Despite some decidedly uncharacteristic summer weather resulting from a cold front in January, Costa Rica has experienced many a beautiful summer day so far this year, attracting more of the rich and famous. Here’s a brief look at some of the comings and goings since the first appearance of Star Watch, our occasional foray into celebrity gossip, back in January:
_Costa Rica may not have royal weddings or Academy Awards, but it got a little of both Saturday night when Venezuelan actress Carolina Tejera wed Costa Rican-U.S. entrepreneur Don Stockwell in a glitzy ceremony at the Basílica de Los Ángeles in Cartago, east of San José. Starstruck crowds that flocked to the famed church – home of the La Negrita statue – cheered the arrival of salsa singer Angel López, last year’s Miss Puerto Rico Cinthya Olavarría, and approximately 800 other guests, all of whom strolled down a red carpet on their way into the church. According to the daily La Nación, the extravagant event featured 11 VIP buses for guests, fireworks, sky writing (“Don Loves Caroline”), multiple delays, a 2 a.m. banquet with everything from filet mignon to lobster bisque, and a dance party that lasted until breakfast.
_ Single-monikered superstar Sting traded in his fields of gold for green, jungle-covered hills when he visited the Southern Zone’s OsaPeninsula recently. The former front man of The Police, famed for his hits, social activism and self-proclaimed affinity for tantric sex, relaxed, visited CorcovadoNational Park and practiced yoga during his stay at the Guaria de Osa hotel, where two yoga instructors stayed with him, according to the daily Al Día. The star was friendly to other travelers when he passed through JuanSantamaríaInternationalAirport outside San José Jan. 26, posing for photos and “looking like a backpacker,” an airport café employee told the daily.
But what name did he give authorities? Immigration spokeswoman Heidy Bonilla told the daily that no entries or exists for Gordon Sumner, Sting’s real name, had been registered.
_ Another musical visit is scheduled next month, this one to include performances: U.K. band Jamiroquai will grace the Festival Imperial – to be held April 1-2 outside San José – with its unique fusion of house rhythms, soul and funk. See upcoming editions of Weekend for more information.
_ Star Watch’s Guanacaste correspondent, Ellen Zoe Golden, informed us last month that pro surfers Shane Beshen and Aaron Cormican touched down in the northern Pacific beach town of Hermosa in late January.
No amount of enticement from beachgoers coaxed Beshen, who sat on the beach photographing waves, into the water. Cormican, a frequent visitor and patron of the Rancho Coral team at Esterillos, on the central Pacific coast, put in an appearance as well.
_Another recent visitor: none other than the star of “The Incredible Hulk” (1978), Lou Ferrigno, who dropped by for the inauguration of Gold’s Gym at the Radisson Europa Hotel in San José (TT Online, Feb. 3). The former Mr. Universe and star of various films, including further installments in the Hulk series, told the daily La Nación that he regretted not having time to visit Costa Rica’s natural attractions during his brief business trip, and urged Ticos to work out.
