| COSTA RICA
|
Sitting in the middle of the central american isthmus,
Costa Rica is a small, developing country rich with biodiversity.
While the entire country is only about the size of West Virginia, it is
teeming with an amazing variety of flora and fauna and an equally impressive
array of landscapes -- cool mountain valleys, massive volcanoes, tropical rainforsts,
cloud forests and so much more. Approximately 14% of the land mass of Costa Rica is contained
in protected national parks which aim to ensure the protection of Costa Rica's delicate ecosystems
and species of birds, plants and trees.
|
|
On our trip, we explored the volcanic region near La Fortuna, the capital San Jose, and the
Osa Peninsula on the southern Pacific coast. While the country is quite small, it is difficult
and time consuming to travel from pueblo to pueblo because one must travel slowly through
the mountain roads that weave through the landscape. This is why we chose to
visit only three areas on our week long trip to Costa Rica.
|
|
On July 26th, we flew into San Jose. Outside the airport was a mad house overflowing
with Ticos looking to make a buck and provide "transporte." First, we were traveling to
Tabacon resort and hot springs outside of La Fortuna and had arranged a shuttle through the hotel. If we had
realized that the roads would be as well kept as they actually are, we probably would have rented
a car for the three hour trek up the Pan American Highway and beyond to La Fortuna. The ride in
the minibus was fine and our driver who spoke not a word of English was nice.
I will say, though, that it was a good thing I minored in Spanish in college, else we would
have been in trouble on this ride and actually on our entire trip -- there were a lot of people
who spoke no English even in the tourstica places.
|
|
Section 2: Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna, Tabacon Resort and Hot Springs, San Jose
and Hotel Don Carlos
Section 3: The Osa Peninsula, Puerto Jimenez and Lapa Rios
Section 4: Alujela, Xandari and more
Section 5:Miscellaneous Pictures from our trip to Costa Rica
|
|
