Considering a romantic or
family Costa Rica vacation? You’re
choosing one of the best tourist destinations in the world. Costa
Rica has been called the Hawaii of Central America. A Costa Rica vacation is
full of beauty, lush foliage, many wildlife surprises, incredible lakes,
rivers, and waterfalls.
Activities on a Costa Rica
vacation include bird and butterfly watching,
surfing, deep sea fishing, scuba diving, tree top (canopy) tours, four
wheeling, snorkeling, shopping, hiking, river rafting, horse back riding and
casinos. On a Costa Rica vacation you’ll
find pristine beaches, tropical jungles, clear blue skies, high mountain rain
forest, and tropical sun. That’s why Costa Rica was
aptly named ‘rich coast’ by Christopher Columbus in 1502.
Nature is Costa Rica’s green card.
Wildlife diversity and exceptional landscapes merge in a long list of untouched
lands and protected areas that will get you involved in as many Costa Rica expedition activities
and adventure sports as you can imagine.
Costa Rica is
unusually blessed by the diversity of its butterflies. There exists about
20,000 butterfly species worldwide. Of these, about 1,000 or 5% can be found in Costa
Rica.
With more than 850 species of birds, all found within
a tight geographic area, Costa Rica offers
birders of all levels of expertise an unrivaled bird watching experience.
Birders out on the trail in Costa Rica’s forests should
keep an eye out for mixed flocks foraging on certain types of food, especially
fruit, in the forest canopy.
Costa Rica is home
to roughly 150 species of amphibians, some of which are extremely colorful and
exotic. There are tree frogs, which spend their entire lives above the forest
floor, breeding in the water of tank bromeliads or in holes in the trunks of
trees. Others, like the poison-arrow frog, are exuberantly colored, ranging
from bright red with blue or green legs to bright green with black markings.
There are over 200 species of reptiles in Costa Rica.
The 14 turtle species include both marine and freshwater varieties. The largest
of the marine turtles are leatherbacks. Their shells are up to 5 feet and they
weigh upwards of 800 pounds! Marine turtles climb up sandy
beaches to lay their eggs, a spectacular sight because it happens en masse.
Costa Rica is home
to over 9,000 identified species of vascular plants, including over 900
different species of trees. Costa Rica is home to some 1,500 species of orchids.
From sub-alpine dwarf vegetation, rainforest flora from sea level to mangrove
swamps and seasonal dry forest with its deciduous trees, there is an astounding
range of floral habitats for a country so small.
The protection of Costa Rica’s
natural heritage is managed by the respective
national parks and reserves. These areas protect many species of mammals,
birds, amphibians, reptiles, fresh and salt-water fish, and a vast number of
identified vascular plants-representing 4% of the world’s total floral and
faunal species.
In addition, these management groups protect examples
of almost all the existing natural habitats such as deciduous forests, mangrove
swamps, rain forests, herbaceous swamps, cloud forests, paramos, hilillo
forests and marshlands. They also protect areas of historical and
archaeological interest, such as pre-Columbian settlements and early
battlefields, as well as beautiful areas of scenic interest, such as beaches,
valleys and waterfalls. But above all, the areas of particular interest to the
conservationist are the zones which protect the last remaining examples of
Central American dry forest and the beaches where the sea turtles nest.
The protection of Costa Rica’s
natural resources has implications beyond its
borders because they encompass an incredible biodiversity, including numerous
species on the verge of extinction. All of this is the reason the country has
become one of the most popular destinations for visiting ecologists and
biologists. On the whole, access to these areas and facilities are freely
available provided the visitor respects the need to protect them. These
protected areas are ideal for hiking and rafting, for watching the birds and
other wildlife, for camping and just for enjoying in general, their rivers,
beaches, jungles, mountain forests, volcanoes as well as their historic and
archaeological sites.
A Costa Rica vacation is
fast becoming the #1 romantic honeymoon and family vacation destination in the
world. Whether it’s your Costa Rica honeymoon or Costa Rica family vacation–
Exotic, Romantic and Nature– the perfect ingredients for that special get away,
what more could you ask for on your vacation. An unbeatable choice for those
travelers looking for a combination of relaxation, romance and activity. The
atmosphere on a Costa Rica vacation is
“Pura-Vida”, the pure life.
We traveled to Costa Rica on
vacation in 2001. Fell in love with the people and
their country. Purchased property on the last day of our vacation and built a
villa in 2002. Handles villa rentals for five additional villas. Two, three,
four and five bedroom villa’s available, all of which are surrounded by Costa
Rica’s biodiversity and overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Go Easy is the
best way to get a great Costa Rica vacations! Find more useful
information about Costa Rica and all our services by visiting our web site: www.goeasycostarica.com
