Costa Rica Expertise LLC

Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/112309.htm

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Narrow streets, massive amounts of potholes, century-old rotting bridges and two-hour long traffic jams for a trip that should take 10 minutes. Sounds like one dreaded Monday morning? Such is the reality of transportation in Costa Rica, which just last month reached a breaking point. The tragedy Oct. 22 when the bridge that communicated Orotina and Turrubares collapsed has opened perhaps the biggest can of worms: the long overdue and deliberate negligence towards investing and maintaining local infrastructure has become clear.

Read more »

Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/110909.htm

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Renting properties in Costa Rica is as common for locals as it is for foreigners. However, relationships with landlords may be negative for expats who expect property owners to adhere to the basic rental laws. When renting a property in Costa Rica, expats can expect many headaches along the way, most of them provoked by landlord negligence.

Even though landlord problems occur in every country, if Costa Rica is the country of choice, expats may be better off buying than renting. Foreigners who plan to live in the country temporarily should prepare to deal with frustrating situations, miscommunications and neighbor issues provoked or plainly overlooked by property owners.

Read more »

Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/102509.htm

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Having a business — despite the effort, paperwork and bureaucracy — can certainly pay off. A small entrepreneur may dream about earning so much success that the local business goes global and becomes a landmark around the world.

However, do schools in Costa Rica teach future business owners that what pays them is their clients' preference? And if they do not go to school for business, do owners forget they have been keeping every business they have visited open by being a client there and that the success of their business depends on their customers' satisfaction?

Read more »

Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/101209.htm

Believe it or not, the little green dots represent the epicenters of earthquakes in Costa Rica from 1985 to 2008, based on a new map released last week by the Red Sismológica Nacional. Arrows show the direction of tectonic plates that are causing many of the quakes.

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Even though it is common knowledge that Costa Rica is a seismically active country, not everybody knows that it is the third country in the world with the highest seismic activity. In fact, it is the most seismic nations in Central America. One would expect that in a country ranking among the first earthquake-prone nations, its government and population would be decently prepared.

However, Costa Rica might also be among the least prepared countries to deal with seismic disasters, which directly threatens not only its citizens but also its growing Expat community.

Read more »

Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/092809.htm

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Being an important expat destination, Costa Rica offers great weather, beaches and plenty of rainforests, and it can be, bureaucracy and all, a good location for expats who want to grow their businesses. However, there is a group of expats who not only do not own businesses but also need to make ends meet. They get to know a very different kind of jungle: Costa Rican workplaces.

Read more »

Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/091409.htm

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Generating, disposing and treating waste has become one of the biggest and most serious problems of Costa Rican culture. The problem is not only a contradiction to the self-proclaimed ecological, diverse and clean reputation of the country, but also accurately illustrates the Tico short sightedness that prevents Costa Rica from becoming a developed nation.

Read more »