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Costa Rica ranks 52nd in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by Transparency International. The country moved up three positions compared to last year’s ranking and obtained a score of 58/100. The CPI is the most widely used global corruption ranking in the world. It measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived …
Read more “Costa Rica Shows Progress in 2024 Global Anti Corruption Index”
Newcomers to Costa Rica have it much easier today. When my then wife and I made the decision to come here in 1989, there was no internet, no Facebook or message boards where all of the questions we had could be thrown out to be answered by those who had already made the move. I …
Read more “Thinking of Moving to Costa Rica? The Good, Bad & ‘Experts’ You’ll Meet”
Costa Rica’s world-famous landscapes are taking center stage once again in Netflix’s latest reality series, “Celebrity Bear Hunt,” which premiered on February 5, 2025. The show, hosted by Holly Willoughby, challenges 12 celebrities to survive in the Costa Rican jungle while evading capture by legendary survival expert Bear Grylls. The competition, filmed in 2024, splits …
Read more “Netflix Launches Survival Show With Bear Grylls in Costa Rica”
A humanitarian crisis is unfolding at the Costa Rica-Panama border as migrants, many of whom sold everything to journey north, find themselves stranded due to new U.S. immigration policies. The once-bustling streets of Paso Canoas are now eerily quiet. Migrants, fearing detention, hide in hotel rooms instead of wandering the streets. This stark change comes …
Read more “Migrants Trapped in Limbo at Costa Rica-Panama Border”
At least 52 people died on Monday when a bus carrying more than 70 passengers plunged into a ravine at the northern entrance to Guatemala City, according to the latest toll from authorities, a tragedy for which the government declared “national mourning.” The bus fell, for reasons under investigation, from a road next to the …
Read more “Guatemala Bus Tragedy Claims 52 Lives in Devastating Ravine Plunge”
The National Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR) has expressed growing concerns about the challenges facing Costa Rica’s tourism sector, with the strengthening of the colón emerging as a significant factor. Despite positive tourism numbers in 2024, CANATUR’s executive director, Shirley Calvo, describes the situation as increasingly complex. One of the primary concerns is the exchange rate, …
Read more “Costa Rica’s Tourism Sector Faces Challenges Amid Stronger Colón”
The Nicaraguan government on Sunday labeled the Vatican as “depraved” and “pedophilic” while lashing out against statements made by Bishop Rolando Álvarez, whom they expelled to Rome a year ago after being imprisoned for months. “From the millions of voices and souls, brutally silenced by the inquisition, all peoples sacrificed and bled by this depraved, …
Read more “Nicaragua Launches Fierce Attack on Vatican Leadership”
I got to know Horizontes, more specifically Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes, by accident. I had a contract to place camera traps on a few private farms in Guanacaste. Two of those farms happened to only be accessible by riding a rented horse named Superman on a six hour round trip directly through the tropical dry …
Read more “Explore Costa Rica’s Horizontes on a Guided Wildlife Tour”
In an exciting scientific breakthrough, a team of researchers from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) recorded the presence of the Flesh-footed Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes), a species of oceanic bird considered near-threatened according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This is the first time this bird has been seen in the country. …
Read more “Rare Flesh-Footed Shearwater Found for the First Time in Costa Rica”
As reported by the local newspaper La Nación, FIFA has raised concerns about a possible rigging of a first-division match played last season in the Costa Rican Liga Promerica soccer tournament. FIFA issued the alert, prompting Costa Rica’s integrity officer, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, to launch an investigation into the match between Santos de Guápiles and Asociación …
Read more “Costa Rican Soccer Match Under FIFA Match Fixing Probe”