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Guanacaste is facing one of its worst drought situations in years, even as much of Costa Rica deals with heavy rain, saturated soils and flood alerts. The contrast has become one of the clearest signs of our country’s uneven rainy season. In parts of the Central Valley and Pacific regions, emergency officials have warned of strong downpours and possible flooding. In Guanacaste, many communities are still waiting for the kind of steady rain that normally brings relief after the dry season. The problem is already visible across farms, cattle pastures and local water systems. In communities such as San Antonio de Nicoya, residents counted only a couple of significant downpours during May. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional has described the rainfall deficit in blunt terms: Guanacaste normally receives about 200 millimeters of rain during May, but this year the province recorded almost none in several areas. For ranchers and farmers, the timing could hardly be worse. The dry sea...

Costa Rica’s microplastics problem is no longer limited to plastic bottles, bags, and debris washing up on beaches. Local research has found tiny plastic particles in coastal sand, marine sediments, fish, mollusks, crustaceans, cattle, pigs, chickens, and even Isla del Coco, one of the country’s most remote protected areas. Researchers said microplastics have appeared in more than 70% of the samples analyzed in Costa Rican studies, a finding that pushes the issue beyond beach cleanup and into food safety, marine conservation, agriculture, and public health. Microplastics are plastic fragments smaller than five millimeters. Some are manufactured that way, including industrial pellets and particles used in certain products. Others come from larger plastic items that break down over time through sunlight, waves, friction, and weathering. Bottles, bags, packaging, fishing gear, synthetic clothing, tires, and other materials can all become part of the problem once they fragment. ...

A low-pressure system off Central America’s Pacific coast became Tropical Depression Three-E this morning as Costa Rica continued to deal with heavy rain, saturated soils, and increased risk of flooding and landslides. The system formed off the coast of Nicaragua and was located about 90 miles west-southwest of Managua at 9 a.m. Central America time, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. It was moving north at 7 mph and was expected to strengthen into a tropical storm by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. For Costa Rica, the main concern is rain rather than wind. The National Meteorological Institute ( IMN ) reported heavy rainfall across parts of the Pacific between Sunday morning and early Monday, with totals reaching roughly 100 to 170 millimeters in some areas. Those amounts fell on already wet ground, increasing the threat of flash flooding, river overflow, landslides, and falling trees. The Pacific slope remains the area of greatest concern, espec...

Costa Rica will reach Amazon Prime Video later this year through “Latidos en la Lluvia,” a documentary film that follows five Spanish women who survived cancer as they crossed the country from the Pacific to the Caribbean. The production, scheduled for release during the second half of 2026, follows Verónica Guillén, Mapi Morón, Idoia Fernández, Toñi Delgado and Eduina Rodríguez as they take on the Reto Pelayo Vida Costa Rica 2025, an endurance challenge built around adventure sports, recovery, and life after cancer. The expedition took place from October 21 to November 4, 2025. Over 15 days, the women moved across Costa Rica by mountain bike, on foot, by raft and by kayak. The route began near Playa Matapalo on the Pacific side and pushed inland through mountain roads, rainforest trails and river sections before ending near the Caribbean. The challenge covered roughly 160 kilometers by mountain bike, 50 kilometers on foot, 38 kilometers by rafting and 15 kilometers...

Newcomers to Costa Rica have to adjust to certain cultural and lifestyle habits here. A short list might include rice and beans being a breakfast staple, one-lane bridges on busy two-lane roads, milk sold at room temperature, pedestrians walking three abreast with their backs to traffic, and the difference most mentioned by first-time visitors: used toilet paper goes in the waste can and not the toilet bowl. This is not as gross as it sounds. As long as the waste can has a lid, the odor seepage is minimal. And besides, nobody going into a bathroom to empty their bowels is worried about smells. Spray all the deodorizer you want, the stench of bodily waste never goes away completely. I once bought cinnamon-scented air freshener. I sprayed it after taking a dump. Cinnamon-scented shit is just that. The smell of fresh cinnamon will never be quite the same for me. There is one other thing to know that is even more important than correct TP disposal, especially if you will be using ...

Eighty-two years ago today, roughly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy, France, launching Operation Overlord to liberate German-occupied Western Europe — the single day that turned the course of World War II and one that still resonates deeply across Costa Rica’s foreign community. For the North American, British and European retirees who make up a large share of life here, June 6 is more than a date in a history book. Many grew up with fathers, grandfathers and uncles who served, and a dwindling few remember the war firsthand. In Normandy on Saturday, world leaders and a small group of surviving veterans gathered to honor the men who stormed the beaches in 1944. More than 4,400 Allied troops were killed on that single day, and more than half of them were Americans. As the largest seaborne military operation in history, D-Day launched with tens of thousands of troops landing simultaneously across five separate beaches in Normandy. Ceremonies stretched along the ...