The waiting time for a non-emergency surgery at Costa Rica's public hospitals has reached more than 520 days, up considerably compared to before the pandemic.
Visitors to Costa Rica during the rainy season will come across the pejibaye harvest in local markets. This unusual fruit comes from a tropical palm, often called peach palm in English, and has a starchy, orange mesocarp or midsection that is edible when cooked.
This hardy bush is found in most regions of Costa Rica and easy to identify with its clusters of yellow, bell-shaped flowers and serrated, compound, pinnate leaves with 5 to 13 leaflets. This plant is a member of the family Bignoniaceae, and is related to Roble Sabana (Tabebuia rosea) and Cortez Amarillo (Tabebuia chrysantha), which has similar flowers.
A growing number of concerned farmers and gardeners are changing the way we work with the soil to grow our food. We are now returning to a natural approach to return the gift of soil fertility to the land.
Costa Rica has said it supports hemp production, but has expressed reservations with cannabis, claiming it would need to create mechanisms to prevent its recreational use.
