Costa Rica, Natural paradise in Central America

Concerning individual travel and ecotourism, Costa Rica has developed to be one of the most popular destinations. With its active volcanoes, its rain and cloud forests, as well as with its amount of different national parks, there are lots of nature attractions within the country of Costa Rica. Moreover there is a unique flora and fauna. It is estimated that there exist approximately 1500 to 2000 different animal species and just as many plant species in Costa Rica. The landscape is diverse. Besides numerous beautiful sandy beaches, you can also find mountains with heights of up to 12860 foot.

Costa Rica is located in Central America between Nicaragua in the north and Panama in the south. Furthermore the country is placed between the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The seven provinces of Costa Rica have developed very different from each other.
Travelers who like Reggae music and Rastafarians should visit the Caribbean in the west. Especially the region between Puerto Viejo and the border to Panama is recommended. In Tortuguero for example, a national park which can only be reached by plane or boat, you can watch turtles. At the Pacific side, there can be found several turtle projects as well. One of them is located at Playa Buena Vista, nearby the hotel Paraiso del Cocodrilo. The project is run by the ASVO (Asociación de Voluntarios para el Servicio en las Areas Protegida) and it gives young people the chance to work voluntarily for the conservation of turtles and their clutches. Others projects can be found at Playa Grande, Playa Ostional and further in the south. In the southern region of the Pacific side prevails subtropical climate and lush vegetation.

One can describe Guanacaste as the largest holiday province of Costa Rica. At Papagayo in the north, there are the luxury hotels of Steffi Graf, the sheiks, Paris Hilton and other celebrities. Further south, on the peninsula of Nicoya, between Montezuma and Nosara it is more calm and still very natural. Individual travelers may discover many animal and plant species around here. In addition to that, there are some unspoiled, sandy beaches along the Pacific coast, which has a length of about 620 miles by the way.