FUELED by higher education, health care and food costs, Costa Rica registered a monthly inflation of 1.29% in February.

Inflation for the first two months of this year was 3.02%, the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reported Monday.

Inflation for the first two months of 2003 was 1.47%. Inflation over the last 12 months was reported at 11.55%, making it appear difficult for the country to meet the Central Bank’s target inflation rate of less than 10% in 2004 (TT, Jan. 16). Annual inflation in 2003 was 9.87%.

DELTA Air Lines, the airline that pioneered regularly scheduled international flights to Liberia’s DanielOduberInternationalAirport in the northwestern Guanacaste province, is showing no sign of slowing down.

Next month, Delta will add an additional weekly flight between Liberia and Atlanta’s HartsfieldInternationalAirport, raising its number of weekly flights to six.

The airline is also planning to continue expanding throughout Latin America, a region it says is full of potential.

“Given the crisis the [airline] industry underwent following the Sept. 11 (2001) terrorist attacks and other events, Delta was forced to settle on a strategy of survival,” said Jorge Fernández, Delta’s director for Latin America and Caribbean.

“The outlook is very different now. We see Latin America as a profitable unit where we can grow. We’ve gone from an outlook of survival to one of growth,” he told The Tico Times.

THE gamble Delta took when it decided to begin regular flights to Liberia in December 2002 has paid off. Since then, the flights have had an average occupancy rate of 75%. More recently, with the start of the tourism high season, the occupancy rate has risen to well above 85%, Fernández said.

Delta proved Liberia could be a successful and profitable destination for a major airline. Months after the flight began, American Airlines and Continental Airlines announced they would begin nonstop service to Daniel Oduber from Miami and Houston, respectively.

Fernández said the airline is not worried about the increased competition. Delta is confident its vast network of connecting flights throughout the East Coast of the United States and Europe (Delta says it is the leading U.S. airline in transatlantic flights) will continue to provide the steady stream of tourists necessary to make Liberia flights successful and profitable, he explained.

TO thank Delta for taking the risk, the Liberia Chamber of Tourism (CALITUR) held a series of activities last Saturday honoring the airline and Chris Floistad, general manager of international network analysis for Delta and the person who had the final say in creating a permanent Liberia route.

CALITUR treated Delta executives to a guided tour of Liberia, during which the AscensionEsquivelElementary School and the Liberia Soccer Club honored Floistad for contributing to the community’s development.

Afterward, Delta personnel were taken to Rancho Chácara, a new tourism complex featuring traditional Guanacaste bull riding and typical Tico food.

“A year after Delta began flying to Liberia, the impact has been overwhelmingly positive,” said CALITUR president Pedro Muñoz.

“It’s only just beginning. Delta’s flights have forced Liberians to get moving. We have to ponernos las pilas to make the most of the new opportunities that are coming to the region,” Muñoz said.

Liberia Mayor Ricardo Samper was equally grateful.

“Thank you very much,” Samper told Delta representatives. “You have helped revolutionize this town.”

DELTA executives said they were honored by the warm welcome they received from the WhiteCity, so named after the limestone used to build many of the town’s original roads and buildings.

“Delta wanted to open a new market, a Costa Rican market,” Floistad said. “This community makes us proud of what we have done as pioneers of flights to Guanacaste. We look forward to many years ahead for the successful partnership between Guanacaste and Delta.”

Fernández said he firmly believes the future of the Delta-Guanacaste partnership will be a bright one.

“Our decision to begin flying into Liberia was part of Delta’s philosophy toward Latin America,” he explained. He attributed most of the flight’s success to local hotel and business owners who, from the very beginning, played a key role in convincing the airline to consider Liberia.

“To succeed, it’s important to identify a mutual interest. We wanted to share the region with the rest of the world, to build a bridge. We believe in Guanacaste’s vision of development. We have established a partnership with Guanacaste that will benefit the region,” he said.

FERNÁNDEZ said he is optimistic about tourism in Guanacaste and Costa Rica in general.

“There’s a lot of competition between tourist destinations,” he said. “When people in the United States turn on their televisions Saturday morning, they are bombarded with ads from the different destinations. Despite this, people choose Costa Rica. The country has done a phenomenal job of promoting itself.”

He said the country’s unique relation with the environment is the differentiating element that makes Costa Rica stand out in the highly competitive tourism market.

“Tourists who come to Costa Rica usually think of nature,” he said. “When you ask people about the Caribbean, they say beach and sun. When you ask them about Cancún, they say beach, sun and parties.

“But when you ask them about Costa Rica, they say many things – jungle, volcanoes, adventure tourism, national parks, deep sea fishing – in addition to beach and sun,” he explained.

TO make the most of the new flights, Fernández stressed the need improve the DanielOduberInternationalAirport so it can better handle the region’s growing tourism and export markets.

“We ask two things of Guanacaste,” he said. “It must maintain solid airport infrastructure that guarantees the security and safety of travelers, which is part of what we consider customer service.

“Significant improvements are also required in cargo,” he added. “Improved handling of cargo would create a valuable opportunity for the region’s perishable exports, such as tilapia fish, which is quickly earning a name for itself in foreign markets.”

He also called on the growing U.S. and European expatriate community in Guanacaste to take part in the region’s partnership with Delta.

Delta wants to make sure these residents know that its flights can provide a valuable connection allowing them to keep in touch with friends, families and businesses back home, he said.

SINCE 1996, Noel Payne’s business Comercio Alternativo has sought the often small and nascent organic farms of Costa Rica and roped many of them into its fold for distribution.

Payne’s business began as a retail store and made the transition to a delivery service over the Christmas holiday last year.

It now delivers fresh organic produce, fertilizers, dairy, juice, wine and personalcare products, among others, to wholesalers and residents.

In November 2002 the company was selected as one of five finalists among 40 competitors in the New Ventures program of the World Resources Institute, one of the largest conservation organizations in the United States.

THAT honor placed Comercio Alternativo in the limelight for investors and philanthropists, but, Payne said, not much came out it because U.S. investors’ attention shifted to Eastern Europe amidst talk of that region being integrated into the European Union.

Another of her accolades is the camera of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), which filmed Payne’s move to the delivery service and the founding of her company’s presence on the Internet. The story will be aired in the Get a New Life series that documents the adventures of Brits abroad.

Though still under construction, the Web site lists Payne’s extensive inventory of products and classifies them according to the ways in which they were produced.

CATEGORIES include products grown in certified, chemical-free soil that comply with certified organic standards; those that are in transition, which generally means the farms have not been organic for the three years required by certification agencies, and those which, according to Comercio Alternativo’s criteria, are people-and environment-friendly.

In response to the deluge of questions she has fielded over the years, the Internet site also lists products in English and Spanish and will soon outline the process of obtaining organic certification.

Customers register with the company, pay a deposit and collect the products they order each week at fixed drop-off spots, or they can arrange for special deliveries.

DROP-OFF points are in Moravia, Heredia and Cariari on Tuesdays, and Escazú, Santa Ana and Piedades on Thursdays.

Once the Web site is fully functional, customers will be able to place orders online. Now they can place their orders by e-mail, fax or phone.

Though its product list is long and varied, the company issues the caveat that the organic movement in Costa Rica is young and the obstacle of delivering small amounts of produce to one central distribution point is sometimes difficult to surmount – so, the list is subject to availability, something that can be discussed while placing the orders, or checked online.

SOME of the company’s bigger clients include Pacha Mama in Guanacaste, Tin Jo restaurant in San José, Finca Rosa Blanca in Santa Bárbara de Heredia, and the Pura Vida and Lapa Ríos hotels.

Payne hosts consumer meetings every two months as an opportunity for environmentally and health-conscious eaters to meet each other.

She also plans to organize organic farm visits through her Consumer Education Program, and said she would like to create an organic consumers’ organization as a kind of megaphone for the voice of the healthy eater and a collective defense of consumers’ rights.

For info, see Comercio Alternativo’s site at www.comercioalternativo.com, email: info@comercioalternativo.com, or call 253-5507 or 393-5314.

MORE Costa Ricans are lathering their heads with organic products and lowering their consumption of pesticides thanks to the success of Bioland’s organic and natural foods and beauty products.

Shoppers can find all-natural, additive and preservative-free Bioland products, such as organic prickly pear hair conditioner and whole-wheat sesame nacho chips, often with significant amounts of organic ingredients, in almost every supermarket in Costa Rica.

The company offers nearly 200 packaged snacks, grains and other foods and more than 90 personal-care products, including, for example, organic wild indigo anti-dandruff shampoo and organic carrot tanning oil, and all at accessible prices.

A sample of Bioland products found at Más x Menos supermarkets includes a 370-milliliter bottle of organic chamomile shampoo for ¢1,159 ($2.75) and a 250-gram package of whole-wheat cookies with carob chips for ¢484 ($1.15).

WHEN Costa Rica’s organic foods scene was limited to displays in small shops and farmers’ markets more than 20 years ago, Bioland’s forebear, Diproma, a macrobiotic products distributor, became the first natural products industry in the country.

Three years ago, it adopted the name Bioland and began to export its goods throughout Central America, as well as Europe, Japan, Taiwan and the United States. There is no secret ingredient to Bioland’s success, said the company’s owner, Gustavo Hampl.

“Everything is based on hard work,” Hampl said. “We are willing to make profits through the implementation of a certain philosophy.

There is a firm ideological frame of action within which we work, and what we do does not overstep that creed.”

HE said Bioland encourages local producers to become certified in organic agriculture.

Though the company buys some ingredients from abroad, it tries to patronize local farms whenever possible.

If a certain food would be cheaper to produce locally but is not available without pesticides and chemical fertilizers, Hampl and company work with the owners of small farms to convert to certified suppliers of organic produce.

To date, seven farms have traded in their fumigation pumps for compost heaps and now sell their organic produce to Bioland.

“The modern business is largely profit-oriented,” Hampl said. “We make money without passing the barrier that we place before ourselves. While others earn as much as possible while remaining within the limits of the laws of the state, we create our own laws.”

A large part of the company’s motivation is concern for the natural world. Its bilingual Web site (www.bio-land.org) warns about the “asphyxiating situation” created by over-population, consumerism, “fierce industrial competition,” and the mesmerizing effect of advertising on the human psyche.

Then it outlines the company’s mission: “Bioland represents the real commitment to work for a land full of life. Bioland promotes biological and organic agriculture, the recovery of natural and traditional industrial practices, as well as the use of cleaner and ecological commercial procedures, respecting the health of human beings and their environment.”

Besides the products it offers, the company respects its own ideology within its office walls. It has an extensive paperrecycling program, and teaches employees to reduce waste and recycle both in the office and at home.

THE Bioland Siembra program donates ¢5 ($0.01) of every purchase to a tree-planting project, which plants mostly native species within and around San José, and lists every tree they have planted, including the date and location, on the Web site.

The site also offers recipes for vegetarian and healthy foods, such as vegetarian empanadas made with Bioland textured soy, and sesame spaghetti.

“Our idea is to create a model for the business of the future,” Hampl said. “We consider the consumer a human being, not a number or a monthly statistic. The health of the client is a benefit to everyone – we benefit the future of our children.”

THE first major reggae event of this year, Reggae Roots at the Polideportivo Monserrat in Alajuela, was a smashing success, as more than 40,000 fans were able to feel the rhythm of this music in their veins Feb. 21.

Fans, who were lined up patiently since before the sun came out, were duly rewarded when the gates opened precisely at noon and to everyone’s surprise, the concert started on time! Security was said to be tight. Upon arrival, however, I found this to not be the case. Though I entered with absolutely nothing, I saw other people enter with knapsacks, which security personnel didn’t even open. A brief feel was enough, apparently.

The surprise opening act was a local hip-hop dance group. Next on stage was the Tappa Tap Kru (Banton, Toledo and Kike), then Radicales (Tapon, H-uba and Ghetto) and, to close the local segment, the renowned roots group, Mekatelyu. Opening the international segment was

from Jamaica, followed by more Spanish reggae from Los Cafres from Argentina. Then the Big Act, the sole reason I went to the concert.

T.O.K. – also from Jamaica – for the first time ever in Costa Rica, came out on stage. For a little more than an hour, these four young black men with shoulder-length locks, dressed in white shirts and black striped sweatpants had the crowd jumping and shouting and waving madly whatever they could find.

At this point, people in the crowd started throwing what appeared to be empty plastic water bottles in the air, which sort of looked cool as they floated and danced about in the evening wind. To my horror I was informed later that not all the bottles flying around were actually empty. Some of them still contained liquid, and apparently some of them had even been maliciously filled with dirt, which obviously created a safety hazard.

The lack of oversized football and basketball jerseys, baggy pants and brandname footwear was unusual. In a crowd I assumed to be mostly dancehall fans, everyone was dressed for a day in the park.

HALFWAY through the concert, before the Jamaicans held the mics, more than 30,000 bottles of water alone had already been consumed, and the food stands had completely run out of beverages and had to send for more.

The concert finished around 8 p.m., after Buju Banton, another Jamaican, had spent approximately an hour and a half on stage. By this time the crowd was weary, and he didn’t get as much response as the previous group, though he is the more famous of the two. This too was because his presentation contained various songs that a large percentage of the audience seemed not familiar with.

Upcoming events include a concert by Sean Paul on March 20. For more info call 253-9696.

“OLD Poison,” by Joan Francis, is a mystery novel with many layers. From Martian diaries and murder to environmental issues, the book is filled with a number of twists, turns and Costa Rican connections that make for a fairly enjoyable read.

The story chronicles private eye Diana Hunter, who has been hired to investigate a potentially deadly gas that could, in only a matter of years, destroy the entire planet.

She is given excerpts from a strange document called the Martian Diary. The diary tells of a deadly toxin, Red 19, that destroyed the once lush red planet. According to the diary, secret information regarding the poison was brought from Mars and hidden on Earth during the massive exodus after the planet’s devastation.

Doubtful of the entire situation, Hunter agrees to take the case – for a price – after a pushy client convinces her to look into it.

FROM there she enters a crazy and sometimes dark world of environmental and corporate scandal that takes her from California to Arizona to the rainforests of Costa Rica.

Luckily, she happens to be a master of disguise and more than once throws off pursers by making a quick change.

The story is well written, addressing many ideas but still holding readers’ attention. However, the five-page ending comes too quickly and doesn’t clarify much.

Furthermore, the entire story contained within the Martian Diary is cryptic. The final entry is supposedly meant to give Hunter hope, but may simply leave readers thoroughly confused.

PUBLISHED in 2003, the book is available on Amazon.com.

THE Clayfoot Strutters, famous for their Contra Dance (like square dancing), Zydeco and Waltz music will give a concert in the hotel Villas Zurquí Saturday, March 6 at 8 p.m.

The dance starts at 9:30 p.m. Kathy Anderson, a caller with international fame, will lead the dances.

It will be the band’s third visit to Costa Rica, accompanying a group of tourists of the Pura Vida Dance Camp, who get together every year in the Albergue Hacienda Moravia de Chirripó to enjoy the beautiful mountains during the day and their favorite dances at night.

AFTER visiting the indigenous reserve Cabécar de Chirripó, the band decided to give this benefit concert in San José to collect funds for the purchase of materials for the indigenous schools in the area.

For reservations call 381-6500 or 228-4285. Tickets, $20 per person, include the concert, the dance and appetizers.

Hotel Villas Zurquí is on the

, 125 meters east of the Zurquí gas station.

LIKE french fries with Salsa Lizano, Kadeho’s second album, ‘Hasta que Vuelva a Amanecer,’ (Until Dawn Breaks Again) is something familiar with a Costa Rican flavor. This might be a disk for those who miss the pop-alternative rock of the mid-1990s but don’t want to sacrifice the influence a town like the Pacific port of Puntarenas has on the music scene.

The latest, released this year, two years after their first, features the lyrics and properly jaded voice of lead singer and songwriter Jorge Zumbado. Though most of the songs do not steer from love themes, the words are one of their most original aspects. The title song, driven by melancholy guitar chords that verge on a reggae beat, deals with underdevelopment in Costa Rica.

ZUMBADO wrote one of the songs, ‘Fantasmas,’ (Ghosts) the day before the group recorded it. The base line recalls Johnny Cash’s rougher tunes and the guitar strikes some of those same minor notes that sharpen the edge of the alt-rock sound. ‘Tanto Tu y Yo’ (Both You and I) begins with a tough guitar riff and some feedback then relaxes during the poetic vocals, but the toughness rebounds for the instrumental chorus and finale.

‘Vivo Volando’ (Living in flight) sounds like a teenybopper tune with an edgy guitar, but one of the most unusual songs on the album is the last, ‘El Soldado Enamorado’ (The Soldier in Love). It is a genre-crossing conglomerate of musical sections, some featuring a slow reggae-like guitar and others a surprising horn section, all reigned in with Zumbado’s mood-dampening voice. The song is a response to the war in Iraq that casts the soldier as a sensitive lover who left his sweetheart behind to defend his country.

ACCORDING to Zumbado, the name of the album was derived from an experience in his hometown Puntarenas.

“Every time we were in Puntarenas we waited until the bars closed and got together in a park on the Paseo de Los Turistas that we called JurassicPark to wait for the dawn to break. It was an extraordinary experience to see how the sun rose in the morning. When we finally went to sleep we looked forward to going out again at night until the sun rose the next day. It’s like a cycle.”

Hasta Que Vuelva a Amanecer is available in music stores around the country and its label, DDM, plans to export it at a later date.