Costa Rican History: Juan Santamaría Day

Today, April 11, marks the 159th anniversary of the death of Juan Santamaría, a national hero in Costa Rica.  It is said that he set fire to the building where William Walker's troops were located and while it caused great damage to the efforts of Walker's troops to take over Central America, Juan Santamaría died in the process.

To honor this man effort's against William Walker, Costa Rica declared this day a national holiday.  Many businesses, government agencies and schools will be closed today.  There are also parades and sometimes reenactments of the fire.

Costa Rica's airport in Alajuela, near San Jose, is named after him and there is a statue of him in Juan Santamaría park in Alajuela as well.

You will feel right at home at our beachfront Bed and Breakfast located near Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

Ocean or Pool...Both Available to You at Sueno Del Mar Bed & Breakfast

Our Beachfront Bed and Breakfast has only six rooms, a beautiful garden and a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.  But if this is not enough, we also offer you a beautiful pool where you can cool off, relax and sunbathe. It's a great place to read a book and enjoy a beautiful afternoon or evening swim.

 

Our beachfront hotel in Playa Langosta is the perfect setting for your next Costa Rica vacation.

Photography by www.margauxphotography.com & www.crwed.com

Learn how to make Passion Fruit juice

Lily, our chef at Sueno del Mar, always surprises us with an exquisite variety of natural juices. At our Bed & Breakfast, we try to provide our guests with the energy that nature has to offer us, giving them a delicious "fresh tropical drink". Here is how we make delicious Passion fruit juice:

Ingredients

• 5 ripe passion fruit
• cold water
• ice
• sugar or sugar substitute

Buy five or six tropical passion fruit - the yellow kind. They need to be crinkly but not rotten. Don't let the look put you off because they need to be very ripe to make the juice.

Cut each in half and scoop out the flesh into a blender.

Add about 3 times the amount of water and run the blender for a minute or so. The black seed will separate from the jelly. Don't over blend as the seeds will break up and create a grit.

Add about three times as much cold water again and sugar to taste. Use a teaspoon to taste the juice until you get the right amount. You may still need to add more water, but do it cautiously as you don't want to make the juice too weak.

Run the juice through a funnel into a jug or bottle and cool. 5 passion fruit will make around 2 1/2 litres of juice, so make sure your bottle is large enough.

Enjoy straight from the fridge, with ice, or as a cocktail with rum or vodka!

Tips

• The juice and the water may separate. If this happens, just shake up the bottle or stir the juice in the jug to remix.
• Your passion fruit juice will probably last 5 days or so in a refrigerator.
• Make sure your jug or bottles are really clean, especially around the neck.
• For those who want to watch their calories or who have diabetes, a low-calorie sweetener can be used in place of the sugar
• If you do not have a blender (and are patient), you can still make the juice if you sieve the fruit with a fork into the jug.

 

Our beachfront hotel in Playa Langosta is the perfect setting for your next Costa Rica vacation.