Friday, November 30, 2012

Pineapple growing in the Nursery in NatureWalk



Planting Coffee on home lots in Estancia Montana Naturewalk

















Thursday, November 29, 2012

Fly, Buy and Save


Fly & Buy Rebate

Worth up to US$2,000

How does it work?

  • Sign a buyers representation agreeement in advance of travelling to Costa Rica and


  • Travel to Costa Rica before the end of Feburary 2013 and


  • If you contract to buy any of our listings* from any of our Costa Rica offices** whilst you are in Costa Rica we will give you a rebate of 1% of the purchase price up to a maximum of US$2,000 at closing


Why sign a buyers representation agreement?

Where can I see a copy of the buyers representation agreement?


Making your Costa Rican Dreams Reality :: Costa Rica Invest

* we mean any of our listings, that includes exclusive listings, non exclusive listings and co-broker listings - so you can pick from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of listings.
**this includes all of our Quepos Office listings, San Jose Office Listings and all NatureWalk developments 

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Arribada in Playa Ostional

Last week’s visitors to the Pacific coast’s Ostional Wildlife Refuge don’t realize how spoiled they are.

Usually, tourists are lucky if they get to see one sea turtle, in darkness, from ten feet away. But last week, three days before the full moon, hundreds of thousands of turtles hauled themselves onto Playa Ostional to lay their eggs. Called arribadas, these mass egg-layings take place on just a few beaches in the world, and Ostional is has the highest numbers, with more than a million turtles sometimes arriving in one night.

“It is an incredible site every time,” said Warren Chacón, a Tamarindo guide who often brings tourists out to see the arribadas. “I’ve seen hundreds but it never gets old.”
Playa Ostional sees at least one arribada a month, either in the three days before or after the full moon. In turtle season, which is just coming to a close, the beach sometimes gets two arribadas per month.
















Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Natural Costa Rica





Townhouse, Santa Ana, San Jose

Beautifully located 3 bed, 3 bath townhouse in Santa Ana San Jose, for just US$190,000 contact info@costaricainvest.ie or call us on USA +1-866-990-1123 for more details.







Beautifully located 3 bed, 3 bath townhouse in Santa Ana San Jose, for just US$190,000 contact info@costaricainvest.ie or call us on USA +1-866-990-1123 Europe +353 1 272 4184 for more details.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Students in some areas of Costa Rica work hard to get to school


Over the river and through the rainforest - the students of Bratsi & Amubri of Talamanca in Limon get to school every day by gliding on a cable over the river.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Why Hurricanes Don't Hit Costa Rica

All Hurricanes tracks 1958 - 2011,
note Costa Rica is not affected
We get asked all the time, does Costa Rica get hurricanes? Well, yes and no, meaning “yes” they do receive the tropical aftermath of one, like heavy rains  of what Tropical Storm Tomas did in November 2010 that caused severe damage and deaths.


In meteorology; a tropical cyclone (or tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, typhoon, or hurricane, depending on strength and location) is a type of low-pressure system, which generally forms in the tropics. Hurricane is the term used to describe tropical cyclones that form in the Caribbean where we are located.
Hurricanes need the warm humid air above tropical oceans in order to develop. That’s why they form over ocean waters close to the equator. In addition, that’s why they form only during the summer and early fall, when those waters are about 80 degrees Fahrenheit or above. However, you won’t normally see hurricanes form right at the equator. That’s because at zero degrees latitude there isn’t enough turning of winds in the atmosphere to give tropical cyclones the “spin” they need to get started.
This turning of the winds is known as the Coriolis Force or Effect. Nearly all hurricanes form within 30 degrees of the equator and 87% form within 20 degrees of it.
Tropical Storm Tomas
Hurricane Tomas in November 2010 was downgraded to a Tropical Storm when it hit Costa Rica, but still caused a lot of damages including over 20 killed in a landslide.
However, because the Coriolis effect initiates and maintains tropical hurricane rotation, such hurricanes almost never form or move within about 10 degrees of the equator where the Coriolis effect is weakest. The Coriolis Effect initiates and helps maintain the rotation of a tropical hurricane. This rotational force is zero at the equator and increases as you travel away from the equator, being greatest at the poles.
Hurricanes can’t actually form within 4 degrees of the equator, because the Coriolis effect is just too small. Once a tropical revolving storm is formed though, wind determines its movement. There is very little cross-equatorial flow of wind, as the main winds steer the storm away from the equator.
In addition, hurricanes that form in the Caribbean are not likely to turn toward Costa Rica. Caribbean tropical storms either turn northward or continue westward due to the steering currents of trade winds from the east, then a clockwise flow around a semi-permanent area of high pressure to the north. This has a tendency to turn them northward away from Central America.
Costa Rica is located at 9.55 degrees north of the equator, below the path of most hurricanes. There are seven tropical cyclone zones “basins” where storms occur on a regular basis and Costa Rica is not located in the affected areas.
Above NASA map shows the tracks of all Atlantic hurricanes which formed between
1851 and 2005, so in reality Costa Rica never receives the blunt force,
but they sure can receive the effects when it is downgraded to a major Tropical Storm.
Here are some terms and definitions that relate to hurricanes:
Coriolis Force: 
An artifact of the earth’s rotation. Once air has been set in motion by the pressure gradient force, it undergoes an apparent deflection from its path, as seen by an observer on the earth. This apparent deflection is called the “Coriolis force” and is a result of the earth’s rotation. The Coriolis effect initiates cyclonic rotation, but it is not the driving force that brings this rotation to high speeds. That force is the heat of condensation. In the northern hemisphere, the earth’s rotation is deflected to the right by the Coriolis force. The amount of deflection the air makes is directly related to both the speed at which the air is moving and its latitude. Therefore, slowly blowing winds will be deflected only a small amount, while stronger winds will be deflected more.
Pressure Gradient Force:
Directed from high to low pressure. The change in pressure measured across a given distance is called a “pressure gradient.” The pressure gradient results in a net force that is directed from high to low pressure and this force is called the “pressure gradient force.”
Geostrophic Wind: 
Winds balanced by the Coriolis and Pressure Gradient forces. An air parcel initially at rest will move from high pressure to low pressure because of the pressure gradient force (PGF). However, as that air parcel begins to move, it is deflected by the Coriolis force to the right in the northern hemisphere (to the left on the southern hemisphere). As the wind gains speed, the deflection increases until the Coriolis force equals the pressure gradient force. At this point, the wind will be blowing parallel to the isobars. When this happens, the wind is referred to as geotrophic.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Climate change and El Nino affecting Costa Rica Amphibians

Costa Rica’s biodiversity is world renounced having approximately 5% of the worlds biodiversity, but climate change and in particular this years El Niño is effecting Costa Rica Amphibians

Global Amphibian Decline
The past two decades, amphibians have had significant declines in their population worldwide. There is a great deal of evidence for such declines from North, Central and South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.

Global amphibian decline is attributed to the effects of habitat destruction; alteration, isolation pockets, climate change, chemical and other pollution, fungal, bacterial have contributed to declines that often have no obvious cause. 

Costa Rica Red Eyed Tree - Frog (Photo: Wikimedia)
 
The vast majority of the more than 6,000 species of frogs in the world lay eggs in water, but many tropical frogs make it out of the water environment to lay eggs. This strategy protects amphibian eggs from predators, but in times of insufficient rain fall and drought this strategy can destroy whole reproduction cycles because of dehydration, in some cases of endangered species it can wipe them out entirely.


Researchers report that climate change may be altering the evolution of some amphibians, causing these animals to alter behaviors to adapt to low rainfall.

Research in biological hotspots such as Panama and Costa Rica show that over the past 4 decade rain fall has declined but maybe more importantly it is frequency and consistence of rain periods that have changed. In Costa Rica there are approximately 175 amphibious species

The embryos of some amphibian are extremely susceptible to rain frequency in some cases they die in just a few days if there is no rain. Rainfall also triggers reproduction cycles, so the lack of rain in the period immediately after the egg laying phase has dramatic effects on population.

With climate change, amphibians are considered one of the most threatened species with approximately half of the more than 6,000 known species in decline and one in three in danger of extinction.


Amphibians are very susceptible to environmental conditions and pollutants because of their sensitive skin requiring certain levels of moisture to survive and reproduce.


Fungal diseases such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, sometimes called simply Bd, kills amphibians affecting their permeable skin, ultimately causing heart failure.

In Costa Rica and Panama the disease continues to advance, according to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (http://www.stri.si.edu/espanol/index.php) that has the Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project.

In Costa Rica this year there cause for alarm this year as El Niño has resulted in approximately 18% less rainfall nationally and as much 80% in some northern regions, some experts have stated the possibility of a “tropical drought” this coming summer season, which could have devastation effects of amphibious population and other species as well.
Read the full story on the The Costa Rica News (TCRN)

Friday, November 2, 2012

1,100 acre beachfront ranch Playa Bejuco, Guanacaste


FIRST TIME OFFERED. OCEAN FRONT WORK CATTLE AND MILK FARM, IDEAL FUTURE DEVELOPMENT PARCELS US$7,250,000

Parcel One: 94 hects (232 acres) on the west side of the Costanara Highway DIRECTLY FRONTING THE OCEAN. 1800 feet unobstructed oceanfront. Flat, buildable with electricity, internet, telephone on the Costanara Hwy.

Parcel Two: 351 hects (870.5 acres) of pristine ocean view pasture and hillside fronting the Costanara Hwy behind parcel 1. See pictures for incredible views up and down the ocean coast.

Playa Bejuco
Together, these parcel present a perfect ocean masterpanned community. Entitle this property and hold the property for the next property development cycle and you will see 100's of millions of dollars in earnings.

Located just 17 ​​kilometers south of Playa Carrillo, the air breathe the pure air of relaxing quiet Playa Bejuco. The beach itself is pristine and boasts a blue flag status, a coveted distinction reflecting the commitment of the place and its inhabitants towards environmental protection. 


With much of its surrounding areas relatively untouched, Playa Bejuco is a clear representative of the country's best beaches are located just outside the busy tourist routes. 

Tourists can experience first hand the beautiful scenery that Costa Rica has to offer, including its abundant wildlife and breathtaking landscapes. The brown sand beach of Playa Bejuco stretches for miles and visitors roam the area can not be perfectly to another person for the rest of the day. Bejuco 

The beach community is extremely small with only a few "sodas", small family managed cafes, where travelers can experience the traditional trade of the country. Most people from the local community are maintained by agriculture and fishing farms.

The Cattle Farm Includes 550 jersey bulls, 74 jersey milk cows, milking machinery, farm and ranch equipment and a  contract to supply milk to Dos Pinos.
 
For more information call us on call us now on USA +1-866-990-1123 (toll free) or Europe +353-1-272-418 or e mail info@costaricainvest.ie