Cuba & Costa Rica Blog
About this blog
Written by Cuba and Costa Rica expert Christopher P. Baker, this blog will update readers on life in these two diverse and exciting countries.
Recent Posts
- Last blog post on Costa Rica and Cuba
- First-ever group motorcycle tours of Cuba successful
- Cuba’s Mariel port readying for Panama Canal expansion
- Musings on wildlife encounters on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula
- Cuba’s Steam Trains puffing their last gasp
- My top five thrilling activities in Costa Rica
- Cuba’s fun February festivals include Harleys, Books, Cigars
- Five top volcano viewing experiences in Costa Rica
- New road along Costa Rica / Nicaraguan border mired
- Cuba’s Hotel Campoamor at Cojímar to be restored?
- Cuban revolutionary Celia Sánchez honored in new book
- Christmas challenge for Costa Rica’s sexually abused girls
- Costa Rica opens Chinatown in downtown San José
- David Soul films Hemingway’s car restoration in Cuba
- National Geographic Expeditions receives license for Cuba tours
Coco Loco Gallery Spotlights Costa Rica's Indigenous Art
Back in 2000 while researching my fourth edition of Moon Costa Rica, I chanced upon a true gem of a store that had newly opened in the boondocks of the then still relatively unknown northern lowlands. Located just east of Chachagua hamlet, about seven miles southeast of La Fortuna, Coco Loco Art Gallery & Cafe struck me as one-of-a-kind.
Costa Rica abounds with quality arts and crafts. And with quality craft stores.
But Coco Loco boasts some of the most stunning arts and crafts in the country. It is well worth going out of your way to visit. more >>
Excellent New Guidebook Serves Cuba Climbers
A few weeks ago I received a review copy of a new book–Cuba Climbing, by Anibal Fernández and Armando Menocal. I was surprised, and joyed, by its excellence in every regard.
This indispensable guide, illustrated throughout with superb color photography, includes photos, charts and diagrams of scores of routes. more >>
Medical Tourism Shows Healthy Growth in Costa Rica
My first visit to Costa Rica, in 1985, was to write about a spa program. I was the only male traveling with a dozen females. We'd awake at dawn to perform yoga alfresco in the cloud forest. And I recall fondly watching monkeys scamper along the sands as we exercised on Playa Guiones. Each night local medical experts gave presentations. One night, a plastic surgeon wowed us all with photos of chin tucks and boob jobs. Next day, two participants disappeared. They returned the following day visibly enhanced. "A gift to my hubby!" said one.
That memory, and today’s health-care debate, set me to thinking about medical tourism.
I dread the thought of coming down sick in the United States, where the health system is totally unfair and wacky (I'm from England, where I cherish the memory of having received free–and quality–dental and health care for everyone, funded by taxes). If I fall ill, I'll hop a plane to the U.K. or Costa Rica. more >>
Cuba's Infotur opens tourist information bureaus across Cuba
Travelers to Cuba have long bemoaned the lack of tourist information bureaus outside Havana. Here's the good news...
Infotur, the state-run Tourist Information National Office, previously relegated to the capital city, Varadero and Cayo Coco (the two main beach resorts), has invested in a well-conceived expansion. Within the past year, Infotur has opened more than one dozen bureaus throughout the island, including at the major airports accepting international flights. Some are little more than tour desks in hotels. Others are modern offices with computers.
Infotur has also published detailed pocket guides to each province, plus province-specific brochures listing hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. more >>
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