Residents of the Caribbean town of Guapiles in Costa Rica’s province of Limon celebrated their 2008 Christmas Fantasy Festival. Similar to the much larger Light Festival that takes place in downtown San Jose, the Christmas Fantasy Festival entertained thousands of spectators this weekend.

The main streets of Guapiles were taken over by colorful and brightly lit carriages and floats as well as street performers and marching bands. A spectacular display of fireworks offered by the local Municipality was one of the most pleasant surprises for the residents as well as tourists in Guapiles.

The festival was dedicated to the sprinter Nery Brenes whose home town is Limon. Brenes became a national hero as well as an international surprise as he is firmly making a name for himself within the athletics arena. His most outstanding performance was in the Beijing 2008 Olympics were he ranked 10^th among the world sprinters.

The band from Liberia in Guanacaste was invited to the 2008 Christmas Fantasy Festival where it earned the admiration and applause from the enthusiastic spectators who constantly praised their performance.

The Caribbean town of Guapiles is located approximately one hour from downtown San Jose and must be passed by on the way towards Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo. The Caribbean beaches of Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo are very popular among locals and tourists as it offers a more laid back and quaint environment as well as spectacular and pristine beaches.

Within the Costa Rica hotels availability, Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo offer beautiful eco-friendly lodges, unique bungalows and beautiful Caribbean style hotels.

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The well known Wal-Mart Corporation has announced that after several years of presence in Central America, it will be setting up its regional headquarters in Costa Rica.  Wal-Mart was established as a regional company in Central America in 2001 with presence in all 5 Central American countries.

According to a Wal-Mart regional spokesperson, one of the pending issues was to set up the company’s headquarters.  Wal-Mart formed an alliance with La Fragua from Guatemala and the United Supermarkets Corporation of Costa Rica and has been using each company’s headquarters as its operations center while the region’s integration was consolidated.

Wal-Mart then hired a consulting service in order to evaluate where to set up its regional headquarters in Central America.  The consulting company then proceeded to analyze each country’s conditions such as infrastructure, business climate, macroeconomics and operational costs.

Based on the consulting company’s information, Wal-Mart Central America then decided to name Costa Rica as their regional headquarters.  Wal-Mart’s main offices will be located at Forum II in Santa Ana.

Santa Ana is located in San Jose’s west side and is a modern business center with several office complex and amenities.  Within the Costa Rica hotel availability, Santa Ana offers executive-focused accommodation such as the Quality Hotel.

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Starting Monday, all cars may freely transit the downtown core in order to engage in Christmas shopping and other activities.  The restriction will once again be enforced by January 4th, 2009.

A few months ago, government officials along with the Transportation Department approved a new law in which vehicles were not allowed to transit in the downtown area depending on its plate number.

The measure was implemented due to the increasing prices of oil barrels that reached its peak starting May of 2008.  The Costa Rican government took precautionary measures in order to control fuel demand by restricted vehicle transit in highly congested streets such as downtown San Jose.

Although oil prices have dropped dramatically in the last couple of months, the Costa Rican government decided to keep the restriction.  Restrictions are active Monday through Friday from 6am to 7pm and apply for the downtown San Jose area and circumference.

Restrictions apply for license plates ending in 1 & 2 on Monday, 3 & 4 on Tuesday, 5 & 6 on Wednesday, 7 & 8 on Thursday and 9 & 0 on Friday.  However, vehicles over 6 tons will not benefit from the restriction and will still need to take alternative routes during the holidays.

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Representatives and authorities for the Costa Rican National Park System in Costa Rica have something to celebrate about this year.  The year 2008 represents the year in which the largest amount of volunteers enrolled in the program.

Over 2,000 volunteers from Costa Rica and abroad, lent a helping hand in national parks, conservation areas and wildlife refuges such as Corcovado, Cabo Blanco and Manuel Antonio to name a few.

The manager for the National System of Conservation Areas and Protected Wildlife (Sinac) Cecilia Montero and Luis Matarrita, director for the Protected Areas Volunteer Association (ASVO) mentioned that 50% of the volunteers were Costa Ricans while the other 50% were volunteers from different parts of the world.  An interesting piece of information to point out as well is that 80% of the volunteers were women.

Volunteers for 2008 praised the experience above all things mentioning that there is a big difference in reading about turtle nesting or volcanic activity, but it’s a complete different story when you actively participate and witness the events.

For those interested in enrolling in a volunteer program in the future will need to comply with three major requirements.  Volunteers must be 18 or older, be in good health and have an insurance policy and be able to pay for you own food.

Applications may be submitted online at the Protected Areas Volunteer Association website www.asvo.org and follow the instructions.  In addition to the priceless life experience, volunteers will be able to visit Costa Rica’s National Parks free of cost just by showing their volunteer ID.

The volunteer program offers accommodations during the time in which you are enrolled in the program.  However, accommodations when arriving and departing are extremely easy and affordable to complete.  The Costa Rica hotel availability is quite varied and affordable.  Depending on your preferences, bookings may be done at small quaint hotels or international chain hotels.

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