Costa Ballena, Osa
Costa Ballena is a tourist destination formed by the connection of three beautiful villages in the canton of Osa: Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal on the South Pacific of Costa Rica. These coastal communities have a number of features that produce an interconnected tourist destination, ranking as one of the most promising tourist regions of Costa Rica.
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The Polymorphic Eyelash Pitviper
The eyelash pit viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) occurs in most of the wet regions of Costa Rica, from sea-level to up to 1.500 meters in elevation. Females are larger and more robust than males reaching up to 80cm. They are members of the family of the Viperidae and called pit vipers because of their heat-sensing pit […]
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Uvita: The Unique “Gelato” Aroma
On entering Mariana and Atilla’s “Gelato’s” in the heart of Uvita, you are immediately reminiscing about your childhood. In July, the popular ice cream parlor next to the Sibu Restaurant was opened and has received positive feedback from young and old. Lovely details and a cozy interior are creating a French flair in a vintage style. […]
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Tripadvisor: Certificate of Excellence
For 5 years she lived with her husband and three children in Canada. “I’ve always had a passion for cooking,” she says. “When we lost my husband, I had to find a way to make a living. So I did, we decided to return to Costa Rica. I took a cooking course with the Chef […]
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Restaurant Beehive: Good for your heart, mind and body
Entertainment will feature special evening belly dancing performances and live music of all kinds from blues, jazz and Motown to rock and reggae. The Beehive Mediterranean restaurant, bar and boutique is Uvita’s new place to hang out. Enjoy a unique dining experience! With a warm welcoming atmosphere the Beehive provides the finest service, the healthiest […]
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Costa Rica: Happiness
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” This doesn’t mean that you can just choose to be happy, no matter your situation. Rather, you can choose to do what will make you happy. You just need to make your mind up, put your […]
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Restaurant Gusto: “I can’t stand people who don’t take food seriously”
“And for the record, its not us who say this, Oscar Wilde said it,” the owners Luca and Francesca declare when greeting us at their Italian Restaurant Gusto. The first impression is the cordial welcome and then we are captivated by the 180 degree view over creation. From the wide terrace we observe the lush forests […]
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Birds: American oystercatchers
“My name Rio Dante incorporates on one hand Dante as an indication of my mother Robin´s Italian origin and Rio went well with Dante,“ explains the UNA (Heredia) student. He is in the third year of his career with an emphasis in tropical biology. “I have always liked being in nature, whether on the beach […]
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The Mangroves of Piedras Blancas National Park
In the inner basin of Golfo Dulce, at the northwest border of Piedras Blancas National Park, there is a thriving mangrove forest of approximately 298 hectares. It is the mangrove of Esquinas river (Esquinas means corner, named after its distinctive meanders), the second biggest mangrove forest in Golfo Dulce, following the mangrove of Coto Colorado […]
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Costa Rica: Passion for Birds… and Art!
In Costa Rica there are birds everywhere. Parakeets, parrots, toucans, owls, hawks… Such is the extent of the diversity of birds in the country that a whole lifetime is barely enough to observe them all while traveling along the different landscapes of the country. Although in a few hours, you can take a beautiful tour […]
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South Pacific Costa Rica Magazine and Travel Guide, Ballena Tales Issue #63
Dear Readers, It has been mine for the last 11 years. No longer is it a lifetime´s dream: the beaches and the lush vegetation, the warm climate, cool nights, good food, kind people, a great community and far from the traffic of the big city. It´s become a reality: a more relaxed lifestyle. Yet still, my life […]
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Say No to the one-use plastic in Osa! A coherent purpose.
This is how Osa´s initiative “free of single-use plastic”, which is totally consistent with the green identity of the destination, becomes a magnet that attracts the efforts of entrepreneurs, the community, environmental organizations, government offices, and politicians.
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Ojochal, an Exotic Paradise
When you visit the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica you will recognize its extraordinary beauty. Be it Dominical, Uvita or Ojochal, each of the different communities has its own charm and particularity. These wonderful tropical lands signify for the inhabitants the paradise they longed for! It is an exotic Eden for those who seek […]
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From Ojochal to the Southern Cone: Young Entrepreneur Takes on Great Challenge
When Paola López Vega heard about Patagonia, the Casa de la Moneda and a place called Viña del Mar, she never imagined that she would ever see those amazing scenarios. This is the story of a 17-year-old girl entrepreneur who attends the South Pacific Liceo in Cortés de Osa. Since 2016, she is one of […]
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Blue Flag for Ojochal!
The community of Ojochal, once again, proudly got together to celebrate “The raising of the Blue Flag 2017” on July 28, 2018 at the entrance of our village. The celebration began with the privilege of having the young members of the band from the Escuela Tortuga perform for us, accompanied by their director and teachers. […]
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You bought your Home in Paradise. Let us Do the Worrying!
Osa Property Management and its commitment to providing world class property management services date back to Nick Halverson’s first trip to the Bahia Ballena area of Costa Rica in March 2005 to purchase some land with a group of investors. “Back then it took 2.5 hours to drive from Quepos to Dominical. Yet, it was […]
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Pets in a National Park?
Most families have a pet; a dog or a cat, or both and these animals have become an important part of the family nucleus. As responsible owners we must take care of them, love them and respect them as living beings. Now what happens when we disrespect the laws of the country and do not […]
Continue readingChoosing Change
Someone asked me the other day; if I had one message to share, what would it be? My answer was this: We always have a choice.We love change when we choose it. A new haircut or a change of scenery is fresh and maybe even exciting. A new toy, car or home gives us domain […]
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Yoga: Tips to increase our Prana
In terms of Yoga, there’s a vital energy that’s inside all living creatures that keeps us healthy and content, that’s our Prana. Iyengar and Yogananda (two of the best known yoga teachers) said that low Prana originates all illness, opening the door for disease to manifest in a physical, mental or emotional level. When our […]
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Bird: It Looks Like a Stick and Sings Like a Sloth
Poo-oo-oo-oo-oo rings the sorrowful wail through the warm summer night. Everyone told me it was a sloth calling. In the late 1980s a visiting ornithologist enlightened me. “That sorrowful wail comes from the Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus)” he told me, “one of the best camoflaged birds in the world.” We walked through the night toward […]
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Costa Rica: Richie the Sloth Follow Up
Richie, the one-armed, two-toed sloth, had his story shared in March about how he was brought into Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary with bite wounds sustained from a dog attack. As a result of these injuries, he had to have his right arm amputated. After months of rehabilitation he was able to move well and we decided […]
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Surf Dominical – The Good Life – All in a Few Hundred Meters
Throughout my travels I’ve searched for locations capable of providing the best in day to day life-style. A good quality of living for me includes environmental cleanliness, social interaction, access to leisure activities and health & safety. When you can find all of this is a close proximity, or better yet, within a few hundred […]
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Another Great Life Party!
Beach Safety Tip: SWIM SOBER! Alcohol affects your ability to assess or react quickly to dangerous situations. The ocean can be dangerous even when you’re sober – please don’t put yourself and others at risk by drinking alcohol there. On July 1, 2018, over 300 people gathered once again at Roca Verde to celebrate the […]
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Snakes: Rear fanged immobilizers
Colubrid snakes are mostly harmless snakes, having an aglyphous dentition, lacking fangs that deliver venom. Just like the boas and pythons, the boids, they kill their prey by suffocation, but some even seem to swallow the prey alive. The Colubridae is the largest snake family, including two-thirds of all snake species. Other members of this […]
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The New Trincheras in San Isidro
Trincheras (trenches) is an independent and self-managed cultural and artistic project, located in the heart of San Isidro de El General. It was born in 2012 with the idea of promoting art, culture and books, and supporting any other theatrical manifestation. In the beginning the project had to be sustained by its members, family and […]
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Listing Agreements
Open Listing: Some sellers may think an open listing means that all of the listing brokerages are working to sell the property but the result can be that no one is really working for the seller. In reality, an open listing is almost no listing at all. Few brokerages are willing to invest time or […]
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