The REAL Costa Rica Blog

Banco Nacional Gets it Right!

Safe Internet banking in Costa Rica has been an issue for some time. In December 2007, I wrote this post about how insecure it can be and giving suggestions on how to make it less so. It is clear that I have not been impressed with Costa Rica online ...

Renewing My Residency and Ummm Groveling

Back in July, I blogged about the new cedula renewal process (this also applies to lost cedulas). The days of visiting Immigration (migracion) are over... at least that was what I was told. I have lived far too long here to think that any process here can change literally overnight. ...

Internet & Commmunications in Costa Rica. Peace or War?

For a long time, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE and pronounced EEEE-SAY) has enjoyed a monopoly on a wide variety of services. The two biggies are communications (cell and home phone service) and Internet connectivity. The end began with the passage and ratification of the Central America Free Trade ...

The New Costa Rica Immigration Law

It is hard to not say I told you so... I cannot. Sorry! On January 11, 2009, in response to a large number of emails and phone calls, I blogged about the proposed immigration law. One online newspaper told concerned expats, future residents and readers that the new law would be ...

Costa Rica Residency Renewal – Revisited

Last year, I blogged about the process of renewing my residency. Those interested can read the posts here and here. For no good (logical) reason that I can see, renewals are for one year only and even though I did not GET my residency card until 4 months after the ...

Bad News for Drivers in San José

Last year, the Ministerio de Obras Públicas (MOPT or as North Americans might call it, the Transportation Department) made a rule that drivers could not enter San Jose on certain days of the week, dependent upon the last digit of their license plate. For numbers 1-2 it was Monday, 2-3 ...

Email from Readers

Good day faithful readers. Here is another addition of “My Readers Write” Here you will find a few emails asking questions not covered in The REAL Costa Rica or this Blog.... or maybe they are but there is some other twist that I think might be of interest. As some of ...

Swine Flu Arrives in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has confirmed two cases of Swine Flu. The infected parties are a 21 year old woman and a 29 year old man, both returned recently from trips to Mexico. Costa Rica receives daily flights from Mexico. The woman traveled with 92 others on her flight home. Both persons ...

Dodged a Bullet Thanks to a Kind Transit Official

Car owners every year must have their cars inspected. This is done by a private company, Reteve. Information here. There are locations all over Costa Rica and you must call first to make an appointment. The month of expiration is equal to the last digit on your license plate. Mine ...

Le Grand Cirque Comes to Costa Rica

I am always a bit suspicious of publicity that compares its product to some world renowned version of that same product. In this case, Le Grand Cirque has been billed as "The Next Generation of Cirque du Soleil", the world famous circus from Montreal Canada. To be fair, the actual ...