Looking to get away this holiday season? Who better to find the deals than agents catering to notoriously cash-strapped students?

We spoke with Patrick Evans of the student travel agency STA Travel, Danielle Carlson of StudentUniverse and Anne Banas of Smarter Travel, who offered recommendations for five places around the globe that offer an especially great value for trips from December 1 through January 25.

The first two weeks of December and the first week of January are known as "dead weeks" in the travel industry, and are the "absolute best time to travel in the entire year," Banas said.

So why not follow college students during their winter break to visit awesome destinations at low prices?

1. Costa Rica

With an average temperature of 72 degrees during the winter, travelers will enjoy a wonderful climate during a holiday retreat to Costa Rica.

Visitors can explore tons of outdoor activities including beaches, canopy tours and national parks.

"Latin American countries are a great value right now because a lot of airlines are increasing service to these locations," Banas said. Carlson added that Costa Rica is her company‘s top selling Latin American location, followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and Lima, Peru.

2. Lima, Peru

Speaking of Lima, why not spend winter break visiting the largest city in Peru?

Adventurous travelers can venture beyond the metropolis to explore the jungle, climb the Andes Mountains, and discover the lost city of the Incas.

"Air travel is great in Lima, with tons of low-cost carriers flying there," Banas said.

3. Panama City, Florida

Panama City and neighboring Panama City Beach aren‘t just for spring breakers. Indulge in shopping, helicopter tours, or spend a day at Ripley‘s Believe It or Not Museum.

With highs in the 60s even during winter, there‘s always something to do in the area. Florida also boasts another destination with good values during winter break: Orlando, Carlson said.

Many of the major attractions in the area offer deals this time of year. You can avoid the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds right after the New Year‘s holiday, when theme parks often reach capacity.

4. Boston, Massachusetts

"Boston is really, really cheap and affordable to get to," Banas said.

While travel prices tend to be rising nationwide, it is actually getting less expensive to travel to Boston.

"Jet Blue is now using Logan Airport in Boston as a secondary hub," Banas explained.

Additionally, AirTran has had a strong presence in Boston, and with Southwest just starting to fly into the airport last year, it makes Logan a powerhouse of low-cost airlines.

So if the cold doesn‘t bother you, winter break would be the best time to come check out the museums and all this city has to offer.

5. London, England, and Paris, France

Wave at the Queen during a trip to London or visit Paris for some pastries and French berets.

"For Europe, we‘re seeing a huge interest in flights to London, with Paris ranking second," Carlson said. Additionally, London and Paris are among StudentUniverse‘s top destinations in Europe for hotels offering a great value.

"British Airways is offering some crazy cheap hotel packages, with roundtrip flights from 20 major U.S. cities and two nights in a London hotel for $412 if you book by November 3," Banas said.

London and Paris are year-round destinations, so why not visit during the off-season for tourists?

"During the winter travel months -- excluding holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas -- many of the European destinations are going to be just as beautiful as they are during the summer, but with less tourists you‘ll have shorter lines for the sites and often find more welcoming local businesses since they aren‘t overrun with tourists," Evans said.

In fact, December is said to be the best time to visit France, as the already beautiful country is decorated with lights, holiday ribbons, and is full of Christmas markets.

Banas said the post-holiday deals are often posted right after Thanksgiving. Add that to your Black Friday shopping list!

After the storm Tomas, everything returns to normal in Manuel Antonio.

This morning I drove to the road to Manuel Antonio to take a few pictures.

Since the road been close on last Monday, the "old road" to Manuel Antonio is open with one way traffic during the day.

The good NEWS is that a team of workers and equipment arrive this morning from San Jose from the MECO company, one of the largest road builder in the country. They are here to fix the main road to Manuel Antonio hotels and the National Park, every one are very happy to see the quick reaction, with the chamber pushing, the city hall and the government quick respond under the present conditions.

The work on the main road to Manuel Antonio should last 5-7 days.

Some concern about water supply still has some community working hard to reestablish the services.

All the goverment instutions are working hard to bring back the situation to normal.

Still great need for food and water for the workers and affected local Quepenos any donation should be made true the Chamber of Commerce of Aguirre, "Camara de Comercio de Aguirre" <camaraquepos@ice.co.cr>

Pictures after the first day of work:

More pictures second day of work (10/11/2010):

Manuel Antonio National Park has been officially reopened by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications after a successful week of hard work to clear the debris left after last Tuesdays storm.

In a statement released Monday, Carlos Vinico Cordero, the Regional Director of ACOPAC, (Area de Conservacion Pacifico Central) announced the national park will be in operation as of 7 a.m. Tuesday. The main access to the park, via Sendero Perezoso is open and access points 2 and 3 to the beach have also been secured.

This is welcomed news for hotels and businesses in the area. A week after many tourists vacated Manuel Antonio after the severe weather warnings, the reopening of the national park is an indication of the beginning of a return to normality for the popular tourist hotspot.

Though a significant amount of trees were uprooted and properties were damaged, no fatalities were reported.

With winds reaching up to 100 kilometers per hour, the storm hit Manuel Antonio and Quepos late Tuesday, knocking out the electricity supply to most of the area and leaving 7000 local residents and hotels without power. Over the past week, an estimated 200 strong crew from ICE were brought in to return power to the area including the Manuel Antonio National Park.

Vinicio also thanked the support given by the association of local guides who helped to clear footpaths. Over twenty five local guides and tour operators have put in lengthy ten hour shifts over a period of five days.

Government experts from SINAC (Sistema Nacional de Areas y Conservacion) visited the park on Monday to assess the feasibility of reopening. An official report is due to be released from SINAC detailing the current conditions of the footpaths.

Vinicio noted that the weather damage has been considerable with other footpaths requiring more extensive and specialized reparation. Access to these areas in the national park have been restricted and are only permitted with a national park ranger. “As there are less tourists arriving during this season, it will give us an opportunity to complete the necessary works,” Vinicio added.

Additionally, The Aguirre Chamber of Commerce thanked the local community and government institutions for their participation in the extensive cleanup efforts. Over the past week the community has worked hard to clear the area of debris with much of their efforts being focused on the Manuel Antonio National Park which bore the brunt of the destruction.

Following the last storm with winds up to 100/km/hr the town of Quepos is cleaning up to get back to business as usual.

The first step was for everyone to clean their own homes and backyards, and now Quepeños are gathering all together to clean up the commerical areas and the Manuel Antonio National Park, with the help of the local guides led by Karen Castillo.

On Sunday 75% of the major trails were were ready and waiting for the tourists to come back. ICE is now working on the electric line for the park changing 4 posts and rehabilitating 2km of electric lines, which should be finished by the end of the day. With a 25 person crew and 5 trucks, the work is going full speed. ICE is doing a great job.

Of course many professionals from around the country are here to help. ICE is leading the way with over 200 special emergency personnel including over 30 trucks. The emergency teams are working around the clock to reinstall over 30 electric posts which service over 7000 local residenst and 50 hotels.
Incredible work has been done so far and we hope in the next couple of days things should be close to being back to normal.

But the most important economic motor of the area has also suffered great damage. The Manuel Antoniuo National Park lost a great numbers of trees,
and many of the trails have been damaged by the wind and storm. The Quepeños have also been there during this time of emergency and are now working hard to re-establish the situation.

Over 25 park guides have been working with MINAET for the last 5 days in order to reopen the park where over 275,000 tourists come visit every year.

The zone of Quepos is a small fishing town where tourism started arriving over 37 years ago with the creation of the National Park. The National Park changed the local economy and led the way as one of the best beach destinations in Costa Rica. The Manuel Antonio National Park now generates the greatest revenue of all parks but still needs major infrastructure work.

On Monday MINAET will evaluate the damage and the progress made in order to open the park on Tuesday. As most hotels are empty as this time due to the storm, every local resident is looking forward to hosting tourists from around the world and showing the beautiful nature that Quepos Manuel Antonio have to offer.

Mopt is also contributing with a small crew of 10 guys but are expecting an additional 20 guys on Monday to clean up after ICE finishes the major work on the electricity lines.


By: Richard Lemire

A surprise storm with high winds struck much of the near Pacific coast from Golfito to Jacó. One fisherman is missing, thousands were without power, and Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio is closed through the weekend because of fallen trees and damage to trails. Internet and phone lines were down, too.

Costa Rica‘s National Emergency Commission declared a yellow alert on Wednesday for the Central Pacific and the Southern Zone as two distinct storm systems pounded the regions.

The national emergency commission admitted Wednesday that the intensity shown by the storm generated by the tropical wave took its experts and the weather institute by surprise. The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad also monitors conditions. All three agencies knew the wave was coming but had no idea it would spawn such intense conditions.

The Costa Rica Fishing Report in Quepos said that 12 small boats sank or were missing and that many others suffered damage. The Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas identified the missing fisherman as Lencho Velásquez, 63. He was in the company of two other men on the "Regalo de Dios" that cast off Tuesday afternoon. Early Wednesday the other two men came ashore and sought aid because the boat had sunk. The mishap took place at Punta Catedral at the mouth of the Río Naranjo en Quepos.

The first of the two systems struck the Pacific Coast on Tuesday night and, as of Wednesday afternoon, had flooded 60 houses and downed large tree branches near the Central Pacific coast towns of Jacó and Quepos.

The Red Cross reported that a fallen tree along the highway in Quepos destroyed one home and damaged the roof of a hotel.

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad said that about 6,750 power customers were affected in Quepos, Parrita and Jacó. Power poles toppled, and transformers crashed to the pavement in some areas when the storm hit.

Today no rains were reported on the sector of Quepos and everything is back to normal.

• Aluminum: Aluminum cans / soda cans, Window frames
• Glass: Bottles and jars of all colors and shapes
• Plastic: All soda and water bottles with the symbol show
• Paper: Newspapers, magazines, directories, white paper, lined and colored paper

You will fine 3 big containers at the entrances of Manuel Antonio Estates. You just have to put your separated trash in the different containers. For the paper, you can bring it at our office. Then the organization comes to pick up the garbage once a week. This garbage is send to San Jose to recycling centers. For the Plastic, the group Coca Cola Fenza takes care of it and the group Floirda Bebido recycles the plastic too and the aluminum.

Why to do it?

It highly contributes to diminishing environmental contamination. If some waste are not recycled, it can reject certain toxic precuts, non bio-degradable or recyclable, that can hurt our health and the environment. Moreover, by separating waste, many materials are saved and the quantity oaf solid waste is reduced. It conserves our natural resources, saves energy and increases the life of landfills!
We have also to take in consideration that, for example, a aluminum cans takes between 80 to 200 years to decompose in the environment. A pet Plastic used for sodas and water bottles takes 450 years, plastic bags takes 10 to 20 years and a glass bottles takes 1 million years to decompose!!

If you need more information about Asoproquepos and their action, please contact them at 2777 1107. It is located in the center of Quepos, next to the pizzeria Escalofrio.

If you want to help!