Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a small country in Central America with coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The capital is San Jose.

Costa Rica is known for its beaches, volcanoes and biodiversity. About one quarter of its area is made up of protected jungle full of wildlife. Costa Rica has nearly half a million plant, bird and mammal species.

Costa Rica is home to some of the most important turtle nesting beaches in the world. On both the Atlantic and the Pacific coast hundreds of female sea turtles arrive on Costa Rican beaches to lay their eggs.

The land of Costa Rica is a result of complex volcanic activity that took place some 75 million years ago. As part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Costa Rica’s volcanic activity continues today. There are over 100 sites where volcanoes have erupted in Costa Rica and most of the volcanoes and their surrounding areas have been made into national parks.

The Arenal Volcano last erupted in 1968 and was declared a national park in 1994. Thermal hot springs are now the area’s main attraction.

For many decades Costa Rica faced an environmental issue of deforestation. Although many settlement, agriculture, and infrastructure projects demand large areas of forest be cleared, in 1996 Costa Rica passed a ban on clearing mature forests. Twenty five years later Costa Rica is recognized as a global leader in its environmental policies and accomplishments. Costa Rica is the only tropical country in the world to have reversed deforestation.

One of the national symbols of Costa Rica is the oxcart. The oxcart was used in the old days to get coffee beans, and other products to market. The world’s largest oxcart and yoke was designed and created by Costa Rican artisans and painters in 2006. It can be found in Sarchi. The oxcart is four meters tall and six meters long. It is decorated with vivid colors. The yoke measures two meters in height and is four meters long. It took hundreds of gallons of paint to decorate it. Sarchi is a community recognized as the birthplace of Costa Rican arts and crafts.

My trip to Costa Rica was most enjoyable and I was able to stay for a week. Certainly not long enough to explore all the fascinating things Costa Rica has to offer. I would definitely like to return.

Yes, I have more stories of Costa Rica in my Travelling Tuesdays book. Comment below or message me and I can tell you how you can grab your copy of my book.

# living life abundantly   # published author