Playa Esterillos, Costa Rica

Hello brave Esterillians!

This a message from your recycling depot coordinator (just gave myself this title ) to let you know that we are now really up and going .

The AYA – our water services has kindly given us access to a third of their bodega in Esterillos Oeste down by the school and they have

agreed to pay someone to manage the depot once a week for 3 hours for a trial period of 3 months . How great is that…

We have a fantastic young man working at the depot he is going to

collegio so this is the reason we had to change the day from Thursday

to Saturday in order to keep him going . He is organized, shows up and

trust worthy. His name is Yoan and he really wants to learn

English . How great is….

We found a source that will buy the glass for 28 colones a kilo. The

glass needs to be broken in smaller pieces and sorted by color hence

the need for Yoan. We could possibly make money that we could reinvest

in the community preferably towards the children. The more glass you

bring the more MONEY we stand to make

That ’s great …

We have a lead for another source that will buy the aluminum cans

and the plastic .I heard that one can get 700 COLONES for a kilo of

aluminum cans but not much for the plastic yet ,yet . Great ..

Now here is where you all come in WE NEED YOU ,YOU,YOU to get on the

program in order to SUSTAIN the depot . I know it is not easy as some

of us will need to retrain ourselves take a few minutes from our

“very busy lives “and possibly invest in some container beside the

garbage can to put in your recycling that you could take once a month

or every couple weeks to the AYA. Just know you could also pay the

WATER BILL at the same time a WIN WIN situation .

If any of you listen to Costa rican radio you will find that there is

a huge push for recycling in Costa Rica right now .

My hope is that we can set up a model as there has been many trials

but it never was quite right.I think that we might have a good system

right now . There is always room for improvement and suggestions and

help are always welcome.

So all that to say that:

the depot is open on Saturday morning from

8.00 till 11.00 and the AYA is also open at that time .

I am not sure on how I can inspire you all to recycle (free tequila

shots at the depot may be )I just know that I had to do something

because I could not stand throwing bottles ,cans and plastic etc in

the trash( soiling the nest) .I am just very grateful now we have an

alternative.

Hope we all you get on board and make it happen!!!!!.

P.S. Get in touch if you have any questions and some brilliant ideas

and tell all your friends …

All the best .Brigitte

Mardi Gras went off this past Saturday and turned out to be a huge success.

The Krewe Sirena volunteers went the extra distance this year to make sure all the details were covered. This year’s event had Juggling, motorcycles, horses, a marching band, floats, mermaids, and costumes. That was just the parade! Thank you to El Vago’s Restaurant and Bar for donating most of their parking spaces for vendors and the DJ, one of their buildings for Krewe Sirena booths, and power to run the show. There were games and face painting for the kids, DJ Lee was spinning the tunes and a drum circle started almost immediately. Later there was live music with Peter, Shannon and Erik. DJ Dan from Azul took the stage for a bit playing local favorites. As if the day wasn’t good enough already, the surf was just phenomenal as well, with overhead waves, long lines, and barrels going right and left. The Krewe Sirena managed to raise quite a bit of money, through donations, sales of t shirts and food, as well as the proceeds from face painting and games. This year is the beginning of the Krewe Sirena fund, which will benefit the community of Esterillos in a number of ways. We will be implementing improvements at the school and providing support for our lifeguard program this year. There are always improvements to be made, whether it be work on the school or the police station, the lifeguards or needy community members, this fund is now set up to help face the day to day challenges we have living in Esterillos. Anyone can make a donation to the fund directly through this website or contact Mike and Martha Overton, you can also email this website for more info on Krewe Sirena and how to get involved in planning next year’s big event.
Anyway, at the end of the day, almost on cue, the rain and the Chupacabras kicked off a great night of live music at the Low Tide Lounge. Special thanks to Scott at the Low Tide for providing the live band and going the extra mile to make sure the party kept going all night. The chupes played well into the night, and afterward the party kept on with options such as Barrelitos dance party, Azul disco as well. What a great party. I advise everyone to plan on going to next year’s event. This is only the second year of the Mardi Gras in Esterillos, and it looks like it will the party of the year for many years to come. It is great when a community can come together to put a big event on and have it go so smoothly.
Thank you to all the Krewe of Sirena volunteers for all the hard work.
Thank you to www.playa-esterillos.com for signs, graphics, Internet promotion.
Thanks to Dj Lee and Erik for providing DJ work and Sound Equipment
Thank you to the Mayor of Parrita for his participation
Thank you to the municipality for allowing this event to happen.
Thank you to the Rebeldes for riding in the parade and contributing to the cause.
Thank you to all the vendors who came out in support of our community.
Thank you to the marching band, a parade just isn’t a parade without them!
Thanks to Fred and Brigitte for decorating the town and for the DJ stage.
Thank you to Denise and Super sol.
Thanks to Los Almendros Restaurant.
Thanks to Mike, Martha, Steve, Tracy, Brett, Dennis and the Pura Vida Church and all the others who decorated their cars and bikes for the parade.
And thanks to all the people who came out and participated in a great Mardi Gras celebration

The festivities kicked off at 6 with some local musicians playing in an “open mike” format until about 8 o’clock. Thanks a lot Steve, Peter, Cailin, and everyone else who played. DJ Lee threw down the tunes all night, thanks for all the requests. What a fun dance party! I got reacquainted with Jaeger Bombs (been a while). Thanks to everyone who came out to party. It was great to meet some new people, and see some folks we haven’t seen in a while.

The yoga schedule is based around the tides…
…NEVER interfering with our surf sessions!
Mon Feb 1st: 10am
Thur Feb 4th: 10am
Mon Feb 8th: 10am
Thur Feb 11th: 730am
Mon Feb 15th: 10am
Thur Feb 18th: 10am
Mon Feb 22nd: 10am
Thur Feb 25th: 730am
Classes are held at EL VAGO in Esterillos Oeste. Classes are DONATION BASED so that everyone can participate. All levels are welcomed and encouraged to join in. Bring a mat or towel – or for 500 colones (bout 1 USD) you can rent a mat from me. Spread the good word!
Cailin Callahan

Click The Title To See Our Flyer

The McKee project is having an almost free spay day in Jaco next week from 2/1 to 2/7. This is an absolutely amazing service whereby anyone who wants to get their dog or cat fixed can do so for just $5 (roughly 2,500 colones).

For strays and those who cannot pay even those 2500, we would cover the costs – the idea is to fix whatever needs to be fixed – who knows when we will have such a great possibility next time. So please put the word out and if you have a friend who needs help and does not have a car, help them out and give them a lift.

YOU MUST MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.

Katja Bader

McKee Jaco

Call 2643-4012

info@mckee-jaco.com