Blogs

Building a new home is an exciting venture. When you are building a new home in Costa Rica, it is even more thrilling! And there are so many innovative possibilities with tropical architecture design.

Costa Rican architect Richard Muller, head of the firm RM Architecture & Engineering, has been designing and building innovative tropical architecture in Costa Rica for more than 35 years. One of his favorite spots for home building is at the Costa Rica eco-development Portasol Rainforest & Ocean Vi

One moment you’re walking along a rainforest trail enjoying the incredible sounds and sights, when suddenly you spot monkeys hopping from tree to tree. You definitely want to get pictures of that, so you go off the trail following the monkeys. Before long, you’ve been so busy looking up and chasing the monkeys that now you have no idea where you are, and more importantly, where the trail is.

You are lost in the jungle.

It can happen as easy as that. It’s happened to me. Would you know how to survi

What’s better than being in the rainforest?

Being in the rainforest with expert scientists who can tell you fascinating stories about the animals and plants that live there.

Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica has invited celebrated U.S. scientists Howard Topoff, Ph.D. and Carol Simon, Ph.D. – both professors’ emeriti of The City University of New York and former Research Associates at the American Museum of Natural History – to be special guest lecturers at the award-winning Costa Rica e

One of the top day tours on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast, Veragua Rainforest Research & Adventure, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month.

The highly popular nature and adventure attraction, and important scientific research center, was four years in the making and now five years open. In that time, the tour destination has achieved a long list of successes.

"Everyone is very proud of the work and effort we have given during these years," said Federico Quirós, Administrative Financial Man

Creamy, gooey, mouth-melting, milk, white, dark, bitter, sweet … chocolate melts our hearts not just our taste buds.

As the story goes, chocolate was once considered gold. Prized by the Aztecs and Mayans, and formerly reserved only for royalty in Europe, chocolate has held an irresistible allure for cultures worldwide over the past 4,000 years. In some areas, chocolate beans were even used as currency.

Chocolate comes from the seeds of the cacao fruit tree, which originated in the Americas, and g

When naturalist guides Erick Camacho and Jose Garro found the dead toucan below a tree near their staff housing at the Costa Rica eco-lodge where they work, it was an interesting discovery but just another day in the jungle.

However, the deceased toucan – or more importantly, its beak – has given a big boost of hope to saving “Grecia” the injured toucan in Costa Rica that had its beak mutilated by teenagers late last year and has become an international sensation as engineers and veterinarians tr

Costa Rica is a small country with a big success story in reforestation.

The Central American nation was nearly devastated by deforestation by the early 1980s. Now more than 30 years later, over 52 percent of Costa Rica’s land is covered with forest between national parks, private reserves and wildlife refuges.

Costa Rica’s progressive reforestation and environmental protection earned the country the accolade of being named the third best Green Country in the World in the 2014 Global Green Econom

If you love the idea of roaming through a rainforest looking for monkeys, snakes, exotic birds and wild cats, then this Costa Rica nature adventure tour is for you.

On your next Costa Rica vacation, you should go on the Bushmaster Adventures rainforest wildlife tour. This is one of your best bets in the Central Pacific region of Costa Rica to see an incredibly diverse array of wildlife.

Private or group guided tours visit the coastal rainforest at Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living, located

Out on the calm, clear, jade green-blue water of the Golfo Dulce (“Sweet Gulf”) in southern Costa Rica, it is easy to think this must be one of the most pristine, beautiful places on Earth. And it is. This inner sea is a critical habitat for endangered migrating southern Pacific humpback whales, dolphins and sharks, among other marine life.

Then our boat passes a small patch of floating plastic bottles, chips bags and other random flotsam. Trash. Human trash. And we are reminded that if anything

When I first visited Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge at the end of 2004, what struck me most was how in heaven did this amazing high-end Costa Rica eco-lodge come to exist in the middle of a jungle on the sea, with nothing else around?

The question is a valid one given Nicuesa Lodge’s completely isolated location in southern Costa Rica. It is a wild place of dense steamy rainforest and tranquil ocean, intensely populated by thousands of species of tropical wildlife. Playa Nicuesa is a little cresc

The trash problem of the world’s oceans has reached epic proportions. However, in the small Central American nation of Costa Rica, 108 beach communities have taken a stand against litter and pollution and are working to make a difference in the world predicament.

The record number of Costa Rica beaches received Ecological Blue Flag Awards for 2014 for having good ecological practices, clean beaches, community cooperation and coastal protection. The annual awards were given out in a ceremony held

Let’s face it; we all care about what we eat. So if visiting a remote jungle eco-lodge is in your plans, you might be wondering if mealtime will resemble a Mission Survive episode or be awesome.

In fact, remote Costa Rica eco-lodge Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge gets regular rave reviews from guests about its exceptional, fresh, gourmet cuisine. The abundance of fresh, healthy and wholesome ingredients is inspiring, and head chef Edixon Lezcano adds a huge helping of creativity to Nicuesa’s menu

I’m sitting at my desk, meant to be working. What I’m really doing is daydreaming about snorkeling in the Golfo Dulce in Costa Rica.

I’m plotting how I can get back to Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge on Golfo Dulce. I’m remembering swimming in that calm sea and the feel of delicious water – not bath-water warm, but not cold either. I’m thinking about how clear the Golfo Dulce water is, and how vibrantly it changes color from deep jade green next to the shoreline where it reflects the jungle, to b

Article by Shannon Farley

“Nature doesn’t need people. People need nature,” is the message from Conservation International. The environmental organization’s widely popular video campaigns use famous actors’ and actresses’ voices with beautiful video footage of nature in two-minute messages to promote their important manifesto:

“Human beings are part of nature. Nature is not dependent on human beings to exist. Human beings, on the other hand, are totally dependent on nature to exist.”

In Conservatio

If you visited the beautiful property of Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge four decades ago, instead of a high-end Costa Rica eco-lodge, you would have found only “chocolate trees.”

Cacao tree plantations were once plentiful in Costa Rica’s southernmost region of the Golfo Dulce and Osa Peninsula. Cacao was an important export market for Costa Rica until the fungus blight called Monilia destroyed 95% of production in 1979.

On the Chocolate Tour at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, you will learn abo

Have you always wanted to live in the rainforest by a tropical beach? Or are you looking for a vacation home in a warm climate? The special eco-community of Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living in Costa Rica is an excellent option.

Strategically located on the Costa Rica Central Pacific Coast between Manuel Antonio National Park and Dominical, the beautiful sustainable development encompasses 1,300 acres of pure rainforest, streams, waterfalls, mountain ridges and sea views along the Portalón

Whenever I travel anywhere that serves delicious meals, I always think, “How can I recreate this at home and enjoy it again?”

In the case of Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica, now I can. The Costa Rica rainforest lodge by the Osa Peninsula has released a free PDF downloadable Edible Landscape Garden Cookbook with a collection of 38 of their most popular recipes.

Read any of the TripAdvisor reviews about Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge and guests always mention the delicious fresh meals

Right behind Sweden and Norway as the top Green Countries in the World, is the little Central American nation of Costa Rica.

According to the recently released 2014 Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI), Costa Rica is the third best Green Country in the World.

The Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI) measures the green economic performance of 60 countries and 70 cities in the world. The GGEI also assesses the public’s perception of a nation’s green performance. The fourth edition of the GGEI, publish

What does eco-tourism and being sustainable really mean? Is that just recycling the trash or turning off a few lights?

At Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica, sustainability means much more. The Costa Rica rainforest lodge is one of only three dozen hotels in Costa Rica that have received the highest rating of Five Leaves in the Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program (CST).

Created by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT), the CST program rates and certifies tourism businesses base

There is a lot of talk in travel about eco-tourism and being sustainable. But what does that really mean? Is that simply turning off a few lights, not wasting water and recycling the trash?

According to the United Nations, sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Costa Rica pioneered sustainable tourism over the past decade through its Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program (CST), validated as a glo