The mission and goal of the Golden Gringo Chronicles is to provide,
in an
informative and entertaining way, insight into
living
the
Costa Rican
experience as an expat.
"Here`s hoping you enjoy reading the Chronicles as much as I do writing them!" - GG
1. Broken News (All the News That's Fit to Reprint): a. Mid-Year School Vacations Help Traffic; b. Mobility Platform Drivers Against Latest Regulatory Bill; c. Transit Police Shortage; d.
Costa Rica Ranked 2nd Lowest In Americas In Corruption Index; e. Government Fights Back on Crime.
2. Economic Drumbeat (CR Business Happenings):a. Lower Cost of Fuels Eases Inflation; b. Minor Increases In Electricity Rates; c. Downtown Congestion Tax Proposed for San Jose; d. El Salvador to Costa Rica Freight "Ferri" to Start.
3. Latin America Update (Major Events in Neighboring Countries):. a. El Salvador Guatemala - Election Turmoil; b. Nicaragua - Demands U.S. Debt Payment; c. Panama - Panama Canal Restricting Number of Daily Passages; d. Peru -Costa Rica Seizes Former President´s Bank Account
4. Feature: Fast Track Costa Rica Conference 2023(Getting the Critical Info Out To Future Expats)
5. Rumble and Weather Talk: a. Rumble: Just Minor Shakers - Ain´t It Great!; b. Weather: c. Dog Days Are Here;
6. ¿Que es Eso?:What is that? Looks like a hairy nut of some kind or maybe a fruit being eaten by worms.
7. Health Stuff:Limited Disease Outbreaks: a. Rickettsiosis and b. Hepatitis A .
8. GGC Bookshelf and More:Books from GGC Publications, Golden Gringo T-Shirts and Coffee Mugs as Well as Suggested Books from Local Writers.
9. What's-in-a-Word:a. Answer to Que Es Eso; b. English is Nuts!
10. ROMEO Corner:Gabriella´s at Marina Pez Vela
Wisdom of the Ages
Leslie Townes (Bob) Hope · born May 29, 1903, died July 27, 2003 (aged 100)
ON TURNING 70 "I still chase women, but only downhill."
ON TURNING 80 "That's the time of your life when even your birthday suit needs pressing."
Holidays In Cost Rica In August
Tuesday, August 15 is the mother of all holidays because it´s Mother´s Day (Dia de la Madre). Costa Ricans consider this a special day for honoring mothers, celebrating motherhood, and recognizing the role of mother in the household and society.
In Costa Rica, which is primarily Roman Catholic, the day coincides with the feast of the assumption of the Virgin Mary. As the Assumption/Mother's Day is a public holiday in Costa Rica, government offices, educational institutions, banks, and most businesses are closed for the day.
Broken News (All the News That's Fit to Reprint)
Mid-Year School Vacations Help Traffic
If you´ve driven in San José during the business and school week, Monday to Friday, you know that traffic can be a problem. People need to get to work and get home while students need to go to and from their schools.
To help ease the congestion, the government came up with a system of reducing (restricting) the density of traffic simply by limiting the number of cars allowed to circulate based on their license plate numbers and certain days of the week. The measure works like this: from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm in the central area of the capital vehicles with plates ending in 1 and 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays 3 and 4, Wednesdays 5 and 6, Thursdays 7 and 8, and Fridays 9 and 0 may not circulate downtown. Violate that system and get caught and you´ll pay a fine of 110,000 colones (about $245).
But the good news for commuters is that for the first two weeks of July the restrictions were lifted as schools are out on their mid-year break and the traffic density is expected to lessen as a result.
Sounds like there needs to be strong consideration and planning for a train/subway system before long. Not sure what´s below the city, one big bedrock?
Mobility Platform Drivers Against Latest Regulatory Bill
Unregulated, private taxi operators have eventually become known as "Mobility Platform Drivers", or MPDs (think Uber, Didi etc.). But that acronym was not long enough for Spanish speakers to feel comfortable so an association in Costa Rica was formed that is called the : "Asociación Privada de Movilidad Tecnológica y Afines Presentó" or the "Private Association for Technological and Related Mobility". I think I´ll just call them PAT.
In reviewing the bill proposed by the government on the regulation of PAT drivers, the Asociación pointed out that there are currently some 30,000 such drivers in Costa Rica! They also made these points:
the Collaborative Mobility Office (didn´t know we had one) should be managed by a private company (oh joy, another NGO).
safety measures should be taken to protect drivers and prevent sexual harassment and discrimination.
drivers should be allowed to register with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS or Caja).
the limit on the number of vehicles per owner should be removed since it is seen as unconstitutional.
So the regulatory and legislative jockeying for position continues. Both sides will have to give somewhat to see a system that works for all, including the rider.
Transit Police Shortage
Forensic Services Truck Picking Up the Unlucky
A recent press report drew a scathing analysis of the numbers and role of the Policia de Transito or Transit Police. These police are responsible for maintaining order on and compliance with the law on our roads as well as major transport areas where cars congregate such as airports.
The report was written after the weekend of July 16-17 resulted in 13 deaths on the nation´s roads and highways. The press report noted these facts:
the number of Transito Police has declined from 1,200 to 650 in recent years, leaving them to cover the whole country 24 hours per day.
this leaves only about 217 to cover each shift.
if the old ratio of 20% are assigned to administrative duties, the number of on-road police left is further reduced to 180 per shift.
That sure seems like a small number to police the road and highway system of a country with an ever increasing network of highways and a population of 5.1 million. If you want my two colones worth, airports should provide their own traffic security, freeing up those Transitos for more serious work. It also seems like an obvious area for strong executive and legislative action to resolve the problem by increasing the strength of the Transitos.
Costa Rica Ranked 2nd Lowest in Americas in Corruption
This ranking was by the Council of the Americas, a New York based organization founded in 1963 as the Business Group for Latin America by David Rockefeller, at the request of President John F. Kennedy as a means for business to fight the influence of Fidel Castro in Latin America.
The group analyses 15 countries in Latin America on the basis of their effectiveness in detecting, punishing, and preventing corruption, based on 14 variables divided into three categories: legal capacity, democracy/public institutions, and civil society and the media. A higher overall number that results, out of 10 possible, means a lower corruption level.
For 2023, Costa Rica´s rating came in at 6.76/10 second only to Uruguay´s 6.99. This year´s ranking for Costa Rica was down 5% from last year and the Democracy and political institutions category gave the highest score at 7.19.
The Council noted that a bill was introduced by President Rodrigo Chaves to provide protection of witnesses in corruption cases. Senor Chaves ran an "anti-establishment and anti-corruption" platform when he was elected in 2022.
Go get ém Rod.
Government Fights Back on Crime
Murder rates in Costa Rica have been increasing dramatically over the past year and are being attributed to what the new Security Minister, Mario Zamora, calls the "Mexicanization of crime". Zamora held this job before under President Laura Chinchilla and reportedly has a reputation for being tough on crime.
Minister of Security Mario Zamora
He´ll need to exercise that reputation. There is concern for bystanders safety as well as potential impact on tourism which fuels the economy. "Torture, gang killings, and assassinations carried out by highly trained hit-men" are becoming more common." The killing has been "professionalized" says Zamora, i.e., homicide has become a business (sicariato) with obvious military training by Mexicans and Colombians who are teaching Costa Ricans how to kill and go unpunished. This includes safe houses, training farms and tactics to shoot while in motion that are being taught by the sicarios (hit-men) so that locals are becoming “trained professionals” as hit-men.
The numbers result in a 42% increase in murders for the first half of 2023 versus the same period in 2022. Many of the "clashes" referred to which caused the spike are drug related as Costa Rica has been used as a distribution point for drugs from Colombia to the U.S. and Europe for some time.
A New Shipping Container Scanner in Moin
Tons of cocaine have arrived in Europe hidden in fruit shipments from our east coast port at Moin Terminal near Limón, a favorite trans-shipping point for the drug runners,. One of the tools now being installed there is a new system of three shipping container scanners where the containers can be scanned before they board the ship and leave port.
In April President Rodrigo Chaves announced other security measures by tightening down of parole possibilities and trying minors of some violations as adults which "includes that minors involved in serious crimes such as homicide anddrug trafficking will be tried as adults, while people serving sentences for organized crime, sexual crimes against minors, drug trafficking, and who have used firearms or blades against victims will not be eligible for parole."
Economic Drumbeat (Costa Rica Business Happenings)
Lower Cost of Fuels Eases Inflation
Banco Central de Costa Rica
Compared to 2022 prices, sugar (7.4%), oil (6.4%), flour (2.6%) and oats (2.1%) have increased in prices by the percentage shown while their were significant decreases in fuels and lubricants, tomatoes, meat, bread, and coffee compared to very high prices last year.
The net result was a decline by 1% in the June inflation rate and which is now running on an annual basis of 3.5%. Lower inflation allowed the Central Bank (Banco Central de Costa Rica – BCCR) to lower its monetary policy rate (MPR - like the Interbank Rate in the U.S.). The central bank, however, warns that supply chain difficulties and extreme weather events could prevent more declines in the MPR while some other economists are encouraging further reductions in the MPR more in line with the inflation rate slowdown.
Minor Increase In Electricity Rates
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the state controlled electricity company (but I guess it could be called an NGO or Non-Government Organization) announced some months ago that their mid-year price change would likely be about +10%. So the Executive President of ICE was very happy recently to announce that moderating inflation will allow a much lower increase, or less than 1% (0.9% actually), beginning July 1.
Just for background information GG last paid on his electric bill (before the .9% increase) what calculates to be US$0.208 per kilowatt hour while current info (no pun intended) on the internet states that his previous abode in Florida would pay US$0.114 per kilowatt hour while the U.S. average is US$0.153 per kwh.
Downtown Congestion Tax Proposed for San José
No one would argue with the fact that the downtown area of San José has become congested with vehicles but the best strategy on how to deal with it is still up for discussion. One proposal is to institute a daily tax on vehicles of around 250 colones (about $0.45), the proceeds from which would be used to fund the US$350 million electric train project proposed by President Rodrigo Chaves. In charge of this project is the Ministerio de Obras Publicas and Transportes, affectionately known as MOPT (Ministry of Public Works and Transportation).
No one truly believes that a levy of 250₡ per car will markedly reduce the number of cars circulating and the idea of another tax, even relatively minor, is not popular either. The congestion toll would be collected from drivers entering San José’s Circunvalación ring road.
A Consultant in Sustainable Mobility (didn´t know we had those) put it this way: "What we should demand as citizens is not that the MOPT refrain from imposing a congestion toll, but that, together with the charge, immediately come bus lanes in strategic corridors, safe pedestrian crossings on all streets, connective and functional cycling infrastructure.”
Amen brother.
El Salvador to Costa Rica Freight "Ferri" to Start
Coming into Puerta Caldera
The New Route
The main route for freight transportation and personal car and bus travelers between El Salvador and Costa Rica is the Pacific highway also known as the Pan-American Highway that runs from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Chile (yeah, really). The route has become very busy over the years and in recent years has gone under study for ways to reduce accidents and fatalities.
One way to improve things is by barge shipping container trucks for short hauls like El Salvador to Costa Rica rather than by road. The idea has been worked on for years and recently the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) – Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (love those acronyms) while the various government parties involved ironed out the details. The first ship (in Spanish they call it a "Ferri") is likely to happen this August, the shipment going from Puerto La Unión (El Salvador) and arriving at Puerto Caldera (Costa Rica - near Puntarenas).
The process is starting with two trips per week totaling 100 trucks with containers. The travel time between the two ports is estimated at 16 hours versus travel by land for 5 days due to 10 stops for immigration, customs and sanitary inspection procedures (avoids having to go through Honduras and Nicaragua).
Latin America Updates (Major Events In Neighboring Countries)
Guatemala
Election Turmoil. The country had been uneasy and dealing with “a climate of tension and anticipation of conflict” for weeks leading up to the first round of the general election on June 25. Left-leaning candidate Bernardo Arévalo, who came in seventh in pre-election polls, came in as runner-up in the election to former first lady Sandra Torres.
The OAS (Organization of American States) was very critical of the election process noting that in the weeks before there was not only "a climate of tension and anticipation of conflict” but even the death of some candidates, assassination attempts and confrontations over voter transfers. They also urged the candidates to focus the campaign on “ideas and proposals” and criticized the “high judicialization” of the elections, with the suspension of many candidacies as “it eroded the credibility of the process” and also the slowness in information between casting the ballots and knowing the results.
The second electoral round will take place on August 20. The winner will take office on January 14 for a period of four years.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua Demands U.S. Debt Payment. A recent Costa Rican press report indicated that President Daniel Ortega has resurrected Nicaragua´s request for U.S. payment of reparations for the U.S.´s part in the Contra war (1981-1990). The International Court of Justice based in the Hague made a ruling in June of 1986 that the U.S. should pay in excess of one billion dollars to Nicaragua.
The U.S. refused to pay the ruling stating the ICJ did not have jurisdiction in the matter. Nicaragua officially abandoned the claim in 1991 but Ortega´s government has resurrected it now saying "Nicaragua takes this opportunity to remember that there is a historical debt with the Nicaraguan people." The amount now owed, says Ortega, is $12 billion.
And about the 1991 renunciation: “we discontinued the procedure before the Court to determine the amount owed, but at no time did it renounce the payment of the debt, that is, the right to receive compensation.”
Do you take PayPal or Bitcoin amigo Ortega?
Panama
Panama Canal Restricting Number of Daily Passages. The daily number of ships allowed to pass through the Canal has recently been reduced from 36 to 32. In addition, on June 14, the max allowable draft on ships making passage was reduced from 50 to 43 feet.
Both of these restrictions came about because Panama is going through a serious drought and water levels in the two artificial lakes that feed the canal, Gatún (inaugurated in 1913) and Alhajuela (1935) had serious drops in water level. These lakes also supply water to the Panamanian capital, the metropolitan area and surrounding areas or about half the population of the country or 4.4 million inhabitants.
Peru
Costa Rica Seizes Former President´s Bank Account. Former
president of Peru, Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (2001-2006), became the center of a corruption investigation in Costa Rica in 2013. “The Fiscalía Adjunta de Legitimación de Capitales y Persecución Patrimonial (Deputy Prosecutor for Money Laundering and Patrimonial Persecution) froze his accounts here containing $6.5 million.
Said the above watchdog group about Toledo´s company: "Ecostate Consulting Group S.A. be sentenced to the loss of US$6,635,267 dollars, an amount that will become property of the State for lack of lawful cause.” The amount will pass to the Costa Rican state coffers.
Senor Toledo was the indigenous son of a poor bricklayer, the first person in his family to attend high school, and holds two master´s degrees and a doctorate from Stanford. Toledo is also being tried in Peru for allegedly receiving US$34 million dollars from Brazilian company Odebrecht through his other tax haven companies. Toledo was extradited from the U.S. (California) to Peru earlier this year.
Fast Track Costa Rica Conference - 2023 (Getting the Critical Info Out To Future Expats)
International Living Magazine, a well-known publishing compendium of useful advice to those traveling internationally or expecting to be expat residents in a foreign country at some future time, has been offering this important and interesting information to interested parties for 44 years or since 1979. The company recently conducted a three day seminar for this purpose in San José focused on Costa Rica. The company publishes in single articles and whole editions information related to living the international life in a large number of countries.
GG had the pleasure of participating in this year´s session to tell people about the Central Pacific Coast in general and Quepos in Particular. This marked the 4th time for the Golden Gringo participating in this event as he also spoke in 2018, 2019, 2022 and now 2023. The session was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.
The three day conference was held from early afternoon on Friday, June 23 to early afternoon on Sunday. The conference is held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Escazu, a first-class facility that includes four restaurants, three ballrooms, a health club, pool and a number of utility rooms for functions such as special meetings, cocktail parties and other functions.
Exposition Hall - Last Frame is GG Talking With Future Expat
The three ballrooms used are divided into two that are joined together to make one large presentation hall and a third, somewhat smaller ballroom which serves as an exhibition hall where a number of us manned tables for visits by attendees who could ask questions about our home areas. The exhibition hall was more than just a display room. Several coffee and snack sessions were hosted there by IL and some of the attendees. In addition there were a couple of cocktail parties at the end of the day on Friday and Saturday in yet other meeting rooms where attendees could mingle in a convivial way and share their experiences.
Our exhibition hall table was manned by GG and his assistant Jessie P., my good friend from the Quepos area. I laugh at the "assistant" title because I often wonder just who is the assistant, GG or Jessie, because Jessie, having been a tour guide, a surfing instructor and worked with sizable motor boats and yachts most of his life, and who is a native Tico having lived on the East Coast, the Central Valley and now 10 years on the West Coast, has much more knowledge about Costa Rica than myself. So he helps me learn and he makes us a great team!
GG got to brag about the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and Quepos on Saturday morning just before lunch. I did not know my friend Jessie was videotaping excepts from the event. Here´s an excerpt of the Golden Gringo telling the folks about Quepos (and trying to keep the jet-lagged audience awake):
Excerpt From GG´s Talk - Audience Consisted of 230 In-Person Attendees and 110 Online
So, in addition to people like GG talking about their own areas of Costa Rica where they live, which were at least eight regions by my count, there were many other topics offered to the conference attendees. Here´s a list of the other topics covered during the three day affair:
The Top 10 Reasons Why Costa Rica May Be Right for You
How to Find Your “Just Right” Place in Costa Rica
Residency: How to Live Legally in Costa Rica
Unexpected Cultural Differences…How to Navigate Them
Caribbean Life - Tips and Tricks You Need to Know
Costa Rica Real Estate Market Overview
About RETA - Real Estate Trend Alert
Types of Residency Options (retirees ( retired person, in Spanish: (pensionado), rentiers (rentista), and investors (inversionista).
All You Need to Know About Purchasing Property in Costa Rica
An Introduction to Costa Rica’s Healthcare Systems
Medical Insurance Options Available in Costa Rica
Healthcare Q&A Panel
Entrepreneurship—Tips & Tricks You Need to Know
Volunteerism Opportunities in Costa Rica
Mailboxes—Shopping by Internet and Getting Your Packages to Costa Rica
Spanish: Easy to Learn, Easy to Use
The Nuts and Bolts of Moving to Costa Rica
And as if that were not enough, a couple of workshops were conducted on topics such 1) Fund Your Freedom - The Happy Freelancer´s Path to Better Retirement, and 2) Being Single in Costa Rica (GG got to participate on this panel). And, as well, there were ample opportunities to meet informally with the IL staff and presenters.
Waterford, Ireland
If you are interested in making contact with International Living about this Fast Track Conference or one in other countries, you can start with their website at: http://www.internationalliving.com. The magazine is published in Ireland at this address: International Living Magazine, Woodlock House, Old Carrick Road PlanoPrtlaw, Co. Waterford, Ireland, 75025-0382.
Cost of admission to the FTCR event runs from $0 to $1,095, the discount depending on the number of other relationships you may have developed with IL over the years such as Subscriber, Alliance Program, Real Estate Trend Alert, Publisher´s Round-table, Platinum Circle, World Club, Explorers Club or World Club).
If you have interest in becoming an Expat anywhere GG suggests that this is one contact you should definitely develop.
Rumble and Weather Talk (Shaky Happenings & Weather Observations About the Pacific Rim)
Rumbling
There were minor shakers (i.e., 3 and 4R) north and south of the Costa Rican borders but nothing significant in rumbling here this month - let´s keep it that way.
Check Out Recent Earthquakes All Around the
World Posted by the U.S.G.S.Recent Quakes
Weather- Dog Days Are Here
The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) or National Weather Service began warning Costa Rica residents that the period July 10-26 would be subject to a "canicular" period, commonly known as “dog days” or "cannula". Some areas, however, will continue to benefit from continued El Nino conditions (more rain).
IMN forecasts that the area most effected by the hot period (34-36°C/93-97F) will be the Northwest Guanacaste region whereas the Nicoya, Puntarenas, San Mateo and Orotina areas will feel it moderately and in the Central Valley the cannula will likely be weaker.
As expected, the high temperatures can have a bad effect on crops and livestock and the government (Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock or MAAG) took steps to implement support measures in these key areas. Exactly what those measures were was not reported but GG is sure it included augmenting water supplies.
Don´t know why they call these the "Dog Days" as even the dogs don´t like them, given their fur and all. Just as we were getting comfortable that the IMN rolled out another forecast of continuing tropical waves replete with rain squalls; number 21 and 22 for the year to be exact. Well at least that should help the farmers.
UPDATE: Right on schedule we got Tropical Wave #21 on Friday, July 21 and Tropical Wave #22 on Sunday, July 23. They must have these things on satellite to be that accurate.
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¿Que es Eso? Department (¿What is That?)
Looks like a hairy nut of some kind.
Or maybe it´s a fruit that is being devoured by a bunch of worms!?
Or maybe it´s going to burst into a flower at any minute.
Note: The information given in this section is offered as news information only and does not indicate GGC confirmation or denial of the accuracy of the treatment or a recommendation to pursue it, nor can we or do we guarantee the efficacy of the results nor validity of the conclusions proffered.
(How's that for a disclaimer amigos?)
Limited Outbreaks in Two Diseases
Health authorities were recently combating the limited outbreak of two diseases, to wit:
a. Rickettsiosis
Three males aged 43-70, residents of Aserri, a southwestern suburb of San José were recently admitted to two hospitals where they later died of the disease. Rickettsiosis is a disease attributed to unsanitary conditions and can be carried and passed on by animals like rats and cats. Symptoms included fever, severe headache, muscle pain, and a skin rash.
Health authorities called for renewed efforts to reduce the population of rodents in homes, avoidance of overcrowding, washing of clothes and deworming of domestic animals as well as checking with local health center if anyone has the symptoms measured.
a. Hepatitis A
A second small outbreak was determined to be Hepatitis A. At the time of this writing (25 July) nine cases had been identified with four more pending test results. Hepatitis A is a viral disease spread from person to person and is characterized by yellowing of the skin, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
GGC Publications Group is the parent organization that publishes the Golden Gringo Chronicles as well as a number of books and paraphernalia related to the Chronicles and Costa Rica. The GGC Bookshelf also includes works from a number of other authors that belong to the Quepos-Manuel Antonio Writers Group in which GGC has been a founding member.
All of the above books are available on Amazon.com and the "Read More" links above will lead you to them. You can find more detail on all of them on our GGC Publications Page.
GGC Products Store
GGC Publications also offers some accessories and paraphernalia related to the Chronicles and with Costa Rican themes, to wit:
T-Shirts:
a. Golden Gringo Chronicles with Logo
b. Official Golden Gringo with Monkey on Banana Hammock
c. ¡Quepo en Quepos! ("I Fit In Quepos!") with Photo of Quepos
d. Wanna Monkey Around? - Come on Down! (shown) with Photo of White Faced Monkey, e. It's OK to be Slothful with photo of Three-Toed Sloth.
The t-shirts are available in several themes, colors, styles and sizes. See them all HERE.
Coffee Mugs:
a. Golden Gringo, b. Wanna Monkey Around?, c. It's OK to be Slothful
What's life without a great cup of Costa Rican coffee? And it tastes even better in a Golden Gringo Chronicles mug!
To see ALL the products available in the Golden Gringo Store go here: GGC Store.
¡Solo Bueno!
What's-in-a-Word
"Tell me and I forget; teach me and I remember; involve me and I learn"
– Benjamin Franklin
Answer to Que Es Eso
This is a tropical fruit known as mamon chino or mamones or rambutan. It is in the Lychee family but not exactly equivalent to it. The fruit was more than likely brought here by Asian workers; remember that historically they were employed in building the Panama Canal and also the San José-to-Limón Railway.
Mamones in Costa Rica have a high season about now (July to September). The fruit is reported to have excellent health benefits and is readily available in closed and open markets during the season at low prices. To GG, it just tastes good and fresh.
To read more about mamones and all its aspects go HERE.
English is Nuts
Sometimes GG gets a little weird when he can´t bring out the proper Spanish terms for what he´s thinking. It´s times like that when I need to remember English is crazy also, to wit:
"Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger (except in Costa Rica); neither apple nor pine in a pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig."
Being on the top floor at the marina almost guarantees a spectacular view of the sunset (unless it´s a rainy day). The porch restaurant overlooks the numerous and multi-million dollar galleons of the rich and well-to-do bobbing in the Marina below, the scene melding into a panorama of the Pacific. The tables are simply adorned with place mats and simple utensils and the chairs are somewhat padded (GG´s back thanks you for that). The group composite score for ambiance came it at 4.85 out of a maximum of 5.0 (that´s a 96% perfection rating by most numerical systems).
Wow-Wow Salmon
The restaurant brags about its offering on the front of the menu in that it: "Includes Aged Gourmet Steak, Sizzling Jumbo Scallops, Lobster, Fresh Seafood and Pasta". GG selected a dish called Wow-Wow Salmon that was described as "Wild Pacific Salmon marinated in our special maple Asian sauce then grilled to perfection served with our homemade garlic mash potatoes and sautéed garlic vegetables." Yum.
What arrived was even more tantalizing than the photo above as the thick salmon steak, medium rare as ordered, was embedded in the papas puree and lightly coated with a sauce made from the maple Asian-spice marinade. Simply delicious.
.9
$$$$.7
Value Index= 104
Other ROMEOs sampled the fresh catch of the day, a mahi-mahi fillet and another had the Wow-Wow Shrimp, a large basket of the breaded variety. I did notice a young couple who came in and sat not far from us who had a couple of fish in a bag they presented to the waiter so I assume this restaurant also is the kind that will prepare your own catch if you want them to. The composite rating by the ROMEOs for food quality came in at 5.0/5.0.
Senior ROMEO Managers Hard at Work
We were served by a waiter named Dixon who was courteous, kind and helpful. He presented us with a small gift of tasty puff rolls seasoned with olive oil and garlic saying he was sorry that we had to wait a few minutes before he let us in as they needed to complete their opening. Our composite score for service came in at 5.0/5.0 and giving us an overall average for ambiance, food quality and service of (4.8+5.0+5.0)/3=4.94, one of the highest such ratings we´ve ever given a restaurant in this area.
GG´s salmon plus a ginger-ale Michelada racked up a total of 22,755 colones or about $42, high for this area. The composite score for cost came in at 4.7/5.0 and the Value Index accordingly calculates to be 4.9/4.7=104, similar to ratings given Gabriella´s in the past.
Gabriella´s Restaurant continues to be one of the most creative and excellent quality restaurants in the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area but be prepared to pay full price.
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Tuesday, August 15 is the mother of all holidays because it´s Mother´s Day (Dia de la Madre). Costa Ricans consider this a special day for honoring mothers, celebrating motherhood, and recognizing the role of mother in the household and society. 
To help ease the congestion, the government came up with a system of reducing (restricting) the density of traffic simply by limiting the number of cars allowed to circulate based on their license plate numbers and certain days of the week. The measure works like this: from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm in the central area of the capital vehicles with plates ending in 1 and 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays 3 and 4, Wednesdays 5 and 6, Thursdays 7 and 8, and Fridays 9 and 0 may not circulate downtown. Violate that system and get caught and you´ll pay a fine of 110,000 colones (about $245).
Unregulated, private taxi operators have eventually become known as "Mobility Platform Drivers", or MPDs (think Uber, Didi etc.). But that acronym was not long enough for Spanish speakers to feel comfortable so an association in Costa Rica was formed that is called the : "Asociación Privada de Movilidad Tecnológica y Afines Presentó" or the "Private Association for Technological and Related Mobility". I think I´ll just call them PAT. 
This ranking was by the Council of the Americas, a New York based organization founded in 1963 as the Business Group for Latin America by David Rockefeller, at the request of President John F. Kennedy as a means for business to fight the influence of Fidel Castro in Latin America. 
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the state controlled electricity company (but I guess it could be called an NGO or Non-Government Organization) announced some months ago that their mid-year price change would likely be about +10%. So the Executive President of ICE was very happy recently to announce that moderating inflation will allow a much lower increase, or less than 1% (0.9% actually), beginning July 1.
No one would argue with the fact that the downtown area of San José has become congested with vehicles but the best strategy on how to deal with it is still up for discussion. One proposal is to institute a daily tax on vehicles of around 250 colones (about $0.45), the proceeds from which would be used to fund the US$350 million electric train project proposed by President Rodrigo Chaves. In charge of this project is the Ministerio de Obras Publicas and Transportes, affectionately known as MOPT (Ministry of Public Works and Transportation).
The OAS (Organization of American States) was very critical of the election process noting that in the weeks before there was not only "a climate of tension and anticipation of conflict” but even the death of some candidates, assassination attempts and confrontations over voter transfers. They also urged the candidates to focus the campaign on “ideas and proposals” and criticized the “high judicialization” of the elections, with the suspension of many candidacies as “it eroded the credibility of the process” and also the slowness in information between casting the ballots and knowing the results. 
Panama Canal Restricting Number of Daily Passages. The daily number of ships allowed to pass through the Canal has recently been reduced from 36 to 32. In addition, on June 14, the max allowable draft on ships making passage was reduced from 50 to 43 feet.
Costa Rica Seizes Former President´s Bank Account. Former
Said the above watchdog group about Toledo´s company: "Ecostate Consulting Group S.A. be sentenced to the loss of US$6,635,267 dollars, an amount that will become property of the State for lack of lawful cause.” The amount will pass to the Costa Rican state coffers.
International Living Magazine, a well-known publishing compendium of useful advice to those traveling internationally or expecting to be expat residents in a foreign country at some future time, has been offering this important and interesting information to interested parties for 44 years or since 1979. The company recently conducted a three day seminar for this purpose in San José focused on Costa Rica. The company publishes in single articles and whole editions information related to living the international life in a large number of countries.
GG had the pleasure of participating in this year´s session to tell people about the Central Pacific Coast in general and Quepos in Particular. This marked the 4th time for the Golden Gringo participating in this event as he also spoke in 2018, 2019, 2022 and now 2023. The session was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.
The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) or National Weather Service began warning Costa Rica residents that the period July 10-26 would be subject to a "canicular" period, commonly known as “dog days” or "cannula". Some areas, however, will continue to benefit from continued El Nino conditions (more rain). 
Three males aged 43-70, residents of Aserri, a southwestern suburb of San José were recently admitted to two hospitals where they later died of the disease. Rickettsiosis is a disease attributed to unsanitary conditions and can be carried and passed on by animals like rats and cats. Symptoms included fever, severe headache, muscle pain, and a skin rash. 
This is a tropical fruit known as mamon chino or mamones or rambutan. It is in the Lychee family but not exactly equivalent to it. The fruit was more than likely brought here by Asian workers; remember that historically they were employed in building the Panama Canal and also the San José-to-Limón Railway.
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