Catching lunch in Coronado

Up the hill from Academia Tica Coronado a cozy little place by the side of the road serves up about the freshest trout imaginable, Tico style. At this family-run “trucheria,” (trucha means trout), you can catch your own lunch from a backyard pond. Luckily professionals take over from there. Have a seat in the rustic dining room as […]

Las Cataratas – A day trip to the waterfalls

One Friday morning in Jacó Beach: Our group of seven Academia Tica students was being picked up in front of the apartments by Alan, our tour guide for the day. A 45 minutes drive southbound along the coast led us to the beginning of a narrow path through private farmland. First we passed chicken and horses, […]

Un día en la vida: Volunteering at Carara National Park

In the tangle of cacophonous green that is Carara National Park, two types of forest meet, a mix of plants, animals and insects found nowhere else in the world. This convergence of Costa Rica’s dry Northern Pacific region and its much wetter Southern Zone is host to half the known animal species in a country […]

August roundup of events

Events this month include traditional festivals, great movies, interesting fairs, diverse music and dance performances from all over the world. Movies Cine Magaly: This month a series celebrating female perspectives, “Cine con Lentes de Mujer,” will screen every Saturday at 1 pm in the Club Magaly, including “Caramelo” and “El Piano”. University Cinema: After the semester is over the series of free […]

A bittersweet tour of chocolate

As I tentatively sip a watery concoction of cacao, almonds and chili, the possibility that this bitter-spicy beverage is even a form of chocolate seems remote, let alone that under my crinkled nose froths the ancient precursor to all chocolate as we know and love it. But history is a lot like taste — surprising, born of the […]