Hello fellow Costa Rica Sims residents,

I’ve been thinking about this amazing group of sims that we all call our home. And as I wonder all over our estate, I begin to realize how GianCarlos has gone to the extreme, in recreating his home country for all of us to experience. So for those who really are not familiar with this quaint hidden treasure called Costa Rica, I am going to be presenting for you, a series of articles to better help you appreciate what we all call our Second Life home.

This first segment will briefly introduce you to some basic information about Costa Rica and just how amazing this small country full of culture and beauty, GC and several of our co-residents do call their real life home.

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country is ranked third in the world, and first among the Americas, in terms of the 2010 Environmental Performance Index. Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability compared with many of its fellow Latin American nations.

Costa Rica is composed of seven provinces, which in turn are divided into 81 cantons each of which is directed by a mayor.  Mayors are chosen democratically every four years by each canton's people. Costa Rica's seasons are defined by how much rain falls during a particular period and not to the four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. The year can be split into two periods, the dry season known to the residents as summer, and the rainy season, known locally as winter. With a $2.2 billion per year tourism industry, Costa Rica is the most visited nation in the Central American region, with two million foreign visitors in 2008, which translates into a relatively high expenditure per tourist of $1,077 per trip, one of the highest in the Caribbean Basin.

Costa Rica is one of the world's most popular destinations for eco-tourists because of its biodiversity. It has been stated in various places that Costa Rica may contain as much as 6% of the world's plant and animal species in an area the combined size of the U.S. states of Vermont and New Hampshire. Both tropical plant and animal species abound in Costa Rica. Some of the more impressive plants range from huge ficus trees with epiphytes abounding on their limbs to approximately 1,500 different orchids. The animals are equally as impressive, whether it's a jaguar (the largest cat in the New World), the ever-elusive Margay, or the wonderful birds like the green or scarlet macaws (lapas in Costa Rican Spanish.) The amphibians are also quite impressive; the poison dart frogs with their bright colors are bound to catch your attention, or the giant cane toads.

With a handful of active volcanoes, a plethora of gorgeous beaches, dense forestation that stretches for miles on end and some of the world’s most vivid and exotic habitats, Costa Rica sits a world apart along the narrow isthmus that connects North and South America. Flanked to the right by the Atlantic and to the west by the Pacific Ocean, this tiny country sums up its entire lifestyle in a single phrase ‘Pura Vida’ which literally means pure life!

Stay tuned for my next article which will take you further into the culture and people of this beautiful natural wonder called Costa Rica.

Cya soon, Brendan Macarthur reporting for Costa Rica Sims