Archive for February 9th, 2009
Monday, February 9th, 2009
Strong winds knocked out electricity to more than 200,000 people in five Costa Rican provinces Thursday and another 240 people had to be evacuated to escape rising rivers, said news reports and government agencies.
An unknown number of people remained without power Friday.
At least five people were injured by falling trees on highways as a cold front with heavy rain and winds of up to 100 kph (62 mph) moved through the area, reports said.
The National Meteorological Institute forecast that the rough weather would remain through the weekend.
“This is worse than an earthquake,” Fructuoso Garrido, distribution chief for the National Company for Power and Light, told the Prensa Libre newspaper. “At least with an earthquake we take out [damaged] equipment and replace it with another. But in this case, this situation just keeps on going and going and to a general level.”
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
Reno-based wind turbine manufacturer Mariah Power has expanded onto the international stage with its first Windspire installation in Latin America.
ASI Power & Telemetry, a Mariah Power dealer based in northwestern Costa Rica, has installed one of the company’s propeller-free vertical axis wind turbines, called a Windspire, in a biodiversity-educational park near Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose.
Mariah Power specializes in low-cost urban, suburban and rural vertical axis wind turbines for small business, residential and commercial applications. It has turbines installed across the United States.
The spires are designed and built in Reno, although the company plans to devote the Nevada plant to research and development when it opens a larger manufacturing plant in Michigan later this year. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
The Sylvania company announced that it would be closing its one of its two plants located in Pavas and laying off workers, although the exact number has yet to be announced.
Oscar Vega, regional manager for the company, confirmed yesterday the closing of the plant that manufactures consumer lighting products.
Vega said that the number of people that will be laid off by the closure is not yet known, but will all be paid their severance pay.
“We do not not have the exact number of people, but believe it will be about one third of the ucrrent workforce”, said Vega.
The company said it will keep open only one of the two plants it operates in Costa Rica, the closure being a result in the slow down in the construction industry due to the world economic crisi and the demand for its products.
The Sylvania plant in Costa Rica exports products to both North America and Europe.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
Visiting Costa Rica in February is a great time to visit if you don’t mind deals with the crowds. The winter months for the Northern hemisphere are often the busiest in Costa Rica. People from the colder areas of the world are escaping to Costa Rica for a warm weather Christmas. Aside from the crowds, the only downfall to visiting Costa Rica in February is that you will be paying high season prices for everything from hotels to tours. But, that’s to be expected when traveling during high season. On the flip side, there is a reason that this is a popular time to visit Costa Rica, it is the dry season so you don’t have to worry to much about full days of intense jungle rain.
February Events in Costa Rica
While there are a lot of tourists making there way to Costa Rica in February, there is little going on in the way of national events. In fact, there is really only one worth mentioning.
Puntarenas Carnival - During the last week of February, the fishing town of Puntarenas turns into a colorful and loud carnival of sorts. Some festivals in Costa Rica bee cool to visit, but I wouldn’t recommend this one. There isn’t really much to see or do here aside from the carnival. When the carnival is in full swing there will be tons of Ticos in the area and crime is sure to jump way up, especially for tourists.
February Weather in Costa Rica
The weather in Costa Rica is very mild this time of year, which is why this is such a popular month to visit.
San Jose
Highs of 75ºF Lows of 59ºF Average Rainfall: 0.24 inches Humidity: 80%
Manuel Antonio
Highs of 87ºF Lows of 69ºF Average Rainfall: 1.4 inches Humidity: 81%
Limón (Caribbean)
Highs of 88ºF Lows of 68ºF Average Rainfall: 8.3 inches Humidity: 87%
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
Playas del Coco is a typical tourist spot on Costa Rica’s northern Pacific coast. The town is a mix of local people and tourists living side by side. The dwellings of many of the locals are primitive, and are basically shacks with no flooring, no windows and garbage strewn everywhere.
However, the locals are not starving because there is no one begging for food or money as you walk past. The tourism dollars are the heart of this coastal town. Jobs and services of all kinds are directly related to tourism.
During the daylight hours, everything seems normal in this community. There is one main street in Playas del Coco, which contains a mixture of shops, bars, grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, and ’sodas’- small eateries in Costa Rica that are popular with the locals. (more…)
Posted in Stories | 1 Comment »
