A tour of the country with the most biodiversity in the world
In an era in which few natural paradises are a small country in Central America proudly displays the banner of the conservation ethic.
In Costa Rica, turtles and frogs coexist with multicolored stealthy jaguars and thousands of birds in a paradisiacal beaches framed by stage.
San Jose, the capital, is the basis of an itinerary that stops in the most impressive volcanoes of the Central Sierra, continues through the cloud forests of Monteverde and is diverted to the epicurean sands of Manuel Antonio National Park, on the Pacific coast.
Across the country, the town of Puerto Limon (or just Limón) is the starting point to explore the Tortuguero National Park and the towns of Jamaican culture of the Atlantic coast.
The wide avenues of the capital are submerged in a sea of jungle during route snaking away bound to the colonial city of Carthage. From there, half an hour, the Irazu volcano, the highest peak in the country rises.
The ascent to 3,432 meters above sea level is a profusion of crops and coffee plantations. As we approached the summit, however, the devastating force of the magma becomes palpable in the trees charred last eruption.
The light of dawn is the best to admire this moonscape, with four craters that form the top and emerald lagoon that lies in one of them. It is even possible to see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific, separated by just 120 kilometers.
With this panorama starts the path that runs along the spine of Costa Rica. A further 40 minutes from San José, Braulio Carrillo National Park is a sanctuary of humid forests covering several thermal floors and concentrates fauna of the most diverse, from monkeys to the elusive jaguar. A cable car ride can fly over the treetops and look closely at some of the more than 500 species of birds that inhabit the park.
A short distance away is Alajuela, the second largest city, which offers the opportunity to know the soul of the "Ticos" (Costa Ricans), always willing to talk under the shade of handles its main square. In the narrow streets and boulevards with gardens murals and sculptures are, while at La Garita dozens of stalls offering dishes loaded with rice, beans and meat with sauce Lizano, a mixture of native spices.
Following Sarchí way, remarkable people for their woodwork and hand-painted carts appears.
To reach the park Poas Volcano just barely an hour and a half. The crater 1.5 kilometers in diameter and 300 meters deep, is one of the largest and busiest in the world: smoking chimney protects their eternal bubbling mud and fumaroles that emit acid fumes.
The environment adapted achieves viewpoints and safe enclaves, as Botos Lagoon, whose rainwater occupy a dormant crater.
La Fortuna is another hour and a half route, on the slopes of Arenal volcano. For a long time the perfect conical shape dragon camouflaged its lineage until crowned the livelier of the 112 volcanoes in the country in 1922.
The best time to contemplate it is night, when rivers of fire that burned down the slopes in the dark. For the inhabitants of La Fortuna, however, the volcano is now a source of income thanks to tourist routes and to the spas.
Nearly five hours away Monteverde cloud forests are located.
Hidden under a thick layer of fog, creepers adhere to the trunks of trees while hummingbirds flit between quetzales vivid plumage. At every step along the paths or suspension bridges some of the 1,400 orchid species have been recorded in Costa Rica is discovered.
San Jose again the basis for changing course the trip, this time to head south and visit the spectacular parks of Corcovado and Manuel Antonio.
The former is located in the remote Osa Peninsula-Puerto Jimenez airport is the most próximo-
and it protects up to eight ecosystems, which can be known through guided walking tours and horseback riding.
Reserve Manuel Antonio is much closer to the capital, 171 kilometers.
Its bay lined with palm trees and crescent shape is an invitation to lie on the white sand, boat out to see dolphins, or dive among the coral reefs that grow a few meters from the shore.
If we turn the compass the Caribbean coast is presented as a final unforgettable trip.
The region remained at the mercy of pirates and smugglers until, in the nineteenth century, the export of coffee and bananas urged that the railroad came to Limon. His hand construction work Jamaican changed the cultural destination of this area. Calypso (fusion of reggae, salsa and Cuban) found here fertile land to plant their roots and the mixture of races and ingredients invented a more creative cuisine.
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, on the south road is the best place to taste the "soup rondón", prepared with coconut milk, cassava, plantains, shrimp and a touch of spicy habanero chile.
Up the coast north Tortuguero National Park, famous is reached because its beaches come to spawn each year hundreds of turtles of different species, all claims for nature tourism.
Whether to appreciate this show or to browse their forests lined canals full of monkeys, manatees and sloths, a stay in Tortuguero becomes essential.
Travel to Costa Rica is a country to know: is tasting the textures of a territory that is always being born, from outbreaks of flora fulgurosos to the roars of its volcanoes. A cyclic game that is reflected in the logo greeting of Costa Rican culture: Pura Vida!
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