Tag: Costa Rica
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UNDER THE MATAPALO TREE
I was homeless in Costa Rica for a spell in the summer of 1983. But a mate had heard of a gringo who had just moved to San Jose and might be looking for a roommate. So I called the guy and we decided to meet up at Key Largo, the local watering hole for […]
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ASK THE WOMEN
A long time ago a client asked me to document a forestry project in the rural town of Hojancha in northern Costa Rica. I took photos of proud men standing by amazing stands of introduced eucalypts, Gmelina and teak. The trees were grown for both timber and firewood. But I learned the women weren’t too […]
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SAKE IN AN IZAKAYA WITH A FRIEND
In December 1981, I was standing on the sidewalk in San José, Costa Rica while watching the Tope parade. A marching band clad in blue uniforms pounded away on their instruments. I looked out amongst the band members and spotted my mate Glen Snyder blowing away on his trombone while keeping in step. Glen and […]
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THE WRITER’S DEN
I had a good job in 1984 at an agricultural research center called CATIE in Costa Rica. I was tasked with writing a complete textbook on agroforestry. It would have taken a year, maybe two. It was a secure job at a very reputable international center. I quit the job after about five months. I […]
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VALE MARIO
With great sadness I learned today of the passing of my friend, mentor, former boss and co-founder of the modern Costa Rican National Park Service. Mario Boza passed away yesterday at the age of 79. He had been suffering from mouth cancer since late April. His death comes as a shock as only a few […]
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WEEK ONE AS A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER
Forty years ago today, I set foot in Costa Rica for the first time. I arrived as an altruistic, just-out-of-college, cleanly shaven youngster who was determined to save the world from an impending environmental disaster. I figured I could do that in two years as a US Peace Corps Volunteer. Those two years evolved into […]
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THE TOUGHEST JOB YOU’LL EVER LOVE
It was 35 years ago today that a bunch of recent college graduates in agriculture, forestry and environmental education and I landed in Central America to begin our two-year Peace Corps Costa Rica Volunteer assignments. We all got to know each other a few months earlier in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. The Peace Corps flew […]
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THE EXPLORATION OF LA AMISTAD
In 1982, the Costa Rican government created the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve which covers a massive area in southern Costa Rica along the Talamanca mountain range. At the time, the biosphere was relatively unknown to scientists – very few had ventured into the depths of the Talamanca. The Costa Rican National Park Service hired wildlands […]
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