This enormous park lies on 50,150 hectares of land and together with La Aimstad National Park, the Chirripo shelter around 60% of all the fauna in Costa Rica.

400 bird species and about 263 amphibians and reptiles have been observed in both of the parks. Among the birds are the resplendent quetzal (phoenix of the forest), black guan, crowned wren-thrush, elegant trogon and the acorn woodpecker. Mammals that can be found in the parks are tapir, puma and jaguar.

Several glaciers that are still intact has been the most interesting discoveries made in the Chirripo National Park. These glacial features such as the glacial valleys, terminal moraines and glacial lakes were formed about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. The Chirripo Peak, which is the tallest mountain in the country lies also within the national park.

by Elisheva Wiriaatmadja.

Caño Negro National Wildlife lies 119 km northwest of San Jose and about 220 km by road.

From San Jose there is a main route following the Pan American Highway, west out of San Jose towards Narjo. Turn north after 32 km to Naranjo on 141. A 22 km climb to Zarcero afterwards will lead you to the amazing topiary garden surrounding the whitewashed church. Stay on 141 for another 20 km to Quesada or San Carlos and then 8 km to Florencia. Here you turn north on 35. This will take you the final 84 km to Los Chiles.

About 10 km before Los Chiles, turn west off of 35 into a dirt road to cross the Rio Frio at San Emilio. This will take you to the ranger station at Caño Negro village.

In the waterwas you may see a bull shark’s fin slice the surface. But most people visit this place to spot migrotary birds.

Birds that you can find in Caño Negro are glossy Ibis, black-necked stilt, neotropical cormorants, American anhinga, northern jacana, American widgeon, wood stodk, snail kite, roseate spoonbill and many many more. This place is also one of the best places in Costa Rica to see the Nicaraguan grackle, which inhabits only in Caño Negro and south of Lake Nicaragua.

by Elisheva Wiriaatmadja.

The great view over the Sydney harbour and the world-famous Opera-House is the most attractive aspect for me to stay in the Shangri La Hotel Sydney. The spacious luxurious guest rooms with free broadband internet connection are the ones that I miss the most. The hotel is also well-known for the city’s finest dinings.

If you ever visit the far east, consider staying at Shangri La Hong Kong. The spectacular swimming pool in the Island Shangri La Hotel Hong Kong is just breathtaking. The award winning hotel is built above the most prestigious shopping place in Hong Kong, the Pacific Place; a convenience for you while you may enjoy your luxurious stay.

Going further down to the South East region of Asia and visiting Singapore, you can find my favourite chain hotel, the Shangri La Hotel Singapore near the Ochard road shopping and business district, set in the luxuriant tropical gardens. The hotel staff’s hospitality is one of their legendary offers for travellers.

What is so spectacular about Shangri La Hotel Singapore is the 15 acres of landscaped gardens, showing ornamental flowering trees, aquatic plants, tropical flowers and fruit trees. A pond filled with waterfalls is home to 200 Japanese koi.

If you ever travel anywhere, find your Shangri La chain hotel in the area you are travelling to. You can easily find them here in Shangri La Resorts.

by Elisheva Wiriaatmadja.

Horse Trek Monteverde was started 6 years ago by owners Marvin Anchia and his wife, Janet Ellis. Costa Rican born, Marvin claims to have started riding before he was born as his mum used to ride when she was pregnant! By age 8 he was training horses on his father’s farm and his love of horses led to a life time of breeding and working with these amazing animals. Anyone who has had the privilege of seeing Marvin with his horses will soon appreciate the special report his has with his mounts. His skill in riding is pretty impressive!

Canadian born Janet Ellis, moved to Costa Rica 10 years ago. Her love of horses soon led to her joining forces with Marvin and she tends to the business side of things (someone has to!).  Horse Trek Monteverde offers all sorts of rides from 2.5 hours to multiday rides of 2 to 8 day riding vacations.

Both Marvin and Janet personally guide all the special 8-day vacations and between them they have a wealth of knowledge about Costa Rica and its flora and fauna.

Horse Trek Monteverde own 21 horses and now breed their own horses for their tours. It is a small personal set-up which allows them to be flexible with their customer’s needs.

Horse Trek Monteverde is located in the Monteverde area of Costa Rica and many of the riding tours are focused in this beautiful mountainous area, although the 8 day vacation travels further afield.

Horsetrek Monteverde works closely with Desafio Adventure Company through www.monteverdetours.com and www.arenalvolcanotours.com who offers a wide range of tours such as white water rafting and canyoneering as well as organizing canopy tours, shuttle buses, hotel reservation and full vacation packages.

For information about our 8-day horse riding vacation please check out our site.

And our shorter horse tours see here.

You can also contact us on 2-645-5874 at the Desafio Monteverde office.

by Janet Ellis.

This outstanding resort is located in Salinas Bay, in La Coyotera Beach, a splendid protected ecological area, sought after by windsurfers. It is surrounded by the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano and the Santa Rosa National Park and is also very close to the Nicaraguan border. The contrast between the modern architecture of the hotel and the exuberance of nature is simply striking.

The hotels is surrounded by beautiful gardens and the refreshing pool has two Jacuzzis and a wet bar. There is also a pool for the kids. The restaurants offer national as well as international cuisine and the bars have a whole range of local as well as imported liquors.

You may reach the hotel by flying directly to the International Daniel Oduber airport in Liberia, from where it is possible to rent a car; From there, you no more than about one hour away.

The Ecoplaya Beach Resort is particular proud to have put interesting and fun activities to choose from; kayaking for one or two persons is very safe, and it is even possible to visit the little Bolanos island. An adventure will take you horseback riding in the tropical forest, where you can explore the waterfalls and the beautiful rivers while admiring the wild life. A canopy tour follows. All transportation and lunch included for a mere $130.00. The hotel also offers diving, mountain biking, sunset tours, and tours to Granada in Nicaragua. Finally, sports fishing expeditions are extremely popular. Treat yourself to a day on the sea for only $550.00, or you may go per the hour if you prefer, $45.00 for 2 hours up to $60.00 for 5 hours.

This area (North Guanacaste, concretely Bahia Salinas) is considered as one of most competent in the entire Costa Rican pacific coast for the sport fishing. The best months are between May and November, however fishing is very satisfying throughout the year and you will come across many abundant species like: Fish Candle, Golden, Yellow Tuna, Rainbow, Marcarelas, Pargos Wahoo among others.

Baya salinas and its environs is simply the best for depth fishing. We have with a Yacht of 31 feet that is fully equipped for sports fishing.

The hotel also has the following features; it is handicap accessible, it has a dry cleaning service, and a communal kitchen. Most of the rooms are family size and are non-smoking. They also have their own interior entrance. The rates go as follow:

Double Standard

$ 79.00, $ 98.00$ and $160.00

Double Deluxe

$ 93.00, $114.00, and$181.00

Junior Deluxe $150.00, $182.00, and $265.00

Studio $99.00, $120.00 and $192.00

Junior $120.00, $150.00 and $228.00

Master

$164.00,  $198.00, and$286.00

Luxury $198.00, $245.00, and $335.00

The beautiful white sand beaches and crystal clear waters of Tortuga Island are great for snorkelling or fishing. As you see in the pic below, the stunning white beach and turquoise water is what makes this island famous.

Tortuga Island is especially charming for its beauty and is famous for its impeccable white sand beach and turquoise waters. It is a perfect spot for swimming and snorkling.

You can get on a boat from either Tambor or Montezuma which will take you out to the Island for the whole day trip. The trip includes Beverages, Lunch on the Island and all fully equipped Snorkelling gear. There are many different companies running this tour but the one I did it with was with Chico’s Tours in Montezuma.

by Calber Dyer.

“The most beautiful island of the world”, was Jacques Cousteau’s reaction when he visited Coco’s Island.

The marine life of Cocos Island is also exceedingly impressive and is now under protection; the white-fin shark, the hammerhead shark, the whale shark and the tuna, etc…It is, needless to say, a must for scuba divers.

Many, many years ago, it is said that pirates used the island to bury their treasure of gold and silver. According to the legend, Edward Davis was there in 1685, Benito Bonito in 1820, and William Thompson in 182; if they did indeed bury treasures, these have certainly never been found! Up to 500 expeditions were organized, even the government of Costa Rica tried its luck, after taking possession of the island on September 15^th 1869. No treasure. What they did do was to leave a dangerous and harmful legacy: Pigs and goats to breed for their future trips, rats, these being left inadvertently. Needless to say these mammals constitute a severe threat to the native species of the island.

The unique diversity of the Cocos Island led to a decree in 1978 transforming it into the Cocos Island National Park. Efforts are now made to protect it, and also it is planned to destroy the pigs, goats and rats introduced by humans. Sports fishing is now illegal around the island.

Up to the mid 80s, most visits to the island were research related, however soon tourism started to point its nose, and it did not take long for tours and charters to be organized for fishing expeditions.

The ecological impact of all this sports fishing and the search for treasures was heavy. Now only research permits are granted, because the island has still so much to offer.

Scuba divers enthusiasts make it there if they are tenacious as getting there is not easy and certainly not cheap. The journey may take up to 36 hours and it is really advisable to contact some tour company. It is only possible to anchor in two bays, Wafer and Chatham, as the others all consists of coral reefs. Then you have the anchoring rights to pay, this can go up to $150, and the admission fees of $25. Once on the island, do not expect to see any hotels, bars or restaurants. Neither are there any shops to buy food. Everything must be taken care of before leaving the mainland and food must be prepared and consume on board. There are however showers there, as it gets pretty hot.

Cocos Island is what can be considered to be a trip of a lifetime. Even just getting there is an adventure. The rainforest, the waterfalls, the biodiversity, the diving it has to offer is unique and special, and can be seen nowhere else in the world. The island indeed is a treasure by itself.

Curu, in the Nicoya penininsula, is one of those places on earth where you can be certain to see enough wildlife to satisfy your need and curiosity, it’s a real little paradise of eco-tourism. It was established in 1933 by Frederico Schutt the family still owns it today. In order to protect this little heaven, they turned to the government for help and the place became a protected forest in 1981, and in 1983 it became the Curu National Wildlife Refuge. It is very easy to get to, some 6 km after Paquera or 16kms before Tambor.

Despite its small size, this lovely refuge offers everything any traveler can dream of seeing in this country, with its amazing marine and terrestrial marine biodiversity. Out of its 1496 hectares, only 75 hectares is protected and forms the actual refuge, the rest is used for sustainable agriculture, although what is called low-impact agriculture can be seen in the zone itself. There is a large beach area of some 200meters as well as mangroves estuaries and rivers.

The refuge is home to raccoons, coyotes, pacas, opossums, as well as various types of monkeys, the howler and the capuchin being the most common, coatis, peccari, anteaters, and otters. Even more exciting but not so easy to see, there are ocelots, pumas and margay cats! This small reserve has it all!

It is relatively easy to spot the boa constrictor, if you are quiet enough, as these animals usually hide when they hear humans approaching…Birds are of course numerous, as always in Costa Rica, up to 232 species have been counted so far, remarkable considering the size of the place; you may see a broad-winged hawk, a laughing falcon, and lots of cattle egrets, these beautiful white birds that are always following the cows…The red macaws have been successfully reintroduced in the area and are doing pretty well.

After following one of the trails, you will suddenly see a large cage! Do not be alarmed; this cage itself is like a refuge for the sick or very old animals that would not survive otherwise.

On the beach another wonderful surprise awaits you; sea turtles, like the green turtle, the ridley and the hawksbill, come frequently to lay their eggs. In order to help increase marine life, experts built some artificial reefs, and it seems to be a real success. Swimming is delicious in the bay, so a swimsuit and a mask for snorkeling are a must during your visit!

The mangrove of course is home to many species of plants and animals, as is usually the case, and this small reserve encompasses the five species of mangrove found in this country, amazingly so.

As you go up in the hills, you will find what is left of some primary forest, but they are inaccessible to the tourists. Curu, however, has a multitude of trails to choose from, and they range from very easy to very difficult, in fact some of them can only be done in the dry season. The Laguna, the Toledo, the Finca, the Monos and the Ceiba are some of the easiest ones to do. Most trails represent a specific habitat, like a theme, and the whole place is almost like life-size museum!

Hotel Occidental Papagayo, Allegro Resort.

On the northern part of Guanacaste, on the Pacific Coast and very close to Nicaragua, there is an area called Papagayo, where you can find Salinas Bay. It is particular good for wind surfing, it is indeed the only area of the country where this sport is practiced, on the sea! The other place to do it is on the lake Arenal.

The hotel Allegro Papagayo can be found in Manzanillo beach. This part of the country has seen the rise of a couple of huge hotels, of which the Four Seasons, but it has still managed to otherwise stay pretty wild, and actually, the beaches are fantastic there; this is really an area of natural beauty, and peace. The beaches all have this impeccable horseshoe shape one always like to see, the sand is fine and white, and the color of the sea varies from light blue to turquoise to deep marine blue. The climate is always perfect, and it is rarely crowded. There are many tours and day trip to do around the area; The Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, and the Santa Rosa National Park, or even a trip to Granada in Nicaragua. It is incredibly idealistic and pristine; it is truly the perfect choice for those who like a natural beach, full of wild life and wonders of nature. And needless to say, it is the best place to go to if you want to do some windsurfing! It is no more than 25 minutes away from the Daniel Oduber Liberia Airport.

The beautiful Allegro Papagayo Costa Rica consists of 300 rooms distributed in 14 buildings; 6 buildings have 26 rooms and the other 8 buildings have18 rooms, spread along a hillside. All rooms are decorated with elegance and comfort; they are furnished with one king size bed or two double beds. They have air conditioning, private bathroom equipped with hair dryers, direct dial phone, electronic safety deposits box and satellite TV. The hotel also features a beautiful pool, a solarium, a sightseeing spot, 24-hour medical service, laundry, and tour desk information, a baby sitting service and rent a car. As if this was not already enough, the Occidental Fun Club has organized various fun activities for your enjoyment, such as Volley Ball, hiking, archery, gym, children’s activities, and for your entertainment, daily night shows. The two main restaurants serve cordon bleu international food, Mexican food and they are very, very good good. Snack bars will also prepare snacks and sandwiches on order, or food to take away for day trips. You can choose from a la carte lunch and dinner or if you prefer, you may have the buffet. The hotel also counts with a couple of bars, and a disco opened until 2 am.

Rates vary according to season, ranging from $180.00 in the rainy season for a single, to $101.00 for a triple, and $346.00 for a single in the high season to $215.33 for a triple. Children under 2 years of age are free and from May to Dec, children up to 12 are free, in other times they pay between $62.00 and $85.00.

The indigenous heritage is still there present and can be found in the traditions and tales of the area. It has a great friendly atmosphere, and it is really worth to stop and spend some time in this little colonial town, the very first of Costa Rica. Its church is one of the oldest of the country… They say their church IS the eldest, but this remains to be seen, however, it is really lovely, it was founded it 1644 and is called the Paroquia of San Blas. It is now a museum displaying religious artefacts. It goes without saying that the inhabitants of Nicoya are very proud of their little church. It is in front of a Parque Central where locals like to meet; it is well-shaded thanks to some huge beautiful trees. Another place worth a visit is the Casa de la Cultural, which exhibits local artesian work. The town itself has also kept its colonial air while being typical of Guanacaste, complete with horses and cowboys. Nicoya is not a tourist town. It doesn’t have fancy restaurants or 5 star hotels, but there are plenty of reasonably priced charming small hotels and typical little restaurants to choose from. Nicoya is where people pass through as they are on their way to the beautiful beaches of Guanacaste and the nearby national parks. It is however really charming and gives a good feel of what a typical Gunacaste town is like. It is simply pleasant to stroll down its streets, and visit its shops.

All the people living in the surrounded area, whether in the countryside or at beach, come to Nicoya for business, banking, shopping etc…it has now a very good modern hospital, and even a small university.

While in Nicoya and its surroundings, be sure to buy some traditional Chorotega pottery, which is on sale everywhere, even sometimes on the side of the roads. No matter what the style of your home is, they seem to be at home everywhere.

If you have some spare time, try the Nature Reserve of Barra Honda; it has the most impressive cave system and it is only 22 km away East of Nicoya. A few kms further, you will find Puerto Humo, on the Rio Tempisque, a birdwatcher’s paradise. It is possible to go on a tour by boat along the mangroves. Further down, you have Palo Verde National Park. Samara beach is about 45 minutes away from Nicoya, and Nosara is over one hour’s drive.

by Mireille Darras.

Photo Source: Nicoya Peninsula.