The half flippers (Dolphin Tour in Costa Rica Samara)

To de fishermen

In a line of three cars we left our Hotel Paraiso del Cocodrilo – after a short breakfast – at half past eight towards Samara. Rainer and me ahead to lead the other five guests following with two cars the right way. Because of the river still being comparatively high and apart from that because of the non-existent amphibious-vehicle-qualities of the two rental cars, we had to drive in a roundabout way. After about an half an hours drive, we arrived at the houses of the fishermen at the outskirts of Samara.

Right after Rainer had bought some fresh dorada fish, we were guided to the fisher boot at the beach and off we went. Behind us the waving hotelier, in front of us a wonderful look over the bay and a small uninhabited island. Whereas our two native fishermen / dolphin tour-guides steered the small boat calmly trough the waves into the open sea, we were sitting excited watching for dolphins and full of anticipation, our cameras all-time ready, on the two wooden benches at the sides. Further and further we went without even seeing a single dorsal fin. So no Flipper for us today?!

Animal and nature photos

Instead of animal photographs we already had taken various of the costal landscape, the open sea and the fellow passengers, when we met another fisher boat. Not even with their cellphones the fishermen had been able to locate workmates who have been seeing some of the happy marine mammals. As well the driver of the second boat told us by sign language that we couldn’t expect any dolphins in the direction he was coming from. As consequence we turned round to follow to follow him.

And for real: No twenty minutes later: dolphins ahoy! Admittedly they were dark grey and just half the size I expected, but dolphin is just not dolphin.

Fascinated we could watch all of a sudden more and more groups of dolphins appearing at the surface to breeze or perform the one or other daredevil jump, so we cruised from one spot to the other. The question who would have to sacrifice himself as a bait for at least getting a shark in front of our camera lenses was thus luckily off the table…With enviable facility and speed the dolphins glided through the deep blue water reflecting the sky.

Drinks and pineapple

After some time and countless more or less well-taken pictures we veered off and left our aquatic relatives to take care of themselves again. However instead of immediately pelting full speed ahead back to the beach, a cooling box came to light, containing refreshing drinks and a directly on board excoriated pineapple, we shared. Afterwards the motor ran at full speed towards the beach.

Quasi as the culmination of our toure a couple of sea turtles did us the compliment the of waving goodbye. All in all a great lot, an awesome beach panorama and overwhelming sea dwellers, but after almost four hours at sea it felt really good again to be on terra firm again.

If you want to also take a trip to the dolphins can log in  Trips Costa Rica Hotel Paraiso del Cocodrilo.
Here are the prices Hotel Costa Rica Samara

  

Environment in danger worldwide

For the first time, researchers have shown now in which regions the protection of the nature and the interests of agriculture are incompatible. The road building in the wilderness in favor of the agriculture causes irremovable damage to the nature. Even the country Nr.1 of nature conservation, Costa Rica, struggles to keep up the protection.

The worst mistake is already made, when the first road is built into the wilderness. Because this is just the base for many other roads that will be eating through the endangered habitats, destroying anything in its way.

It resembles a cancerous ulcer – one time there, it spreads really fast and causes heavy damage, according to the environmental researcher William Laurence of the James Cook University. In the Scientist Magazine „Nature“ he and his fellows published a map of the world, that should sensitize traffic planners of endangered regions.

 We speak about approximately two billion hectares ( 17 % of the land surface ) ! This area is mostly still untouched and it is the home of many animals and plants, that can’t be found at another point of the world. However, there could be created big areas of arable land, for feating the growing population. Therefore this regions are considered as conflict zones.

Poor countries are concerned the most

It is sobering, because above all in poorest regions of the world the interests of the nature activists and the ones of the agriculture crash. Especially the areas in the south of the Sahara, asian states of the pacific like Sumatra, Borneo and Indochina or the Andes in South America and wide parts of Central America.

The fast development of the road system makes scientists worry all over the world. In sensitive places enterprises, departments, local authorities, etc. should plan and built with more carefully. But the hope, that this will happen, is on a quiet low level. From 2010 to 2015 international experts of the agency of energy assume that more than 25 billion streets are to be built, mostly in developing countries.

Conflict zones are concentrated above all in poor countries. Because of the rising number of inhabitants the demand for groceries increases automatically. Unluckily the will to sacrifice the protecting nature, too. Moreover it is problematically that many countries in the subtropics and tropics belong to the developing and emerging nations.

But the situation differs a lot from continent to continent: more than a quarter of the land surface of Africa is considered as critical by experts. Whereas in Europa it is less than 10 %.

In this research of course it is taken into account how much of the surface is already lost and how much of the environment still can be destroyed.

Problems in Costa Rica

More than 25% of the countries surface have been put under conservation. However there are big problems in the environmental protection like the erosion of the earth•s surface or water and air pollution. Apart from that the burden of the garbage because of exposed refuse dumps, particularly in the growing cities.

As a consequence of the erosion the coastal waters become murky and this leads to a irremovable damage of the coral reef. At the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica all coral reefs are regarded as numb.

Nonetheless, Costa Rica is still at a high level in comparison with other countries and always worth traveling to!

Our recommendation for the Province of Guanacaste is a small Costa Rica Hotel at the sandy Pacific Coast.

more information Hotel Costa Rica Samara

Please help us to save the environment!!!

Epidemic in Africa continues to spread

Last year there were in Asia Nicaragua and Costa Rica and other regions, many dengue cases. It was relatively harmless compared with the Ebola epidemic which spreads rapidly further in Africa.

The Ebola epidemic is spreading faster in the west of Africa. Meanwhile, the virus has already reached the Senegal. 

It began in March. Guinea reported an Ebola outbreak. The spread of the virus was very quickly. Liberia and Sierra Leone were affected, to cases occurred in Nigeria. 

The WHO said on 8th of august, the epidemic is an international health emergency. Several assistants are transported to Europe and the United States. A patient came on the 28th of august to Hamburg. 

3069 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola infection since the outbreak. 1552 people have already died. (Status from the 28th of august) 

An acute case reaches the Senegal. A student has been infected in Guinea and is currently being treated in the capital Dakar. The epidemic has spread in recent days in West Africa. Faster than expected and continues to spread. 

The WHO has reported that the actual disease rates in many regions are two to four times higher than expected. It is feared that the epidemic is tackled only after six to nine weeks. 

No need to panic, but if you think Africa is so far away you can be fooled. 

In the United States, Spain and in Germany there is the first patient.

Doctors Without Borders in Afrika

Information about Costa Rica
Information about Costa Rica, Province of Guanacaste

Rout 160 Sámara- Nosara should be finally completed

It was a big promise for years, but only a few parts of the road from the gas station from Samara to Nosara were covered with asphalt. Starts in 2015 with Asphalt preparation? President Guillerm will help.

The visit of President Luis Guillermo, July 23 in Nosara was again a hopeful day for residents who living in this area. Also for tourists would have spoiled an end.

For years, talked about the fact that the route should be improve. The rout 160 is about 30 km long. But it happened never, just empty promises. Now there is new hope.

Again and again health problems among the local residents. In the dry season more dust is produced. The repairs will be fixed in certain intervals. It is a costly and time consuming process. That takes a long period of time, it requires a precise time schedule.

The catastrophic condition of the road was also confirmed by the Carlos Segnini, Minister of MOPT Ministerio de Obras y Transportes Públicas and among others by officials from CONAVI Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. The road is difficult to navigate, it’s not a motorway but a field path.

Already arrived the machines 

A start has already been made. Machines were transported by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT – Ministerio de Obras y Transportes Públicas) to the respective distances and the National Roadways Council (Consejo Nacional de Vialidad CONAVI). The maintenance work can begin.

The order was placed, so Segnini (The Voice of Guanacaste). The investments are currently about 150000000 ($ 280,000) to make the route passable by the end of September.

In the second phase, the President hopes to improve the route through maintenance and repairs until the end of December. Currently negotiations are in progress. The amount is ₡ 229000000 ($ 425,000).

The third and final phase is the most difficult and time-consuming. For asphalting the road you need a lot of helpers and especially for the repair more land by the residents. The project is supported by a loan from a bank and the help of the President. The project will be cost between $ 60 and $ 70 million, so Segnini.

When the final phase of paving will begin is not clear yet. Neither the President nor Segnini Solis comment on the appointment.

But in 2015, the project will finally start and hopefully the motorists will drive not too fast on the road.

 

Travel and vacation hotel costa Rica

Hotel Samara Costa Rica

Speaking Luis Guillermo,

Holes for sales, road Nosara

Climate change, fuddle duddle or what?

We’re jumping into a shit storm here, but who cares? Like a friend of mine said to me: „I already have enough issues to deal with, I can not take care of climate change as well.“
But the IPCC confirmed: With a estimated probability of 95 % the human being is the main cause of global climate change.

It is well known that CO2 emission, which is caused by cars, factories and powerplants, is the biggest problem. The heat trapping gas retains the solar radiation and leads to heating in the atmosphere. Up to what extent this effect is influencing out climate until now, the UN has published in the new climate report.

Measured changes so far

In the last 8 years, the CO2 content of the atmosphere increased by half. From the beginning of the 20th century the temperature has risen by 0.9 degrees and the last 30 years were the warmest since the High Middle Ages.

Snow and ice melt in a great measure. In Greenland, for example, was observed a rapid acceleration in melting, in the years from 2002 to 2011. Same applies to the Antarctic. In the mid-latitudes the snow is melting, and less and less is following. Also, the permafrost soil in Russia, is threatened by the rising temperatures. Altogether, has made the sea level already rise by 20 cm.

Nevertheless, an unexpected pause of the global temperature rise occurred. Due to the current climate model, this intermission is inexplicable. Perhaps, as the effects of clouds were not included here. Because it still remains vague how heating and cooling effects of clouds interact.

Forecasts

Depending on CO2 dioxide emissions, changes, greater than in the last hundred or thousand years, are expected:

The average temperature is projected to increase by 3.7 °C. More heat waves and a shift in climate zones are predicted. In the current subtropics more droughts will follow. In the tropical regions and mid-latitudes, such as Germany, more rain on the other hand.

Glaciers will disappear and the sea level will rise about 26 to 82 cm. Not only the ocean is growing, it is getting warmer too. The risk, in the air contained Co2 connects in water to carbonic acid, grows bigger. Consequently, the pH-value drops and the water would become more acidic. The marine life is threatened by a change in pH.

So far the UN climate panel depicts the current situation. Decisions will then be taken by the policy in the UN climate summit. Next time in Warsaw in November. Hopes are none too high.

Especially among the unspoiled countryside of Costa Rica the climate change is particularly painful. Therefore relax in Costa Rica and blast that climate change ignoramuses.

We play music at the beach in the lodge Hotel Costa Rica Samara

Climate and weather in Costa Rica Samara

Protests against excessive alcohol license fees in Nicoya Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, the alcohol patent owners organize against high fees and poor treatment by the Municipalidad.

Yesterday afternoon, the owners of liquor licenses protested in the Municipalidad Nicoya, Costa Rica, against the excessive charges.

Personal experience

Earlier, the alcohol patent for our restaurant in Costa Rica, cost us about $ 200 a year. Since the new alcohol Patent – Act of 2012, signed by the President Laura Chinchilla – we were charged $ 750 per trimester, last year. Later there had been a settlement by the court and we paid about $ 200 in a trimester.

The responsible authority, the Municipalidad of Nicoya, must state the exact amount of payment. Instead of doing so it sent excessive demands of payment, though everything was paid correctly. 

In my case: a bill of about $ 5,000. You can hardly bear this with a sense of humor and a competent lawyer. 

Whereas this also happened to many others, it’s hardly surprising that there now is an corporate organization to proceed against this injustice.

We will continue to report
Travel Tip: Hotel Costa Rica Samara

For music lover music Hotel Costa Rica  During the day sunshine, beach and adventure. In the evening music …

Climate Change – Emigrating to Costa Rica

The Facts

are indisputable. Since people invented the fire and are using fossil fuels in large quantities, they release plenty of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. As a consequence, the CO2 level in the atmosphere increases. And this particularly strong in the past few decades. This increase of CO2 in the atmosphere gives rise to a strong hothouse effect. The soil can radiate less heat than it is receiving from the sun. So air temperatures and the water level of the sea continue to rise.

 

U.S. military sounds the alarm

Since major changes in the environment can cause problematic social changes, the U.S. military now beats alarm. There is a global security risk. The use of military might be necessary to get the situation under control, so one, from 2007 shortly updated study, on the subject.

Especially politically unstable regions are at risk. The struggle for food and water is already up to date. With increasing heating, just in regions such as Africa or the Middle East are greater droughts and more dry rivers, expected. The need, and so the violence in the population will rise. More terrorism, more riots will follow eventually.

 

Mass migration of hungry Africans or other nations

The rising sea level also poses a major threat to the security. Flooded and destroyed cost regions could be a trigger for mass migration, to the interior or to other countries. One can imagine that these migrations will not proceed nonviolent. Another case for the U.S. military.

In case the military can handle the riots: What happens when military bases are destroyed by natural disasters? With further changing climate, we will need to prepare for stronger and more frequent storms. Therefore the military must have an emergency plan which considers these eventualities. All of this are realistic consequences of the climatic change. The media are already reporting about it. Politicians and the U.S. military are looking for solutions, even though it is not always in benefit for humanity.

Emigrating to Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is far away from these problems. Though also in Costa Rica sea levels will rise, and the Pacific Ocean has already higher water temperatures. Consequences are toxic algae, fish death and food intoxication.

But in Costa Rica, has a lot of nature and animals, protected in the national parks. About 30% of the country are under nature conservancy. As well Costa Rica offers good food and an excellent climate. So enough reasons to emigrate to Costa Rica, or at least to plan a trip and visit the Costa Rica hotel lodge accommodation.

 

Very different:

 

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