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
Cuba opens up to foreign real estate sales
The moment I first arrived in Havana in 1993 I knew that I wanted to live there. For only the third time in my life (London and San Francisco being the other two), I felt a place calling me – a soulful satisfaction never more keenly felt than when simply whiling the hours away in my sillon (rocking chair) in classic Cuban fashion.
Needless to say, I'm eager for the day when I can actually buy myself a pied-a-terre in Cuba.
Opportunities for foreigners to buy property in Cuba pretty well ended with the Revolution in 1959. Cubans themselves can swap like-kind properties with state approval, but officially not even they can buy or sell land or houses.
In 1996, Cuba briefly flirted with real estate sales to foreigners when condominiums in Havana's Miramar district went on sale (starting price was a very tempting $67,000). The experiment, however, was swiftly nixed when buyers started flogging their properties for much higher prices.
Now the good news... more >>
Hotel Grano de Oro ups the ante for Costa Rica's urban hotels
Since the day it opened in 1990, I've considered the Hotel Grano de Oro to be San José's finest hotel. When it opened its doors in 1990, this gracious centenary converted mansion set a whole new tone for the city, which at the time offered a choice of large institutional hotels, grimy budget options, and relatively lackluster 'boutique' conversions. Canadian owners Eldon and Lori Cooke did a superb job infusing their rambling clapboard mansion with an endearing and upscale aesthetic. And its small courtyard restaurant soon became a popular breakfast and Sunday brunch spot for locals. more >>
Congress votes to repeal Cuba travel restrictions
The debate over U.S.-Cuba relations heated up last week with exciting new developments hot on the heels of the recent introduction of a bipartisan bill to lift all travel restrictions for U.S. citizens to Cuba. Not least, last Thursday an appropriations bill that would ease travel restrictions on Cuban-Americans passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives. It must now be approved by the Senate. (Under current law, Cuban-Americans have a special right to travel to Cuba once every three years; all other U.S. citizens and residents are denied the freedom to visit Cuba.) more >>
JetBlue begins daily service to Costa Rica
I've always been a fan of JetBlue. Even more so now that the budget airline has announced that it will begin operating daily service between Orlando International Airport and San Jose's Juan Santamaria International Airport, beginning March 26. This will be the airline's first destination in Central America.
The flight will leave Orlando at 10:40 a.m. and arrive San Jose at 11:53 a.m., with plenty of time to settle into a nearby hotel, such as Hotel Grano de Oro (my favorite hotel in San Jose) with time for afternoon sightseeing.
Now you can fly direct to Costa Rica (or with stopover service in other Central America nations) with virtually every North American carrier. more >>
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