Attractions
San José
The cosmopolitan capital of Costa Rica is the transportation hub
of the country, so most visitors spend at least a few days in the
city. It has a more North American feel to it than many Latin American
capitals, with department stores, shopping malls and fast-food chains.
However, it also has several excellent museums, some great restaurants,
colorful markets and a fine climate.
The
best of the museums are the Museo Nacional, which has displays
of Costa Rican archaeology, colonial furniture, costumes and religious
art; the Museo del Oro Precolombino, which houses a dazzling collection
of pre-Columbian gold pieces; and the Museo de Jade, with the
world's largest collection of American jade sculptures. The most
impressive city building is the Teatro Nacional, built in the
1890s. It hosts plays, operas, ballets and performances by the
National Symphony Orchestra. The best market is Mercado Central,
which bustles rather than buzzes, but has a range of goods from
live turkeys to leatherwork, and some of the cheapest meals in
town.
Most
of the cheaper hotels and eateries are west of Calle Central,
between Avenidas 1 and 2.
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Parks
The Costa Rica government has been concentrating on its parks
and wildlife for well over forty years now, and the dedication
has payed off in the quality and quantity of biological reserves
and well-preserved eco-systems. The national park in the northwest
of the country, Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal, has at its
centre the perfectly conical (and iconical) 1633m (5356ft) Volcán
Arenal. The volcano has been exceptionally active since 1968,
when huge explosions triggered lava flows that killed several
dozen people. The degree of activity varies from week to week;
sometimes there is a spectacular display of flowing red-hot lava
and incandescent rocks flying through the air; at other times,
the volcano is more placid and gently glows in the dark. two of
the highlights.
Parque
Nacional Santa Rosa is the oldest and one of the best developed
national parks in Costa Rica. It covers most of the Península
Santa Elena, which juts out into the Pacific in the far northwestern
corner of the country. It protects the largest remaining stand
of tropical dry forest in Central America and is an important
nesting site for endangered species of sea turtles.
Two
other environmental highlights include Rincón de la Vieja,
northeast of Liberia in northwestern Costa Rica, and Parque Nacional
Corcovado. The former is a volcanic wonderland of cones, craters,
lagoons, boiling mud pools, sulphur springs, hot springs that
visitors can bathe in, and a park that can be explored on foot
or horseback. Parque Nacional Corcovado, in the southwestern corner
of the Península de Osa in the south of the country, has
long-distance hiking trails which offers visitors the chance to
spend several days walking through lowland tropical rain forest.
Make sure you visit in the dry season, and keep your eyes peeled
for wildlife. There are shorter walks around Monteverde and in
the coastal Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, south of Quepos.
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Monteverde
This small community in northwestern Costa Rica was founded by
Quakers in 1951 and is now a popular and interesting destination
for both local and international visitors. The small town of Santa
Elena is the closest settlement to the Monteverde cloud reserve
but the road leading from the town's center to the reserve is
clustered with attractions including the butterfly garden,the
serpentarium, a cheese factory, a and a number of art galleries.
Interesting
though these attractions are, they are merely the warm-up acts
for the main event. The Monteverde Reserve has a number of walking
trails (details of which can be found at the office of the Monteverde
Conservation League at the mouth of the reserve) that vary in
length and degree of difficulty. Tickets to the reserve cost US$8.50
(adults) and US$4.50 (children) and last all day. But why restrict
yourself to the ground? The recently-opened Sky Walk, a series
of suspension bridges that criss-cross the top of the jungle,
leaves you walking on clouds, while the juiced up Canopy Tour
whizzes you across the canopy of the jungle in a series of flying
foxes. The more sedate Aerial Adventure offers a view of the tree
tops via a ski-lift arrangement.
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Pacific Beaches
If you've seen one too many macaws, you can swim or relax on one
of Costa Rica's beaches. The Pacific coast has a pleasing mixture
of luxury resorts and deserted beaches.Golfito is on the southern
Pacific coast, tucked in a small bay off Golfo Dulce and is an
important port and jumping-off point for the region's fantastic
beaches. Heading northeast from the town, the coast features numerous
remote coves, with jungle-lodge accommodations and virgin rain
forest backdrop. The coastal Parque Nacional Corcovado, on the
Península de Osa, has a huge colony of scarlet macaws.
Beaches worth pausing at include Playa Cativo, Playa Zancudo (claimed
by the locals to be the best swimming beach) and Pavones (which
has some of the best Pacific surf).
The
central Pacific coast starts at Uvita and heads north to the Golfo
de Nicoya and the city of Puntarenas. The beach-resort town of
Jacó attracts package-holiday tourists and those keen to
party hard. Puntarenas itself is too polluted for most foreigners
to even dip their pinky: finnicky swimmers should head for the
dozens of isolated islands that lie just off the coast, such as
Isla Tortuga. Good surf close to Puntarenas can be found at Boca
Barranca and Doña Ana.
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