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The Howler

Volume 15, No. 8 Issue No. 167

August 2010 Founded 1996

TAMARINDO COSTA RICA www.howlermag.com THE HOWLER Ced. Juridica: 3-101-331333

FEATURES 8 Dining Out

Publisher, editor and production

Under new management is La Palapa, on Tamarindo Beach, with a new range of fine dishes.

David Mills

dmills@racsa.co.cr Tel: 2-653-0545

13 Who Ate My Guanacaste Tree - Again?

Our writer finds that a huge plague of greedy worms is chewing up her Guanacaste trees.

14 Around Town

Openings, closings, parties, music. The Gold Coast has it all, and barhoppin’ David is in the groove.

CONTRIBUTORS ELLEN ZOE GOLDEN TONY OREZ TOM PEIFER JEFFREY WHITLOW MONICA RIASCOS

JEANNE CALLAHAN KAY DODGE NINA WEBER JESSE BISHOP

25 The Pen and the Sword

Howler advertising

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6.15 6.15 12.70 12.70 6.15 25.80 25.80 12.70 25.80

16 Drifting the Tempisque

An easy half-day trip from the coast is Palo Verde National Park, home to a wide variety of birds and animals.

Deadline for September: August 15

Size

15 Surf Report

At the Gran Finals at La Curva, Playa Hermosa, Luis Vindas took the men’s championship, while his wife, Lisbeth won the Women’s.

After receiving a reader’s letter severely criticizing his latest article, our columnist replies in a similar manner.

26 Surviving Costa Rica

“Everybody is out to get me” is the theme of Jesse’s article as he investigates his paranoia.

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DEPARTMENTS 5

Parents’ Corner

21 Soccer

10

CD Review

22 August Forecasts

11

Book Review

24 Doctor’s Orders

12

Yoga

28 Rain, Sun & Moon

18

Word Puzzle

29 Tide Chart

Ads must be submitted on CD or e-mail attachment, JPG or PDF format at 266 dpi, at the appropriate size (above).

All comments, articles and advertising in this publication are the opinion of their authors, and do not reflect the opinion of Howler Management.

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Cover Caption: My little nest at the ocean.

Cover design: David Mills Cover photos: David Mills

Parents’ Corner Intelligence and Learning Styles Have you ever wondered why your son is constantly manipulating something when he has to prepare for a test? Doesn’t it amaze you how your daughter is able to finish (correctly) a three-page Algebra practice packet while listening to Korn – full blast – on her iPod? Well... today we know that every person learns in his or her personal way, which includes internal and external factors, resulting in our own “learning style”.

According to Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences there are 8 basic types of intelligence: spatial, linguistic, logical-mathematical, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic.

High spatial intelligence: visual learner, need to “see” what you are learning, learn best with images, putting together puzzles, and drawing.

High linguistic intelligence: verbal learner, needs to use words, both spoken and written. Probably benefits from conferences, lectures, but also essays and articles. Taking notes comes easy.

High logical-mathematical intelligence: logical learner. Uses logic, reasoning and system. Learning approach is step by step and methodic.

High kinesthetic intelligence: physical learner. Need to use the senses when learning, preferably “hands on” and keeping the body engaged. Important to learn by doing.

High musical intelligence: auditory learner. People with musical intelligence exhibit great sensitivity to sound, rhythm, melody and tone, and they are often displaying absolute pitch and a remarkable ability for playing an instrument. Musical intelligence usually goes hand in hand with highly developed linguistic skills; good lecture students.

High interpersonal intelligence: a social learner. Learns best in a group; well developed sense of empathy, able to listen to and to share ideas.

Strong communication skills; asking questions, mediating and coordinating facilitate the learning process. Main trait is extroversion.

High intrapersonal intelligence: solitary learner. Prefers to learn alone and through self-study, to analyze in depth, use introspection, reflect on things, and make predictions. Intuitive person, whose main trait is introversion.

High naturalistic intelligence: a naturistic learner. Ability to naturally understand the environment, finding patterns and relationships to nature, sometimes noticing the most subtle changes. More in tune with nature and often interested in nurturing, exploring the environment and learning about other species. Naturistic students do best when involved in hands on projects, outdoor education and experiential learning.

Find out what your child’s learning style is, and make some simple accommodations, at home and in school, and be surprised with the results!

Intelligence and Learning Styles Msc. Mónica Riascos H. Psychologist - Psychopedagogist NOTE: I would like to invite all readers to send in your suggestions about topics related to children and adolescents’ psychology, that you would like me to discuss in this section. I’m at your service! Send your comments, suggestions or questions to: consultariascos@live.com

EE d d ii tt o o rr ’’ s s N N o o tt e e

W

hile the majority of countries in the world celebrate it on the second Sunday in May – a floating holiday - Mother’s Day in Costa Rica is always August 15. Because this year it falls on a Sunday, the government has decared the next day a feriado. Mother’s Day here is a big deal, as it is elsewhere. Phone lines clog, florists make a killing, and the Correos de Costa Rica sells telegrams at ¢800.

So buy that little lady a bouquet, take her to dinner and tell her that you love her.

Tamarindo residents recently were erroneously informed that the cost of trash collection by the Municipality of Santa Cruz was included in property taxes.

This is not the case. Trash costs should be paid separately in three-monthly fees. These can be ascertained at the Rentas department of the Municipality in Santa Cruz, or by calling Leticia at 2680-0101, ext. 202.

The U.S. Embassy in San José alerted U.S. citizens about large-scale industrial protests in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro Province of Panama. Protesters had blocked the roads in and out of Changuinola, and U.S. citizens in Bocas del Toro were urged to to avoid the Changuinola area.

The Costa Rican government in June gave permission for the arrival in the country of a military fleet consisting of 46 warships, 200 helicopters and 7,000 U.S. marines to combat the narcotic business and help in humanitarian missions. Most of the ships are 300-foot frigates, each carrying two armed helicopters and 200 marines. Another is an aircraft carrier with capacity for 1,500 marines, 42 helicopters and five Harrier jump jets.

The entire force will not be in Costa Rica at one time, but will have the right to visit when necessary. “The U.S. military personnel will have the freedom of movement and the right to any activities thought necessary to complete their mission,” stated the Minister of Security.

The Ministry of the Environment warned that the year 2010 will be wetter than usual, in varying degrees around the country. Guanacaste is expected to receive 140 percent of its normal rainfall.

Romería

The Pilgrimage to Cartago

D

riving through the night for an early meeting, I had the road to myself. My favourite time to travel the long road to San José; no transitos to worry about, and I would be in Limonál before dawn with half the journey behind me.

So I was more than a little surprised, when approaching Cartagena, to see people walking along the road – at three a.m. At first a few – are they walking to work? – then more, until both sides of the road were full of men and women, all walking in the same direction, towards Belén. Even after Belén there were more walkers heading towards Santa Cruz and they continued even after the city. Eventually I left them behind, and the road was all mine again.

This was Guanacaste’s version of the Romería, an annual pilgrimage in which over a million believers from San José and many more from other parts, even as far away as Guatemala, walk the

22 km to Cartago to pay homage to the Virgen de los Angeles and seek her blessing, starting August 2. Many people come from much farther afield; some even walk the whole pilgrimage on their knees!

Cartago is the site of the large, elaborate Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles, built in 1639 and rebuilt in the 19th century after being damaged by an earthquake. The basilica is home to the statue called the Black Madonna known as La Negrita. The statue was allegedly found in 1635 by a native girl who brought it home, but it kept returning to the place where she found it. The basilica was built at the place where the statue had been found.

La Negrita is the patron saint of Costa Rica.

By the time you read this, this year’s Romería will be under way.

Latest estimates of participants stand at two million; half the population of Costa Rica.

Dining Out

David Mills

R

estaurant La Palapa is situated right on the beach at Tamarindo, close enough that you can walk into the surf between courses, and the ocean music provides a gentle background to the conversation. You dine amid swaying palms; the evening we visited there was a nice crescent moon to add atmosphere.

La Palapa has been serving food for several years, under various managements, but has not achieved wide popularity. In the past I have found it to be inconsistent, with slow service, but now its operation has been taken over by the owners, Marifa and Denis Colon who hope to improve it.

We sat puzzling over the menu, which is not easy to read due to a problem with the print layout, when the server brought us a flyer with details of a special meal plan. For $18 you get an appetizer, main dish, dessert and a drink – and that is a bargain. For each course there is a choice of two items – ceviche or guacamole as appetizer; filet of corvina with shrimp sauce or mixed brochette main course; banana or piña flambée for dessert.

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Outside of the special, appetizers are fried calamari or garlic shrimp. There are four salads and six pasta dishes; a selection of chicken; fish and seafood variety, lobster and beef dishes.

My companion chose the special with guacamole (and a mountain of delicious home-made taco chips), filet of corvina and banana dessert. From the menu I had garlic shrimp and pork ribs, with potato and stir-fry vegetables. The ribs were great, and the service very attentive.

Happy Hour, from 5 to 7, has become very popular, not surprisingly as beers are 2 for ¢1,200!

La Palapa is a few meters north of Tamarindo Circle, right on the beach; open Tuesday – Sunday, from 3 to 10 p.m. Credit cards not accepted until the bank gets its act together. Tel: 2653-1798.

CD Review Estampas de Abril y Mayo Tony Orez

M

anuel Obregon is an incredible pianist and an incorrigible musicologist who has definitely found his calling in life and is now revelling in it. Even before he helped form the Central American music label Papaya Music, he showed signs of his calling when he became enamored by the music of Paraguayan guitarist Augustin Barrios Mangoré and transcribed and interpreted the compositions to piano. Along with being a member of Malpais, arguably the most popular band in Costa Rica, playing original tunes in a new style I have dubbed “modern folkloric”, Obregon also commandeers the Orquesta de Papaya, a culmination of musicians and musical styles from all of Central America. His last recorded project, “Piano Malango” was a unique presentation of instrumental interpretations, meandering down the river of historic and famous Costa Rican, Nicaraguan and Panamanian songs.

For his latest album, Manuel Obregon has ventured down a new tributary of that river, along with singer Aurelia Trejos, a fellow music historian, who has recorded and performed in the past with famed guitarist Dionisio Cabal as well as the group Cantares. Aurelia is an accomplished and recognized actress as well, hosting two popular television and radio shows in Costa Rica, “Somos Como Somos” and “Aurelia, Canción y Pueblo”. The new album, titled “Estampas de Abril y Mayo” is a compilation of songs from the past two centuries, unearthed by Aurelia over a thirty-year span, a collection of “campesino songs”, traditional tunes from the working class, mostly agricultural from the Central Valley of Costa Rica. It was recorded in the Papaya studio in Alajuela last February as a live duet and that interplay is conveyed in the warmth and intimacy that comes across in the music. And yes, that means it is simply piano and voice, which Ms. Trejos delivers in a lower register, giving the songs a somber, sepia-tone effect.

The title track, “Estampas de Abril y Mayo” captures the theme of the entire album: the passage of summer to winter, when the rains begin along with a kind of rebirth of the cycle of life, something celebrated in agricultural zones throughout the world. This collection of thirteen songs also captures and preserves a part of Costa Rican culture that is rapidly fading and I perceive this as one of Papaya Music’s and Manuel Obregon’s goals. From the Caribbean, the Calypso Legends and Walter Ferguson albums, from Guanacaste, the Tierra Seca album, along with the aforementioned Piano Malango all attest to this, let alone the Ray Tico CD, whose title says it all: “Solo Para Recordar”.

The piano work on “Abril y Mayo” is playful and lilting, a delight to listen to. The interplay with Aurelia’s delivery is romantic in the true sense of the word. Whether the song is about hummingbirds, a typical meal, a rose, a river or an oxcart, this duo’s passion is at the forefront, distilling the sentiment of the song, to be enjoyed and appreciated by all its new listeners. As always, the packaging by Papaya is first-rate. The case is a double gatefold with a nice collection of Luciano Capelli photos and a booklet with lyrics and a description of each song.

Estampas de Abril y Mayo is available the Jaime Peligro bookstores in Playa Tamarindo, Quepos and Tilaran, where they will sample the music for their customers.

Book Review The Blooming Violet Tony Orez

T

he strongest and weakest attribute of an autobiography, as I see it, is the same thing: it is a person writing their own history, so the reader gets the closest possible viewpoint of that person’s life, but gets it strictly from the writer’s point of view, which is always skewed in favor of the teller. I’ve just finished reading “Dreams of the Heart,” the autobiography of former president of Nicaragua, Violeta de Chamorro, and it is certainly told from her perspective.

Violeta makes it abundantly clear that she is a die-hard old school Catholic but I think she also portrays her overall compassion for her country and its people, regardless of their religious persuasion. She is democratic and more than willing to accept her criticisms, something that would never have been tolerated in an earlier, totalitarian Nicaragua.

Her husband, Pedro Chamorro, was a champion of democracy during the Samoza regime there and paid for it with his life, which ended in an assassination in broad daylight. He had been the owner and editor of La Prensa, Nicaragua’s liberal newspaper. When the Sandinistas took control of the country, she had been a supporter, but in a short amount of time, she considered their methods more forceful, indeed even communistic rather than democratic, and relinquished her position as a member of the Executive Committee. She continued to espouse her opinions in her newspaper, which the Sandinistas continually closed and censored. I do feel Violeta was true to her philosophy of freedom of speech and ideology. The simple fact that two of her five children were Sandinistas is ample testament to this fact. It is clear that she places family values and religion above politics. My two biggest knocks on her book are that she continually reminds the reader of her “martyred” husband, even comparing him to Jesus Christ a few times and that she fails to acknowledge that indeed, she had been affluent all her life, something very few Nicaraguans have ever been and something the Sandinistas had a knee-jerk reaction against.

I agree that the Sandinistas were idealists who were very naïve and unprepared to run a country and yes, greedy, unrelenting and militaristic once they came into power. But I also believe Violeta to be equally naïve about that silver spoon in her mouth: her methods and convenience of travel, for example, are things she takes for granted because they have always been that way for her.

Or she is flaunting it and I truly don’t see that as her style. But style she does have, mostly because she can afford it.

The Sandinistas referred to this upper-middle class as “the disloyal bourgeoisie” and considered them the enemy of the new State. After a near decade of regime including the Ollie North embarrassment, the Contra civil war and Costa Rican president Arias helping intervene to bring about a democratic election, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro emerged victorious and to her credit stopped a skyrocketing inflation (over 13,000% annually), pulled the country out of debt, reinstated the roots of free enterprise and diplomatically diminished the military presence there. She proved she truly had the country’s best interest at heart, even going so far as to include Sandinistas on her postelection political team. It’s a good read, too, even as slightly askew as the storytelling might be.

Who Ate My Guanacaste Tree again?

by Kay T. Dodge, Ph. D

I

t is hard to believe it was 1998 when I experienced my first plague in Guanacaste. When I arrived home from my daughter’s wedding in Michigan, the middle of July, our large Guanacaste tree which shades our riding ring and area where we prepare the horses for tours, was being attacked by a plague of gusanos. These small green inchworms were voraciously eating all the tiny leaves, then dropping from the tree on fine threads. When they reached the ground or any other solid object, the worms began to swarm. The sticky webs covered everything.

When I looked up into the massive tree almost half of the tiny leaflets were gone and thousands, no, millions, of caterpillars were covering everything on the ground. The saddles, blankets, chairs, the pilas and even the horses were covered with fine webs and creeping green gusanos. The silky, sticky webs stuck to my hair and clothing, creating an environment, which I thought, soon would be covered with a cocoon.

In the following days, the hungry explosion of green worms ate and ate all the remaining leaflets, and the fine center stems of the compound leaves littered the ground. As we drove to Santa Cruz and Liberia the following week, it was obvious that the plague of gusanos was devouring most of the Guanacaste trees in the region. The majestic trees with their characteristically spreading branches and massive gray trunks stood like pale ghosts among the other lush green trees of the rainy season. Esteban commented he had never seen the denuding of the Guanacaste trees on such a grand scale.

During the first two weeks of August in the twilight and evening, the invaders began to make their metamorphic change into small tan moths.

Thousands of these nondescript moths fluttered in front of me as I walked below our Guanacaste tree. In the local bar, the lights attracted the swirling masses of moths, presenting a final frantic dance before they prepared to lay eggs for their life cycle.

Tourists who rode with us that week said they could hardly finish their wonderful dinner at Hotel Capitán Suizo because

the restaurant also had been invaded by hundreds of thousands of the moths. I assured them it was a short-term phenomenon, and Tamarindo was not normally home to such invasions. The locals call the moths papalote, an annual event, however not as dramatic. Later that month, I was heartened because the leaves returned with the August rains. Small new stems with their tiny leaflets emerged among the ghostly remains of webs and bare branches. Fortunately, the trees recovered and it seemed like just one of the many interesting cycles of nature.

Now, in 2010, the invasion has struck again, but this time I knew “who ate my Guanacaste tree.” The plague of gusanos returned in full battle dress, inching along, spreading their sticky webs and eating all the area’s Guanacaste trees. Having experienced the explosion of the papalote twelve years ago, I was assured that the Guanacaste trees would survive. With the early heavy rains this year, the gusanos appeared a little earlier and now, in mid-July, the moths are finishing their cycle. To say they are on a 12-year cycle is presumptuous, I guess I will just have to wait and see.

The papalote life cycle is just one of the many fascinating life cycles of Guanacaste.

Le Petit Café is a small tranquil spot in Plaza Tamarindo next door to ABC, run by Alison from Toronto and serving delicious baked goods, salads, desserts and panini sandwiches. Happy Hour 5-7 for special prices on coffee and desserts.

El Coconut, our own Fine Dining Restaurant here in Playa Tamarindo, has now taken the leap and will be opening yet another establishment for us! El Coconut Beach in Playa Potrero (the former Monte Carlo Beach) will be a more casual setting with service from morning till the Sunset Specials every day. Most of us have been longing for a place to enjoy a prolonged Sunday Brunch – it will now be ours! Stay alert for details of the opening dates, as they are not yet available as I go to print.

Restaurant Kahiki has changed hands and is now operated by George Vanengelen, who plans to keep the existing menu of fine dishes. Tel: 2-653-4263.

New in Potrero, at Plaza Verde Commercial Center, is Equilibrio Natural Herboristeria, operated by Valentina Pevercale and Andrea Frizerio, specializing in natural health products.

Also in Plaza Verde, on the top floor, is Terraza de los Mariscos, with seafood and Italian specialties. Tel: 2-654-4379.

Gold Coast Learning Center has teamed with Advocates for Change to remodel the community salon in Huacas and transform it into a vibrant community center. Basketball hoops and floor markings will be installed and bathroom and kitchen facilities remodelled.

The salon will be used as Gold Coast’s gymnasium and venue for basketball games and civic events. If you would like to support this project, contact the school at: www.goldcoastlearningcenter.com

Restaurant La Palapa in Tamarindo is now serving fine French cuisine under the management of Marifa and Denis Colon.

Catamaran Blue Dolphin has changed hands. Now under captaincy of Randy Durling and Trent Bomer, it will continue to offer sailing tours by day and the famous Sunset Tours.

The Marine Corps League of Costa Rica needs a few good men and women. This is an opportunity for US Marines active or inactive to associate with other Marines to preserve the traditions and promote the interest of the US Marine Corps. Any interested Marines contact Bill Enell at 8812-0126 or email mcleaguecr@yahoo.com The Tope de Toros, to celebrate the birthday of Martin Vallejos, ex-alcalde of Santa Cruz, at Hacienda la Pinta in Cañafistula, will start from Santa Rosa at 9 a.m. August 29. This event normally attracts hundreds of riders and, unfortunately, a load of quads.

We wish a fond farewell to Nina Weber, our Yoga columnist for many years, who is returning to her native Germany. Good wishes for a happy future, Nina.

www.howlermag.com

Surf Report

E

ven though Jacó’s Luis Vindas won two dates on this year’s Circuito Nacional de Surf DayStar, he was still sitting on the sidelines sweating it out at the Gran Finals in La Curva Playa Hermosa. That’s because he fell out of that contest in the quarterfinals, coming in 9th place. This meant that mathematically, he opened the door in this 5-star event for Carlos Muñoz of Esterillos and Gilbert Brown of Puerto Viejo to win the National Title, if they won the date.

However, it played out in Vindas’ favor. South African visitor Brandon Roberts won 1st place in this 7th date of the Circuito, and Brown came in 4th. This meant that Vindas (right) became the new Costa Rican National Surf Champion. He deserved it, having been the most consistent surfer of the season, and for that he is indeed #1 in Costa Rica.

It played out like this: near 1 p.m., in the most anticipated series of the weekend, four surfers entered the water in front of 1,500 spectators, with everybody screaming for their favorite. The finals included Muñoz, Brown (photo below), Luis Castro (Tamarindo), and Roberts, and they had the contest in waves that surpassed 2 meters in height.

The defending Costa Rica National Champion Muñoz began risking with maneuvers that rewarded him with high points: he chose two smaller waves, but charged with radicals that had him leading the group from 10 minutes until about 17 into the series. Roberts than came with a left that earned almost 9 points, sending him to 1st place with his other wave. Brown, on the other hand, put up a wave at 2 minutes for a score of 8.33 but did not find another one during his run and remained in 4th place during the heat. Castro’s performance placed him in 3rd.

When the Gran Finals heat ended, fans went crazy and lifted Vindas on their shoulders, indicating he was the best surfer of the year, and the new Costa Rica National Surf Champion based on the best four dates and the subsequent rankings points this year.

“The truth is that today was the most anguish filled days of my life, because this morning I thought maybe the title I dreamed of for many years had gone away. Now I am very happy that I am able to say that I am National Champion of Costa Rica,” said Vindas.

Story: Ellen Zoe Golden

Vindas has been competing in the Circuito Nacional Open category for 5 years, and this is his 1st National Title. He was a Runner up in 2008, when he made an interference in the water that resulted in the crown going to Gilbert Brown.

“Today, earlier I felt just like two years ago when I did an interference to Gilbert in the Gran Finals heat and ended up without the Championship. I felt a little fear and anxiety, but today the things are different and in my favor. This I dedicate to my family and to all of Jacó that have supported me from the beginning of the Championship,” he added.

An unexpected event occurred in the Women’s division, whereby neither Lisbeth Vindas nor Nataly Bernold (both of Jaco) won this date. With a 2nd and 3rd place corresponding in the final series of the event, Lisbeth Vindas was crowned the Costa Rica National Women’s Champion by a difference of 10 points in the final ranking. This is Lisbeth’s eighth National Title.

The series was won by the now-resident American Jordan Hundley, followed by Bernold at 2nd, and Lisbeth at 3rd.

In Junior, Carlos Muñoz obtained his 3rd consecutive National Junior Surf Championship, a record in this division. He earned this from the semifinals, where he was stopped as a main threat in the event

by Anthony Fillingim of Malpais, and Danny Bishko of Esterillos. This is pretty impressive for the 16-yearold to finish the season with a Junior Title and a sub-Open championship, even though he missed some dates this year due to his international commitments.

La Curva in Play Hermosa was a perfect spot for the Gran Finals, with its waves of 1 to 2 meters with excellent conditions from the first hours in the morning. It even improved as the afternoon came on with the high tide and Quiksilver and LimeCoral gave $1,500 in prizes to the winners of the Tag Team and the Expression Session, in a unique spectacle for the public from the best surfers of the country. (continued page 19)

Drifting the at Palo Verde

L

eaving Tamarindo in the pouring rain we had low hopes of a fruitful trip to Palo Verde National Park, but as we bypassed Santa Cruz the sun broke through and the day showed more promise.

There are two ways to visit Palo Verde.

The main National Park is located on the north side of the Río Tempisque and is accessed via Bagaces west of Cañas on the InterAmerican highway. By far the more convenient access from the Tamarindo area is from Bolsón or Puerto Humo, near Santa Cruz, where you take a small river boat to cruise along the spectacular Tempisque which borders the park to its south.

Naturally, the wildlife seen from the river is a subset of the overall population of the park, but the trip provides an interesting couple of hours.

The drive from Bolsón to the river dock is through humedales – wetlands – which are home to a wide range of waterbirds – blue, green and night herons, ibis, egret, gallinule, roseate spoonbills and wood storks. Arriving at the river, we boarded a 20-seat boat powered by an almost-silent outboard motor. The driver and three guides were very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and, in addition, carry a set of identification books – trees, flowers, birds, mammals, insects, etc. – for reference if necessary.

Drifting downstream in the Río Bolsón we immediately started to see interesting birds - tiger heron standing guard over her nest, mangrove swallow, which is known only in Costa Rica; boat-billed heron; little green heron - and a number of very

e Tempisque National Park large green iguanas resting in the treetops.

Soon, the Bolson debouched into the Tempisque, the third largest river in Costa Rica, which flows from the Orosí volcano near Nicaragua into the Gulf of Nicoya. Along the way it provides irrigation to thousands of hectares of sugar cane and melons, and also is a source of much of the sand used in cement work, which is dredged from the bottom using only manual labour. High in a tree is a plastic gallon can, left there by high waters in October 2008, recalling the time when the river flowed over the twin bridges at Guardia, a rise of about 30 feet above normal.

As we traveled the river the guides gave a well-informed commentary about the sights along the way. A brief exchange between our driver and a passing colleague, and our boat tore off upstream to take a look at a troupe of white-faced capuchin monkeys.

Later, our attention was drawn to a group of green iguanas sunning themselves on the bank.

The largest, a male with his harem of chicas, measured about five feet.

Of course, no tempisque trip would be complete withour a crocodile display. There are many thousands of crocs in the Bolson area.

Chicken scraps dangled from a stick tempted the monsters to within a meter from the boat, as they reared to snap the treat in huge jaws.

For a trip to Palo Verde, contact Xplore Tours (see ad, page 27) or Destination Adventures (page 11).

A REGAL LIFESTYLE IN A SECURE GATED COMMUNITY TROPICAL DREAMING OVERLOOKING THE BEACHES AND NATIONAL PARK RESERVE OF PLAYA GRANDE AND TAMARINDO SURFING, SUNSETS, FISHING, GOLF, TURTLES AND BREATHTAKING PANORAMIC VIEWS LOTS ARE NOW READY WITH RUNNING WATER AND UNDERGROUND POWER

CORONA DEL CABO DEVELOPMENT IS LOCATED ON THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST OF COSTA RICA, IN THE SUNNY PARADISE PROVINCE OF GUANACASTE, 55 MINUTES DRIVE FROM LIBERIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND THREE MINUTES FROM THE BEACH

Sales OfямБce: (506) 2-654-4919 Cel: (506) 8-392-9237 E-mail: coronadelcabo@gmail.com

Surf Report (from page 15) National Champions: Open 1.

2.

3.

4.

Luis Vindas Carlos Muñoz Jason Torres Gilbert Brown

Mini Grommet Girls 1.

Paola Duarte 2.

Leilani McGonagle 3.

Arisha Grioti 4.

Cloe Velarde

Women’s 1.

Lisbeth Vindas 2.

Nataly Bernold 3.

Jordan Hundley 4.

Mariana Samudio

Longboard 1.

Diego Naranjo 2.

Anthony Flores 3.

Cristian Santamaría 4.

Carlos Muñoz

Junior 1.

Carlos Muñoz 2.

Anthony Fillingim 3.

Jordan Hernández 4.

Maykol Torres

Master (Over 35) 1.

Craig Schieber 2.

Carlos Velarde 3.

Geancarlo Loría 4.

Marco Picado

Junior Women’s 1.

Jordan Hundley 2.

Elisa Bonomelli 3.

Kristel Stanley 4.

Leilani McGonagle

Grand Master (Over 40) 1.

Craig Schieber 2.

Carlos Velarde 3.

Cassio Carvalho 4.

Alejandro Monge

Boys (Under 16) 1.

Josué Rodríguez 2.

Noe Mar McGonagle 3.

Eliha Guy 4.

Alberto Muñoz

Novice 1.

Giannio Ferrandino 2.

Alejandro Vaca 3.

Carlos Gallego Pacheco 4.

Ernesto Roberth

Grommets (Under 14) 1.

Noe Mar McGonagle 2.

Manuel Mesén 3.

León Glazer Williams 4.

Kevin Montiel

Open Metropolitano 1.

Giannio Ferrandino 2.

Alberto Gil 3.

Alejandro Vaca 4.

Eduardo Guardia

Grommet Girls.

1.

Paola Duarte 2.

Leilani McGonagle 3.

Arisha Grioti 4.

Selena Moberly

Open Fem. Metrop.

1.

Mónica Madrigal 2.

Kristel Stanley 3.

Kailany Jimenez 4.

Paula Soto

Mini Grommet (Under 12) 1.

Leonardo Calvo 2.

Sean Forester 3.

Stone Van Timmeren 4.

Storm Van Timmeren

Junior Metrop.

1.

Alejandro Vaca 2.

Felipe Pozuelo 3.

Daniel Pozuelo 4.

Estaban Morera

That’s all I’ve got. Looking forward to hearing what you think.

Keep those emails coming at EllenZoe@aol.com. Send your comments, information, errors or praise, because I can’t do this column without you, the real surfers.

Alcoholics Anonymous Schedule of Meetings

Flamingo

Tuesdays: 5:30 - 6:30 pm (open) Fridays: 5:30 - 6:30 pm (open)

Location: Hitching Post Plaza Unit 2, Brasilito Contact: Don H. at 2-654-4902

Tamarindo

Saturday: 10:30-11:30 - Open General Meeting Monday: 5:30 Open Meeting Thursday: 6:30-7:30 - Open Meeting Location: Behind Restaurant La Caracola Contact: Ellen - 2-653-0897

CEPIA need committed volunteers!

Do you sometimes think about giving some of your time to the young generation of this community? CEPIA offers you the possibility to volunteer with back up from CEPIA staff members. You can teach English, arts or sports, one hour per week during at least 12 weeks, in the village you prefer, to children aged 4 to 18.

Why volunteering with CEPIA? You get to know the uniqueness of this community, its children and its culture, you promote your own integration in this community, you generate own positive feelings towards the commu nity, the local population develops positive feelings towards you, you develop your own talents and share them with young sters, you keep the young generation out of the streets, you prevent drug abuse, sexual exploitation and violence, you give your support to the ones that need it, you become more sensitive and more open minded, your Spanish improves, you stimulate health, education and participation of this new generation, your activities are supported by the CEPIA staff through visits, frequent communication and logistical support, CEPIA as a recognized Costarican non-profit organization monitored by the National Childhood Protection Agency (PANI) is responsible for any kind of damage or demand concerning its volunteers, so you are 100% protected by the organization.

Contact Sandrine at cepiadirector@rasca.co.cr and make an appointment to start this semester!

New Banknotes Introduced The new ¢20,000 banknotes will start circulation in early August. It is the first of six new designs to be introduced in the coming months.

As an aid to people with poor vision, the notes are a little wider than the existing banknotes but the same height. The ¢20,000 bill has the face of Carmen Lyra, writer and founder of the communist party; on the reverse a humming bird. Each denomination will depict one of Costa Rica’s six ecosystems; the musician Manuel Obregón has composed a work called “Symbiosis” celebrating the release.

CEPIA deeply thanks the following volunteers of their commitment this first semester 2010: Mary Byerly, Debbie Marcos, Roberta Ramsey , Octavio Suarez, Cecilia Leiva, Glenda y Bob Carter, Karol Solano, Dori Matthews, Isabelle Furet-Pignon, Elise Garnier, Tina Soucie, Carolina Ruiz, Grettel Solorzano, Ashley Javogue, Muriel Cuny, Heather Allenby, Cathy Deweer, Peggy Pease, Gerry Joy, Janine Urbaszewski, Susie Keller, Suzanne Katus, Karen Arsenault, Janyce Ellis, Sue Kallis, Maureen Thompson, Jean Capezza, Mariel Namaste, Isabelle Dutry, Jennifer Smith, Taylor Smith, trabajadores de la ferreteria Buenaventura.

World Cup 2010

plagued by controversy

I

n the aftermath of the World Cup, many “experts” are recommending some changes in the way the game is played and, in particular, refereed. After some very dubious calls by officials, team coaches and FIFA spokesmen are talking about video replay assistance and electronic devices to verify goals in real time.

Immediately after the Round of 16, FIFA sent home ten referees identified for glaring errors during the early games, including Coulibaly, who denied a US goal against Slovenia, and Larrionda, who disallowed an obvious goal in England’s game against Germany. FIFA president Sepp Blatter apologized to officials of Mexico and England for “major officiating errors” and promised to review replay technology after the tournament is over.

FIFPro, the international players’ union, has threatened strong action against FIFA if replay technology is not introduced.

In addition, the spate of players taking an obvious “dive” to draw a foul call has been criticized as spoiling the game for spectators. US coach Bob Bradley called for post-game reviews of such incidents and demanded stiff penalties for players who pretend to be hit.

The new Adidas “Jabulani” ball also came under fire. It is accused of spoiling games by being “too perfect”, giving an unpredictable trajectory. Wind tunnel tests have confirmed strange flight patterns which can confuse players.

Despite all the protests, Spain played great football to become World Champion. Congratulations!

National News Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in San José will soon receive a facelift with a total paint job and installation of a monofilament synthetic grass, similar to that of Volcano Stadium in Guadelajara and Lambeau Field, home to the Green Bay Packers. By start of the new winter season, Saprissa will have “the best artificial turf in Latin America.”

Hotshot goaltender Keylor Navas has been released from his contract with Saprissa and is considering offers from Albacete in Spain, Veracruz in Mexico and Melbourne in Australia.

October August F Forecasts orecasts

by Jeanne Callahan

Visit Jeanne’s site at CelestialAdvisor.com

Aries: 21 March - 20 April

Libra: 23 September - 23 October

Taurus: 21 April - 21 May

Scorpio: 24 October - 22 November

Expect some stalled action in your current plans this month as a direction change presents itself. Curb your tendency for explosive anger at the beginning of the month and gather information about the change of status. You can prevail but do not act rashly now. Conserve energy. Best days are the 1st, 27th and 28th.

You will uncover some hidden information this month that will provide you with clues about your next venture.

Things are changing in the outside world and you will find new people to connect with who will appreciate your talents and steady demeanor. Remain calm. Your most optimum days are the 2nd, 3rd, 29th, 30th and 31st.

Gemini: 22 May - 21 June

Life takes a very interesting turn for you this month and you may find you need to move or remodel something in your current home to accommodate the change. While it initially looks like a setback it will turn into an asset for you. Your ruling planet, Mercury, goes into retrograde motion in Virgo on the 20th creating a three-week reorganization period. Don’t sweat it. The 4th and 5th are your most optimum days.

Cancer: 22 June - 22 July

This is a busy month for you but a bit chaotic too, particularly if you are traveling. Expect some good fortune with all the setbacks as you have some positive planets at your mid-heaven watching your back, as they say. Invoke their protection if things look dicey. The Grand Cardinal Cross astrological configuration is in full swing now so your life will look different in the next several months. The 7th is your most positive day.

Leo: 23 July - 23 August

Expect some financial setbacks this month as the Cardinal Cross is active in your financial houses. You may have to fight for the money you deserve. Don’t act too impulsively at the beginning of the month as you don’t have the whole story. Use the energy of the Mercury retrograde after the 20th to gather your resources together. Don’t take action until after the middle of September. The 8th, 9th new moon, and 10th are your best days.

Virgo: 24 August - 22 September

Your ruling planet, Mercury, goes retrograde in Virgo on the 20th so you will encounter some roadblocks to your plans at that time. Don’t think of it as a setback; it is just that more information is needed for you to get the whole picture right now. The new information lets you act with precision at the end of September. Pay attention to details. Use the good lunar vibes on the 11th and 12th to your advantage.

There’s a lot of energy around your health and relationships this month. Time to take care of things left untended or unsaid for the last two years. Conflict doesn’t have to mean termination but you need to seek resolution on many levels in the next two years as Saturn transits your sign. Use your diplomatic skills. Best day of the month is the 13th.

The vibe this month is somewhat solitary as you seek to take some quality alone time. There is a considerable amount of internal pressure you need to release or those close to you will suffer the consequences of an angry scorpion!

Seek healthy releases. The 15th and 16th are your most fruitful days.

Sagittarius: 23 November - 21 December

This month has your career/public image in focus as you encounter some obstacles in your path. This will signal a change of direction for you as you no longer want to do things in the same way. The energy of September brings a new wave of ideas. In the meantime, let what is dying go and seek to release the old so you can make way for the new. Good days are the 17th and 18th.

Capricorn: 22 December - 21 January

The pressure is on as you struggle with maintaining the status quo or letting things that aren’t working phase out.

This could include your home, your job, your relationship and even your own self image. You can’t carry all the burdens anymore. While bringing order to chaos is your strong suit, right now you have to prioritize. Slow and steady will bring the progress you seek. The 19th, 20th and 21st are your best days.

Aquarius: 22 January - 19 February

You are at a philosophical crossroads right now. New information is causing you to question some assumptions about your own nature and the nature of the world at large.

You, of all the signs, have the easiest time accepting the unusual as a possibility. Use that strength now and focus on the future. The 22nd and 23rd hold good lunar energy for you.

Pisces: 20 February - 20 March

Money issues are at the front of your agenda this month as outside changes force you to rethink what you are doing or how you are doing it. It seems like the gains made over the past year are quickly diminishing. Have faith that you will find your way through this dilemma. Think outside the box, but don’t set anything into motion for another two months. The full moon on the 24th, the 25th and 26th are your most positive days.

Namasté

28

The fourth running of the Tamarindo Marathon will take place on September 11, 2010. The organizers invite residents to become involved, as participants in the various distances or as volunteers to assist in the operation.

Last year’s event had the participation of 1,500+ athletes and more than 2,000 visitors in town over that weekend.

For further information, contact: Alexander Reyes – 2220-0880 or 8829-5543 or write to areyes@globalsportxgroup.com

Doctor’s Orders Jeffrey Whitlow, M.D.

I

n addition to body odor, dental caries, osteoporosis, and skin infections, the consumption of unnatural foods leads to peptic ulcer disease. The digestive tract has a limited capacity to break down sugar. So when sugar or sweet drinks like soda are consumed, that limited capacity is quickly used up. The bacteria that normally reside in the digestive tract ferment the remaining undigested sugar.

So once again an acid condition is set up, and heartburn is the classic and predictable result. Most doctors are not even aware of this phenomenon, as we are not taught about nutrition during our training.

So instead of counseling our patients to reduce their sugar intake, we prescribe expensive medications with unknown short- and longterm side effects.

But so far we have talked about conditions that are usually regarded as mere nuisances. It is true though, that more serious illness can be directly attributed to the consumption of unnatural foods. There are conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma, and other illnesses that are collectively known as autoimmune disorders.

When I was a medical student, it was taught that the cause of these conditions was unknown, and that there was no cure. So we put these patients on drugs called steroids, which suppress the immune system.

I never thought to question my preceptors on this, but on reflection it is hard for me to believe that I was so gullible and trusting. Why place a patient on a drug to suppress the immune system, unless you have ascertained why the immune system is malfunctioning in the first place?

What my research has found, once again, is an extremely high correlation between the consumption of grains and sugar, and the development of autoimmune disorders. Autoimmune disorders occur most often in women, and in the obese. Guess what two groups of people consume the most grain and sugars? Similarly, so-called Type 2 Diabetes is the direct result of the over-consumption of simple and complex sugars. It is rare for people who don’t consume processed foods to develop high blood pressure, heart disease, or vascular disorders.

And I know there are many readers who are saying, “Well, what about heredity?” The bottom line is that heredity does not determine whether someone will get a disease, unless that disease is linked to a particular gene, like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis. Rather, heredity is a predictor of what will happen if a person insists on engaging in bad habits, such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol, or eating processed foods. My father had a massive heart attack at age 35, and his brother died at age 39, also from a massive heart attack. My only brother is 56 and I am 50, but neither of us has ever had a heart problem. Why? Because, unlike our father and uncle, we don’t smoke three packs a day, we don’t go out every weekend and get so hammered that the cops have to pick us up and drop us off in our beds, and we’re not 100 pounds overweight.

In my next column, we will begin to discuss natural foods and their healthful benefits.

The Pen and the Sword

Tom Peifer

Only the pen has the sharpness to cut through the piles of crap that block the way—anon.

N

ow that the temporary insanity of the World Cup has subsided, the world can hopefully get back to the business at hand. For someone who looks out at the world from a rather sheltered perch in the forest it certainly appears that ‘business’ is booming. Yup, lots going on. From the Gulf of Mexico to that other Gulf over there, the Persian one which coincidentally, also has something to do with oil.

Dear Tom Peifer, I’m assuming that your article in this months Howler was written as a means to illicit a response from someone?

Writing is a kind of dance between Aristotle’s ideas of form and content. When you read a true wordsmith describing a ride in a boxcar, the staccato of terms and tempo, the clatter of wheel on steel over interminable miles of track, can actually leave you ‘feeling’ what the guy is trying to describe. Anyone who has read a good mystery knows how an author can speed up the pace towards the end and keep you hooked, flipping page after page into the wee hours of the dawn.

Mr. Segal is also an accomplished Akito Master and was one of the first Americans to actually be green lighted to teach in Japan, of course this was long before Hollywood came calling.

Overlooking the fact that it is a sentence and not a question, there is a certain irony in the misuse of the word ‘illicit’—since the article deals with the ‘war on drugs’—instead of the word ‘elicit’, which means “to draw out.” As an early pop-psychology Closer to hand we have the dengue epidemic, six times worse book observed, “You never get a second chance to make a than last year. We also have the pothole epidemic spreading good first impression.” Three strikes in the first sentence; you like wildfire on the roads of coastal Guanacaste, enough even be the umpire. to merit a full spread with photos in Sunday’s “La Nación.”

Thanks to the chaotic decision making of the Costa Rican Aside from your article being a menagerie of rhetoric you Transport Ministry, I’m located on a seldom-used stretch of seemed to be pretty uniformed about Steven Segal. The fact pristine asphalt. It’s like being granted temporary immunity to that he has and is currently a “Real” policeman for the last the rainy season problems that plague so many people. It is 20yrs in one of the toughest beats in New orleans should have by no means blanket immunity from other, equally bothersome hit the your radar. afflictions.

Where to start? A menagerie is an exhibit or enclosure of wild For seven years I have written monthly articles in “The Howler”. animals. If the writer meant ménage-a-trois, then some of Mr. My main focus has been on pointing out things we can do in Seagal’s recently publicized exploits indeed come to mind. ‘Uniour area to keep it nice and green. Once in a while I address formed’ is presumably how Mr. Seagal’s “Real” police buddies larger issues, or even go on a rant about stuff that gets under drive around in New Orleans. The fact is that I can’t make out if he “has or is” a real cop nor can I grasp why someone who my skin. admires the guy can’t spell his name correctly. What is on my The process of learning how to write in an educational and radar thanks to a recent visit by friends from New Orleans is entertaining way is an ongoing one and I owe a tremendous that Mr. Seagal is in some deep doo-doo that has nothing to debt to both the patience of David Mills, the editor, as well do with the oil spill and something to do with a transition from as the hundreds of individuals who have encouraged me with the intense concentration of Aikido to a rather unrestrained expression of Libido. positive feedback, comments and kind words over the years.

Of course, Aikido—note spelling-- is what he mastered and, hey, I think that is totally cool! I suspect that rather than Hollywood sending scouts combing the Japanese dojos for practitioners of “the art of divine harmony”, that Mr. Seagal embarked on a campaign of self-promotion which continues to this day.

Some of the ‘form’ that the writer, whether he likes to or not, is obliged to follow, are the accepted norms for spelling and I certainly think his credentials qualify him to instruct here in grammar in the language of his choosing. The unwary—or un- C.R. don’t you? skilled—writer can subvert the content or undermine the meaning I think that is up to the appropriate national authorities to of his article by careless attention to form. decide. Does he have a work permit? Does he have time to I recently received a critical response to last month’s article pursue his various legal and civil ‘problems’ back home and on the visit of Steven Seagal to Costa Rica. It provides a great would that affect his “divine harmony” in training Ticos? Does opportunity to review the elegant ballet of form and content it appear contradictory that he purports to be on the side of the law here while facing legal problems back home? in the written word.

For convenience sake, I’ll simply highlight the numerous spelling and grammatical errors and make a few comments as to form and content.

(continued page 32)

Surviving

C hapter DCLXVI

P

COSTA RICA

aranoia: a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others. - Merriam Webster’s Deluxe Dictionary.

“You’re not paranoid if they’re really after you”. Phil Ochs.

I’d like to drive into town to do some banking but I’m worried that there might be Transitos on the Langosta road looking for some hapless driver to stop. I know they’re gunning for me ‘cos I passed one the other day who pretended not to see me, which only heightens the probability of harassment.

Even if I make it into downtown Tamarindo I’d still have to worry about finding a parking space with the “parking attendant” that looks least likely to steal my hubcaps.

I don’t remember needing parking attendants in years past; they starting showing up in Tamarindo a couple of years ago, presumably after all the spaces in San José were claimed.

What happens if I don’t pay them to ignore my car while I’m in the bank? Could they be special undercover MOPT operatives perhaps working clandestinely with The Transitos? You never know.

I enter the bank and am immediately scanned by the guard who may or may not actually have ammunition in his gun. What are they looking for? Are there terrorists loose in Costa Rica trying to blow up the banks? Will the guard shoot me if I forget to take off my sunglasses?

Maybe I’ll actually make it to a teller.

Before I withdraw my rapidly deflating dollars I may be asked to provide my US tax returns from 2009, a photocopy of my passport and driver’s license and a list of everyone I’ve ever been married to.

I assume this is all wired to San José to

Paranoia in Costa Rica

the American Embassy’s special task force on finding tax slackers. What do you expect from a government headed by a non-American-born Muslim leader who doesn’t even have the good sense to be white?

Of course there’s a good chance of your finding out that you no longer have any dollars in your bank account. The teller informs you that you withdrew all your money last week at one-thirty in the morning from an ATM machine in Desamparados.

If only the machine’s security camera hadn’t been recently dismantled they would have been able to provide pictures of the transaction.

Did I really travel all the way to one of the roughest parts of San José to withdraw my money? I’m wondering if maybe someone might have slipped something in a recent Pilsen or eight that caused me to go out and do stuff I don’t remember. Come to think of it... this has happened before!

That might explain my wife’s recent curious behavior, like asking me to consume fewer beers in the course of the night.

Reverse psychology, the oldest trick in the book.

Not only that but she and the dog have both been ignoring my personal service requests, usually in the “fetch” department. When I was a younger man in the previous millennium both women and dogs did what they were told. Thanks to the homosexual Jewish-liberal-dominated media, women have been brainwashed by the likes of Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey and Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan.

But who benefits from all this? Sarah Palin and her tea sippers, that’s who. You just watch, there’s gonna be such an uprising against the Status Quo that it’ll make the Taliban look like affluent Methodists.

No wonder I’m so stressed. I thought that

Story by Jesse Bishop

moving to Costa Rica was gonna be a “Pura Vida” moment in my life, but now I worry a lot about getting dengue. When I first started living in Tamarindo there was no dengue. That was something that only happened outside the city limits. Then Santa Cruz’s sinister “Ministerio de Salud” started showing up with large machines that belched clouds of noxious smoke that filled every nook and cranny of our fair city.

Oddly enough it was soon after that the first cases of dengue fever appeared in town. Perhaps the authorities have introducing the dengue bacilli to our environs in order to lower the tax revenues and make the municipalidad appear more prosperous.

And the scary thing is that these guys control everything in this part of the world.

Wanna get a road built? There just ain’t enough money in Costa Rica to pull that one off, but if you want to build a ten-storey tattoo parlor over a threatened wildlife habitat there’s no problem that can’t be solved by a mere down-payment on a Toyota Prado Landcruiser.

I know people who haven’t left the country in five years because they’re afraid they won’t be let back in. At any moment their life in paradise could come to a sudden halt with a few days in a Nicoya jail followed by banishment for a hundred years and a one-way ticket out of the country.

Immigration officials are notoriously hard to bribe; it’s not like dealing with the police, and you will be caught... if you have bad luck.

Who decides who’s lucky and who’s not?

Could it strictly be a matter of “somebody up there likes me” or “somebody up there doesn’t”?

I don’t know about you but I’m very worried!

Readers’ Letters

Tamarindo a Diners’ Mecca

For work reasons I found myself in Tamarindo for the first time, on a three-week visit. My first impression was of a modern city which contrasted with the fourth-world streets, nonexistent sidewalks, no sanitary treatment and no plan regulador. But within this world of contrasts I discovered a babel of gastronomy such as I have seen in great cities such as New York, Paris or Madrid, the difference being that within a short distance one can find: eggs benedict for lunch with a mimosa at Kahiki; good shakshuka and shawarmas at Falafel del Mundo; the best pasta at Nibbana; excellent pizza at La Baula; great gourmet cuisine at Coconut; delicious ice cream at Buon Apetito; the best pad thai I have ever tasted at Wok & Roll; exquisite cous cous at Seasons and a memorable dragon roll at Koi, a never-ending list of dining delights, and you will find even more interesting places, sometimes hidden at first glance.

At last, for national tourists and foreign visitors who love good cooking, one can make a multicultural gastronomic tour, so different from San José in that there we have to travel long distances and fight interminable traffic to get from one place to another. In Tamarindo, all these delights are within short distances, without traffic and in a secure environment.

Lic. José Gerardo Martínez

Please Pick Up after your pet

e

It is becoming more frequent that visitors to our town express dismay at the sight of so much dog excreta on the beach. This is not just a potential health danger (according to some recent warnings from veterinarians) but bathers can spread their towel on the excreta, sometimes hidden beneath the sand.

The worst thing is that the owners of dogs know that their pets are fouling the beach. It is inconceivable that most people will pick up the excreta in the countries they came from, but won’t do it in Costa Rica. Voluntary pick-up of excreta is a fine and healthy practice.

Please remember, when you walk your dog on the beach, to take along a bag to collect the deposits.

Maria de los Angeles Cabinas Marielos

Where’s that bag?

Fe

í D líz

a l e ad

dr a M

The Pen and the Sword (from page 25) As for the spin on the war on drugs....In my experience The war on drugs did a lot more than keep Hollywood and the CIA busy creating a new “Monster.” Most ex-hippie types usually share your delusion. It’s always entertaining to meet these peace, love, and druggie types that have abandon there rollin paper ideals for die hard capitalism.

RAIN GAUGE

12 10

c m s

Funny that you should mention the CIA, since their history of drug running has been documented in both Southeast Asia and Latin America, by Hollywood I might add. I agree that the war on drugs accomplished a lot. It furthered the growth of militarism in the US, nurtured the profits of the arms industry and ruined the lives of a lot of people who were incarcerated for non-violent, drug-related crimes. What it did not do is cut consumption, ruinous addiction and both production and trafficking.

RAINFALL - May/June Maricle Meteorological Observatory La Garita

8 6

Total rainfall: 54.9 cm (21.6 inches)

4 2 0 16

20

25

30 1

5

10

June

July

Year-to-date 2009: 43.8 cm 2010: 128.8

Rainfall May/June 2009: 34.9 cm 2010: 54.9

August ( a l l

t i m e s

2010 l o c a l )

Sun

1st - rise 5:33; set 6:07 15th - rise 5:34; set 6:02 31st - rise 5:34; set 5:53

Last quarter: New: 1st quarter: Full:

Moon 2nd 9th 16th 24th

10:59 p.m.

9:08 p.m.

12:14 p.m.

11:05 a.m.

15

I don’t have the data on “most hippie types,” but my ‘delusion’ is shared by the Associated Press organization which did the report on 40 years of the war on drugs and the RAND Corporation, a high-level think tank not normally associated with “rollin (sic) paper ideals.” Closer to home, and far, far from being one of those “peace, love, and druggie types”, my neighbor Jack, veteran of three wars with the US Army and 20 years in the trenches of substance abuse counseling, gave me high marks on the same article. He singled out the need to “just say no” to simple-minded approaches mouthed by Hollywood-trained thespians and move beyond the idea that reality is just another kind of show.

As for spin and scams i can think of no bigger one than the current “environmental Movement” which i see by your plug at the end you are involved in and I’m sure profiting from. The environmental movement could correctly be portrayed in your article as Hollywood spin designed solely to distract folks from the fact that there really are “Bad Guys” that exist in this world and that drugs in any form are a blight on society.

Aspiring writers—or those of us who want to keep improving-take note: the above section is a first-rate example of what are called “run-on sentences,” a serious problem for many of us. The Wikipedia definition is: “A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (that is, complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation.” Or, as is often the case, when you change from one idea to another without adequate transition or punctuation.

For the writer, one’s own train of thought is easy to follow.

To the reader it is not always so straightforward. The easy morsel to separate from the above mish-mash is “that drugs in any form are a blight on society.”

As constructed, the reader is not quite certain if ‘the environmental movement/Hollywood spin (is) designed solely to distract from (the fact of) drugs being a blight on society.’”

Quite apart from leaving the reader in a sort of grammatical maze and logical limbo of unsubstantiated calumny, the writer of this letter commits one of the greatest blunders possible in the realm of current events commentary. Timing, dude, is everything. (continued page 29

The Pen and the Sword (from page 28) Not even Hollywood, with all its technical prowess at portraying events in living color on the big screen, could begin to capture, document or do justice to the magnitude of the environmental Armageddon reality show that is unfolding, 24/7, month after month and mangrove after manatee, on the Gulf Coast of the US. When a US Congressman estimates the damages at “trillions of dollars” and some models of ocean circulation show the ‘blight on society’ rounding the Florida peninsula and heading up the East Coast, the ‘bad guys’ are obvious to everyone with a brain, or a nose (sniff, sniff). The culprits fought tooth and nail against environmental regulations all along. If you want to bash the environmental movement, bash them for not being radical enough or effective enough to prevent these mega-disasters from happening.

Your rhetoric is pretty A-typical, why don’t you focus those few pages on something positive that may actually help instead of vain conspiracy theories and incorrect assumptions?-T- P.S. The good news is....someone is still reading the Howler. jeffrey B...

OK, readers, this last literary flourish of our guest contributor can serve as the take-home assignment. Here you have a chance to put to use the honed sword of literary skills to identify, and correct if desired, the various grammatical and punctuation errors, unsubstantiated accusations and blandish-

1S

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00:14 06:37 12:45 18:54 00:50 07:16 13:26 19:36 01:30 07:58 14:13 20:25 02:17 08:48 15:07 21:23 03:13 09:48 16:09 22:30

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6F

7S

8S

9M New Moon 10T

04:20 10:54 17:15 23:38 05:31 11:59 18:18 00:40 06:37 12:59 19:15 01:35 07:36 13:54 20:06 02:26 08:29 14:46 20:55

2.2 11W 7.8 1.7 7.1 2.0 12T 8.2 1.2 7.8 13F 1.5 8.7 0.6 8.5 14S 0.8 9.2 0.0 9.3 15S 0.1 9.7 -0.6

ments. Someone with a knack for unraveling twisted logic might actually explain the passage to the rest of us.

‘Flash’ update/full disclosure: Steven Seagal has settled out of court on charges for “sexual harassment, failure to prevent sexual harassment, illegal trafficking of females for sex, retaliation, etc.” The bad news is that his reality, ‘ride along with the real cops,’ show has been cancelled. For the time being the residents of Jefferson Parish will not enjoy the sense of added protection afforded by the presence of the ‘sensei of the streets.’ As I said in my original article, there is plenty of work for big Steve ‘securing’ the beaches and bayous of the Gulf Coast. He could put his aikido expertise to good use restoring the “divine harmony” to this tragically wounded part of the world.

In addition to facing accusations of being an “ex-hippie, peace, love and druggie type” with “rollin paper ideals” and a suspected, card carrying environmentalist, Tom Peifer is an ecological land use consultant with 16 years experience in Guanacaste. Phone: 2658-8018. peifer@racsa. co.cr El Centro Verde is dedicated to sustainable land use, agriculture and development. http://www.elcentroverde.org/

AUGUST TIDE CHART 16M 1st Qtr

03:14 09:20 15:34 21:42 04:02 10:09 16:23 22:29 04:49 10:58 17:10 23:15 05:36 11:47 17:59

10.0 -0.5 10.1 -1.0 10.5 -0.8 10.2 -1.1 10.6 -0.9 10.0 -0.9 10.5 -0.7 9.6

00:02 06:25 12:37 18:51

-0.5 20F 10.2 -0.2 9.0

17T

18W

19T

00:52 07:17 13:31 19:46 01:46 08:12 14:30 20:47 02:45 09:15 15:36 21:57 03:55 10:23 16:48 23:09 05:09 11:32 17:57

0.1 9.6 0.4 8.4 0.8 8.9 1.0 7.7 1.5 8.3 1.5 7.3 2.1 7.8 1.7 7.1 2.3 7.7 1.7

21S

22S

23M

24T Full Moon 25W

00:16 06:19 12:33 18:55 01:12 07:15 13:25 19:42 01:57 08:01 14:09 20:21 02:37 08:40 14:49 20:56 03:13 09:16 15:25 21:19

7.3 2.2 7.8 1.5 7.6 1.9 8.0 1.2 8.0 1.5 8.2 0.9 8.4 1.2 8.5 0.6 8.7 0.9 8.6 0.5

26T

27F

28S

29S

30M

03:47 09:50 16:00 22:02 04:19 10:24 16:34 22:23 04:52 10:58 17:09 23:06 05:25 11:33 17:44 23:39 05:59 12:09 18:20

9.0 0.6 8.7 0.4 9.1 0.5 8.6 0.4 9.1 0.5 8.4 0.6 8.9 0.7 8.1 0.9 8.7 0.9 7.7

31T

1W Sept Last Qtr 2T

3F

4S

00:15 06:36 12:49 19:00 00:55 07:19 13:34 19:49 01:43 08:10 14:29 20:49 02:44 09:15 15:34 22:00 03:56 10:27 16:45 23:12

1.2 8.4 1.2 7.4 1.6 8.1 1.5 7.0 1.9 7.7 1.8 6.8 2.1 7.5 1.9 6.9 2.1 7.6 1.7 7.3