares for many animals, ranging from sloths, parrots, several types of monkeys, hawks and other birds, marmosets, kinkajous, and even a blind coati. My favorite animal in the sanctuary is a half-blind white hawk named Glacier, who was found wandering aimlessly. Even though she is fully capable of flying, she doesn’t have good depth perception so will live out her life with us. Unfortunately, not all our wildlife can be released, due to many different reasons.
We get a lot of animals in due to electrocution. Because there are roads in the middle of their forest, animals seem to think that those conveniently placed telephone wires were made just for them. They end up crossing, and gaining severe injuries in the process. Fortunately, we have placed numerous ‘Monkey Bridges’ around Manuel Antonio, which has decreased the amount of animals that come in because of electrocution (stay tuned for a future article about our monkey bridges!).

That’s Fishin’ – November 2016

Fish Friends on the Tranquilo

There is SO much special in Manuel Antonio. In the air, on land, in the sea, there’s always something new for you to experience—and that’s regardless of whether or not if you live here. The rewards are so great—the biodiversity found here is some of the most epic in the world.

I count myself as one of the luckiest people on the planet, because I’ve been living and fishing here for the past four years. It’s been absolutely amazing and I don’t think that it’s possible for another destination to give me what this one has. Perhaps my most epic day on the water was fishing with fish friends Tan and Merlin out to Foruno to try our day for meat fish. Epic was the only word to describe it for me. Of course I’ve had good days out on the water, but a day where I out fished everyone else on the boat? While using lighter line and tackle? Not losing a fish all day?!!! Having Sportfishing Magazine make you a Sportfishing Girl of the Month due to this day out on the water!? This day was nothing but epic. We caught red snapper, amberjack, grouper, and we even tried to hook a hammerhead shark that was stalking the underwater mountain we were fishing. It was an amazing day, and we created amazing memories that will stick with us forever. Well, they’ll stick with me forever, and my guy fish friends still call me to go out so I guess they remember too.

Keep On Moving Don’t Stop

We are born into this world from a liquid state. Then gravity takes hold. Although our bodies are 75% water, the earth’s gravitational pull toward its center gives us our body mass. It is our friend, it keeps us grounded. From the moment of birth this pull is the weight of our body which also gives us a sense of direction. Anytime we move and position ourselves, we expose different parts of our body to gravity’s force. Our inner ear and ability to balance can also thank gravity to help in its functioning. Since the 1950s however, gravity has been given a bad name. Modern “conveniences” started to deprive us of playing with our friend gravity. When was the last time you got up out of your seat to change the station on the television? When was the last time you walked to work or the store instead of driving? My point being, inactivity is not a human being’s friend. Modern first-world living means less and less physical movement now more than ever in history. Sedentary lifestyles (which we tend to adopt as we get older) not only promote an overweight body, but also a lethargic one. Structural damage in the form of stiffening of the heart and blood vessels are another guarantee. All of which can be prevented with exercise.

Chocolate Addiction isn’t Exclusive to Humans

Cacoa pod & seeds

Lots of Wild Animals Love Cacao Seeds

By Jack Ewing

More than a dozen years ago when I wrote the original article “Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate” for Quepolandia, little did I know that it would later become chapter one of a book by the same name. It talked about the unexpected effect that the increased availability of cacao seeds had on the general health and population of white-faced monkeys. In summary the article said that when we abandoned our nine hectares (22 acres) of cacao plantations at Hacienda Barú, due to a market plunge, the monkeys immediately moved in and started chowing down on cacao seeds. As a result of this windfall of nutrition the white-faced capuchins no longer had to struggle to survive, rather they got fat and happy and started having more babies than ever. The article goes on to compare this to humans and has an interesting message at the end. When I wrote that article I was only beginning to understand the complexity of a cacao plantation that has been given over natural processes. Man can plant cacao for the production of chocolate for the exclusive consumption of humans, which all of my fellow chocolate lovers will appreciate, but only Mother Nature can exploit it to its fullest. One of the most researched protected areas in Costa Rica is a huge nature reserve called “La Selva Biological Station.” A biologist friend once told me that the most biologically diverse areas of La Selva were the old abandoned cacao plantations, not the primary forest that one might expect. This got me to thinking and paying more attention to our old cacao plantations at Hacienda Barú which have not been pruned or otherwise cared for since 1986. I soon figured out that the cacao producing trees were planted only four meters apart, and that nowhere in a natural forest do we find such a concentration of nutrients.

HERO

There’s a home place under fire tonight in the Heartland, and the bankers are taking my home and my land from me. There’s a big achin’ hole in my chest now where my heart was, and a hole in the sky where God used to be.

There’s a home place under fire tonight in the Heartland – there’s a well with water so bitter nobody can drink. Ain’t no way to get high and my mouth is so dry that I can’t speak. Don’t they know that I’m dyin’, why is nobody cryin’ for me?

My American dream fell apart at the seams. You tell me what it means, you tell me what it means.

There’s a young boy closin’ his eyes tonight in the Heartland, who will wake up a man with a home and a loan he can’t pay.

His American dream fell apart at the seams. You tell me what it means, you tell me what it means.

These powerful words were written in 1992 by two of America’s greatest poets and prophets—Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson—and the song Heartland is on one of Willie’s finest albums, Across the Borderline. As it turns out, these lyrics are timeless. Banks, mortgage companies, soulless lobbyists and unscrupulous politicians are apathetic about the profound effects of their greed on the regular folks. The old oil money guys are stealing land again from the indigenous peoples, Mother Nature is routinely assaulted with no regard to all our futures, and friends and families are so torn apart and suspicious that they can’t drink from the same well. Or the same water fountain.

Working with Sloths, not a “Relaxed” Gig!

By Tom Lawrence

I have been working, well full time volunteering, for The Sloth Institute (TSI) for nearly two years and what an experience it has been so far. It is a job that requires a lot of time, devotion and patience but the highs it can give you are most definitely worth it. In the rescue/rehabilitation/release business there are going to be successes, which are fantastic, but the failures and sometimes successive failures and dealing with them are really what can shape the experience.

New Members

BRIGHT LIGHTS BOAT PARADE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9th

Now a message from our spokeskid, Lexi.

Lots of Wild Animals Love Cacao Seeds

BRIGHT LIGHTS BOAT PARADE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9^th