Archive for November, 2008
The Canopy tours usually last between two and a half hours and three hours. You can do canopy tours in almost all areas in Costa Rica. Some of the most popular canopy tours are in Monteverde, Poas, San Mateo, Pacuare, Puerto Viejo, Braulio Carrillo and Manuel Antonio.
Get ready for an exciting adventure in the treetops. During this trip, enjoy a walk on the mild nature trails, passing through the bridge and watching the beautiful tropical rivers and waterfalls. A number of platforms will be waiting for you and can be achieved in various ways, either by cable or slipping into a slide, rushing like Tarzan, walking along the bridges suspended or descending using the technique of rappelling. Experienced guides will accompany you and provide you with the equipment and instructions.
The Canopy tours offer a different option in the zone of Central Pacific, where customers can participate in the adventure of a canopy which is located in the heart of a primary forest (tropical rainforest). One of these tours is located in one of the most beautiful beaches in the area, Playa Herradura, with a range of services offered in hotels and resorts located in the area.
Generally the tours left the hotels after breakfast, around 8:00 in the morning, after a journey of 30 minutes to an hour, passing through several small towns that give you the opportunity to combine adventure with the culture, then you arrive at the site where you will be initiate in this experience with special and appropriate equipment. Canopy tours located in this zone are designed to fulfill all security requirements established by the ICT, thereby ensuring that their customers will be the lowest risk possible, making it suitable for people of all ages. The total journey has eleven platforms and nine cables. The platforms are constructed of metal, each one of them with railings all around, the longest cable has a distance of two hundred and eighty meters and the platform of greater height is at thirty-two meters.
For example, in Manuel Antonio, a tour of the canopy can be enjoyed by people of all ages. You will travel on wires suspended from platform to platform to enjoy the rain forest that that is full of wildlife. The cables and tie-ups were designed by expert engineers. The steel cables are ½ inch thick, and the 14 platforms can withstand up to 2,000 pounds of weight for your safety. The 11 cables totaling about 1500 meters - about 1 miles. Travel the canopy of primary and secondary forest where you will see many different types of animals, birds and plants. This tour gives you the opportunity to explore the tropical canopy through a series of suspended platforms, which are located in the upper reaches of the forest. You will have the opportunity to view a variety of animals including the howler monkey and the monkey cariblanco, the sloths and toucans.
Nov
26
The beautiful Carrillo Beach in Costa Rica is located in Guanacaste, near the town of Hojancha and southeast of Playa Samara a very famous beach of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Like other beaches in the province of Guanacaste, Carrillo Beach has a great scenic beauty making it a suitable place for spend your holidays in a really nice place. Carrillo Beach in Costa Rica is geographically located on the Nicoya Peninsula, a special place for vacationers famous in the entire world. The site offers a spectacular view with a gray sand beach and a spectacular line formed by palm trees. From the hotels in Carrillo Beach the tourists have a grand view of the spectacular sunsets and the gentle waves that bathe the white sand beach. Carrillo Beach rests on a beautiful semicircular bay with a beautiful white beach that stretches for nearly two kilometers. The weather is very hot and dry during the months of December to April, and hot and humid during the rest of the year. The average annual temperature is almost unchanged from month to month and fluctuates between 26 ° C and 28 ° C.
Carrillo has beautiful mountains which serve as a platform to observe one of the most beautiful natural environments in the country. In Carrillo you can enjoy a variety of activities such as snorkeling and other water sports like kayaking in the beach, jet skiing and water skiing among others. Due to the efforts to preserve the natural conditions of the place Carrillo Beach in Costa Rica has received the Blue Flag award that means that Carrillo is one of the cleanest beaches.
Carrillo Beach in Costa Rica contains an abundance of flora and fauna and is ideal for swimmers and as well as to conduct other activities like exploration walks by their surroundings. These walks can be taken along the rocky platforms while the tide is low where some marine life can be seen, especially in small natural pools.
The beautiful waters that constantly bathe the coast at Carrillo Beach are crystal and very clear, ideal for scuba diving around the beautiful coral reefs in the area. But if you just want to relax, the waters are calm enough to allow swimming without any danger for tourists, even for the children.
If you want to get to Carrillo Beach in Costa Rica, you have to take the following route: Nicoya - Curime - Caimital - Belen - Terciopelo - Maquenco and Samara. From Samara finally to Carrillo Beach on a trip that takes only a few minutes by car.
Carrillo Beach has fine sandy beaches, which generally are not as crowded by tourists as another places in Guanacaste which makes it an ideal place to relax. In fact, the area is less developed than some of its neighboring beaches, so do not expect to find during your visit too many restaurants, hotels or resorts on the beach. Despite this, Carrillo Beach in Costa Rica has the necessary facilities and accommodation that will make your stay an experience you will never forget.
The reserve of Cabo Blanco is located in Puntarenas, south of the Peninsula of Nicoya. It has an area of 1172 hectares in the terrestrial and 1790 hectares at the marina, including the island of Cabo Blanco located 1.6 km from the coast. It was established on October 21, 1963.
Cabo Blanco is the oldest protected forest area of Costa Rica. It is considered a haven for the unique flora and fauna of the dry Pacific and for a large number of marine species. It has a great importance for its scenic beauty by being located within the zone of life of the tropical rain forest.
A feature of this reserve is it there are four management programs:
• The Research Program aims to develop research, as well as establishing and implementing the necessary measures for its control and supervision.
• Maintenance Program, which was established for the improvement and construction of facilities inside the reserve.
• The Agenda for Protection prevents illegal actions inside the reserve as hunting, fishing, fire and any extraction of forest products.
• The Environmental Education Program supports community relations to create a favorable atmosphere between the inhabitants of the area surrounding the reserve. It also ensures the attention of national and foreign tourists who visit the reservation.
If you want to see animals in their environment as the pelicans hunting you have to go the reserve of Cabo Blanco. The dry forests without many leaves are typical of the area. Cabo Blanco is accessible only by roads in poor condition and mostly in a 4×4 vehicles. But it really worth a try: you can see red macaws in their environment, you can enjoy surfing and horseback riding on stunning beaches like those of Santa Teresita and Malpais that are located near the place- are something special for those who enjoy riding the waves. At night you can venture to the nearby beach of Montezuma where you can enjoy a beautiful night with people from around the world. The fauna in the reserve is not very diverse; however, there are species of mammals such as deer, congo monkeys, red faced monkeys, the porcupine, the guatusa, the tepezcuinte, the martilla, the coyote, the armadillo or cusuco and the ocelot among others.
The seabirds are very numerous, particularly brown pelicans, the Frigate bird, reidoras gulls, the terns and the brown boobies. For its part the land birds that are most common are the toledo, the magpie, the cattle egret, the bearded vulture, the red widow, the green cattle and the chachalaca among many others. Within the marine environments you can see large numbers of fish of all kinds, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, clams and many other species.
To reach the reserve, the most convenient route is San Jose-Puntarenas-Paquera (using the ferry)-Coban-Cabuya. There is the bus service Nicoya-Paquera, Paquera-Coban, and Coban-Cabuya, and the taxi service Cabuya-Coban. The nearest population is Cabuya at 2.5 kilometers of the administration, where you can find hotels, restaurants and supermarkets. The dry season is from December to April and the rainy season from May to November. The average temperature is 27 degrees C. The refuge is open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and offers services such as administration and information office, parking, lunch areas, health services, showers, drinking water, swimming areas, trails and lookout. The fee for non-resident aliens is $ 10 and ¢ 1600 for nationals and residents.
Corcovado in Costa Rica is one of the rainiest areas of the country - up to 5500 mm in the hills higher - and its vegetation, one of the richest and most diverse of Costa Rica, has a great affinity with South American flora. The main habitats are the montane forest, which covers more than half of the park and contains the largest variety of species of fauna and flora of the area; the cloud forest, which occupies the highest and is very rich in oak (Quercus insignis ) and (Quercus rapurahuensis) and tree ferns; the forest of high plains, which holds the alluvial part of the park; the swampy forest, which remains flooded during all the year; the yolillal, with a predominance of the palm yolillo (Raphio taedigera ); the herbaceous freshwater swamp or the lagoon of Corcovado with more than 1,000 hectares in area, covered by grass and shrubs and is an exceptional refuge for wildlife; the mangrove, which is found in the estuaries of rivers Llorona, Corcovado and Sirena and finally the shoreline vegetation.
There are about 500 species of trees throughout the park, which represents a quarter of all tree species in Costa Rica. Some, like the endemic and rare gambit (Anacardium excelsum), reach and surpass the 50 meters in height, in the mountains there are two species of wild cocoa (Theobroma angustifolium) and (Theobroma simiarum).
The fauna of Corcovado is so varied and rich as its flora, is known the existence of 140 species of mammals, 367 bird, 117 reptile and 40 freshwater fish, and it is estimated that there are about 6,000 species of insects. The park protects the largest population of red macaws (Ara macao) in the country. Some of the endangered species that are here are the tapir (Tapirus bairdii), the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and five of the six species of wild cats that are found in Costa Rica: the puma (Puma concolor), the manigordo (leopards pardalis), the lion Brenner (Herpailurus yaguarondi), the Caucel (wiedii leopards) and jaguar (Pnthera onca).
In the long beach Llorona spawn with relative abundance four species of sea turtles. In the marine area, in front of Corcovado, it is usual to observe dolphins, bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) and three species of whales, including the Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Given their extraordinary biological diversity, Corcovado is now as a major international center for research on tropical rain forest; in Sirena there is a biological station which has facilities to conduct investigations. This park and the rest of the peninsula became an important center for the investigation of pre-Columbian civilizations, there have been found archaeological sites on the banks of virtually all the trails in the park.
Corcovado is located at the southwest of Costa Rica in the Osa Peninsula. The administration is located in Puerto Jimenez. Sierra that is near Corcovado has a landing area and several trails are initiated there, the most important ones are Rio Claro, San Pedrillo (on the beach and the forest), Ollas, Rio Sirena, Rio Los Espaveles and Rio Pavos. There are camping and lunch areas in Sierra, La Leona, Los Patos and San Pedrillo, with tables, toilets and drinking water.
The access to the area of Sirena in southern Costa Rica can be achieved by plane from San Jose or can be reached by land from Puerto Jimenez - La Leona (44 km). There is a collective service Puerto Jimenez - La Leona. In Puerto Jimenez there are hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and markets, and in the vicinity of the park, nature reserves have been established with private cabins and biological stations. As a Costa Rica national park Corcovado do not have many accommodations for the tourist but in the nearby town is easy to find hotels and little cabins.
Driving northwest on the route 34 there is a cliff with a breathtaking view, Punta Guapinol. From here you can see a beach 10 miles long, Hermos Beach and its surf waves. Located only ten minutes by car from the beach and the town of Jaco and at a short journey from the capital San Jose, Hermos Beach offers to the surfers one of the most consistent breaks in the world. However it is important to mention that in Hermos Beach currents are very strong and are not ideal for swimming.
This beach is well known for its surf, for all the surfers in the world. At least one time during the national championship takes place at Hermosa surf. In addition several international events such as surf “Vans Airshow” takes place in this beach where it ends. Surfers that have been recognized worldwide surfing here regularly: Christian Slater, Bob Hurley, Thomas Lange and many others. The Costa Rican surfers Gilberth Brown, Luis Vindas, Lisbeth Vindas, Jairo Perez, Jason Torres, Carlos Muñoz, Federico Pilurzu, Juan Carlos Naranjo and Diego Naranjo are part of surfers in Hermosa.
Costa Rica Central Pacific Coast - Hermosa beach.
Hermosa offers the entire infrastructure for a perfect surf trip: Surf shops, surf schools, hotels on the beach and perfect waves. The best time to practice surfing in Hermosa Beach is from April to November when the tide is high and growing. One of the best breaks on the beach is located in front of a large tree known as El Almendro or Arbol Almendro. The long beach that runs from north to south is divided into five surf places: Terrazas, Backyards, El Almendro, La Curva and Tulin. Terrazas, located opposite of a hotel of the same name is not an easy place to surf, for that reason is not for begginers. Backyards is a good place to catch a “tube” to surf when the tide is in the middle.
El Almendro breaks in front of a large almond tree, but the waves break out at sea and are higher than in Backyard. Scarlet macaws can be seen in this tree, eating almonds. La Curva is located half a kilometer to the south; its bottom is sandy and not very deep. A mile farther south you can arrive to Tulin, this surf place is better during the dry season. The sea turtles use this beach to nest.
Because in Hermos Beach are accommodations are rather scarce, most of the surfers tend to stay in Jaco which has acknowledged several bars, hotels, resorts and rooms for rent. Usually people prefer the black sand beach of Hermosa instead the beach of Jaco because this is usually unoccupied during the week.
Guanacaste National Park is located on the east side of the Interamerican road, in front to the national park of Santa Rosa. Created in 1989 for the protection of tropical forests on the slopes of the volcanoes Cocoa (extinct) and Orosi, this project was founded in order to protect the migratory routes of hundreds of animals that migrate toward high ground during dry seasons. It has an area of 700 square kilometers and is located 280 kilometers from San Jose.
The park contains a number of very interesting paths, as well as several study stations, of which at least one is open to the public, photographers and researchers.
The wildlife in the park is very diverse, have been documented around 140 species of mammals, over 300 birds, 100 amphibians and reptiles and more than 10,000 species of insects have been identified. The most common are the monkeys like the Congo, armadillos, mice, mountain lions and black hawks, among others.
Positioned at the foot of the volcano Orosi is the biological station Maritza where you can see relics of the Plio-Quaternary period when the volcano was formed and the accumulations on the plains of piro clastic sediments.
The western section of the mountain is covered with green forests vegetation, which highlights trees that reach 30 meters in height, with predominant species such as Santa Maria and Tempisque.