[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] American Costa Rica Crocodile: Visitors in Costa Rica can view the American crocodile at one of several prime spots, about 50 miles (85 km) west of San José, on the Tarcoles River. Here, they can be seen in abundance from the...
Costa Rica Whitewater Rafting Guide: Which River Should You Choose (and When)?
“During high water, the ‘Aye, mami!’ rapids become ‘Oh, crap!’ rapids,” my guide informed me — and honestly, that’s the most accurate river forecast you’ll ever get in Costa Rica. Whitewater rafting here is a beautiful contradiction. One minute you’re folded into the...
The Tigrillo (oncilla) of Costa Rica: A Secretive Wild Cat You’ll Rarely See
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Costa Rica creature feature oncilla: Oncilla, often referred to as the little spotted cat, or in Costa Rica as the tigrillo. This Costa Rica cat is the smallest species of wildcat in this country. Living in the mountain forests at...
Costa Rica Cacao and Dark Chocolate: A Local Story With Global Flavour (and Real Health Perks)
Cacao in Costa Rica isn’t just “the ingredient before chocolate” — it’s a living thread that runs through rainforest ecology, Indigenous heritage, smallholder livelihoods, and the modern obsession with seriously good dark chocolate. If you’ve ever snapped a square of...
Chasing Costa Rica’s Green Flash: The One-Second Sunset Secret
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] What is the green flash? The green flash is a brief burst of green light that can appear on the very top edge of the sun for roughly one to three seconds as it meets the horizon. It’s most often spotted at sunset over...
What Brings People to Live In Costa Rica
Costa Rica living – what draws people to this country? Let’s look at just a few of the many things that make people decide Costa Rica is where they want to call home. 1. Sand and sea Because the country is so small, you’re never too terribly far from one of its...
Protecting One Species at a Time
Protecting One Species at a Time. The theme of Earth Day 2019 is “Protect our Species.” With over 500,000 wildlife species in Costa Rica, it is vital to keep the biodiversity alive and thriving in this Central American isthmus. Thanks to the preservation efforts of...
Honk or Help
By Terry Carlile Driving in Costa Rica is an adventure worthy of its own chapter in the "Travel and Adventures" section of Howler. The conditions are as unpredictable as a soap opera plot twist, varying with your location, the time of day, and whether or not a herd...
Brass, Beans, and Backstory: The Coffee Tokens That Shaped Costa Rica’s Plantation Era
Torunes Farms sits in Costa Rica’s coffee country with one foot in the present—soil care, thoughtful processing, and honest storytelling—and the other planted firmly in the past, when a harvest day could be measured in baskets of cherries and tallied in small brass...
Torunes: Founded by Fatigue, Fueled by Coffee, Haunted by Excellence
(and Now Buzzing with Bees, Beans, and Global Bragging Rights) Let’s rewind to 1897, when a man named Jacinto Avila Araya decided to climb a hill in Palmares so steep even the local goats looked up and said, “Hard pass.” After dragging himself up from the...
Telenovela
The Telenovela A Guilty Pleasure Telenovela baddies require incredible acting skill not to evoke laughter at their dastardly deeds. Years ago, under the pretext of learning Spanish, I became hooked on watching telenovelas in the United States. In those days, long...
Stand-Up Paddle Surfing: From Ancient Watercraft to Modern Wave-Riding
...historically, humans have regarded paddling small watercraft while standing up as an efficient and ergonomic way to fish and travel in the ocean... Stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) looks modern, but the idea is ancient: humans have been standing to paddle small craft...












