| Lake Arenal's winds
have moderated and so now allow those who are less than fearless experts
to enjoy the windsurfing and kite surfing in this world-class windsurfing
destination. Both at Tilawa and Tico Wind surfers are skimming the
waves on these beautiful and breezy 80-degree days.
On the same weekend as Tilaran's
15th annual Vuelto del Lago, which brought thousands of bikers to
the area for the two-day ride around the lake, MINAE, the Ministry
of Environment and Energy, held an ecofair at the central park in
Tilaran. Unfortunately, the eco-experts did not seem to be up on
eco-concerns at Lake Arenal, instead talking about other areas.
They even charged our local recycling volunteer, Edgar Badilla,
10,000 colones to participate. Edgar's recycling center, used religiously
by a few of the eco-cognoscenti, is a little hard to find. If you're
heading toward the lake from Tilaran, it's the first left after
the AromaTico Restaurant. Bounce in there 100 yards or so and leave
your glass and plastic with Edgar or, if he's not there, place the
stuff in front of the building. The recycling center occupies one
half of a warehouse, the other half a car repair shop. Meanwhile,
Fuentes Verdes, the local non-profit ecological association, continues
to work on concerns such as water quality, developer depredations,
and stray animals. A Fuentes Verdes member from the north side of
the lake, Cathy Nicholas of Chalet Nicholas Bed and Breakfast, reports
that developers are busily clearing big tracts of land, bulldozers
and
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chain saws supplementing,
shall we say, the rich birdsong in the remaining forests and pastureland.
It's still beautiful all around the lake, and much less burdened with
construction than are the popular Pacific beach communities, but Fuentes
Verdes has quite a challenge to help maintain habitat.
Beatrice Blake, author the
substantial guidebook The New Key to Costa Rica, overnighted at
Casa Manana Bed and Breakfast on March 1 while researching the next
edition, due out in September. Beatrice's mother, Jean Wallace,
wrote the original guidebook in 1978 and Beatrice took over in 1985,
now updating it every two years. The books are based on ecotourism
but are thick with all sorts of information.
Beatrice also stopped in at
Monte Terras Bed and Breakfast, where Kees and Willeke Voogd are
building four kitchenette-equipped rooms on their spacious lakeview
property, along with a small reception building with an adjunct
room for Kees's woodworking tools and lumber. They have joined an
association of Dutch innkeepers in Costa Rica called Holland Hotels
Costa Rica, so that Dutch tourists, who may know neither Spanish
nor English, can stay with Dutch-speakers in seven different areas
of the country. Want to read a little Dutch? Go to www.hollandhotelscr.com.
The Arenal woman's lunch club
gathered at Christina Glass's home on March 2. We don't yet know
April's day and location.
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