Nature Kids Brings Hope to Low Income Families Costa Rica’s domestic airline , Nature Air , not only contributes with a clean and carbon neutral air, but also with low income communities with their Nature Kid program.

Nature Kids’ objective is to work with low income families by providing them with the development of necessary tools in order to have a self reliant future. Nature Kids reaches out to communities by teaching English and by educating them about environmental programs.

The program currently runs two schools and an ambulatory program called “English on Horseback” which reaches out to remote communities in Drake Bay . Of the two school houses run by the program, one is located in Drake Bay and the other in the central valley in Santa Ana.

Although the program is called Nature Kids, the program works with people of ages. Since the volunteers work directly with the communities, age ranges from 5 years old all the way to 55. In all, Nature Kids has a total of 249 students so far.

The English program curriculum has been divided to work from grades of Kinder to 12th grade with a combination of text books while adults work with the Side by Side workbook. Students are evaluated every month by means of oral exams in which pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar are graded.

As far as their environmental program goes, Nature Kids teaches students from several schools the importance of recycling and taking care of the environment. Each school has recycling bins for students to dispose of the garbage appropriately.

Nature Kids also rewards community services and holds an annual tree planting activity in Santa Ana. Nature Kids is always open to receive volunteers who are willing to teach these communities English as well as environmental awareness. If you would like to volunteer, you may get in touch with Gena Terry at gterry@natureair.com .

Globalization Hits Costa Rica’s Remote Indigenous Tribe

A recent research carried out by a Costa Rican photographer/reporter sadly revealed as one of the country’s most traditional native tribes have begun to succumb to the strong commerce grip.

The photographer Ileana Arauz had chosen the traditional and closed native tribe of the Guaymies as the center point of her dissertation.  She wanted to show the world that this remote community defended and maintained their traditions and customs despite of the many outside influences they could receive.

After walking 5 hours through Costa Rica’s southern region mountains and wading through neck high water, Ileana arrived at the Guaymi village only to find men and children gathered around a TV watching a soccer game.

To her surprise, or dismay as she had to rewrite her paper, not only did they have access to a TV but also found several cell phones with an impeccable reception.  It was common to see the younger children wearing soccer team jerseys and speaking a combination of their native ngöbes language with Spanish and even English.

In addition, she documented that when the tribe’s women had to leave their village, they preferred to dress in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers in order to avoid standing out when outside their village.

The outer world influence is obviously more noticeable in the younger groups which have also brought solar panels and electronics into the village.

Ileana believes that this change in the tribe’s practices has a lot to do with the village’s location.  The Guaymies villages are relatively close to the border with Panama and many members take their arts and crafts to sell to the large amount of tourists which cross the border.

The Guaymi arts and crafts prices are tagged in US dollars and members have even began learning English.

Guanacaste Tremors: Nothing to Worry About

Aside from having the most spectacular beaches in the country, Costa Rica’s North Pacific Coast is also famous for its tremors due to the proximity of the Cocos and Caribbean tectonic plates.

A small tremor was felt this past Saturday night at around 8:30pm and measured 4.8 on the Richter scale.  The epicenter was located at approximately 50 kilometers west of the Gulf of Papagayo and had a depth of 36 kilometers.

These tremors are not to alarm residents or tourists as they are part of the region’s normal activity.

The Costa Rican Seismologic and Volcano Institute mentioned that these movements were not associated with the activity of the Nicoya Peninsula.  The institute’s representative also mentioned that the area where the movements took place is characterized by being a weak spot along the Cocos and Caribbean tectonic plates.

For some tourists, this could have been their very first experience of feeling an earth tremor and may have not even noticed it.  Residents of the Guanacaste region have not made a big deal out of it and continued with their every day activities.

Guanacaste is also busy preparing for its annual festivities in commemoration of its annexation to Costa Rica in 1824.

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Not to confuse tourists, Nosara is a peaceful beach community located in the province of Guanacaste. What confuses tourists is that the town of Nosara is well hidden within the tropical jungle at a distance of 6 kilometers from the beach. Nosara does not offer much except for tranquility and its own landing strip.

The town of Nosara and its surrounding beaches is home to one of Costa Rica’s oldest expatriate communities which date back to 1962. An American had come down to Costa Rica over 40 years ago and bought the entire strip of land along the coast of Nosara. He wanted to develop a 500 residential lot which included commercial sites, green zones and a golf course.

He was able to build roads, establish water systems and install electricity. However, after a few years he had to stop due to financial reasons and Nosara was then managed by the Nosara Civic Association.

Nosara has 3 different beaches which are Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada and Playa Nosara. Playa Guiones is a 6 kilometer beach with white sand and great waves which attract hundreds of surfers year round. The surf is consistent and offers long breaks from right and left. Towards the south end of Guiones is Playa Rosada which has a rare strip of pink colored sand.

North of Playa Guiones is Playa Pelada. This beach is packed with shells and has really fun blow holes which become particularly active during tide transitions. Playa Pelada is protected by an offshore barrier which makes it perfect for swimming and snorkeling. This beach also has tidal pools and a rocky area with caves and bat colonies.

And finally, the most remote of the beaches is Playa Nosara. This is a black sand beach is backed by mangroves and ends at the beach of Ostional. Nosara is sought after experienced surfers due to its high waves as well as strong currents.