A COUPLE OF MILLENNIA AGO, Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” He got it partially right. Travel boosts, restores, and expands not just the mind, but also our bodies, our senses — all of us. For those on a quest to restore work-life balance, Costa Rica is the ultimate destination. Here’s why.

1. It’s the birthplace of modern zipline tours.

As in soaring through treetops, through jungle canopy and cloud forest, protected ecosystems showcasing some of the best biodiversity in the world. Ziplining may now be popular all over the world, but come here and you’ll understand why Costa Rica is where it all started.

Whether exploring Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve or zipping over a waterfall near the coast, you’ll be eye-level with toucans and parrots. The vibrant colors blur by as you begin to focus on all the life around you; the phrase pura vida (“pure life”) takes on new dimensions from the perspective of the zipline.

2. There’s 1,100 miles of incredible coastline.

Looking for a beach? Pick your color: miles of sugar white to launch your surfing adventures, unspoiled stretches of volcanic black waiting for your footprints, even coral pink, inviting horseback riding or just your blanket and a favorite book. There are miles of these beaches touching two oceans, and the most incredible part is that the Caribbean and Pacific shores are just a few hours’ drive from each other. Playa Conchal, Playa Tamarindo, Islas Tortugas, Punta Uva — come find your go-to beach.

3. It’s impossible to be bored here.

On a quest for coffee? Come, meet the grower, feel the mist, taste the terroir of the beans. Volcanic terrain with tropical sun and rain — it doesn’t get much better for coffee cultivation than in the Costa Rican highlands.

Seeking surf? Nosara, Jacó, Pavones, Dominical, Tamarindo — legendary syllables in the surfing world, these beach locales. With perfect breaks and endless waves, every session will leave you stoked for more.

Want to ride the rapids? The country’s inland rivers offer some of the best whitewater rafting in Central America. And oh yeah, there’s all the kayaking and ziplining…

No matter the season — wet tropical summer or refreshing winter — there’s always something to keep you busy in Costa Rica.

4. It’s one of the world’s best and most affordable places to take Spanish classes.

Brush up on your high school Spanish, or pick up the language from the beginning — Costa Rica is one of the best countries to learn the world’s second-most-spoken language (only Mandarin has more native speakers). One-on-one tutoring, whether in a classroom in a hip urban neighborhood, or in the shade of palms with the sound of surf as a backdrop, is widely available.

Try out your nascent language skills in a gastropub in San José’s Barrio Amon or near the Paseo Colón, or get to know a sabanero — a Costa Rican cowboy — in Guanacaste province. Go beyond uno más, por favor, and you’ll really be speaking the language of pura vida.

5. Over a quarter of the country is protected by national parks and nature preserves. And it’s full of amazing creatures.

Costa Ricans have set aside over a quarter of their country as national parks and protected nature preserves, and visitors as well as locals get to reap the benefits. In addition to beautiful, unadulterated landscapes, you’ll see squirrel, capuchin, and spider monkeys; two- and three-toed sloths; exotic birds like the resplendent quetzal; and a whole host of other animals, both endemic and widespread, who make their home in all that green space.

6. The weather’s always fine.

You know, not too hot, not too cold. For so much of the year, so many of us have to put up with freezing or baking temperatures. The eternal spring of Costa Rica’s Central Highlands mean that whenever you need to get away, you have access to a place with ideal conditions. Temperatures in San José, the nation’s capital, range from the 60s to 80s all year long.

7. For North American vacationers, there’s no jet lag.

No matter where you’re flying down from — Calgary or Miami, Los Angeles or Toronto — you won’t have to adjust your watch more than a couple hours when you land in San José. In addition to occupying a time zone amenable to North Americans, the flight time is mercifully short: less than three hours from Florida, and only about five from Chicago or New York. Less time recovering from travel fatigue means more time relaxing and reinvigorating.

Pura vida — nearer than you might think, easier than you might realize.

Source: https://matadornetwork.com/trips/7-reasons-costa-rica-ultimate-vacation-spot/

By: Joseph Cyr

A Convention Center is infrastructure that will stimulate meeting tourism and promote encounters among people of different backgrounds and cultures, who meet one another with the aim of building and maintaining connections that allow them to share their experiences.

The National Conference and Convention Center (Centro Nacional de Congresos y Convenciones) has been designed with the purpose of providing different environments for many kinds of meetings. The rooms are comfortably furnished and suitably equipped for these events, boasting areas for exhibits and expositions. These facilities will provide visitors with complete, high-quality service.

This infrastructure represents an opportunity for Costa Rica to diversify and explore new tourist offerings. It will be ready in early 2018.

These facilities are a national project whose benefits will spread throughout the country. It is sure to be a catalyst for the tourism industry, as well as providing jobs, promoting real estate development, and creating productive linkages. It will be a major improvement to the country's image as a well-established tourist destination.

The construction of a world-class Convention Center, whose size meets all of the industry's needs and which functions as a visible figurehead for the country, will attract ever-larger events and raise the profile of the country to organizers and sponsors. This will not only bring meetings to the Convention Center, but will also attract activities of various sizes to other places all around the country.

Specifications of the National Conference and Convention Center

Dimensions of the Project: Main building with an area of 15,600 square meters, located on a 10-hectare campus.

Maximum capacity: 4,600 people in a plenary session.

Cost: $35 million

Location: 8 km from the Juan Santamaría International Airport and 10 km from downtown San José, with direct access to the General Cañas Highway.

Sustainable design: The architecture and surroundings are in harmony with the country's image, with reflective roofs, re-use of rainwater, taps with automatic shutoffs, high-tech air conditioning systems, sun shades that mitigate heating, internal lighting using LED systems, external lighting using solar panels, internal and external tree plantings using native species, motion sensors for turning lights on and off, use of a wastewater treatment facility, etc.

Services: Area for expositions, entrance halls, restrooms, convention rooms, parking areas, open-air exposition and provisioning areas (loading and unloading and storage), etc.

Benefits: This facility does away with the seasonality by reinforcing the green season and attracting tourists that tend to spend three times more than a leisure tourist during their stay, and that go on tours before and after the event. It reinforces the destination by competing in the meeting niche, and allows multiple events to be held simultaneously while meeting global standards. The center will stimulate the local economy directly and indirectly through infrastructure, services, employment, attracting investment, generating positive linkages, and distributing tourist dollars.

For more information, please visit www.costaricapuremeetings.com

These diminutive birds flit through many of the forests of our country, providing us with opportunities to spot them now and then in some tourist destinations. Their colors and speed are just some of their surprising features.
If you would like to know more about this incredible bird, read on and discover the curious facts we have in store for you.

1. In Costa Rica, there are 53 species of hummingbirds, which are distributed throughout the country, mainly at medium and high elevations.
2. Their wings move around 60 times per second.
3. Hummingbirds feed on flower nectar, and must consume about three times their body weight every day. They mainly drink sugary nectar, but also obtain protein from small insects.
4. These little guys are very smart! A hummingbird has the largest brain of any bird relative to its body size.
5. A hummingbirds heart can beat up to 1,200 times per minute.
6. Hummingbirds often have a very short lifespan: most do not live longer than a single year, and those that do generally only live up to 4 years. In captivity, a hummingbird can live for 15-17 years.
7. Hummingbirds spend more than half of their time preening, chirping or at rest.
8. Hummingbirds’ muscles allow them to reach surprising speeds of 50 to 95 km/h when diving during courtship.
9. The horned sungem can beat its wings 90 times per second, the fastest of any hummingbird. Its speed record has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records.
10. In spite of their small size and high metabolism, it has an energy-saving mechanism that involves lowering its temperature from 37.5°C to 17°C by lowering its activity.
11. Its heart rate is 500-600 beats per minute at rest, or over 1,000 beats per minute if it is excited during disputes with other hummingbirds.
12. The hummingbird has a big heart, representing 2.5% of its total weight. ❤
13. The species is endemic to the Americas: that means that it is only found in the Americas and nowhere else.
14. The bee hummingbird is the world’s smallest bird. Living in Cuba, it measures 5 to 6 cm and weighs 1.5-1.9 grams.
15. The largest hummingbird is the giant hummingbird, which lives in South America. It is 8 inches in size.

Where can we see them?

Hummingbirds can be found almost everywhere in the country, but there are certain areas where they can be seen in greater numbers, namely the highlands, the tropical dry forest and the Caribbean tropical wet forest. If you would like us to suggest some specific areas, these include: Tapantí National Park, Coto Brus, Monteverde, Palo Verde National Park, Cahuita National Park, the areas surrounding the Poás Volcano, San Gerardo de Dota, Turrialba, Sarapiquí, and others.

We will soon be able to enjoy more of these birds in our country. For now, let’s learn more while we #StayAtHome

Are you looking for some sun and relaxation but don’t want to travel too far?

Sometimes all we need is to head somewhere close by for a one-day getaway: we can be home the same day, there’s no need to drive too much, and it’s friendlier on the wallet. Here are six options for that quick weekend getaway you’ve been needing.

Peñón de Guacalillo

If you’ve been on Costa Rican Instagram, you’ve surely seen a few (thousand) sunset photos from this spot, or people lounging on chairs and admiring the view. This lookout is a hit among Ticos and is a great place to spend some time with family or friends. If you still haven’t seen it for yourself, come on and enjoy the area.

• Travel time: 1 hour and 35 minutes.
• Location: https://goo.gl/maps/6apLUMpJFNtFSUp99 

Playa Blanca, Puntarenas

This beach is near Punta Morales, in Puntarenas. The surf isn’t too strong here, and there’s parking just in front of the beach. There are also restaurant options if you’d like to have lunch nearby.

• Travel time: 2 hours and 20 minutes.
• Location: https://goo.gl/maps/fgHSYbhXmPZXi5nYA

Playa Mantas, Puntarenas

This beach is right next to Playa Blanca in Punta Leona, and is one of the closest beaches to San José. It has gray sand and calm surf, along with trees that provide the perfect shade for relaxing, reading a good book, or having a picnic with friends.

• Travel time: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Location: https://goo.gl/maps/kALKrPynwJzYawuL7

Bajamar Caves

Bajamar is a hidden gem in the Garabito canton, near Peñón de Guacalillo. It’s located on the hill of the same name, Bajamar. These caves are only accessible at low tide, so you’ll have to get there early and be patient. Remember to follow local safety precautions and speak with locals to know what’s best. Vehicle access is not a problem during the dry season, but during the rainy season a 4x4 vehicle is recommended.

• Travel time: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
• Location: https://goo.gl/maps/D7UbUVQuo9caEjp27

Playa Biesanz

This beach is located inside Manuel Antonio National Park, with plenty of lodging options nearby along with a variety of restaurants. It’s a perfect place for spending a weekend with your family, since the waves are nice and calm, perfect for children to play in – but make sure not to let them out of your sight! The water is crystal-clear, not to mention the natural beauty of the surrounding park.

• Travel time: 3 hours.
• Location: https://goo.gl/maps/XUczoMhMGk669rj97

Playa Esterillos Oeste

This beach is another option to keep in mind if you’re looking for a beach near San José. Also known as Sector la Sirena due to the statue of a mermaid (called a sirena in Spanish) sitting on the rocks looking at the sea. The cast bronze statue was made by Puriscal sculptor Albino Valverde. Esterillos offers a spacious beach with heavy waves, making it a destination for surfers. There is a nearby campground and there are plenty of tours, restaurants and accommodations in the area.

• Travel time: 2 hours.
• Location: https://goo.gl/maps/A2Tcegt9kamWhBhZ9

If you’re staying home on a lazy Sunday, why not explore one of these options?

Costa Rica isn’t hurting for visitors, and with all those fellow travelers on the road, you might expect it to be difficult to get off the beaten path. But consider this: Costa Rica is home to a full 6% of the world’s biodiversity, and counting, as scientists believe there are still thousands of endemic species yet to be discovered. If you can’t find hidden, undiscovered spots here, you’re doing something wrong. Many of Costa Rica’s dreamiest, most remote destinations are at the far tips of the country, protected by national parks or seemingly barricaded as a result of daunting dirt roads. But the fact that they take time and effort to reach is exactly what makes them worth the trip. Put these five places on your itinerary, and you’ll be rewarded with an amazing cache of quiet wonders.

1. Isla Cabo Blanco / Cabuya.

Photo: Luis Alberto Turpo Mendoza

First on your list: Isla Cabo Blanco. Just offshore of the southern tip of the Nicoya Península, this “isla” is essentially a massive white rock that pokes out of the Pacific Ocean. Although the jagged islet has basically zero vegetation, it’s home to the country’s largest population of brown booby seabirds (and gets its name from the guano that speckles the outcropping). You can hire local fishermen to ferry you from the mainland to this ultra-remote island to snorkel, fish, or watch for whales.

Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve protects the island along with a small chunk of mainland coast, which, in contrast, has all the vegetation — and all the animals. It’s home to magpie jays, blue morpho butterflies, sulfur-winged parakeets, armadillos, coatis (pizotes), and several species of wild cats. Those are a few you might miss, but you definitely won’t miss the howler monkeys swinging through the jungle canopy, shrieking so loudly you can hear them from miles away. Unlike Manuel Antonio National Park farther south along the Pacific Coast, which sees loads of visitors year-round, this nature preserve is quiet and mellow. You can stay in the tiny town of Cabuya or head over to nearby Malpais. The latter is a laid-back surf town so beloved by Ticos that it has a popular brand named after it. You’ll have to take a bus back to Cabuya to access the park, but the road is scenic and the solitude is worth it.

2. San Gerardo de Dota.

Photo: Julián Monge-Nájera

Less than three hours south of the capital, this rural village in the Talamanca mountains is virtually devoid of tourists and tourist infrastructure, save for a few ecolodges and sodas (small restaurants). But San Gerardo de Dota is one of the few places in Costa Rica where you can spot the rare resplendent quetzal — for perspective, another of its habitats is Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which sees an estimated 250,000 tourists annually. Though its reputation has been growing among birdwatchers in recent years, San Gerardo de Dota remains off the map for most international visitors.

In addition to the remarkable avifauna (200 bird species beyond the quetzal!), the surrounding Los Santos Forest Reserve has a smorgasbord of verdant, mist-covered hiking trails. Towering at 12,000 feet above sea level, the mountains layer ecosystems like pancakes, with giant stands of oak above and tropical jungles below. You might catch peccaries dashing about the lowlands, and the nearby Río Savegre provides stellar trout fishing.

3. Punta Manzanillo.

Photo: Leonora (Ellie) Enking

The Caribbean side of Costa Rica is different from anywhere else in the country. Here, you won’t find gallo pinto (a traditional Costa Rican breakfast) on the table — this region is known instead for its spectacular Afro-Caribbean flair. The food is spicier, the music is louder, and the water is warmer.

Start out by heading as far south as the road can take you. At the very bottom of the country’s Caribbean coastline, you’ll find a quiet beach located inside the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. This is Punta Manzanillo, and it will stop your heart for a quick second. The water glows sapphire, and the sand is lined with almond trees. There are sloths, monkeys, toucans, and tropical fish. Inside the reserve, palm swamps protect endangered tapirs and hordes of other wildlife. A more exotic version of Eden, really. When you’re done exploring the refuge, sit in one of the little sodas and dig into some yuca frita (fried yuca root), or try the rondón soup, a local staple.

4. Ostional National Wildlife Reserve.

Photo: Laranapeleona

Adjacent to the striking-in-its-own-right Las Baulas National Marine Park, you’ll find Ostional Wildlife Reserve. It’s here that the arribada (“arrival”) occurs every year, a phenomenon that sees hundreds of female olive ridley sea turtles pulling up onto the coast over the course of several months. They come in pods, typically appearing a few days before the new moon when night is darkest. Hundreds congregate offshore for several days, building up their numbers. And then, all at once, and as if by some secret language, they begin coming ashore to lay their eggs. The first swarm always arrives at night — hundreds at a time — and then the others proceed in steady streams over the next few days.

Although there are indeed tours that go through here, it’s not a place that’s saturated with tourists, likely because the spectacle takes place under cover of darkness. You can catch an arribada any time between July and December; however, peak season is August to November. Note: The turtle’s nesting environment is preciously fragile, so it’s essential that you go with a knowledgeable tour guide. Not only will you be in trouble for sneaking in, you run the risk of stepping on eggs or damaging the delicate ecosystem. Be smart, and be respectful.

5. Playa Matapalo.

Photo: Federico Mata

Located at the southern tip of the rugged Osa Península, Playa Matapalo is a breezy, low-key surf beach at the end of the road. It’s a six-to-seven-hour drive from San José, which keeps the beach-going crowds away (most flock to Tamarindo or Jacó instead).

There’s hardly anything to do in Matapalo, which is exactly what makes it so special. There’s no need to book tours here or join group activities — this is a spot that feels far from the rest of the world. A place you visit to read a book on the beach or watch the tide come in…and then watch the tide go out. It’s near Corcovado National Park but not inside it, which means you can also enjoy the area’s splendor without having to get a park pass. If you want to take a day trip inside, you’re only half an hour from the park office. Sometimes, the best spots in Costa Rica are hidden in plain sight.

Matador URL: https://matadornetwork.com/read/5-places-costa-rica-wont-find-guidebooks/

By: Rachel Cavanaugh