Surfers and surf vacation fanatics can be proud that Costa Rica now ranks as one of the top 5 places in the world for being the cleanest country. Below is an article about the findings of a recently published study by Yale and Columbia.

The Universities of Yale and Columbia have published their collaborative study called 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI.) The study uses over 40 metrics which are collected from each country and then compiled to produce comparative results for ranking purposes. Costa Rica ranked for the first time in this study in the top of all countries in the world. To give this perspective here are the top five in order of performance: Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Costa Rica. The USA ranked 39, Mexico 47, and China 105

Some east metrics for industrialized countries to achieve high numbers on are the water quality or water stress metrics. Given that most industrial nations have infrastructure to support itself, the ability to provide clean drinking more…

My house must be sitting on top of some sort of Godzilla creature whom moved tonight at 7:12pm and last week sometime in the night. So when he moved tonight, I thought I would check the IRIS Seismic monitor with all of their flashy colored circles that indicate “areas of activity.” Well, it showed many flashy circles but nothing in Costa Rica. I wonder if someone forgot to pay their ICE bill at the seismic monitoring station in Heredia. Nahhhh that would not happen here in Costa Rica.

Maybe everyone else is just as self-doubting as I am. If the news didn’t report the earthquake, it didn’t happen. It must have been a leg spasm that threw off my equilibrium, which made it feel like the earth just shook. However, I am not one to believe in coincidences because at the same time my leg spasm the chandelier moved. Hell I ought to see a doctor, this here spasm is causing all sorts of trouble for me. I had better make an appointment to see the doctor as soon as possible. Unless, of course the news reports it was an earthquake after all and not my leg spasm.  Wouldn’t that be a relief to know that Godzilla was not living under the house.

It is called the Pororoca in central Brazil and takes around 21 hours by plane, bus, 4×4 and then boat to get to. Everything you can imagine about the Aamazon jungle exists in this area, giant killer snakes,  man eating piranhas, and no break…. just the longest wave in the world.

I found this other video on this page that shows another radical video of this river in the middle of the Amazon Jungle.

What does Shrimp fishing and permethrin have to do with surfing? Well, nothing and everything. We surf in the ocean where the shrimp live. Many surfers here in Costa Rica have favorite surf spots that are located at the mouths of the many rivers that feed the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. In nature, Shrimp love the river mouths because they bring food that the shrimp love to eat.

What we just found out today is that the Costa Rican government has taken away the privilege of veterinarians to sell permethrin. “Why would they do this?” we asked.  It appears that shrimp fisherman have been using the insecticide to kill shrimp in the ocean as an easier way to collect the shrimp rather by traditional means. It also appears that the Costa Rican government has been aware of this for quite awhile. Their solution has been to prevent veterinarians from selling this insecticide when used as directed is safe and very effective in the control of fleas and ticks on animals and in locations in and around the areas where animals live, which includes our homes. more…

Recently, we took notice of a website wsg2009.com which is relatively new. I don’t imagine the site has much of a future since it is dedicated to the upcoming ISA Billabong World Surfing Games here in Costa Rica this August. The site has been under a coordinated attack by the Costa Rica surfing federation which is the organizer of the WSG 2009 and the ISA, which is the association that gives credence to the awards the games issue, along with the surfer rankings.

This site has been interested for some time in posting information about the surfing games but like the site wsg2009.com has not been able to find any new information about the games. Apparently, they are being asked to remove logos which does not seem like a big deal but according to the website the logos they are being accused of using are not anywhere on the site. We notice that no mention of the sites intention to provide information about the surfing event is recognized or appreciated. more…