Costa Rica Wildlife Veterinarian

Our friend Karol Allard from the Salve Monos project here in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste brought to our attention the amazing work being done by Wildlife Veterinarian Doctor Irena Villalobos Hoffmann.  Yes you heard that right – A WILDLIFE Vet. 

Doctor Irena founded SIBU Wildlife Sanctuary in Nosara, Guanacaste.  SIBU’s mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured, orphaned and displaced Costa Rican wildlife, specializing in Golden Mantled Howler Monkeys.  It is a legally sanctioned Costa Rican Non-Profit organization that receives no government funding.

If you are interested in visiting SIBU or finding out more about their programs go to their webpage and you can reserve a visit.  We can probably all agree that at some point when you think of Costa Rica you think of the wildlife.  It is great to see someone putting in the hard work as a wildlife veterinarian to help out what would otherwise be forgotten wildlife.

So now it comes to the reason behind writing this newsletter.  Karol Allard is in constant communication with Doctor Irena with her work here in Playa Hermosa for Salve Monos and she found out the Doctor Irena had her car stolen.  Obviously she needs a car to get around and do her work as a wildlife veterinarian and as you can imagine this line of work does not pay very well and the Sanctuary is trying to raise money for their programs and there is no budget for a car for Doctor Irena.

Karol had the great idea of creating a GoFundMe campaign for the purchase of a car for Doctor Irena.  The goal is raise $8,000 – which will not buy a new car in Costa Rica by any means but will get something decent that will work for the purpose.  So please have a look at the GoFundMe campaign here and donate if you can.  We would really appreciate it.

Thanks for all your support.  It does make a difference.

Michael Simons

Come on Down Baby!

Tank Tops Flip Flops Newsletter edition no. 139

Taste of Papagayo Awards 2019 for the best restaurants in Papagayo Costa Rica

If you were lucky enough to attend this year’s Taste of Papagayo, you were treated to the best of the best food and entertainment in the entire Papagayo Region.  While all the 20 restaurants who flaunted their wares did a wonderful job bringing their best dishes for you to try, three restaurants were awarded as the best restaurants in Papagayo Costa Rica. But more on that later.

Everyone who came was eligible to vote for their favorite restaurant.  As an added bonus, if you were 1 of 200 people who went through and tested every restaurant’s food you got a limited edition Tank Tops Flip Flops Taste of Papagayo 2019 T-Shirt.  Needless to say, there were no shirts left at the end of the evening.  Check out this video put on by the host Hotel La Puerta del Sol that is a nice summary of this years event

Eco Coco received 15% of the admission ticket sales and also the proceeds from the sale of custom Tank Tops Flip Flops shirts.  In all $1,325 were raised at this great community event.  Eco Coco’s Mission is to inspire the community through environmental education and community projects to be environmentally aware, respectful of natural resources and to generate a positive impact on the environment.  Check them out and get involved in your community!

Even though the real winners were those that got to taste all the wonderful food and enjoy the great live music and have a few laughs with their friends and families these restaurants came to WIN!  So without further ado watch the awards video where top three winning restaurants are recognized for their great effort and even better food.

First Place went to Maracuya Restaurant and Beach Club for the second year in a row.  Chef Nicolas and his professional team did it again!  You can find them just on the other side of Ocotal Beach at the Beach Club at Bahia Pez Vela.  They are open every day from Noon to 9 PM and offer a wide variety of mouthwatering chef-prepared dishes and specials served right on the beach.  You will not be disappointed if you make the trip.  Check out this video where Maracuya accepts their first place people’s choice award and invite you to join them for a tasty meal.  Congrats!

The second-place award for the best restaurants in Papagayo Costa Rica went to a brand new restaurant in Playa Hermosa called the Buzzed Monkey BBQ & Grill.  As you might guess they offered mouth-watering BBQ meats and southern food inspired sides and specialty dishes.  Join them from 11-8 PM Wednesday through Saturday.  They are located in the Hermosa Heights Commercial Center in Playa Hermosa.  Welcome to the community Buzzed Monkey!

Our Third Place People’s Choice for the Taste of Papagayo goes to Masala Indian Restaurant located in downtown Liberia, Guanacaste, just across the street from the Guanacaste Museum.  Masala serves authentic, homemade Indian food using only fresh ingredients and prepares all their tasty sauces right in their kitchen.  Open from 11:30-10 PM, Masala is the only authentic Indian food restaurant in Guanacaste and will treat you to an exquisite Indian food experience.  It is definitely worth the trip to Liberia!  Great Job Masala.  See you soon.

We want to congratulate all the restaurants who participated and for Hotel La Puerta del Sol and The Garden Bar for putting on such a great event.  And of course, we want to thank all of you for coming out and enjoying a great day of food, music, and good fun.

See you all next year for the Taste of Papagayo 2020!

Come on Down Baby!

Michael Simons

Tank Tops Flip Flops Newsletter edition no. 137