The U.S. dollar continues to put on muscle. The currency has gained about 2 percent against the colon since June 16, according to the reference rates of the Banco Central de Costa Rica.

The entire Central American country of Costa Rica, known for its diverse wildlife and strikingly peaceful landscape, is doing all that it can to help preserve the beauty for the generations [and tourists] to come. President Oscar Arias has vowed to have the whole country Carbon free by 2011 and Costa Rican citizens are doing everything they can to help achieve the rather ambitious goal. The newest endeavor involves a country-wide move to BioFuels.

(Infocom) — Despite the adverse conditions of the world economy due to the rise of fuel prices, the economic slowdown in the United States, the international food crisis and the ever-present threat of terrorism, Costa Rica continues to perform well in terms of the number of tourists coming here.

In the midst of global fuel and energy pressures, Costa Rica has researched several ways to alleviate the country’s dependence on outside fuel sources. Though experts are researching energy from marine algae, trash-to-plasma conversion, wind power, and many other ideas, there is one energy-saving tactic that has been ignored until now: 11 unused electric cargo trains.

Three of Spain’s biggest hotel chains have announced plans to expand in Costa Rica promising to bring more than $1 billion dollars in development. The news comes as no surprise to the ever so popular tourist destination as the number of European tourists is increasing each year as they flock to the country’s gorgeous beaches and biologically diverse rain forests. Spanish tourists, in particular, are even more common and the inclusion of these well-known Spanish brands is expected to coax more to make the cross-Atlantic voyage.