Would you wish to get up with the sound of singing birds and roaring monkeys in an ecolodge in the course of a tropical rainforest? Then when planning your subsequent trip, consider Costa Rica. This Latin American gem is without doubt one of the world’s most sustainable locations, is compact and travelable and has an exquisite tropical local weather year-round. It is wealthy in mysterious cloud forest, bursting with energetic volcanoes and a stunning biodiversity. Add to that the inviting white seashores, turquoise waters and laid-back way of life and you’ve got all of the substances for a dream trip. Pura Vida! Where the world can’t discover you…
So right here goes for our 5 causes to go to Costa Rica:
1. Excellent highway trippin’
Anything goes when touring by rental automotive. Costa Rica is a secure nation that’s ultimate to discover by self drive. With a complete space of about 51,000 km², you may simply mix the highlights of your alternative in a brief time period. On your personal and at your tempo!
Stops will introduce you to Costa Rican tradition, a vibrant mixture of indigenous heritage and Spanish colonial influences with touches of Jamaican, Chinese and different immigrant cultures. The locals are extraordinarily warm-hearted, relaxed and have Pura Vida! as their life motto, “the pure life”, which suggests as a lot as stay within the second and luxuriate in.
2. Outdoor adventures
With its at all times nice temperatures and incomprehensible inexperienced nature, Costa Rica is the proper vacation spot for out of doors adventures.
In the fairytale cloud forest of Monteverde, hike throughout suspension bridges as much as 35 meters excessive and uncover a brand new world within the cover of forest giants. You can even zip from platform to platform through cables, go mountain biking or kayaking. Try “tubing” and float by the canyon on the Rio Perdido in a giant rubber tire.
The space across the Arenal volcano is ideal to hike by jungle and alongside the bottom of the volcano the place you may stroll on historical solidified lava. Marvel on the many geysers and calm down within the sizzling springs heated by thermal vitality.
Manuel Antonio National Park – the smallest park in Costa Rica – is positioned alongside the ocean. Diving, snorkeling, sea kayaking, mountain biking and fishing are a few of the issues to do right here. And after all there are stunning walks the place you may simply see toucans and macaws and curious capuchin monkeys and coatis.
Surfers can indulge within the waters round Costa Rica. Tamarindo seashore (or “Tamagringo”) is understood for its iconic surf waves and Pavones for its legendary ground-swell with one of many longest left-hand waves on this planet.
3. The selection in wildlife
Due to its distinctive location between the North and South American continents, the number of (micro) climates and the various kinds of landscapes, the number of wildlife of Costa Rica is extraordinary.
Tortuguero
The Tortuguero (turtle village) nationwide park is positioned in northeastern Costa Rica on the Caribbean coast and is accessible solely by aircraft or by boat. The park has an enormous organic spectrum that it owes to the presence of 11 habitats together with rainforest, inexperienced swamps, raffia palm forests and freshwater lagoons. You can see otters, caimans, sloths, spider, howler and capuchin monkeys, and hen species comparable to oropendulas, toucans and varied waterfowl. The lagoons and channels additionally present a refuge for the manatee, which is usually sighted.
The park was established to guard the nesting space of sea turtles, who bury their eggs on the seashores. The seashores of Tortuguero are the primary nesting websites for a trio of endangered sea turtles. These are the Leatherback, Green Sea Turtle, and Hawksbill Turtle. The feminine turtles search for a spot on the seashore and with their hind legs they dig a spherical gap, the nest. They lay a few hundred eggs at a time. They cowl the nest after which disappear again into the ocean. Only with a licensed information the seashores could also be visited late at evening.
Monteverde
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is positioned within the stunning mountain panorama of the Cordillera de Tillaranat an altitude of 1,400 meters. A cloud forest is a selected sort of rainforest that’s shrouded in mists with excessive regularity. Monteverde Cloud Forest is understood for its huge biodiversity with 130 species of mammals, 500 species of birds, 120 amphibians and reptiles and greater than 3,000 completely different vegetation. The vegetation of the cloud forest is characterised by ferns, bromeliads, mosses and orchids that cowl the trunks and branches of the forest giants. Combined with the mist, this provides the forest a magical environment. Included within the reserve is the Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde, with the most important variety of orchids on this planet and, inter alia, the well-known quetzal hen that settles right here throughout its migration.
Osa and Corcovado
Osa Peninsula is positioned in southwestern Costa Rica by the Pacific Ocean. Half of all of the wildlife present in Costa Rica could be discovered right here. On the north facet of the peninsula is Bahía Drake. Until just lately, the bay was solely accessible by sea, and partly due to this it is without doubt one of the final remaining lowland tropical rainforest areas on the coast. It has an exceptional mile-long shoreline with rocks and coves.
Much of the peninsula is occupied by the 425-square-mile Corcovado National Park, also referred to as the Amazon of Costa Rica. Perhaps essentially the most stunning park within the nation, with unbelievable ecological selection.
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4. Special lodging
The lodging you may select from are with out exception particular and according to the nation’s credo: sustainable! Although you may hardly make a fallacious alternative, we do have a couple of suggestions. In the south, on the Osa Peninsula, you’ll expertise essentially the most extraordinary rainforest experiences at Lapa Rios Ecolodge that change from drugs excursions to starfish hikes.
Another ecolodge is El Silencio Lodge & Spa. This one is simply an hour and a half from San Jose, tucked between rugged mountains amidst tropical cloud forest. ‘Silencio’ means silence and that’s precisely what you expertise right here. Peace and calmness, surrounded by the sounds of nature. Enjoy actions comparable to horseback driving, genuine cultural experiences, hikes by the forest, yoga and therapeutic remedies on the spa.
For a novel nature expertise overlooking the Arenal volcano, select Nayara Tented Camp. Here you’ll expertise unforgettable sleep-outs and wonderful on-site guides will moreover accompany you on thrilling actions comparable to whitewater rafting, hikes to the volcano and jungle treks over suspension bridges.
5. Secluded seashores
Costa Rica – or “Rich Coast” – has a shoreline totaling some 1,300 kilometers, blessed with sandy seashores that blur into jungle.
Caribbean coast
On the Caribbean coast, south of Tortuguero, there are stunning seashores surrounded by tropical forests comparable to Playa Cocles close to Puerto Viejo. Here, a laid again environment and Caribbean way of life merge with lengthy virgin seashores and unique wildlife, and you are able to do wonderful snorkeling and diving among the many reefs within the crystal clear waters. A go to to Cahuita National Park can also be worthwhile right here.
Pacific coast
At the highest of the Pacific coast you’ll find Nicoya, a paradise peninsula the place many seashores are unknown, virtually abandoned and solely accessible by 4×4. North Tamarindo is a kind of stunning seashores within the Marino Las Baulas National Park, established to guard the leatherback turtles (baulas) that come right here to nest on the seashores. And descend to the southern a part of the peninsula, as Playa Coyote, Carrillo and Playa Montezuma and Manzanillo are picture-perfect.
South of Nicoya is Manuel Antonio National Park. It consists of rainforest and 4 seashores; two dazzling crescent-shaped seashores Manuel Antonio and Espadilla Sur and additional Teldoro and Playita. In addition to numerous water sports activities, you may spend your days right here along with your ft within the sand, looking for dolphins and passing whales.
An absolute should is Playa Cativo, a really secluded spot within the lee of Osa Peninsula and solely accessible by speedboat from Golfito. It is positioned on a tropical ‘fjord’ that’s populated by humpback whales with their younger, dolphins and whale sharks throughout August and September.
Jozef Verbruggen is Director and Owner of Untamed Travelling. Untamed Travelling is a journey designer that makes a speciality of high-end bespoke journey experiences across the globe.
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