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Central Bank
Reference Rate
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| BUY ˘581.97 SELL ˘591.25 |
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Posada prints: One of 97 etchings by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) being showcased at the Mexican Institute in the eastern San José neighborhood of Los Yoses. |
Jeffrey Arguedas | EFE |
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Their day: Kids in Costa Rica celebrated Children's Day yesterday. Activities will continue through the week. |
Ronald Reyes Tico Times |
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| ICE cuts ties with Alcatel; GSM lines move to Ericsson |
| The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) has announced that as of Saturday it will consolidate all GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) cell phones into one network. The move will dissolve the contract with the French firm Alcatel and make Sweden's Ericsson the sole network provider for all GSM phones. |
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| Chinchilla aligns herself with foreign investors |
Laura Chinchilla, the frontrunner in the 2010 Costa Rican presidential election, spoke to representatives of the country's biggest international firms Wednesday with a message that played to their interests. |
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| Gasoline and taxi prices go up |
The rising cost of oil in international markets will result in a hike in Costa Rica's gasoline prices and taxi fares, according to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP). |
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| Harlem Globetrotters to dunk into Costa Rica’s La Sabana |
The famed masters of basketball trickery, The Harlem Globetrotters, will soon pay a visit to Costa Rica as part of their Spinning the Globe 2009 world tour. |
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| The Other Star Fruit |
At the end of the dry season in April and May, citrus fruits, mangos and avocados are just beginning to form young fruits here in Costa Rica. There is a fruit tree, however, that produces an abundance of delicious fruit at this time. It's called caimito in Spanish, and is inappropriately known as star fruit in English, which is confusing, as star fruit is also the name for the carambola fruit (Averrhoa carambola). |
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ICE cuts ties with Alcatel;
GSM lines move to Ericsson |
By Adam Williams
Tico Times Staff | awilliams@ticotimes.net
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The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) has announced that as of Saturday it will consolidate all GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) cell phones into one network. The move will dissolve the contract with the French firm Alcatel and make Sweden's Ericsson the sole network provider for all GSM phones.
According to ICE, uniting the networks will improve service for the 400,000 customers that currently use Alcatel. Of the 1.8 million GSM phone users in Costa Rica, 1.4 million receive service through Ericsson. The consolidation of the two providers will synchronize the radio towers that provide the GSM signal. Currently, service for Ericsson users is provided by 317 radio towers. With the acquisition of the Alcatel towers, there will now be 459 towers dedicated to GSM service in a single network. ICE said they will continue to add to the number of radio towers, and that by the first quarter of 2010 there will be 753 towers around Costa Rica.
“This unification will begin with 459 radio towers, and by the end of the year there will be 529 active radio towers,” said Claudio Bermúdez, assistant telecommunications director at ICE. “This will allow the unification of all the platforms of phone and messaging companies, as well as improved sending and receiving of information and improved coverage at the national level.”
To activate the new system on Saturday, all GSM customers, both Alcatel and Ericsson, must turn off their phone, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on. When the phone is turned back on, the new and improved signal should be activated. If the phone does not register the new signal, GSM users are instructed to call customer service numbers 115 and 193. The users transferred from the Alcatel network have phone numbers that begin with digits between 8810 and 8851, as well as from 8950 to 8951.
In addition to an improved signal, the united network is expected to provide more security for GSM phone users. According to ICE, all GSM phones are registered with the Equipment Identification Registry (EIR), which contains the registration information of all GSM users. If a phone is stolen or lost, the EIR will automatically block usage of the phone by other users.
ICE said the undertaking will cost a total of $17.5 million, which includes the consolidation of the networks and the construction and activation the radio towers.
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| Chinchilla aligns herself with foreign investors |
By Chrissie Long
Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net |
Laura Chinchilla, the frontrunner in the 2010 Costa Rican presidential election, spoke to representatives of the country's biggest international firms Wednesday with a message that played to their interests.
Her presidency, she said, would be characterized by an effort to reduce regulations and paperwork, speed up bureaucratic processes and allocate more resources to improving the country's infrastructure.
“Costa Rica needs to ascend to a new stage in development as a leader in innovation, technology and sustainable development,” she told an audience of dark-suited business men and women, at a luncheon organized by the Costa Rican American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM). “How do you ensure that Costa Rica advances with the same velocity? Well, vote for me.”
Working with a power point presentation, she showed how Costa Rica already tops many regional statistics in economic development, including its position as the fourth most-developed nation in Latin America.
But she listed equality, sustainability, security, competitiveness and governability as challenges to the next administration.
“We envision a Costa Rica that continues to be competitive … that is prosperous, green (environmentally-friendly) and intelligent,” she said.
For Lynda Solar, executive director of AMCHAM, the message is on track, but putting it into action is another question.
“She gets it,” said Solar. “She understands the issues and concerns we have. Yet, it's not a matter so much of what she says, but that she executes her plan.”
In other political news, the tourism minister is the latest in a long list of politicians to leave President Oscar Arias's administration in order to gear up for a potential post with Chinchilla, should she win. Carlos Ricardo Benavides will be replaced by Allan Flores.
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| Gasoline and taxi prices go up |
By Sean O'Hare
Tico Times Staff | editorial@ticotimes.net
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The rising cost of oil in international markets will result in a hike in Costa Rica's gasoline prices and taxi fares, according to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).
On Sept.16, taxi fares will go up ˘ 25 to ˘ 455 (78 cents) for the first kilometer and
˘ 30 (5 cents) for every additional kilometer.
Gasoline and diesel prices will go up by about ˘ 34 (nearly 6 cents) a liter, pushing the cost of a super gasoline to ˘ 601 ($1.03), regular gas to ˘ 582 ($1) and diesel to ˘ 506 (87 cents) per liter.
For those with cars that hold up to 45 liters, the rise will see an increased cost of ˘ 1.530 at the pumps for a full tank.
This marks the sixth rise in gasoline prices this year, with a barrel of oil in international markets now costing around $70.
New prices at the pump
(Colones per liter) |
| Fuel |
Current price |
New price |
Difference |
| Super |
567 |
601 |
34 |
| Plus (regular) |
549 |
582 |
33 |
| Diesel |
472 |
506 |
34 |
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Harlem Globetrotters to dunk
into Costa Rica’s La Sabana |
By Mike McDonald
Tico Times Staff | mmcdonald@ticotimes.net |
The famed masters of basketball trickery, The Harlem Globetrotters, will soon pay a visit to Costa Rica as part of their Spinning the Globe 2009 world tour.
Lead by number 21, Special K, the red, white and blue b-ballers will bring their game to the National Gymnasium in the western San José neighborhood of La Sabana on Oct. 10. Games will be played at 2 and 5 p.m. and tickets will cost between ˘ 9,000 ($15.50; for general admission) ˘ 30,000 ($51.70; VIP).
Special K has played in the “Switzerland of Central America” before and said that the experience was slamming.
“Wow! Costa Rica was ‘all that' of an experience the last time the team was there,” the superstar said. “The people were super friendly and we enjoyed ourselves a lot with them. We can't wait to be there again and give them a spectacle that will make them crazy.”
Tickets are temporarily on sale at JUMBO retailers for a 30 percent discount. Globetrotter fans can also purchase tickets at Yuppis at Paseo de las Flores in Heredia, north of San José, and at Hooligans in the Multiplaza in Escazú, west of San José.
The Harlem Globetrotters were founded by Abe Saperstein in Chicago, Illinois, in 1927. Wilt Chamberlain, one of the National Basketball Associations 50 greatest players of all time, played with the team from 1958 to 1959.
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The Other Star Fruit |
At the end of the dry season in April and May, citrus fruits, mangos and avocados are just beginning to form young fruits here in Costa Rica. There is a fruit tree, however, that produces an abundance of delicious fruit at this time. It's called caimito in Spanish, and is inappropriately known as star fruit in English, which is confusing, as star fruit is also the name for the carambola fruit (Averrhoa carambola).
Caimito (Chrysophyllum cainito) is a member of the sapote family, along with the zapote mamey (Pouteria sapota) and the zapadillo or chicle tree (Manilkara zapota). All these trees are native to Mesoamerica and produce delightful fruits in the warmer regions of the country.
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A Star Fruit by Any Name: Caimito is called star fruit in English – not to be confused with the star-shaped carambola, also called star fruit. |
Ed Bernhardt | Tico Times |
The caimito is a large tree from eight to 30 meters tall, with alternate, elliptic, evergreen leaves that are green on top and golden-brown underneath. For this reason, the tree is also known as golden-leaf tree.
There are two distinct varieties of trees. One produces fruits that have a green skin, while the other produces purple-skinned fruits. Both have soft, white, milky, sweet pulp surrounding six seeds in the center and, when cut through transversely, look like a pointed star.
The skin of the fruit contains sticky, white latex, which can be avoided by spooning out the pulp. The sweet pulp can be added to fruit salads or blended fruit drinks. In Jamaica, caimito is mixed with fresh fruit and coconut water, then frozen and served as an iced fruit salad. Caimito fruit is a good source of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin C and niacin.
Leading nurseries carry caimito trees, or caimito fruits can be found in local markets and the seeds planted to start seedling trees. Plant one seed per pot or plastic nursery bag in fertile potting soil. When the seedling trees are several months old, they can be transplanted to permanent sites.
Caimito trees produce their first harvest in five or more years. It is best to harvest the fruit by cutting the stem from the tree with a pair of clippers. Pick only the ripest fruit, which contains less of the sticky latex. Because of their large size when mature, the trees need eight or more meters of space between other trees and ornamentals.
Caimito does well in a wide range of soils but does not tolerate poorly drained soils. The trees rarely require fertilizer, but a complete, well-balanced, natural fertilizer will greatly improve performance in poor soils. Fruit flies can damage the fruit, particularly in older trees. Spraying periodically during the harvest with natural insecticides, such as neem, rotenone or pyrethrin, will control this problem.
I hope you have an opportunity to try caimito fruits this year, and also plant a tree for your home orchard. If you haven't found caimito in your area, contact me at thenewdawncenter@yahoo.com. I'll send you a newsletter with information on how you can receive a gift pack of caimito seeds in the mail.
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