Filmfest: Amazing Video Relates to Costa Rican Fresh Fruit Market

A huge thanks to Jheudy for the idea to write about Costa Rica's fresh food market. These days you can drive down the streets of Costa Rica and see more and more supermarkets and fast food chains. I want to push the fact that we need not forget the farmers worker there tails off that still put on quite the show on weekends to sell some of the best fruits and vegtables you can find in most town squares from Friday to Sunday. Watch the video Jheudy sent me from a filmfest this weekend and tell me it doesnt make you feel bad if you dont get up and go get your fruits and veggies from your local farmer this weekend. It is Friday so now would be the time (if your in Costa Rica).

Related articles by Zemanta

• Crocodile whisperer of Costa Rica plays with reptile (telegraph.co.uk)
• Shells of Costa Rica (dosooye.com)
• Costa Rica Family Vacations (crrtravel.com)

Frog Reproduction in the Tropics

Image via WikipediaI did mention last week that I was going to make this blog about Costa Rican history this week but I guess we will save that for next week. Today I have an interesting topic for you. When you think of rainforest and Costa Rica one of the things that comes to your mind is Toucans, Volcanoes, Jaguars, Waterfalls, & FROGS!!!

Todays topic I wanted to talk a little bit about the frogs of Costa Rica and most importantly about the difference in the reproduction habits of the Leaf frog and the poisonous dart frog.

In Costa Rica we think of the Leaf Frogs which are the frogs that come out at night and are not poisonous. When it is time for these frogs to reproduce they go through a process that is called amplexus which is actually done through the armpits (look at the picture above that is two leaf frogs in in the process of amplexus which is fertilizing the eggs through the armpits) which is quite interesting.

The poisonous dart frog is completely absent of the amplexus process meaning that there is no physical contact during the fertilization of the eggs. For the poisonous dart frog it can be considered quite the boring process of reproduction. He has to go find the eggs that are floating around in water somewhere and then fertilize them without any physical contact while he then gets to here his Leaf Frog buddy talk about how fun his night was.

Related articles by Zemanta

• El Tirar-Rana! (The Frog-Slinger) from KORE rpg " rpg (korpg.com)
• QI: Quite Interesting facts about deadly poisons (telegraph.co.uk)
• What is the deadliest predator on earth? (greenanswers.com)
• Costa Rica Family Vacations (crrtravel.com)
• Most Educational Student Travel Tour on Earth (crrtravel.com)

World Tourism Day 2010

World Tourism Day is celebrated everyday on Sept 27th by the United Nations and is to bring awareness of the importance and positive affect tourism can have on countries around the world. This year the theme is "Tourism and Biodiversity".

You cant pick a much better theme for Costa Rica to celebrate since the Tourism part seems to be picking up next year after a slow season and Biodiversity is Costa Rica's claim to fame. China will be hosting this years World Tourism Day.

Although for tourism in Costa Rica this is our slow season I do feel it is something that should be brought to the atttention and celebrated. It is an important day in the industry and many important things can be learned in advances in the industry in moving towards a more green economy and setting better Standards for Green Travel. Enjoy your Tourism & BioDiversity Day!!!

 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Rios Tropicales Announces Video Premiere of Award-Winning Costa Rica Sustainable Tourism Project (prweb.com)
• Official Website of World Tourism Day
• Family Vacation to Costa Rica (crrtravel.com)

Excellent Education Books for All ages from one of the Most Bio-Diverse Places on the Planet

Image via WikipediaThere is so much information we can find on line. But if your in the jungle and it happens to be in the rainforest there just might be a good reason to still have your book of tree species or bird species handy (until apple comes out with the waterproof touch). But until then there are some great sources to look into. The Institute National of Bio-Diversity where I did some of my studies in Costa Rica has quite the collection of books that all go to a great cause. If your interested in these books they all come in English and Spanish and you can click here to take a look at the many different books they have.

Again these are amazing books from studies done in the field and proceeds going back into the field of study. I feel these would be great class room books and they have different books for all ages. If you are ever visiting Costa Rica Inbio Park is also a park worth visiting with a class. It is a small park in the town of Heredia and nothing like getting out into the jungles of Costa Rica but again if you have the time its money going to a good cause.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Top 50 Library Websites Worth Bookmarking from Around the World (mastersdegrees.org)
• San Antonio Inventor, Educator and Entrepreneur, Dr. Mauli Agrawal, to Receive BioMed SA's Prestigious 2010 Julio Palmaz Award for Innovation in Healthcare and the Biosciences (eon.businesswire.com)
• Disney's Planet Challenge Kicks off Year Two, Expands to Middle Schools (eon.businesswire.com)
• Tropical Biodiversity Can Thank Steady Temps (scientificamerican.com)
• The US must show leadership on biodiversity | Edward Norton (guardian.co.uk)

VSP Eye Care

Image by airthru.takashi via FlickrI could easily spend this blog telling you how important it is to get your kids eyes checked because when they come to Costa Rica I want them to be able to enjoy all the beautiful colors of nature, erupting volcanos, and monkeys & sloths in the jungle. But I'm not. I'm actually going to take a break today from Costa Rica and write about the importance of why kids should be getting their eyes check regularly.

First of all from a personal opinion with the services that are available with VSP VisionCare how could you not take advantage of these benefits. We have traveled into some of the most remote Indigenous places in the mountains of Costa Rica and many of these kids will never see an eye doctor nor ever know they ever had an eye problem. To have a service like VSP VisionCare is a true blessing and one that should not be overlooked. Im doing this blog a little different. I was on the VSP Vision Care site and I saw there history dating from 1955 - 2009.  After looking at the dates they have you should have seen 17 different years from 1955 when VSP started until 2009. Now look at the list I made of the same 17 different years that VSP uses on their site to describe their history. Now, instead of VSP VisionCare facts I will use facts that make it worth for all kids to get their eyes checked because these were some dates you did not want to miss. Check it out and enjoy:

1955 ---- Mickey Mouse Club began, The 1st McDonalds opened, and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat.
1960 ---- The Flinstones began (come on can you imagine not seeing the Flinstones?!)
1968 ---- 60 Minutes went on the air & the First Big Mac was sold
1970 ---- Ghandi was President of India
1980 ---- Pac Man was released (THIS WAS BIG!!!)
1990 ---- First webpage is written and Homealone was the best movie. Look at how much we use our eyes now on the web.
1992 ---- Microsoft Works was released by Microsoft
1993 ---- www. was born at CERN and Jurassic Park
1997 ---- Mars Pathfinder Lands on Mars and "Spicegirls" were big
2000 ---- Planets in solar system align
2003 ---- Bruce Almighty, Finding Nemo, & Lord of the Rings
2004 ---- Tallest Skyscraper in the world opens "Taipei" at 1,676ft
2005 ---- XBOX and Madagascar
2006 ---- Wii
2007 ---- IPhone & Final Harry Potter
2010 ---- Call VSP and get the families eyes checked


In closing I would like to metion that to take a look at this page of their site it happened to be my favorite click here. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• iHave Wise Eyes in my Classroom: WIN A FREE iPad contest! (coolcatteacher.blogspot.com)
• Bill Nye, the Eye Health Guy? (wired.com)

2,000 Trash Cans

Image via Wikipedia Costa Rica is doing the best it can to clean up litter in the country. San Jose, the capital, is installing 2,000 new trash recepticals in the city. They wil be near parks and bus stops. City Hall says that there is no excuse for litter.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Costa Rica is Calling with Two New Friendly Planet Travel Tours (eon.businesswire.com)
• Frontier Airlines to launch new Costa Rica route (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

One of the Nicest Species on the Planet

Image by Costa Rican Resource via FlickrUS companies are finding out that one of Costa Rica's prime assets are its people. They are well trained, well educated, kind, gentle and bilingual. They can provide service to Spanish speaking countries as well as the English speaking countries, and they do it for a competitive salary. Chile attracts business because of its minerals. Costa Rica attracts business because of its human capital.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Costa Rica is Calling with Two New Friendly Planet Travel Tours (eon.businesswire.com)

Origin of Spheres

Image via Wikipedia The pre-Columbian stone spheres found in the south Pacific region of Costa Rica have had all kinds of guesses made about their origin. They are so big and heavy, the heaviest 15 tons, that one of the guesses were that they were put there by aliens. Wrong! Archaeologist Ifigenia Quintanilla has put an end to speculation. The spheres were made by the indigenous people of the region.They were carved with hatchets, and they were a sign of power. Quintanilla says it is a way to make a statement. 15 tons says a lot.

The New Ambassador

Image via Wikipedia Who knows the name of the Costa Rican ambassador to the USA?

She is Muni Figueres, daughter of former Costa Rican President José “don Pepe” Figueres and his first wife. She will serve as Costa Rica's ambassador to the United States, after being nominated by her government on this past Tuesday morning.

Muni Figueres was born in Costa Rica but was also a U.S. citizen because of her mother's nationality. In order to accept the ambassador’s post in Washington, D.C., she was forced to relinquish her U.S. citizenship. She admits that it was not easy to do.

Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla said she sees Figueres' former U.S. citizenship as an advantage to Costa Rica because she will have “fluid access” in Washington.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Costa Rica wants US anti-drug program for CentAm (sfgate.com)
• Costa Rican president orders investigation on attack against US sportfishermen (foxnews.com)
• Costa Rica wants US anti-drug program for CentAm (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Interesting Costa Rica Information

Image via Wikipedia Here are some facts about Costa Rica that you might have missed:

1. Costa Rica abolished its army permanently in 1949.

2. It is the only Latin American country on the list of the world’s oldest 22 democracies.


3. It is among the top Latin American countries on the Human Development Index.

4. On the Environmental Performance Index, Costa Rica is number three in the world and number one in the Americas.

5. The Costa Rican government plans to be the first carbon neutral country.

6. Costa Rica ranks first on the Happy Planet Index, which measures long and fulfilling lives.

7. Costa Rica is the greenest country on the planet.

Thank you, Wikipedia

Family Adventure Specialist
The Costa Rican Resource
http://www.crrtravel.com/
mail.crrtravel.com
info@crrtravel.com

The Costa Rican Astronaut

Image via Wikipedia Did you know that Costa Rica had an astronaut? His name is Franklin Chang, and he is a real hero here. Chang has made seven voyages into outer space. Not only has this inspired a nation, but it has made this agricultural economy of Costa Rica, where only 6 to 7% of the university students study science, start thinking more about science.

Chang is the astronaut and co-director of Ad Astra Rocket Lab. He has plans to use plasma-fueled rockets to rid space of obsolete satellites. Currently there is no way to retrieve satellites once they cease to function. Chang was not expecting Ticos to invest a lot of money in his project, but he has been overwhelmed by their support of this project. One man makes a difference.

They are Waiting for You

Image via Wikipedia Costa Rica's Juan Santamaria airpot is so neat and compact that I often wish Newark and Miami were just like it. But in order to serve you better the airport operators have just finished 30 million dollars worth of work. They have doubled the immigration area, and they have expended the departure hall. Interesting enough, it is still neat and compact. With all the new additions, you can still very easily find your way around. They expect to finish up another 10 million dollar piece of work by the end of the year. When all four expansion phases are completed, the airport will have the capacity to handle an increase in passengers from now until 2029.

So come on down!