17-day trip to this country where a large part of its territory are national parks. We will find beautiful beaches, both in the Caribbean and in the Pacific, rainforests, waterfalls, volcanoes, some of them still active, and an immense fauna among which are sloth bears, turtles, monkeys, etc.
On the first day of the trip we left San José for the Caribbean coast. On the way we made a short walk through the Braulio Carrillo National Park and through the streets of the colorful Puerto Limón.
Cahuita National Park is one of the most beautiful areas of the country because of its white sand beaches, its thousands of palm trees, turquoise color of the sea and coral reefs.
At the Sarapiquis Neotropic Center, we visit its pre-Columbian tombs and the Tirimbina Rainforest Center, a biological reserve prepared to be visited by paths and suspension bridges that cross the jungle canopy.
The main attraction of the Park is the Arenal Volcano with 1,633 m of altitude. At night you can see the lava descending its slopes. The water of the waterfall of La Fortuna falls from a height of about 70 meters to a beautiful natural pool.
The Poas Volcano is one of the most spectacular volcanoes in the country and with an extraordinary beauty. It has several types of habitats such as stunted forest, sparsely vegetated areas and the cloud forest.
Rainmaker is a private reserve of 650 hectares with 90 percent of virgin land on the slopes of the Fila Chonta, a site where the exotic beauty of the Costa Rican rainforest is exposed.
This wilderness area is located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. With one of the most impressive landscapes throughout Costa Rica, the park offers white sands and green foliage amid high mountains.
Irazu is an active volcano with a long history of eruptions and eruptive cycles. With its 3432 m above sea level it is the highest volcano in Costa Rica. His last strong eruption was in 1963.
After the road trip, we advanced through about 70 kilometers of rivers and the main channel of the park to get to Tortuguero. Tortuguero National Park is located in the northern plains of the Caribbean country.
The second of the three days of the trip to Tortuguero we got up very early to visit the canals of the National Park. We choose this time to see the animals when there are fewer tourists in the channels.
One of the activities of this excursion is the visit to the village of Tortuguero. Perhaps the biggest attraction was the visit of the research station turtle, which has a small museum about the conservation of turtles.
La Paz Waterfall Gardens are located at an altitude ranging from 1320 meters to 1540 meters, next to a river coming down the volcano Poas and ending with a series of four waterfalls, the last of which is the famous waterfall of La Paz.
At the top of Rincón de la Vieja, 1,916 meters high, nine eruptive points have been identified, one of them still with fumarolic activity. In the afternoon we visit the beaches of the Guanacaste Peninsula.
Monteverde is in the Tilaran Mountain Range, on the Continental Divide in Costa Rica. The climatic and geographical conditions that result from this phenomenon, are the basis for the huge variety of species and the particular vegetation.