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The howler Monkeys of Montezuma!

One of the many charming characters that inhabit our little neck of the woods here, that i never cease to tire of even after two years, is the irrepressible Howler monkey. Walking up and down the hill everyday allows me to see these amazing creatures daily swinging and howling in their natural habitat the rain forest.

Looking at their unblemished, beautiful faces, the curves in their hands and feet, the expression of their eyes, it's simply captivating. Sometimes they are just as interested in us as we are in them and other times they tune us out, a difficult task with cameras flashing and tourist mock howling in a lame attempt at "verbal" communication. After all this however, the little guys remain beatific and serene, total Pura Vida.

My fascination for these primates led me to do some research. Here is what i found out.

Number one, they are strict vegetarians (I liked them before but now the deal was sealed) unlike the white-face monkeys that can and do eat everything! Despite their howl which can sound very scary and be heard up to 5 miles away, these monkeys are very shy and pacifist, truly they bark is bigger than their bite. The howl, though, is used to send a message to other monkey groups: "this territory has already been taken by us, back off or taste our vegetarian wrath!" [actual translation]

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More good news in Montezuma!

REALLY GOOD NEWS, IN FACT GREAT NEWS...al fin! Montezuma celebrated the end of high season with the long awaited paving of the hill (from hell),railing and lights included too, hoorah!

After many months, meetings and steps by the Chamber of Tourism of Montezuma(CATUMO, it's acronym in Spanish) the hill to Montezuma was fixed by CONAVI. The work began after the Easter holiday and was supervised directly by CONAVI as well as members of the CATUMO staff thus guaranteeing a job well done.

This achievement allows the inhabitants of Montezuma as well as visitors to get to the town and out of town safely and stress free, THANK YOU CATUMO!

To keep updated about event and news in Montezuma please visit the Chamber website www.montezumainfo.net

Happy New Year!!! How do you celebrate?

One thing that has always amazed me are the very different ways of people around the world to bring fortune and joy for the New Year. Let's take a glance at some of them and maybe dare to do one or two (because you never know if it will work).

Walk at least one block on the street with a suitcase: it will make you travel during the year (Venezuela)

Eat lentils: Families add a dish of delicious lentils to the dinner as it represent abundance and prosperity. It is important to eat some lentils during the first minutes of the New Year. (Italy)

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A Papaya a day!

As soon as the rainy season begins, the plants gain back their intense colors, the rivers grow deeper and a refreshing, yet humid good feeling washes over everyone (pun intended). But as in everything, the rainy season has its pros and cons; [enter dengue on cue] ahh, the dengue fever, a widely spread disease in many countries brought on by a simple nip from the wrong mosquito, a regular jungle lottery...but don't fret I will be covering some preventative and natural effective ways to help your body to recover promptly from it, if you happen to be one of the few unfortunate folks to get it.

The dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which originated from Africa but nowadays is found in Tropical and subtropical regions (about 100 countries around the world). This kind of mosquito can be recognized by its white marks on its legs and thorax (break out your microscopes!!!). It usually bites in the evening but also during the daylight, especially indoors, in shady areas, or when the weather is cloudy. Its preferred breeding areas are stagnant water, such as flower vases, uncovered barrels, buckets, and discarded tires, but the most risky and less obvious areas are wet shower floors and toilets, as they allow the mosquitoes to breed in the residence.

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Montezuma, life downtown

After living in Montezuma officially for the last year I look upon it with a deeper understanding, similar to the way one stares at art with new eyes once enlightened by one or two art history classes. When i first moved here it was for six months during the high season so I was able to camp, then as i started to put my roots down i realized the camping lifestyle could only work for the dry season and i would have to move to level two; the house and all the trappings that come with that. Then the job; starting a business downtown and teaching/ studying music, slowly becoming part of the community. Thus bringing me back to seeing more now than i ever did my first month here as a tourist, innocence is lost but the luster still abounds; Montezuma changed my view and approach towards life and how I was leading it, somehow coming face to face with nature so wide, pure, and vivid revitalized me and for that I am forever indebted to this proud little coastal village.

What can one say about living here? One of the first things you'll noticed is that this is a "town" in the truest sense, classically so, like the set for a play or Sesame Street or like it was back in the states 100 years ago. This is a positive tight-knit community, where it's easy to know everyone's name in one week, and yet very open and welcoming to new characters on the scene (enter me and my boyfriend, who believes he'll be mayor by the end of the year!) planning on sticking around and becoming part of something great.

And then there's the dogs. A great bumper sticker idea: "Costa Rica where every house comes with two dogs" would be a as popular as beanie babies here...because it's true . They usually belong to the cabina owners but dogs here are free so they basically decide where they want to live and with who... keep reading here

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