Click on the following subjects of interest: 
      The Local Folks of Nosara:                    Orientation/Nosara:              
     History of Costa Rica:                           Geography:                         
     Politics:                                                  Provinces and Districts:         
     Economy:                                               Demographics:                       
     Foreign Affairs                                       Flora and Fauna:               
     Religion:                                                Culture:                                                 
     Education:

                                                  
The Local Folks of Nosara:

With out a doubt the sea, the fauna and the wildlife all come together to coexist with the local residents in a carefully balanced atmosphere but it is the local population of people that give Nosara its character. This conclave by the sea is basically a town to itself where English is the unofficial language and the US dollar the primary currency. The local internet cafes are usually teaming with tourist and surfers emailing and calling back home. The classic attire is a bathing suite and it is not unusual to not recognize someone wearing anything other.

Most of the residents are expatriates from North America but there is a healthy mix of expats from Europe as well. Each person having there own story for how they got here and why they stayed. Some are not good, but most are interesting. There are those who are in the country on tourist visas and must leave the country every 90 days for 72 hours before returning. The easiest choice is to go to Panama and hang out for three days and reentry. Some go to Nicaragua, most go to Panama. The surfers who come to Nosara tend to fall into this group.

The rest of the locals are legal expats who own there own house and have either retired or have a company they run in the area. With this mix of legal expats and the transients come an unusual habit. No one uses their last name. Everyone goes by there first name. As a result of this the local phone book is list by first name in alphabetical order! It is not uncommon for a local to reference some one by there first name followed by a description of either what they drive or some other characteristic like the color of their surfboard. “Yea you know Wendy, the girl that hangs out with Keith, the guy from Mississippi. You mean the guy with the yellow surfboard. Yea, Yea, that’s him.” It makes you think that everyone is on the run and is hiding out.  Mention the color of their surfboard, truck they drive or where there from and the local know exactly who you’re talking about.

Everywhere else in central and south America, the word Gringo is derogative. Not so in Costa Rica. Gringos are guys and Gringas are girls and it is taken in stride as the very nature of the average Costa Rican is passive and would greatly refrain from saying anything that would cause offence. If you are not a Tico (local) then you are a Gringo.


Orientation:

When one comes upon Nosara one quickly notices that there is no one focal point of reference as you explore the area. Tucked away in the jungle are little pockets of human habitat, small businesses and the occasional restaurant/bar. When you arrive from Nicoya on the main road, you first come to one of the Guiones beach turn offs to the left, followed by several other left hand turns, all heading in the direction of the Pacific Ocean just 400 meters down from the main road. Each of these turn offs is a separate community, unconnected to the others, that can only be accessed by going back up to the main road.

These sections are best described as South Guiones Beach, North Guiones Beach and Pelada Beach. These three sections make up the “Gringo” section of Nosara. The actual town of Nosara is still 5 km on down the main road and has more of the Tico atmosphere you would expect in rural Costa Rica. The Gringo section is as close to the beach as you can legally get. There is a 200 meter exclusion zone from the high tide line that is set aside for the preservation of the natural habitat. This one preservation feature has as much an influence on the character of Nosara as perhaps all of the other covenants and restrictions combined.

Because of this exclusion zone, Nosara has been spared the commercial development that has devastated such communities as Jaco and Tamarindo. Commercial development has actually been run off by the Nosara Civic Association, an association of expatriate foreigners with one goal in mind, the preservation of peace and tranquility. Because over half of the area of Nosara is set aside for wildlife, you have to contend with the wildlife as the howler monkeys hang above your head and the coatimundis walk across your path. From the many variations of birds to the critters of the jungle, all of the animals pay little attention to the humans below as both have learned to live together here in Nosara. There are even aerial sky bridges for the monkeys to help them cross the road or the electrical wire. Most businesses have a collection jar at the register where you can donate money for these bridges as well as other products to protect the animals.

There are three beaches (Playas) in Nosara, Playa Guiones, by far the largest, Playa Pelada, the quaint secluded paradise with great swimming and few people and Playa Nosara, a serious surfer section separated from the rest by the Nosara River. Guiones is over a mile long and is perfect for surfers of all ages and levels of experience. There can be a stronger than average under tow but a little knowledge and experience and it is easily dealt with. While Guiones is by far the most popular of the three, the beach is so big that people are very well spread out with some sections practically abandoned.

Playa Pelada is the best kept secret in Nosara. Most people who visit stay in the Guiones section,go to the Guiones beach and as a result never know that it is just over the ridge to the north. Because Pelada and Guiones are separated by this ridge, the only way to get from one to the other is to go back up to the main road and travel further north to the “Five Corners” intersection and turn left. At the end of this road is Laluna restaurant, Olga’s bar and the Pacific Ocean. These two establishments were located on the beach before the exclusion zone was created and have basically been left alone by the Civic Association.

Playa Pelada is known as the locals beach. Not that they live in closer to it, in fact they don’t, but for the reason that they know how to get to it. Few people even know that there is an entrance to Pelada other than Olga’s and Laluna. For this reason the northern section of Pelada is deserted most of the time. Playa Pelada is not known for surfing but the locals surf it all the time. Because the beach is half sand and the other half solid rock outcroppings, surfers need to be careful. The locals have already figured it out. The gringos give it a pass. One of the beauties of this beach is the marine life left behind, trapped in the pools carved out of the rocks, when the tide is out. Pelada is defiantly for the swimmers and kids.

The next beach north is Playa Nosara. This is a serious surfer beach and the local kids are about the only ones wading the river to get to it. The surf at high tide is big, fast and unforgiving. If you want to see a collection of talent make it look easy, roll up you pants legs and wade across. You will not be disappointed. 


History of Costa Rica:

In Pre-Columbian times the Indigenous people, in what is now known as Costa Rica, were part of the Intermediate Area located between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions. This has recently been updated to include the influence of the Isthmo-Colombian area.

It was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The northwest of the country, the Nicoya Peninsula, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl (named after Nitin) cultural influence when the Spanish invaders (conquistadores) came in the sixteenth century. The center and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences. However, the indigenous people have influenced modern Costa Rican culture to a relatively small degree, as most of the Indians died from disease and mistreatment by the Spaniards.

During Spanish Colonial times, the principal city in Central America was Guatemala City. Costa Rica's distance from this hub led to difficulty in establishing trade routes and was one of the reasons that Costa Ricans developed in relative isolation and with little oversight from the Spanish Monarchy ("The Crown"). While this isolation, which resulted allowed the colony to develop free of intervention by The Crown, it also contributed to its failure to share in the prosperity of the Colonies, making Costa Rica the poorest Spanish Colony in Central America. Another contributing factor to this poverty was lack of indigenous peoples to use for slave labor. While many Spaniards in the other colonies had slaves to work their land, many Costa Rican settlers had to work their own land. For all these reasons, Costa Rica was by and large unappreciated and overlooked by the Crown, and left to develop on its own. It is believed that the circumstances during this period led to the formation of many of the idiosyncrasies that Costa Rica has become known for, while at the same time setting the stage for Costa Rica's development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors.

Costa Rica's membership in the newly formed Federal Republic of Central America (sp. República Federal de Centroamérica / Centro América), now free of Spanish rule, was short lived. The distance from Guatemala City to the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where most of the population lived and still lives, was great. The local population had little allegiance to government in Guatemala City, in part because of the history of isolation during Colonial times. Costa Rica's disinterest in participating as a province in a greater Central American Government was one of the deciding factors in the break-up of the fledgling federation into independent states, which still exist today. However, all of the Central American Nations still celebrate September 15th as their independence day, which pertains to the independence of Central America from Spain.

Most Caribbean Costa Ricans of African descent descend from Jamaican workers (not slaves) brought in during the nineteenth century to work in the construction of railways connecting the urban populations of the Central Plateau to the port of Limon on the Caribbean coast. The construction of the railways was funded by the United Fruit Company, in exchange for land. This led to a major economic shift in the nation, in which fruit would come to rival the coffee trade as a major Costa Rican export.

During the nineteenth century, Italian and Chinese immigrants came to the country to work on the construction of the railroad system as well.


Geography:

Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, 10° North of the equator and 84° West of the Prime Meridian. It borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 kilometres (802 mi) of coastline (212 km / 132 mi on the Caribbean coast and 1,016 km / 631 mi on the Pacific). It is about the size of West Virginia and shares that state's reputation for excellent whitewater kayaking/rafting opportunities. Two of the country's most renowned rivers in that regard are the Rio Pacuare and the Rio Reventazon located just east of San Jose in the Central Highland region.

Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309 km / 192 mi of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (639 km / 397 mi of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 square kilometers (19,730 sq. mi) plus 589.000 square kilometers of territorial waters.

The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó, with 3,810 metres (12,500 ft), and is the fifth highest peak in Central America. The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m / 11,257 ft). The largest lake in Costa Rica is Lake Arenal.

Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Cocos Island stands out because of its distance from continental landmass (24 km² / 9.25 sq mi, 500 km or 300 mi from Puntarenas coast), but Calero Island is the biggest island of the country (151.6 km² / 58.5 sq mi).

Costa Rica protects over 25% of its national territory within the Protected Areas system. It also possesses the greatest density of species in the world.


Politics:

 Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong constitution. Although there are claims that the country has had more than 115 years of uninterrupted democracy, their presidential election history shows otherwise (see List of Presidents of Costa Rica). Nonetheless, the country has had at least fifty-nine years of uninterrupted democracy, which is by far the longest in Latin America. It is one of the most stable countries in Latin America. Costa Rica has avoided the violence that has plagued Central America; it is seen as an example of political stability in the region.

Executive responsibilities are vested in a president, who is the country's center of power. There also are two vice presidents as well as a cabinet designated by the president. The president, vice presidents, and fifty-seven Legislative Assembly delegates are elected for four-year terms. A constitutional amendment approved in 1969 limited presidents and delegates to one term, although delegates were allowed to run again for an Assembly seat after sitting out a term.

In April 2003, the constitutional ban on presidential re-election was reversed, allowing Óscar Arias (Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1987) to run for President for a second term. In 2006, Óscar Arias was re-elected in tight and highly contested elections, running on a platform of promoting free trade. He took office on May 8, 2006. On June 16, 2006, he met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
 
Autonomous state agencies enjoy considerable operational independence; they include the telecommunications and electrical power monopoly, the nationalized commercial banks, the state insurance monopoly, and the social security agency. Costa Rica has no military by constitution but maintains domestic police forces for internal security.

Other current political issues include security, crime, and the limiting of large-scale emigration of people from Nicaragua.


Provinces and Districts:

 Costa Rica is comprised of seven provinces, which in turn are divided into 81 districts ("cantón" in Spanish, plural "cantones"), each directed by a mayor. Mayors are chosen democratically every four years by each canton's people. There are no provincial legislatures.
1. San José - San José is the Capital City
2. Alajuela - Central and north of capital; agriculture and industrial manufacturing
3. Cartago - Cartago was the former capital of Costa Rica
4. Heredia - Central and north of capital; industrial manufacturing
5. Guanacaste - North-west; important tourist and agricultural area
6. Puntarenas - Reaches along most of Costa Rica's Pacific coast
7. Limón - On Caribbean coast; agricultural and ecotourism area


Economy:

In recent times electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development, and ecotourism have become the prime industries in Costa Rica's economy. High levels of education among its residents make the country an attractive investing location.

The economy has been expanding for Costa Rica in part because the Government had implemented a seven-year plan of expansion in the high tech industry. The central government offers tax exemptions for those who are willing to invest in the country. Several global high tech corporations have already started developing in the area exporting goods including chip manufacturer Intel, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, and consumer products company Procter & Gamble. Trade with South East Asia and Russia has boomed during 2004 and 2005, and the country is expected to obtain full Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) membership by 2007 (the country became an observer in 2004).

For the fiscal year 2005, the country showed a government deficit of 2.1%, internal revenue increased an 18%, exports increased a 12.8% and the number of visiting tourists increased a 19%, reaching 1.5 million people. Revised economic figures released by the Central Bank indicate that economic growth stood at 5%, nevertheless the country faced high inflation (14%) and a trade deficit of 5.2%. For 2006 the economy is expected to grow a 6.8%

The unit of currency is the colón (CRC), which trades around 518 [3] to the U.S. dollar; currently about 675 to the euro. On October 16, 2006, a new currency exchange system was introduced, allowing the value of the CRC colón to float between two bands as done previously by Chile. The idea is that by doing so the Central Bank will be able to better tackle inflation and discourage the use of US dollars. Since that time, the value of the colon against the dollar has stabilized.

Costa Rica's location provides easy access to American markets as it has the same time zone as the central part of the United States and direct ocean access to Europe and Asia.


Foreign affairs:

Costa Rica is an active member of the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Costa Rica holds a seat on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and on the United Nations University of Peace and many other international organizations related to human rights and democracy.

Costa Rica's main foreign policy objective is to foster human rights and sustainable development as a way to secure stability and growth.

Costa Rica is also a member of the International Criminal Court, without a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).

On June 1, 2007, Costa Rica broke ties with the Republic of China in Taiwan, switching to the People's Republic of China in mainland China.


Flora and fauna:

Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.1% of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. Over 25% of Costa Rica is composed of protected forests and reserves.

One national park that is internationally-renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) and where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife is the Corcovado National Park.

Tortuguero National Park – the name Tortuguero can be translated as "Full of turtles" – is home to spider, howler and white-throated Capuchin monkeys, the three-toed sloth, 320 species of birds (including eight species of parrots), a variety of reptiles, but is mostly recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle and is considered the most important nesting site for this species. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest here.

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve hosts two thousand plant species, including numerous orchids. Over four hundred types of birds can be found here, and over one hundred species of mammals. As a whole, around eight hundred species of birds have been identified in Costa Rica. The Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBIO) is allowed to collect royalties on any biological discoveries of medical importance.


Demographics:

In 2005, Costa Rica had an estimated population of 4.43 million people. The majority of Costa Ricans are white Latin Americans of Spanish ancestry or descended from a mixture of indigenous and Spanish ancestors. After Nicaragua, Costa Rica is the Central American country with the highest percentage of whites. It is however difficult to assess an approximate percentage, some Costa Ricans may be of mixed ancestry and will tend to have stronger features of one or another race. There are significant numbers of Costa Ricans of Italian, German, Jewish, and Polish descent. Together, European and Mestizos descendants make up a full 94% of the population. Just under 3% of the population is of black African descent who are called Afro-Costa Ricans and are English-speaking descendants of nineteenth century black Jamaican immigrant workers. Another 1% is composed of ethnic Chinese.

As of today, the indigenous population numbers around 1.7%, or around 50,000 individuals. In Guanacaste Province, a significant portion of the population descends from a mix of local Amerindians, Africans and Spaniards. There is also an expatriate community of people of all ages from the United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Britain, and other countries. An estimated 10% to 15% of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans,[1] most of whom migrate for seasonal work opportunities. There is also a growing number of Colombians refugees and Peruvians. Moreover, Costa Rica took in lots of refugees from a range of other Latin American countries fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 80s - notably from Chile and Argentina.


Religion:

Christianity is the predominant religion in Costa Rica. Some 92% of Costa Ricans are Christian [5] and like many other parts of Latin America, Protestant denominations have been experiencing rapid growth. However, three in four Costa Ricans still adhere to Roman Catholicism. Due to small but recent immigration from Asia, the Middle East, and other places, other religions have grown, the most popular being Buddhism (due to an increasing Chinese community of 40,000), and smaller numbers of Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu adherents.


Culture:

Costa Ricans often refer to themselves as tico (masculine) or tica (feminine). "Tico" comes from the popular local usage of "tico" and "tica" as diminutive suffixes (e.g., "momentico" instead of "momentito"). The tico ideal is that of a very friendly, helpful, laid back, unhurried, educated and environmentally aware people. Visitors from the United States are often referred to as gringos, which is virtually always congenial in nature. The phrase'Pura Vida" (literally "Pure Life") is a ubiquitous motto in Costa Rica. It encapsulates the pervading ideology of living in peace in a calm, unclustered manner, appreciating a life surrounded by nature and family and friends.[

Some might use maje or mae (maje means "guy/dude") to refer to each other, although this might be perceived as slightly insulting to those of an older generation. Costa Rican traditions and culture tend to retain a strong degree of Spanish influence. Their spoken accent is rather different than its Central American counterparts. "-ito" or "-ita" are added to many words to make them sound more polite and courteous.

Costa Rica boasts a varied history. Costa Rica was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The northwest of the country, the Nicoya peninsula, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl cultural influence when the Spanish conquerors (conquistadores) came in the sixteenth century. The center and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences. However, the indigenous people have influenced modern Costa Rican culture to a relatively small degree, as most of the Indians died from disease and mistreatment by the Spaniards.

The Atlantic coast, meanwhile, was populated with African workers during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Most Caribbean Costa Ricans of African descent, however, derive from nineteenth-century Jamaican workers, brought in to work on the construction of railroads between the urban populations of the Central Plateau and the port of Limon on the Caribbean coast. Italian and Chinese immigrants also arrived at this time to work on the railroad construction.

Though the music of Costa Rica has achieved little international credit, Costa Rican popular music genres include: an indigenous calypso scene which is distinct from the more widely-known Trinidadian calypso sound, as well as a thriving disco and Reggaeton audience that supports nightclubs in cities like San José. American and British rock and roll and pop are popular and common among the youth (especially urban youth) while dance-oriented genres like soca, salsa, merengue, cumbia and Tex-Mex have an appeal among the somewhat older audience.


Education:

The literacy rate in Costa Rica is of 96% (CIA World Factbook, February 2007), one of the highest in Latin America. Elementary and high schools are found throughout the country in practically every community. Universal public education is guaranteed in the Constitution. Primary education is obligatory, and both preschool and high school are free. There are both state and private universities.

There are only a few schools in Costa Rica that go beyond the 11th grade. Those schools that finish at 11th grade receive a Costa Rican Bachillerato Diploma accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Education. Schools that offer classes to the 12th grade offer either the International Baccalaureate Diploma, accredited by the IBO in Geneva, Switzerland or USA High School Diploma, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Costa Rica is also home to the Instituto Centroamericano de Administracion de Empresas (INCAE), originally founded in 1964 in Managua, Nicaragua with the support of the United States government and other Central American countries. The institution was moved to Costa Rica with the Sandinista Revolution in the 1980s in Nicaragua, the institution maintains a close affiliation with Harvard University, as it had played a part in its foundation. The campus is the second of two that the school has, the other in Managua, Nicaragua was reopend in 1990 with the return of democracy under the Chamorro government. According to a study done by America Economia INCAE (Costa Rica) ranked as the number one business school in Latin America for 2 consecutive years (2004, 2005) and ranked within the top ten business schools in international rankings by The Wall Street Journal.