GOVERNMENT officials from Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Colombia are working with the organization Conservation International and the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization to create a protected corridor for marine life migrating between islands owned by each country, La Prensa Libre reported earlier this month.

The corridor would include the islands of Malpelo (Colombia), Cohiba (Panama), Galapagos (Ecuador) and Isla del Coco (Costa Rica).

The project aims to provide a haven for creatures such as sharks, turtles, tortoises, manta rays, tuna, and other fish.

Such corridors exist in Latin America, but this would be the first to cross international waters in the area.

“The government of Costa Rica supports the initiative of the ecological groups to consider what is a great step forward in the protection of the island (del Coco),” said Costa Rica’s Environment and Energy Minister Carlos Rodríguez.

MATAPALO – STIJN DE WITTE is the man responsible for exposing whole villages of deep jungle hunters and farmers to a Martian invasion on the big screen. He toted a projector, a generator and a screen to the remote villages around his home near Matapalo in the Southern Pacific zone and showed Mars Attacks to people who had never before seen a movie.

They followed the viewing with a discussion that wriggled toward themes of cultural differences and left de Witte with a story that typifies his lifestyle. He is the last word in cultural fusion. He is a baldheaded Belgian owner of clubs throughout Europe and Asia and a welder of Tico and foreign societies in his funky conglomeration of disco and hammocks in the jungle boonies three kilometers from the tiny town of Matapalo.

I went there for a dinner and concert over Valentine’s Day weekend. De Witte hosted guests that represented three generations and a smattering of countries from Europe and the Americas in a fundraiser for his Fundación Matapalo.

THE Fundación, de Witte said, is a culture club without ambitions – just real people in the deep jungle. “All around the world you find people looking for likeminded people and for cultural exchange,” he said. “I try to promote cultural synergy – an exchange between locals and foreigners.”

Among the activities he organizes are children’s camps – up to five kids from abroad camping or living with up to seven kids from around Matapalo in their homes; a BackPack2Basics forest immersion, survival training and guided adventures, and a litany of unexpected and novel social jamborees.

The house is in the middle of the pure jungle where I saw a pair of toucans not 10 yards away from the woody-vine domed circular porch and forest lookout beside his auditorium/dance floor and in sight of the wading pool. Rumors mention that Capuchin monkeys and parrots that drop by as well.

The house looks like it is part dance club, part Gilligan’s older brother’s bachelor pad on the chill side of the Island with palm leaf roofs and part aluminum space ship with a touch of Victorian-era class.

The sound system and scant light bulbs are solar powered. Candles in wroughtiron and glass lanterns and atop empty wine bottles light the place during nighttime gatherings.

ON Valentine’s weekend guests paid an entrance fee for a roll of Java money – fake bills that bought drinks, garlic, tomato and fishy appetizers and yummy fish soup.

We applauded the father and son Perez marimba duo then, when they had stowed their keys, we nodded our heads to Canadian-native Daniel Hébert’s tranceinducing acoustic guitar and vocals.

Singer for the band God’s End, he calls his music “melodic-garage-swoon-f*** rock” and stored five songs for downloads, free of charge, at www.atgodsend.com. Perry Gladstone recorded the concert for a Canadian Broacasting Corporation radio feature on Hébert and has thrown his support behind the Fundación. His report is available at www.perrygladstone.com.

For more information on the Fundación see www.matapalo.com.

MUSIC from across the spectrum of styles that do not make the Billboard Top 40 will enlighten concert goers in Monteverde.

The Monteverde Institute will host six weekends of concerts and dance performances in its music festival, which begins Friday, March 5.

Proceeds from the concerts will fund scholarships for those who cannot afford an education in music. All concerts are from 5:30 to 7 pm. Visitors $10 (¢4,200), Costa Ricans, ¢1,500 ($3.50) EVENT SCHEDULE:

March 5-6: Mekatelyu, reggae

March 12-13: Luis Castro and Trova Caribe, Caribbean calypso

March 19-20: Master Key, acapella choir

March 26-27: Javier Malca and Friends, Latin American indigenous music

April 2-3: Nandayure, Costa Rican folk dance

April 8-9: Manuel Obregón, pianist

April 10: Local talent night

THE Monteverde Institute Association is a non-profit organization that provides programs in conservation, tropical biology and sustainable architecture among others in partnership with schools and universities.

To make donations to the institute or help with its events and programs, make deposits at the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica #127-0000 156-8 (in colones) and #127-0000 6000010-1 (in dollars).

Donations are tax deductible in Costa Rica.

For more information call 645-5053, e-mail myiarte@myinstitute.org or see the Web site at www.mvinstitute. org

“THERE are two kinds of people in this world — the takers and the took,” says George Joseph Love in Karoline Leach’s “The Mysterious Mr. Love,” directed by Susan Hall Liang and presented by the Little Theatre Group.

Love is out to make sure he’s the one doing the taking, seducing women who have had little luck when it comes to men. A schemer, Love is always on the lookout for the next woman to woo, marry and rob. Of course, he points out, he’s not completely heartless, staying long enough to give each woman a proper wedding night before running off in the morning.

Love is on the prowl when he comes across Adelaide. She is just what he’s looking for – lonely, insecure and saving up her inheritance for a rainy day. Laying it on thick, Love convinces Adelaide in what seems only a matter of hours to run away and marry him in secret.

HOWEVER, things don’t turn out exactly how Love plans and when it’s time to leave, Love hesitates, just a moment too long: Adelaide may not be as naïve as one might be led to believe.

Love finds himself in a predicament that even he may not be able to get himself out of and is forced to deal with the unexpected. And then, just when the audience thinks it has the ending all figured out – BAM!

Of course, you have to see the play to find out what happens.

The play opens with both actors on stage, who deliver intertwining monologues, giving personal takes on the events that lead up to their meeting. It is through this that the audience gets a feel for the personality of each character.

The love ’em and leave ’em George gives matter-of-fact and often humorous insights that contrast sharply with the descriptions given by a dreamy sounding Adelaide. While Adelaide relishes in describing a lovely lunch at a French bistro, George is the type who slips out the bathroom window to avoid paying the bill. Five minutes into the first act the couple meets and slowly the monologues begin to run into one another, as if they were finishing each other’s sentences.

THE comedy does have dark moments, touching on some of the underlying issues within each character that have shaped him or her into whom each has become.

The chemistry between the real-life husband and wife team of Tom Humes and Lisa DeFuso carries over on to the stage: key to this dialogue-driven script.

Humes is extremely convincing as the conflicted con man. DeFuso plays Adelaide wonderfully, capturing her insecurity early in the play and conveying her character’s movement away from naivete toward an awareness and understanding of the situation later on.

Running just under two hours, “The Mysterious Mr. Love” is lovely. The show runs for three weekends, Feb. 27-Mar. 14 at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, at 2:30 p.m, Sunday, at the Blanche Brown Theater in Bello Horizonte.

For info, call 289-3910. For Mar. 7 show only, 282-4830. Prices are ¢2,500 ($6) adults, ¢1,000 ($2.50) students.

THE National Symphony Orchestra and its new Artistic Director and Conductor Chosei Komatsu opens the 2004 concert season next weekend, at 8 p.m. Friday, March 5 and at 10:30 a.m., Sunday, March 7 in the National Theater.

Komatsu was chosen in a competitive search from among 190 candidates, and will lead the National Symphony as Artistic Director for the next three years.

Acclaimed violinist Misha Keylin will join the orchestra as soloist in the Dvorak Violin Concerto, and soprano Marianela Rojas will perform a Cantata by Costa Rican composer Eddie Mora. Brahms‚ First Symphony complete the program.

The 2004 season comprises 12 concerts from March through November. For a full season schedule or to purchase season tickets, contact Elena at the symphony office (236-5395 ext. 204) or Margaret Underwood (239-2551). Individual tickets are available at the National Theater box office (221-5341).

FOR 70 years, trees alongside the rivers in YellowstoneNational Park wouldn’t grow. Shoots sprang up but soon disappeared. Forest rangers suspected elk were eating the seedlings, but they couldn’t figure out what to do about it.

Then, about six years ago, things changed. The elk moved away from the rivers and into the woods, and the trees grew again. Why? It wasn’t drought or fire or floods or any other natural disaster.

They had happened before. No, there was only one possible reason. Wolves were killing the elk. Seventy years ago gray wolves were eliminated from Yellowstone because they killed livestock and wrecked crops.

BUT in 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put 15 gray wolves from Canada back into the park to restore Yellowstone’s natural habitat.

The results have been spectacular. Today, the park has 250 to 300 wolves, and the Fish and Wildlife Service likely will take them off the Endangered Species list soon. But even more important, it turns out the wolves are a “keystone species.”

Everything they do affects everything else that happens in the park. The result is that Yellowstone is becoming more like it was when there were no humans to interfere.

THE trees’ return was reported late last year, but the trees are only one end of a long series of environmental events: Wolves hunt the elk, so the elk leave the rivers. The willows, cottonwoods and aspens grow, casting shade that cools the water to temperatures favored by trout. Migratory birds return to roost in the new foliage.

But it does not stop there. In 1996, there were no beavers in Yellowstone, but today there are seven colonies, because the beavers can eat the low hanging willow branches. And the beavers build dams, creating marshland that brings back otters, mink, muskrats and ducks. It may take 20 or 30 years before the wolves change things completely, but Yellowstone is a perfect laboratory – a place where you can’t hunt and can’t farm. At 2.2 million acres, it’s very big.

WHEN the wolves first came back, there were 17,000 elk in Yellowstone.

Weighing as much as 700 pounds, the elk had no serious rivals, and at first ignored the 100-pound wolves the way they ignored 35-pound coyotes.

This was a big mistake. Today Yellowstone has about 8,000 elk. But scientists say this is just the way nature meant things to be. Every elk that’s killed by wolves provides a meal for ravens, magpies, golden eagles, bears, bald eagles and coyotes, not to mention smaller mammals and insects. And once the elk become harder to find, the wolves will have to go after even bigger animals– moose and bison.

MICHAEL Cranford came to Costa Rica to be an artist. Moving here in 2000, he was inspired by the natural beauty of the rainforest surrounding his home just outside Puerto Jiménez on the Southern Zone’s OsaPeninsula.

Almost all of his work reflects the tropical setting in which he lives. One does not have to look too hard at many of his brightly colored painting to see that there is a deeper message behind the work. That message, Cranford says is “to be open and aware of what’s going on in the world.”

Some of the pieces have stronger message than others. “If I were to express anything in my artwork, it would be ‘Protect the Resources,’” Cranford says. But points out that while some pieces have a strong message, such as the series he did last year that incorporated depictions of organs such as the heart, lung and brain with rainforest themes, others are more lighthearted.

HOWEVER, the message in Cranford’s most recent piece is clearly evident. He describes the work as a 3-dimensional, interactive piece. The five-by –fourfoot painting took Cranford two months to complete. As viewers pass the triangular work entitled “It’s Not My Fault,” the lush rainforest they first view becomes a clearcut pasture.

Several of these works are currently on display at the Café de Artistas in Escazú. The exhibit, entitled “Open Your Eyes,” goes on auction from7-9 p.m. on Mar. 4, with 20 percent of the proceeds going to the Corcovado Foundation.

The foundation is working to raise $13 million to purchase the land that used to connect CorcovadoPark with Piedras Blancas and to protect the land, which is home to numerous plants and animal species. Information on the foundation will also be available, showing guests how to donate directly if they are not interested in purchasing the art.

“THIS is really important, because it will restore the corridors, which are home to some of the most endangered animals, and will provide rangers to help conserve this beautiful place, which is the last piece of rainforest between Ecuador and Seattle,” Cranford says.

Recognizing the effects that people have on the ecosystem took Cranford some time. He was not an environmentalist when he first arrived. However, after seeing firsthand the destruction of the area surrounding CorcovadoNational Park, he felt the need to do something.

“I started to understand the negative impact that people can have on the environment,” he says.

He became involved with the Cecropia Foundation, an organization dedicated to protecting the OsaPeninsula, the second largest area of biodiversity in the world. He has since begun working with the Corcovado Foundation.

IN the four years since he moved to Costa Rica, Cranford has noticed that the forest is disappearing. From his studio he often hears chainsaws while he paints. Often he sees trucks loaded with timber leaving in the middle of the night.

According to Cranford, while some of the logging is legal, a great deal of it is not. However, he feels that people, perhaps because they are not directly exposed to it, don’t seem to realize the problem.

Cranford knows that this will not stop overnight, but hopes raising awareness of the problems will bring about eventual change. He is going to do what he can to make a positive impact.

“WE all have to learn at our own pace,” Cranford says. He just hopes that people become aware of the problem facing the rainforest before it’s too late.

Cranford’s paintings range from $200 to $2,000 and come in all sizes. His work is currently on display around Costa Rica, including pieces at Sí Como No Hotel in Manuel Antonio, Lookout Inn in Ojochal and Juanita’s Mexican Bar and Restaurant in Puerto Jiménez. They can be viewed at www. michaelin costarica.com.

For more info on the event at Café de Artistas, call 288-5082.

For info on the Corcovado Foundation, see www. corcovadofoundation.

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A beach café in Escazú? You could call that a misnomer, but Henry’s Beach Café and Grill has an oceanic feel, thanks to creative owners Henry and Jennifer Hane. The upshot of a beachcombing expedition is evident in the décor; credulous customers are transported to the seashore, with nothing lacking but the sound of the waves. Surf boards, a boat, brightly painted fish and even a sculptured wave are just part of the multifarious array decorating the corrugated tin and bamboo-walled restaurant.

The New Orleans theme is depicted with colorful blow-ups of Creole re-cipes. Barrels and beer crates are am-ong an amazing assortment of other funky paraphernalia.

“We even raided Henry’s wardrobe,” laughs Jennifer, as she points to some tacky underwear, T-shirts and socks strung up on clothes lines above the large semi-circular bar.

A recently opened hotspot, there’s no denying Henry’s is a Sports Bar. A fullsized screen covers one wall, TV’s hang in every corner and the blaring 1980’s music can be excruciating to the unaccustomed ear. If you’re not there to watch a game or mix and mingle, but crave quiet conversation, then walk across the plaza to The Balcony Lounge (TT Aug. 1, 2003) also owned by the Hanes.

IT was a Saturday night and the biggest team outing to date. Ten of us arrived early – luckily – as later the establishment was jammed to the rafters. Our young waiter appeared slightly nonplussed, as we moved tables and closed the balcony doors against the chilly night air.

Once settled, he took our drink orders that ranged from draft beer, lemonade, deemed “excellent and not drowned in sugar,” a palatable house wine, Margaritas, a frozen banana Daiquiri, plus vodka and pineapple juice. “Too much ice and not enough vodka,” was the comment. The Margaritas, a house specialty, are served in large fish-bowl-shaped glasses and come in 13 fruity flavors, ¢1,650-2,250 ($3.92-5.35). Classic Margaritas were ordered and enjoyed, as was the tall banana Daiquiri also trimmed with salt around the rim, strange but interesting, ¢1,650 ($3.92).

This was a team munch that lived up to its friendly tradition. Place your order, pass your plate, pick and taste, do not waste, and comment accordingly!

“OUR menu offers a fusion of Cajun and Creole cooking found in New Orleans, plus usual bar favorites,” Jennifer explained.

We soon discovered, with the Hanes at the helm, most have a few extra ingredients, giving them that special flavor.

From a large selection of appetizers the crispy calamari were tender and delicious.

Henry’s sexy mushrooms – what makes a mushroom sexy? That’s bewilderment, but they were a delicacy anyway. A mountain of tempting onion rings and spicy fried olives disappeared like lightning. The above were all deep-fried in a light, crispy, zesty batter and arrived piping hot. Prices ranged from ¢1,300 to ¢2,500 ($3.92-$5.35). The calypso ceviche ¢2,100 ($5), with an addition of mango and avocado was delectable. The tortilla soup ¢1,500 ($3.60) met with approval, but the potato skins were disappointing and the Po-Boy New Orleans-style fried fish sandwich ¢2,500 ($5.35) uninspiring. The mango chicken salad was enormous and appeased a team member – on a health food kick – who grumbled about the amount of fried foods among the appetizers.

THE tasty blackened chicken fettuccini ¢2,500 ($6) proved too salty for most palates. A very generous portion of New Orleans BBQ shrimp came with the highly praised spicy boiled new potatoes smothered in fresh rosemary. The piquant blackened tilapia ¢3,300 ($7.85) was hot, spicy and highly recommended for lovers of Cajun cooking.

“We can’t get catfish here, so had to adapt the recipe,” said Jennifer.

Only one team member found room for the yummy pecan pie ¢1,500 ($3.58), obviously worth leaving space for in the future.

The Hanes should be applauded for opening yet another restaurant that is wheelchair accessible.

Enter by The Balcony Lounge elevator. Centro Com-mercial San Rafael de Escazú: 100 meters west of Plaza Colonial. 11.30 a.m. – midnight, Mon.-Thurs.; 11.30 – 2 a.m., Fri.-Sat. For more info, call 289-6250.

PURISCAL – HIDDEN off the road about an hour southwest of San José, Hotel La Finca Que Ama peeks out from behind its beige stucco gates. Inside, a forest of pochote and mango trees stretch out beyond the five duplexes of varying Mediterranean yellows and pinks.

The concept of Hotel La Finca Que Ama is a “a cross between a bed and breakfast and a luxury hotel,” says owner Neta Talmor

The hotel consists of 10 casitas built along the hillside, which Talmor refers to as junior suites. Each room is individually named and decorated. The color scheme in Vino (wine) is a rich burgundy, while Cielo (sky) has a blue motif, and so on. The rooms have a contemporary feel, with artwork dotting the walls. Above each bed are photos taken by her boyfriend, Arbel Ratzin, that reflect each room’s theme.

EACH suite has a sitting area with a couch, television with DirecTV, DVD player and mini-refrigerator, a sleeping area with a queen-size bed set off by a partial wall and a bathroom with whirlpool tub. To emphasize privacy, each room has a private entrance and terrace. Bottled water, coffee and tea, as well as a selection of snacks are complimentarily stocked in each suite.

BREAKFAST is included and guests have the option of adding meals at an allinclusive rate or purchasing meals separately.

Breakfast consists of breads, fruit and varying morning standards. Depending on the number of guests, it is either served as buffet or with shared dishes for each table.

Talmor is quick to point out that the hotel does not have a restaurant, with all meals prefixed and including soup or salad, main course and dessert. Talmor asks guests beforehand if they have any dietary restrictions.

The meals, planned by Talmor’s mother, have an international flavor and the cuisine varies from night to night, including French, Italian, Mediterranean and Costa Rican dishes. Salads and vegetables are shared among couples or families. House wines are included with dinner.

THE view from the terrace outside the dining room is breathtaking. An outdoor bar and tables are set up so that guests can take in the rolling hills and natural beauty often with reggae, playing lightly in the background. Wanting to create a hotel that would be a serene getaway, Talmor was drawn to the property by the scenery.

The hotel also has trails that weave in through the property. Along several in the reforestation area along the property’s edge, visitors can get an up close look at the pochote trees, descended from prehistoric times that are covered with thick sharp spikes. Other trails lead through the wooded area to a nearby brook.

Keeping the property as natural as possible was a high priority. In constructing the main building and the casitas, the couple designed the hotel so that only one tree would need to be removed, which included building the patio of one casita around a mango tree.

The hotel is ideal for those traveling to the Pacific, as well as Turu Ba Ri Park. As far as Talmor is aware, it is the only hotel within 40 kilometers of the park.

However, in founding La Finca Que Ama, Talmor wanted to make the inn itself a place “where people go simply because of the hotel.” For years, she dreamt of running her own business, it was only a matter of the opportunity presenting itself.

Talmor, who is originally from Israel and attended college in the United States, saw the chance to become involved in the hotel business in Costa Rica after hearing about it when Ratzin’s sister and her husband visited the country. After thoroughly researching the idea, Talmor and Ratzin moved to Costa Rica in 2001.

WITH family providing the backing, the idea became a reality. Talmor has overseen every detail, from construction plans to the day-to-day operations with Ratzin, an artist and illustrator, helping her along the way. Although he prefers to step back and let Talmor the decisions, she credits Ratzin as a driving force behind her success.

Providing personalized service and little comforts is La Finca Que Ama’s specialty. Talmor recalled an instance when a visiting couple wanted cigarettes.

Although the inn didn’t have them, Ratzin made the drive to pick some up.

“It’s the little things that make such a big difference and make people so happy,” says Talmor. “We want to give people an experience that is special.”

Rooms for two people during the high season, including taxes, are $173. With meals, rooms are $231. Lunch is $9, dinner $25.

For more info or reservations, visit www.costaricafinca.com or call 419-0110.

GETTING THERE:

BY CAR: Take the highway from San José to Ciudad Colón. Continue from Ciudad Colón to Santiago de Puriscal and exit Puriscal on the road leading to San Pablo de Turrubares. The hotel is 19 kilometers after Puriscal, on the main road, on the right-hand side.

FIVE new world-record fish from Costa Rica waters are included in the newly released 2004 edition of the “International Game Fish Association’s World Record Game Fishes,” bringing the total to 101 world marks caught here.

That is an alltime high of 22 alltackle records, 59 line-test and 20 fly-fishing marks, and pretty impressive, considering the relative size of Costa Rica and disparity in the number of sport fishermen compared to other countries included in the book.

This represents an increase of five new records from the 96 that were chronicled in the 2003 edition.

I first started keeping track of the world records when I moved here in 1983, when only 13 records were documented from our waters. But at that time, only one charter boat existed on the entire Pacific coast, and ran out of Puntarenas or FlamingoBeach.

For a complete listing of all the records, where they were caught and when, see the March-April edition of Costa Rica Outdoors magazine, on the stands in early March.

If you can’t find it, e-mail me your name and local apartado at jruhlow@racsa.co.cr, and we will mail a complimentary copy. Or stop by our office in Santa Ana and pick one up: From the post office, 50 meters west and 125 north. Call 282-6743 if you get lost.

THAT dirty water reported off Quepos in our recent Tico Times columns is still slowing the fishing in that area and, as this is written, has spread north.

It appears to be breaking up a bit to  the south, with some boats finding blue water as close as 20 miles, but nowhere near the fish counts we were getting just a few weeks ago.

Talked to Rick Ruhlow at Carrillo, on the west side of the Nicoya Peninsula, on Sunday, and he said Sonny Kocsis, on the Wetass II, went two marlin for three up last weekend, but had to run about two hours before he found clean water.

Last report from Barra Colorado, on the northern Caribbean coast, said the tarpon still in the river, and the few fishermen going out were doing two or three releases a day.