Tucked behind the beat-up gravel roads of western Guanacaste is the quiet, otherworldly strip known as Playa Avellana. Just steps from its sought-after waves resides the beach's main star, Lolita, the pig, in her wooden pen.

The beach renowned for its surf and seclusion gets its porky mascot from the well-known Lola's Restaurant. According to a worker there, Lolita was given to the people at Lola's restaurant by a local after their namesake pig passed away a few years ago when she was 10 years old. Lola was said to weigh nearly 800 pounds and would regularly take baths in the ocean.

Lolita, on the other hand, spends most of her time in her pen under palm tree shade and by her trough. Her octagonal plot is located just next to Lola's, which has become a destination spot for those in search of the best beachside bars. The restaurant has rows of long wooden tables and seating that allow patrons to take in a frozen alcoholic drink or some pizza while enjoying a classic view.

Playa Avellana is about 15 kilometers from Tamarindo, but takes a half-an-hour drive through the winding and undeveloped roads that lead to the surf-crazy beach. The restaurant, and its pig princess, are the major shows on the small strip. A visit to see Lolita makes for a great day-trip if traveling from the more resort-heavy neighbors to the north like Playa Langosta and Tamarindo.

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Badly injured child is pushed to a waiting ambulance at Juan Santamaría airport.



Four persons died and at least four other persons, including two children, suffered serious injuries when two cars collided Sunday at Orotina on the Caldera highway, Ruta 27

The vehicles were headed in opposite directions, and one may have skidded on a curve.  Rescue workers called in the Servicio de Vigilancia Aérea to take two injured children to San José. They children arrived at Juan Santamaría airport and went by ambulance to the hospital de Niños.

Each vehicle appears to have contained a family returning from a short vacation. One of the dead at the scene was a child.

Traffic on the key highway was halted for more than three hours after the midday crash.


Two suspects face claims
they took bags from tourists


Two men who are suspects in a rash of tourist bus thefts have been detained.

 They were detained Friday by Judicial Investigating Organization agents, who said the duo targeted buses at San Carlos, Jacó, Puntarenas, and Monteverde in order to search for potential theft opportunities.

The men would first scout out the locations and identify future victims before they would board the buses and take off with the personal items of passengers, according to agents. Investigators said they saw one of the subjects board a bus in Jacó while his partner followed behind in a car.

At a stop in Atenas on the Caldera highway, the man on the bus got off holding a bag belonging a foreigner before officers approached him. A report from the Judicial Investigating Organization said the suspect tried to flee for the nearby mountains but was quickly apprehended. The other man was then detained when he drove by the bus stop presumably to retrieve the first suspect.

Agents confiscated the vehicle and found a Nikon camera with lenses in the stolen bag.


Ultralight pilot dies in Parrita


Another ultralight aircraft crash appears to have taken the life of a man in Parrita.

The Judicial Investigating Organizaiton identified ther man by the last name of  Marín and said he was 54.

The man crashed into some trees Friday morning and then fell to the ground, agents said. He died not long after at the Clínica de Parrita. An autopsy will determine the cause of death.