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Traveling with friends is a must. A friends’ trip is the chance to share some amazing and memorable times, not to mention great stories. I’d even go so far as to say you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced a vacation with friends.

Have you heard about the amazing travel experiences in Costa Rica?  The hot travel destination of Costa Rica not only gives you thrilling scenery, exciting adventures and lots of off-the-beaten-path places to explore, the people are also really friendly. So you can g

Summertime in the popular beach town of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica means it’s time to hang out on the beach soaking in the sun and playing in the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean. It’s a great time to have fun with family and friends on a Costa Rica beach vacation.

On the southern Nicoya Peninsula, Santa Teresa is one of the best beaches to surf in Costa Rica. National surf competitions are held here annually.

Knowing what you are doing when you go in the ocean, taking precautions and water safety are t

Have you ever wondered where those funny names for yoga poses come from?

For example, what is Adho Mukha Svanasana? And how do you pronounce it!

Yoga postures – asanas – are given traditionally in the ancient language of Sanskrit. For more than 2,000 years, Sanskrit has been a classic literary language of India and a sacred language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

Many yoga poses are named after heroes, saints and sages of India and Hindu myths. Others are named after animals and nature – obser

A colleague of mine and I both traveled out of Costa Rica for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. He to Western Europe and I to the western United States. What we both found when people learned we lived in Costa Rica was surprising. Everyone said they either loved visiting Costa Rica or wanted to go there; but many also commented on how expensive it was to travel to Costa Rica.

It’s true.

If you plan to vacation in Costa Rica for a couple of weeks, and only stay at all-inclusive resorts or medi

It’s 5:45 a.m. The sun is already shining, and I am gingerly making my way through the cow corral, being careful not to step in anything I shouldn’t nor get too close to the long-horned cows.

I’m headed to the cow barn at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin at Rincon de la Vieja, Costa Rica, to see how the ranch hands handle the morning milking. Inside, several buckets of steaming, frothy white milk wait in the holding area until they are carried to the hotel restaurant kitchen for processing.

One of the r

You don’t need a well-manicured grass pitch. You don’t even need all 22 players, or fancy uniforms … or even shoes, for that matter. All you need is a ball and people willing to play.

The most popular sport in the world – football (known as soccer in the USA) – can be played anywhere by anyone. That’s the simple beauty of a sport that traverses borders, has brought bitter enemies together, even stopped wars, and has been a unifying force across the planet.

“As a consequence of its simplicity and g

What are the best places to visit in Costa Rica? What are the best things to do in Costa Rica?

I get these questions a lot. Having lived in Costa Rica for 12 years, working in the tourism industry, I field questions from extended family, friends, friends of friends, and even complete strangers if I happen to mention that's where I live. They all ask the same thing, "If I were to visit Costa Rica, where should I go and what should I do?"

Start small, I always recommend. Choose two or three destinat

What are the best places to visit in Costa Rica? What are the best things to do in Costa Rica?

I get these questions a lot. Having lived in Costa Rica for 12 years, working in the tourism industry, I field questions from extended family, friends, friends of friends, and even complete strangers if I happen to mention that’s where I live. They all ask the same thing, “If I were to visit Costa Rica, where should I go and what should I do?”

Start small, I always recommend. Choose two or three destinat

Normally, you don’t see tough, radical conservationists attending lectures by land developers. But there they were, 100 strong, from the Nature Conservancy, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and from all over Latin America – all raptly listening to how land development can actually preserve forests.

Nervous before his formidable audience, Guillermo Piedra Gonzalez explained how his small residential development in the tiny country of Costa Rica is carving out a niche

It’s the new year, and that means it’s time for Costa Rica’s summer festival season! Known for their gregarious, fun-loving style, Costa Ricans’ enthusiasm is contagious when the country celebrates its numerous fiestas, festivals and horse parades from January to April. Plan your travel to Costa Rica to experience these fun cultural events with rich local traditions, tasty cuisine and vibrant music. Besides the main festivals, every town and community has its own “turno” (a country fair) to enj

It is believed that the Monteverde cloud forest in Costa Rica has the highest diversity of orchids in the world. Although no inventory has ever been made, it also is thought that approximately one-third of Costa Rica's flora has been recorded in the Monteverde region. This is quite significant given that Costa Rica is considered to be one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, having 5% of all the known species of plants and animals in only 0.03% of the Earth's surface.

You can

Re-use your towels at your hotel, ask that your bed linens not be changed daily, take a shower instead of a bath, wear water-resistant sunblock – these are all ways travelers can be responsible water consumers and participate in this year’s World Tourism Day that highlights water conservation.

In support of the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation for 2013, this year’s World Tourism Day (WTD) on September 27 is themed: Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future.

Travelers ar

You’ve met the man or woman of your dreams. You’ve planned your wedding down to the last sugared almond and flower arrangement. Now it’s time to think about the honeymoon.

Costa Rica is one of the top destinations in the world for newlyweds to honeymoon. According to Perfect Honeymoons & Holidays Travel, Costa Rica ranks #3, right behind Hawaii and Italy, and outpaces other major destinations like Greece, Tahiti and the Caribbean. In 2012, 10.7% of Costa Rica’s tourists (166,000 people) were newl

Healthy fruit and vegetable smoothies are awesome liquid fuel for your body. Smoothies provide important vitamins and minerals from nutritious ingredients like fresh fruit, raw vegetables, Maca Root, chia seeds, protein powder, spirulina and coconut oil.

Start your morning, or have an afternoon snack, with one of these quick, delicious and healthy blended smoothie drink recipes from Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Try these out at home and dream you are on a

Travel can change the world.

At least former U.S. President Bill Clinton thinks so. “The travel industry has the potential – and the responsibility – to spread peace and change the world,” Clinton told travel executives while speaking at the World Travel & Tourism Council's 13th annual Global Summit in Abu Dhabi in April 2013.

Student travel organizations like EcoTeach and People to People also think so. The two U.S.-based educational student travel organizations promote global awareness, peace an

A principios del mes de agosto, Costa Rica presentó un análisis acerca de la situación actual de la biodiversidad en su territorio. En él se incluyen los recursos genéticos que se emplean en la agricultura para producir alimentos y materias primas. Se comenzó así la actualización de la Estrategia Nacional de Biodiversidad 2014-2020 (ENB).

Según las declaraciones de la viceministra de Ambiente y Energía, Ana Lorena Guevara, se pretende cumplir con los compromisos internacionales adquiridos por el

You’ve traveled to Costa Rica, fallen in love with the country, and bought a beautiful property to call home. Maybe you’re planning to retire in Costa Rica or simply have a Costa Rica vacation home. It's time to create your dream home in Costa Rica.

The beginning stage of construction is the time for planning ahead for all of the features you would like in your new home – music system, alarm system, air-conditioning, appliances, aesthetic details, etc.

Home construction in Costa Rica is mostly sol

Planning 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

Christmas is right around the corner, and with it are holidays and school vacations. For a fun adventure in the sun with rainforest, beaches and volcanoes, head to Costa Rica for your family vacation.

Costa Rica is a top family vacation destination for warm tropical sunshine and seas, beautiful beaches, rainforest adventures, affordable easy travel and plenty of kid-friendly activities. It is one of the safest countries in Central America and English is widely spoken.

What makes Costa Rica so grea

Yoga retreats at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat, on award-winning Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica, draw people from all over the world. So do Pranamar Villas’ daily yoga classes with popular instructor and Pranamar yoga director, Nancy Goodfellow.

Now Nancy will be holding two inspirational Costa Rica yoga retreats, called “Embracing Totality”, at Pranamar Villas in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, next year in 2016. The seven-night all-inclusive retreats will be held May 21 to 28, 2016 and