Last May’s winner of the Cup of Excellence, Costa Rica’s La Estrella farm in Santa María de Dota, this week achieved the remarkable auction price of $2,000 per quintal while the commodities trading price in New York was $243.50. Buyers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan paid the premium price for the 30 lots offered by small-scale farmer Luis Ricardo Calderón and his family.

Coffee farmer Luis Ricardo Calderón and family

The Cup of Excellence competition consists of an internationally recognized panel of judges that evaluate coffees for exemplary characteristics during a three-week process.

The second place winner, a farm from our own Mauricio’s hometown Naranjo, captured the second highest price at the auction of $1,200 per quintal.

Icafé executive director Ronald Peters reports that over 70% of Costa Rica’s coffee production is sold at prices that average $20 to $40 over the market trading price in New York, owing to the excellent quality of our award-winning beans.

What’s the secret to producing the world’s best coffee? In Naranjo, they say raising good coffee is like raising good kids, “It’s a matter of giving them good place to grow and taking good care of them.”

The green season discounts at Tulemar are an excellent opportunity for you to come share a cup of the world’s best coffee with us.

Being the best requires personal attention

Courtesy of Discovery Beach House owner Evelyn Gallardo and Joshua Horn, founder of  panotoursCR.com, we’re pleased to present a fantastic virtual tour of her ocean-front villa on our website.

One of the few Manuel Antonio properties with direct access to the main beach, Discovery Beach House offers visitors a special place to relax and unwind.

Stop by 4tulemar.com and “walk around” the villa, the pool area, and the beach. It’s a beautiful home in a beautiful setting, and we’re here to answer your questions 7 days a week.

We’ve got more wonderful things to come, so be sure to check back!

This week our friends at Casa Las Ventanas in the Makanda Resort snapped a fantastic sighting of a ocelot crossing a small footbridge on their property early yesterday morning. First thought to be a margay, we’ve since discovered that this cat is much too large to be a margay.

The ocelot is mostly nocturnal and highly territorial, with females maintaining a territory of up to 6 square miles. They generally grow as big as 3 feet long with another 18 inches of tail length. Adults typically weigh up to 40 pounds but larger ones have been noted.

The ocelot living near Casa Las Ventanas has been seen with three kittens which means we have (at least) a small population living in the jungle area that surrounds Manuel Antonio. The kittens may remain with their mother for up to two years before staking out their own territory.

Renowned for it’s spectacular ocean views and impeccable design and construction, it’s easy to forget what natural wonders surround the other side of Casa Las Ventanas. At Tulemar Vacation Home Rentals, we’re offering an exclusive discount of $500 on the weekly rental of this amazing vacation villa through August.

Photo courtesy of Casa Las Ventanas

Did you know you can now chat with us on our website? We can help with questions about availability, rate quotes, reservations, tips and advice. The interface requires Flash be installed on your computer, so it doesn’t work with iPhones and iPads yet. We’re always on the look out for new ways to interact with our guests so we can deliver the world-class service you expect and deserve, and we’re typically available to chat with you from 7 AM to 4 PM local time (GMT -6), which is 9-5 Eastern, 8-4 Central, 6-3 Pacific.

Speaking of time differences, a great way to find out what time it is anywhere in the world is right at your fingertips in the google search bar. Just type “what time” and the name of the city or country (quotes aren’t necessary) and google returns the current time in that place. No more confusion about why Mexico City is an hour ahead of us and Las Vegas is an hour behind us or who’s on Daylight time.

The enviable life of the the Tulemar sloths. I wonder if they dream and if they do, what they might dream about.

This one woke up for a moment, scratched his belly a bit, had a big yawn (nice shot, Mauricio!), and returned to his dreams.

A small ceremony was held yesterday at Tulemar Beach as we raised our prized Blue Flag (bandera azul), awarded by the National Blue Flag Commission. This is the third year in a row Tulemar Beach has received this coveted acknowledgement.

Several Costa Rican authorities administer this important program which evaluates Costa Rica’s beaches under a strict criterion that measures water quality, cleanliness and sustainability, among other factors. Only beaches scoring 90% on the evaluation receive the flag.

The success of the program is evident in the number of beaches that compete for the award each year. Coastal communities depend on the quality of their beach for their livelihood, so this internationally recognized symbol is an important incentive for the community to work together to implement sustainable practices.

We have to thank the Tulemar Homeowner’s Association for their tireless efforts to keep Tulemar Beach compliant with these important standards. We’re proud we can share our beautiful and ecologically sustainable beach with all our guests.

The Travel Channel’s new series, “Sand Guys”, arrived in Quepos in late February to shoot their fourth episode for their program, set to launch in the U.S. in July of 2011. The production team of 14 people spent five days in Costa Rica.

The “Sand Guys” are two guys who left the sand castle building competition circuit (I had no idea!) to try their luck at reality T.V. In each episode, they travel to another famous beach and work their magic on the sand they find there. In the process, they explore the area and talk about what makes that location unique.

For their visit to Manuel Antonio, the team spend a few hours at world-famous Cafe Milagro where they learned about roasting coffee and even servedsome customers.

“Each sculpture should reflect something about the place we are. That’s why we sculpted rainforest animals and sacks of real coffee beans,” said sculptor Matt Long.

Asked his opinion of Costa Rica, Long indicated he’s a first time visitor who plans to return. “I love coffee and the best coffee I’ve ever tasted is here in Costa Rica.” Photos courtesy of La Nacion