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The Best of Costa Rica

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The Best of Costa Rica 05_587943_ch01.qxd 7/15/05 5:27 PM Page 4 1 The Best of Costa Rica For years, Costa Rica was the well-kept secret of a few biologists, backpackers, and beachcombers, but that’s all changed. The secret is out. Today Costa Rica is the hottest destination in Latin America. The country is a major vacation and adventure-travel destination, and tourism has become the nation’s number-one source of income. Despite the boom in vacationers, Costa Rica remains a place rich in natural wonders and biodiversity, far from the maddening crowds. Here you can still find unsullied beaches that stretch for miles, small lodgings that haven’t attracted hordes of tourists, jungle rivers for rafting and kayaking, and spectacular cloud and rainforests with ample opportunities for bird-watching and hiking. In addition to the country’s trade- mark eco- and adventure tourism offerings, recent years have seen the opening of a handful of large luxury resorts and golf courses, with more on the way. This is my 10th year putting this book together, and the “best of” experiences keep on coming. In this chapter I’ve selected the very best of what this unique country has to offer. Most of these places and experiences are covered in greater detail elsewhere in the book; this chapter is merely meant to give you an overview of the highlights so you can start planning your own adventure. 1 The Best of Natural Costa Rica • Rincón de la Vieja National Park east): This is a prime place for an (northeast of Liberia, in Guanacaste): ecolodge experience. Protected tropi- This is an area of rugged beauty and cal forests climb from the Caribbean high volcanic activity. The Rincón de coastal lowlands up into the central la Vieja Volcano rises to 1,848m mountain, affording you a glimpse of (6,061 ft.), but the thermal activity is a plethora of life zones and ecosys- spread out along its flanks, where tems. Braulio Carrillo National Park numerous geysers, vents, and borders several other private reserves fumaroles let off its heat and steam. here, and there’s a variety of ecolodges This is a great place to hire a guide to suit any budget. See “Puerto Viejo and a horse for a day of rugged explo- de Sarapiquí” in chapter 7. ration. ThereCOPYRIGHTED are waterfalls and mud • Arenal MATERIAL Volcano/Tabacón Hot Springs baths, hot springs, and cool jungle (near La Fortuna, northwest of San swimming holes. You’ll pass through José): When the skies are clear and the pastureland, scrub savanna, and lava is flowing, Arenal Volcano pro- moist secondary forest; the bird- vides a thrilling light show accompa- watching is excellent. See p. 156. nied by an earthshaking rumble that • The Río Sarapiquí Region (north of defies description. You can even see San José between Guanacaste in the the show while soaking in a natural west and the Caribbean coast in the hot spring and having a drink at the 05_587943_ch01.qxd 7/15/05 5:27 PM Page 5 THE BEST BEACHES 5 swim-up bar at Tabacón Hot Springs “Manuel Antonio National Park” in Resort & Spa (& 519-1900; www. chapter 8. tabacon.com). If the rushing torrent • Osa Peninsula (in southern Costa of volcano-heated spring water isn’t Rica): This is Costa Rica’s most therapeutic enough, you can get a remote and biologically rich region. massage here at an incredibly inex- Corcovado National Park, the pensive price. See “Arenal Volcano & largest remaining patch of virgin low- La Fortuna” in chapter 7. land tropical rainforest in Central • Monteverde Biological Cloud For- America, takes up much of the Osa est Reserve (in the mountains north- Peninsula. Jaguars, crocodiles, and west of San José): There’s something scarlet macaws all call this place both eerie and majestic about walking home. Whether you stay in a luxury around in the early-morning mist nature lodge in Drake Bay or outside with the sound of bird calls all around of Puerto Jiménez, or camp in the and the towering trees hung heavy in park itself, you will be surrounded by broad bromeliads, flowering orchids, some of the most lush and most and hanging moss and vines. The intense jungle this country has to reserve itself has a well-maintained offer. See chapter 9. network of trails, and the community • Tortuguero Village & Jungle Canals is truly involved in conservation. Not (on the Caribbean coast, north of only that, but in and around Mon- Limón): Tortuguero Village is a small teverde and Santa Elena, you’ll find a collection of rustic wooden shacks on whole slew of related activities and a narrow spit of land between the attractions, including canopy tours Caribbean Sea and a dense maze of that allow you to swing from treetop jungle canals. It’s been called Costa to treetop while hanging from a Rica’s Venice, but it actually has more skinny cable. See p. 244. in common with the South American • Manuel Antonio (near Quepos on Amazon. You can fly into the small the central Pacific coast): There’s a airstrip, but it’s better to take one of reason this place is so popular and the slow boats that ply the river and renowned: monkeys! The national canal route. On the way you’ll see a park here is full of them, even the wide variety of herons and other water endangered squirrel monkeys. But birds, three types of monkeys, three- there’s plenty to see and do outside toed sloths, and huge American croc- the park as well. The road leading odiles. If you come between June and into Manuel Antonio provides October, you might be treated to the numerous lookouts that consistently awe-inspiring spectacle of a green tur- produce postcard-perfect snapshots tle nesting—the small stretch of Tor- of steep jungle hills meeting the sea. tuguero beach is the last remaining Uninhabited islands lie just off the major nesting site of this endangered coast, and the beaches here are per- animal. See “Tortuguero National fect crescents of soft, white sand. See Park” in chapter 10. 2 The Best Beaches With more than 1,200km (750 miles) of • Santa Rosa National Park: If you shoreline on its Pacific and Caribbean really want to get away from it all, the coasts, Costa Rica offers beachgoers an beaches here in the northwest corner embarrassment of riches. of Costa Rica are a good bet. You’ll 05_587943_ch01.qxd 7/15/05 5:27 PM Page 6 6 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF COSTA RICA The Best of Costa Rica Lake Nicaragua 0 25 mi BA IS H New L AM 1 AN A N Orleans D 0 25 km S DOMIN Golfo de G REPUB UA Santa Elena NA CA 4 Airport STE SANTASANTA ROSAROSA RA 3 HAITI Ferry NG W Murciélagos NATIONALNATIONAL E 35 Mountain Islands PARKPARK Rincón de RRINCONINCON DDEE LLAA VVIEJAIEJA la Vieja NNATIONALATIONAL 2 HONDURAS 1 PPARKARK Golfo de e 6 NICARAGUA u q I Lake s n Papagayo i t Coter 4 p e Liberia ra PANAMA m m e e Río Frío e T 4 T 8 T r ILA ic R LLakeake AArenalrenal T o o an í í H A Puerto Viejo o wy. N r R R R t 142 A de Sarapiquí u N 95 Arenal g G u e 7 E Volcano r W 16 o 9 C MMonteverdeonteverde a n Tamarindo PPALOALO VVERDEERDE a 86 13 l NNATIONALATIONAL 18 n 21 ó PPARKARK z ta BRAULIO CARRILLO n e v 1 NATIONAL e 160 C R 15 PARK E o N í PPuntarenasuntarenas T R N RA ICO 160 L YA Vir RA P oles/ illa N EN rc GE IN Ta 10 SU Golfo LA de Río 160 Nicoya W14 34 PACIFIC 12 13 Cerro de Punta Uva la Muerte OCEAN Cabo Blanco 23 Absolute TA Isla del Coco LA 11 Nature Reserve Cerro MA (Coco Island) Chirripó NC A R AN MANUEL GE THE BEST OF NATURAL COSTA RICA THE BEST ADVENTURES ANTONIO Arenal Volcano/Tabacón Hot Springs 5 Battling a Billfish off the Pacific Coast 25 NATIONAL Braulio Carrillo National Park 19 Diving off Isla del Coco 11 PARK Manuel Antonio National Park 26 Hiking Mount Chirripó 23 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 6 Kayaking Around Golfo Dulce 28 Osa Peninsula & Corcovado National Park 27 Rafting the Upper Reventazón River 17 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 2 Surfing & Four-Wheeling Guanacaste 8 The Río Sarapiquí Region 15 Surfing Pavones 29 Tortuguero Village & Jungle Canals 16 Windsurfing Lake Arenal 4 THE BEST BEACHES THE BEST BIRD-WATCHING W O The Beaches Around Playa Sámara 10 Aviarios del Caribe 21 S A Malpais 12 Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge 3 P EN Manuel Antonio 26 Carara National Park 14 24 IN SU Playa Montezuma 13 Cerro de la Muerte 24 LA Puerto Jiménez 26 Playa Tamarindo 9 La Selva Biological Station 18 Punta Uva & Manzanillo 22 Parque del Este 20 Santa Rosa National Park 1 Río Tempisque Basin 7 Wilson Botanical Gardens 30 05_587943_ch01.qxd 7/15/05 5:27 PM Page 7 THE BEST BEACHES 7 Houston USA BAHAMABA ISLANDSIS H NewNew Miami L AM NICARAGUA San AN A OrleansOrleans DS DODOMIN G Antonio REREPUB U Río S AN a Gulf of CUBA AC n A J MEXICO Mexico STE u SANTA ROSA RA an HAITIHAITI NGE Mexico City NATIONAL BELIZE JAMAICA PARK RINCON DE LA VIEJA Caribbean Sea NATIONAL HONDURASHONDURAS 2 PARK Río Colorado e GUATEMALA NICARAGUANICARAGUA u q I s n í i t u BARRA DEL COLORADO EL SALVADOR p e r q a i PPANAMAANAMAANAMA m WILDLIFE SANCTUARY 0 250 mi m p e T e a T I 35 r L r i A T c R Lake Arenal a o an í H A PuertoPuerto ViejoViejo S o COSTA RICA wy.
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