In The September Issue

Pilon airport breaking ground

New Directions for Local Real Estate

Rookie Judge Frees Crooked Cops

"No to the tuna farms" is now a registered association (photo, right)

Insider Travel Tips: Arrive by water

News briefs: Sad death, jungle tours, Zancudo kudos

Plus: Sexy surf shot + daily surf report.

New Airport For Pavones Area Being Built in Pilon

Ground has broken on the airport in Pilon. This airport has been on the books for twenty years. Like telephones and internet, suddenly work is starting. Ground is moving and the airstrip is going in.

Direct flights from San Jose to Pilon will make it easier for residents and tourists to come to Cuervito, Pilon, Pavones and Punta Banco. Flying in and out for medical emergencies and business in San Jose will get a lot less stressful.

The area will open up to a larger audience of visitors that want to eliminate the hour-plus long ground transfer from Golfito to our area.

We look forward to reporting on the continued progress. This airport might even be finished before the planned international airport in Palmar Norte.

New Directions for Local Real Estate: Developers Change With Times

Pavones' resort developers are changing their plans to adjust to the new economic environment.

From its oceanview perch in Cuervito de Pavones, "Encanto" envisions a turn-key resort residence for 22 families, with desirable amenities such as pools, gear garages, private cafe and even a local transportation van.

Lisa LaMagna, one of the development partners, said, "Encanto has everything planned down to the furniture design. We intended to begin marketing as soon as we received the final building permit."

The project did receive its building permit, just as the world financial crisis was exploding. Now, the Encanto team is seeking new financial and hospitality partners to bring their dream to fruition. Says Ms. LaMagna, "We have a good financial cushion and can wait for the market to normalize. Encanto is combining beautiful design, great views and great amenities. That's unique in this area."

Another significant project, "La Onda," in Cocal Amarillo, was envisioned as a Hawaiian style "canoe club." The original idea was to build 40 million-dollar homes, club house, soccer fields and a swimming pool on this ocean-front area. However, La Onda is responding to the new economic environment.

Golfito Cops/Drug Smugglers Set Free

Here's what we know:

Last May, 320 kilos of cocaine were stolen by a break in to the evidence room at the Golfito court house. The thieves turned out to be policemen (3) and civilians (4), who were so stupid, they went out and bought themselves new cars to celebrate.

Last week, a 23 year old rookie judge Andrea Vargas Villalobos was assigned to the case. He let the whole crew free.

• By the way, the judge was on an interim appointment, which has already expired.


• And who appointed this lawyer as Judge and assigned him this case?

Now, the evidence is gone. Apparently, it was damaged by direct exposure (i.e. pouring) of gasoline. With the evidence gone, the defense is saying "How do you know it was cocaine at all? There are no chemical tests...."

Costa Rican justice. Que broma.

It's official: No to the Tuna Farms in Pavones

Pavones is getting organized.

A new association was formed in August: No A Las Granjas Atuneras ("No to the tuna farms.")

Many Guaymi attended organizational meetings. The tuna project is an invasion of Guaymi territory and they are claiming rights to the coastal waters off the Burica (Punta Banco), where the tuna cages would be installed. The government never asked the Guaymi for their permission or even consulted with them. And now, they are well represented in the association to fight the tuna farms.

(In photo, from left: Susan Mesen, Vela Miles, Apolonia Bejerano, Gerardo Mendoza, Daniel Jimenez, Delfin Flores, Don Felipe, and Guillermo "Memo" Bejerano.)

In total, three Guaymi are part of the “junta” of the association. They – as well as Delfin Flores - will make it so much easier to educate the residents of the reservation on the tuna farm issue. The Guaymi make up 60% of the voters in the Pavones district.

The association elected the following representatives:

President: Gerardo Mendoza

Vice President: Apolonia Bejerano

Secretary: Delfin Flores

Treasurer: Susan Mesen

Fiscal: Guillermo Baltodano (Memo)

Bolivar Jimenez, Vela Miles, Felipe Palacios, Daniel Jimenez Gallego and William Mata are vocales and suplentes.

Many people in Pavones are happy that Gerardo Mendoza is willing to take on the responsibility of President of the association. Apalonia has also taken on a big responsibility with the new association, in addition to her role as vice president of the Asociacion de Desarollo Integral de la Reserva Conte Burica (the governing body of the Guaymi reservation).

Delfin Flores is a school teacher who lives in Cocal. For years he taught in the reservation and is well respected there. Susan, Memo and William also accepted the job despite being members of other committees that do community work. Vela Miles has been integral in bringing this all to fruition. The entire community is grateful that so many capable people are willing to commit to this cause.

Peter Aspinal and Lizbeth Nunez (Tiskita) as well as Pretoma, the Asociacion de Desarollo de Punta Banco of which Memo is president and the Federacion de Pescadores Artesanales have pledged to work closely together with No A Las Granjas Atuneras.

Insider Travel Tips: Taxi boat from Golfito to Pavones

Splash down on the shores of Pavones, Costa Rica in a taxi boat.  Arriving by sea is a welcome change from the rough roads. Even if you have a Cadillac Esplanade, that is one rough road.

Boat taxis passengers (and fishermen) around Pavones' waters

Here is our story:

News Briefs:

Wavehunters is providing a lux surf experience from the Zancudo Lodge. When we first read Wavehunters' description of their southern Costa Rica surf tour, we took it as a diss on Pavones. It wasn't. Our commentary didn't give the surf tour its due. Smarty pants isn't the same as irreverent, and we're more, ahem, mature bloggers now. Check out our revised story to read how you can enjoy the surf in style from Zancudo.

Local worker known as Cedras, mid-30's, was found dead with his hands and feet bound. Foul play is not suspected, however, as the town kids used to play many tricks on Cedras after he had a night at the Cantina and slept it off on some store's doorstep. His sad death is chalked up to the bad combination of serious inebriation and a bad joke.

Marvin Vargas is doing a lot of tours for visitors from New York, California and Spain. His guided tours to waterfalls, horseback tours through the mountains, and fishing tours in the gulf are developing a regular clientele. Marvin is easy to find on Facebook, just ask around and look for this face (right). Marvin is bilingual, Spanish and English, and will look out for your kids (make sure they don't find trouble by overturning a big rock, etc...).

"The multicultural fair that took place in Pavones last week was a brand new way to utilize our town square. It was a delightful celebration that sought to bring all parts of the community together and celebrate the multiculturalism of the Pavones area and, on a broader scale, Costa Rica as a whole." Read More and support Escuela Camino Claro >> www.caminoclaro.org.

Richard Tandlich started a cool blog about hiking in Costa Rica. Check out his pages on Sloths/Perezosos, Bugs/Bichos, and Golfito Hiking.