caribbean (48)

9008891290?profile=originalPlanning to come to the Costa Rica Caribbean Coast on vacation? While the drive from San Jose to Puerto Viejo is pretty, there is a much easier way to get to Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast. Fly!

It takes about four hours to drive the 217 kilometers to Puerto Viejo from San Jose. The stretch on Route 32 through the Braulio Carrillo National Park is certainly very beautiful, but can also be treacherous when raining, foggy, or after dark – a good portion of the time.

Save yourself the headache and stre

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9008824294?profile=originalThe start of Caribbean Summer in Costa Rica is the time for special deals. The climate on the Caribbean Coast varies from the rest of Costa Rica. Most of the year, the Caribbean Coast maintains its forever green landscape from regular tropical rain showers. Then, when the rest of Costa Rica enters peak rainy season in September and October, the sun comes out over the Caribbean.

 

Costa Rica's southern Caribbean Coast has everything you're looking for in a beach vacation – adventure, romance, decad

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9008972696?profile=originalCosta Rica's Southern Caribbean Coast has everything could want for a destination wedding and honeymoon.

 

Imagine your dream wedding exchanging vows with your beloved in a stunning beachside ceremony overlooking the turquoise Caribbean Sea, or under the canopy of a tropical garden with the ocean close by. Picture a romantic honeymoon walking on pristine beaches at sunset, torch-lit tropical gardens and balmy evenings, days full of adventure, personalized service, and Caribbean culture and warmth.

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9008955053?profile=originalEver wanted to have your own private tropical island?

 

That was the dream of Argentinean Jorge Benatuel, co-owner of eco-boutique Hotel Laguna Azul in Bocas del Toro, Panama.

 

The intense city-life of Buenos Aires is a far-cry from the backwater southern Caribbean archipelago of Bocas del Toro in northwestern Panama. But in 1998, Benatuel and his wife traveled from Argentina to Bocas del Toro on vacation. They spent 15 days boating around Bocas del Toro’s nine major islands and 200-plus islets, lo

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9008912667?profile=originalThousands of visitors come to Costa Rica each year with the hope of witnessing the extraordinary phenomenon of seeing sea turtles nest and lay their eggs. These ancient reptiles have been swimming Earth’s waters for at least 150 million years, mysteriously returning to the same beach where they were born.

 

Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast beaches receive mass arrivals of female turtles by the tens of thousands, and the Costa Rica Caribbean beaches have crucial world nesting sites. Of the seven species

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Educational tourism is one of the fastest growing areas of travel and tourism. Not just for students, educational travel is about learning and being involved in community action projects while traveling and relaxing on vacation.

 

Costa Rica offers a wide variety of educational travel and volunteer opportunities for people of all ages. An excellent destination for educational tourism and volunteer groups is Lirio Lodge by Tortuguero in Costa Rica.

 

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The Costa Rica eco-lodge is located in an area of

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New flight to Costa Rica Caribbean Coast opens

9296592454?profile=originalNow getting to the South Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica will be easier than ever with a new 30-minute flight between San Jose and Limon on Nature Air.

 

Starting Dec. 1, travelers to Costa Rica can fly from San Jose and the Central Valley to the Caribbean port city of Limon on daily flights with the Costa Rican airline Nature Air. Flights depart from the Juan Santamaria International Airport by San Jose at 5:50 a.m., and arrive to the Limon airport at 6:20 a.m. Return flights depart Limon daily at

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9296587472?profile=originalThe slow-moving sloths of Costa Rica are streaking into the limelight with their own weeklong online special program. Starting June 20, 2014, Animal Planet and Animalist will stream daily footage from the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica.

 

Cute and cuddly sloths of the Caribbean Costa Rica have been in the spotlight since last year’s program “Meet the Sloths” aired on Animal Planet. The two-hour special program will run again on June 21 at 8:00 a.m. EST. The story follows a year in the lives of five

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Christmas in Costa Rica is for the birds!

Trogon-at-Veragua-Rainforest-photo-by-Daniel-Torres-203x300.jpg?width=203Christmas is a special time of year for birders. Equipped with binoculars, bird guides and checklists, avid birders throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, rain, or maybe even tropical sun, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count. The longest running “Citizen Science survey” in the world, the annual Christmas Bird Count provides critical data on bird population trends. The National Audubon Society of the USA and other organizations use data collected in this wildlife census to assess the heal

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In the case of butterflies, it pays to look like your neighbor.

New information about long-winged butterflies in Costa Rica is showing how the importance of “mimicry” and theTwo-species-of-Heliconius-butterflies-image-by-Marcus-Kronforst-University-of-Chicago-300x225.jpg?width=300 butterflies’ natural promiscuity has led to interbreeding and the creation of new species that look very much alike, according to a study led by University of Chicago evolutionary biologist, Marcus R. Kronforst.

“In evolutionary biology, mimicry is the similarity of one species to another which protects one or both.This simil

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They live in the sea, are on the World Wildlife Fund’s “Endangered Species List”, and frequent the waters around Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast Tortuguero National Park. Their lives, though on similar paths, are a bit conflicted.

I’m talking about sea turtles and manatees. One draws crowds of up to 50,000 tourists each year; the other lives a hidden life and was thought until recently to be extinct.

Costa Rica's Tortuguero National Park is a unique ecosystem web of water & forest

Tortuguero is one of Costa Rica's most popular ecotourism destinations – a microcosm of rainforest, f

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Boutique Hotels Win Acclaim in Costa Rica

Boutique hotel L'Acqua Viva in Costa Rica's Nosara beach

Personally, I prefer staying in small boutique hotels. Large chain hotels have their function, though I rather like when the receptionist remembers my name and is personable enough to care how I am and how my stay is going. I like waiters who remember I favor water without ice and that my mid-afternoon coffee is an absolute must … with a healthy shot of warm milk, if you please. I am deeply grateful to attentive staff who think up and suggest new things to do or places to visit, without being as

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From From Kaleel


Cruise Lines Sail the Social Media Seas

The captain of the Oasis of the Seas may have driven the 5,400 passenger cruise ship into Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades last fall, but it was Social Media channels that drove the Royal Caribbean's cruise ship, the world's largest, onto Google's most-searched list.

Travel trade publication Travel Weekly reported that as of a couple of weeks ago, 10 million unique visitors made their way to OasisoftheSea.com, and a whopping 200,000 people
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The largest of the three major U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Croix is rich in history, culture, and natural beauty, making it the perfect choice for a romantic getaway, family vacation, or a breathtaking scuba diving trip.

With a tropical climate and endless white sand beaches, the weather forecast for St. Croix is frequently given as “88 degrees, mostly sunny, 10% chance of rain.” Cited as the most cosmopolitan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Croix offers a diverse landscape ranging from the rainfore
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9009520880?profile=originalJumbie dancers at The Bucanner's sugar mill


The Manor House, which is still in use today, was built in 1653 by the Knights of Malta. The sugar mill, constructed in 1733, now serves as a venue for weddings. Former slave quarters dating back 250 years provide lodging.


It’s not often a visit to a destination hotel includes a history tour spanning several centuries. But history permeates the grounds of The Buccaneer on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Just a ten minute drive from island capita

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12127789070?profile=RESIZE_930xTijon.com



There I was in my white lab coat, examining 40 vials and trying to determine which combinations to mix to get the best outcome. Admittedly, I wasn’t performing some important scientific discovery or creating a medical breakthrough, but it felt almost that significant. What if I screwed up, made ridiculous choices as to the most effective ingredients and came away with an awful smelling product. Yup, I was making perfume at the Tijon Parfumerie & Boutique on the French side of the Car

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11162978453?profile=RESIZE_930xDominican Republic Ministry of Tourism  

 

 

The Dominican Republic is one of those Caribbean countries that truly offers the proverbial something for almost everyone (OK, admittedly, skiers are out of luck). On this blog we’ll be covering them one by one. But to kick things off, here’s an overview:



Santo Domingo History & Culture


The DR’s capital (top) is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the Americas, founded in 1498 by Bartolomé Colón, brother of Cristóbal (better known to

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Vieques & Culebra, Puerto Rico's Paradise Isles

10909918056?profile=RESIZE_930xSasha Fenix


 

The Latin-flavored bit of the USA in the Caribbean that is Puerto Rico is itself a tropical paradise of balmy, palm-fringed beaches, rain forests, and vibrant island culture and history. But when Puerto Ricans themselves want to "get away from it all", they (and a few discerning gringo visitors) escape to their own pair of smaller islands off the east coast, like unpretentious, castaway slices of the olde-tyme Caribbee. Welcome, amigos, to Vieques and Culebra.

 

Haakon S. Krohn


 

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Linda-Cooper-Bahamas_bu.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

 

“Bermuda, Bahama, come on, pretty mama...”


The Caribbean has long been famed as an idyllic vacation hotspot, inspiring not only the Beach Boys but the entire world.
It’s a region that never gets old, with more than 30 countries and territories spread across hundreds of islands, each with different cultures, jungles, cities/towns, and sugary sand beaches that vary from powdery white to shades of gray.

I felt an overwhelming wave of gratitude with so much natural beauty constantly surroun

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