The Nomads

No Travel Day

Samara, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
Temp: 36 degrees C
Cloudy, rain showers. Then sunny and humid

Trouble in Paradise!

We went early to our favourite restaurant for breakfast (the Locanda Beach Bar/Restaurant) but got rained out and ended up finishing our coffee back at the cabana. Oh well, it can’t be all sunshine……. The rainy season has definitely started, it rains heavily for a short time each day and then rains again every night.

We spent the morning wandering around the town, exploring all the little shops and then mid afternoon decided to go for a little bike ride. (I’m finding that I’m missing the bike when ‘m not on it for a few days.)

Down the coast we went on a narrow winding road through high rolling hills, pastureland with palm trees, with many large new homes and hotels nestled into the jungle hillsides. Even though I was surprised to see there are no “American condos and hotels”anywhere near the beach, this area is obviously becoming rapidly ‘discovered’!

I had noticed a perceptible “coolness” from the people of costa rica which I did not expect. I had read on the web that there was quite a large representation of north Americans , predominantly from the US here and that the people were better off because of the resultant tourism. So why the attitude? After all most of the businesses on the beach here at Samara are owned by “ Ticos” (the equivalent of “canuck” for Canadians; they take pride in being “tico”).

I started checking out some of the small local papers and discovered, even with my flawed Spanish, that there was the usual universal reason predicated on US Business practices abroad. Go figure!

It seems that to have the “Blue Band” accreditation in the hotel, restaurant and bar business, a government agency sends inspectors to do a water purification test for E Coli form and F Coli form bacteria count in the water used for food and drink preparation. This accreditation is the foundation cornerstone of any aspiring tourist business. Removal of this rating can spell bankruptcy for small owners.

Apparently, many of the Costa Rican businesses here in Samara have had their “blue Band” rating removed under suspicious circumstances.

While it is true that the coli form count was marginally acceptable in the local aquifer providing water to the community, most of the businesses were aware of it and using bottled and purified water at some expense for their food and drink preparation.

There have been accusations of outside influences and irregularities in the testing process where businesses have been down rated based on test samples taken outside their establishments at common taps provided to patrons for rinsing off beach sand. As one business owner said, “I spent a fortune installing three large water filtration systems for the water used in my kitchens and bars but they are not using that water for testing.” The inspectors are being accused of acting unethically under pressure or bribe from potential American developers. One owner went on record to say “The Americans do not want us Ticos on the beach!”

How to resolve the problem?....

Well, a community can apply to the government for a sewage treatment and water filtration system, however the law states that there be a very large percentage of the local populace needed to make the application. With a high level on cohesion in the Tico business community you would think “problem solved!” right? Not exactly.

When the application was made with the required representation, the applicants were told that they were required to be the actual land owners by original title.

The agency claimed that many were squatters or did not own the land they were on and so did not constitute enough of a legit number for the community to qualify . Outraged owners countered with proofs of land grants and forty years of receipts for land taxes, arguing that the reasons for disqualification were unfounded.

The decision apparently still stands!

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The only new roads in the area are, surprisingly, only in the vicinity of the new American Condos and hotels…..

I could go on…

I no longer wonder about the “aloofness” of Ticos,

and I wish them well in their struggle to succeed on their own terms instead of being hirelings and servants to the Americans in their own land.

Meanwhile, back at the beach, we spent the evening sipping margaritas and watching the horizon and listening to the boom of the surf, the undercurrent of local politics temporarily forgotten in the glorious colours of a wonderful sunset.

Kilometers - Daytrip: 0 km total: 12,680
Gas: $ 0
Lodging: Hotel El Locando STILL ONLY $45