Costa Rica: The case of a happy little country!

On this International Day of happiness, in Captain Suizo we want to tell you why this day is so important in Costa Rica and how happiness in general is a characteristic of its inhabitants.

We compiled three quotes from different sources, to try to explain it better:

1. According to the World Happiness Report 2018, Costa Rica occupies the #13 position. In a surprising position, over many developed countries, larger and with a more complex economic and social structure. See listing here.

2. According to the National Geographic Magazine (In its edition "The search for happiness”, November 2017):

   In the article author Dan Buettner highlights Costa Rica as one of the happiest places in the world, comparing it with other success stories such as Denmark and Singapore.

   According to Alejandro Zúñiga (a Costa Rican) interviewed by the magazine: “Costa Ricans enjoy the pleasure of living daily life to the fullest in a place that mitigates stress and maximizes joy” (National Geographic)

3. According to the Happy Planet index:

   Costa Rica it ranked #1 out of 140 countries in the years 2009, 2012 and 2016. This index evaluates characteristics such as: Life expectancy, well-being, ecological footprint and equality.

   “Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, and has since reallocated army funds to be spent on education, health and pensions. In 2012, Costa Rica invested more in education and health as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product than the UK.  Professor Mariano Rojas, a Costa Rican economist at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, attributes Costa Ricans’ high wellbeing to a culture of forming solid social networks of friends, families and neighbourhoods.” (2016) Read more about this index here.

In summary: we think that Costa Rica is a small country, with good living conditions and a very stable political and social system that allows its inhabitants to have a free, full and long life. Costa Rica abolished the army since 1948 and peace characterizes its people. Their health and educational system is of quality and very accessible. The hope of a long and full life is very high. It has an enviable climate, a balanced environment, a healthy and balanced diet and a close relationship with nature.

That is why we are so proud to be in Costa Rica and to be able to share this with our guests the authentic way of being a Costa Rican. It allows us to always receive guests with a sincere smile. We hope you enjoy this day and all your vacations! That you can get a little bit of happiness in this small country.

Happy day!

Sea Turtle watching

A great guest experience to share

Sea turtles are incredible animals. They spend months, years or their whole life (in the case of males) feeding in the ocean hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from the coast. But each of them was born on land and the females must return to land to dig nests and lay eggs.

This happened 3 days ago, next to Tamarindo, in Playa Langosta. Two guests of Capitán Suizo were very lucky to live this beautiful experience. During their walk on the beach, they happened to see a sea turtle "Lora" (Lepidochelys olivacea) coming out of the water to lay their eggs. The effort to make a hole to put the eggs inside is a very hard job for the turtle, it came from very far away and must lay eggs after a long trip. Our lucky guests wanted to share it with all of us. In this video you can see that the turtle is tired, but very motivated to dig a safe place for their eggs. In the end, the mother managed to lay her eggs calm and return to the sea.

In the past we have also had some births in front of the hotel and in other nearby areas, that is why in Playa Tamarindo many efforts are being made to avoid sea pollution to protect our turtles, one of these initiatives is the rejection of the use of plastic straws for drinks or its replacement by paper straws. This is an initiative that you can see in our restaurant, where we avoid waste that can harm our beach and its animals.

Sea Turtles hatching in front of Capitán Suizo, January 2017

Local School Project

We are glad to support local schools close to Tamarindo every year to provide them with textbooks. Also we encourage you, as a guest, to support our children’s education through the International project “Pack for a Purpose“ by bringing school supplies in your luggage. 

We collect the supplies at front desk all year round. At the beginning of the year we go to the school to deliver and share a day with the teacher and children. This week we went to The Ranchos Elementary School and we want to share a video of this beautiful and touching experience. If you would like to be part of this next year, please visit: 

https://www.packforapurpose.org/destinations/central-america/costa-rica/hotel-capitan-suizo/

Homemade wooden Furniture is more than a beautiful material

Since the beginning, we at Capitan Suizo, have made the decision to create homemade furniture on our property using the most traditional and local techniques of Costa Rican artisans. We have been doing this for more than 20 years and are still doing it to this day, even when the cost of maintenance is high due to our location being directly on the beach and when nowadays, it is very common to buy nice and inexpensive imported furniture.

Why have we decided to use local wood and make our own furniture on site in a small space in front of the hotel? Because we love wood as a natural material and also because this process and material has many other benefits for us: 

1. Wood is the most ecological material ever, because it is part of nature and the impact of its responsible use on the environment is very low. Responsibly sourced wood is the only renewable building material available. It produces only biodegradable residues, is totally reusable, very durable and versatile.

2. The use of wood in Costa Rica promotes the local development of rural areas, where the wood is grown. By using locally grown wood we also help to reduce the impact caused by the transportation of imported wood or furniture. We use mainly Cedar and Teak from local plantations.

3. Wooden products store carbon dioxide (CO2) and by using wood as a material we help to reduce tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere because the wood stores the CO2 it captures in its biomass (wood) during the trees growth. When a tree falls and decomposes it then releases all the CO2 back into the environment, but when the biomass is used as furniture, the CO2 can be preserved and captured for around 75 years! The use of wood instead of other materials, reduces the emission of 2 tons of CO2 into the environment for every m3 of wood! 

4. The production and processing of wood uses much less energy and water than most other building materials.

5. Jobs generation: In Capitán Suizo we have employed two full-time carpenters to make furniture for the hotel and, once a year, we hire around ten local cabinetmakers to help with the furniture restoration for all of the furniture in our hotel.

6. In Costa Rica, after the decline of cattle raising as an economic activity, most of the empty lands were used for reforestation and commercial wood plantations. Costa Rica is the only country in America that managed to reverse deforestation and has a Country Goal to reach the Neutral Carbon Footprint by 2021.

7. Wood is good for health and wellbeing. Exposure to wooden furniture and fittings has real and measurable health and wellbeing benefits. It helps lower heart rate and stress responses and encourages greater interaction between people.

It is due to all these reasons, that in Capitán Suizo, each piece of furniture is made with love by the hands of our staff with your comfort in mind and to be in harmony with our environment.