Archive for December, 2008

Liberia City in Costa Rica

Posted on Dec 19, 2008

Liberia is the head of the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. It emerged in the second half of the eighteenth century under the name of Pueblo de Guanacaste, as a result of the establishment of a parish in aid of its location, albeit without legal foundation.  Liberia is approximately 4 hours from the capital of Costa Rica and the access is very easy by car. He was often called “The White City” because in the past, its streets were made of “gravel”, a dusty material of white color. Its climate is hot and dry from November to May and wet from late May to early November, with heavy rains in September and October. It has an average annual temperature of 27 degrees C and extremes are of historical 12.8 º C and 40.1 º C.

The town of Guanacaste, Liberia City in Costa Rica, arose from 1769 around a hermitage, but without formal legal act of foundation. In 1787, it became part of the municipality of Leon in Nicaragua. In July 1824 their neighbors declined the invitation of the government of Costa Rica to join that country, but became part of it in 1826, due to an Act of Congress of Central America, which added to Costa Rica throughout the territory of the former Party of Nicoya. Gradually shifted to Nicoya as the main population of the territory and was erected in the header of the Department of Guanacaste.  In 1836 received the title of town and in 1854 changed its name to Liberia. In 1856, the city was renamed “Moracia,” in honor of Juan Rafael Mora Porras, president of the republic at that time. After the coup that gave the latter, the city finally came to be known as “Liberia”.

Actualy, tourism is given a lot to this zone, which has an airport that receives daily international flights: Daniel Oduber Airport, so it is common to see foreigners walking along the outskirts of the city. It is a city known for some by their folklore and customs. The climate is typical summer weather. One of the main attractions of this area of in Costa Rica are the proximity of the beaches and the many hotels that are on them. Places like the Gulf of Papagayo have been greatly developed in recent years and the growth continues. With the arrival of more international flights to the area tourism has emerged as the largest partner for the development of the city of Liberia. It is currently installed in the area several high technology companies. The first is Ad Astra Rocket Company and is located on the campus of the University EARTH (La Flor). Undoubtedly, the zoo Africa Mia became one of the top attractions in Liberia, Costa Rica. Giraffes, wild boar, ostrich, oryx, zebras and bongos try to captivate the national and foreign tourists.

Parts of the developments are the offspring that took some of the exotic animals as “Tico”, the dromedary of six months. Hippos and rhinos could complete the exotic menu of interesting animals of this place. Some of the airlines that fly daily to Liberia are: American Airlines, Continental, Delta. The group Taca has already had permits from the respective ICT so it will soon be added to this list. There are also charter flights from Canada to companies Sunwing and Sky Service. Daniel Oduber Airport in Costa Rica receives an average of 38 weekly flights, with an average of 1,118 passengers per day. Only in January 2005 over 32 thousand tourists entered the city of Liberia for this airport. In 2005 the number of passengers from this airport in Costa Rica was almost 400,000 passengers. Only during the 2007 season (December-April) is expecting more than 200,000 passengers. The British airline First Choice Airlines is flying from London, England, at the airport in Liberia since May 2007.

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Santa Rosa National Park in Costa Rica

Posted on Dec 12, 2008

The Santa Rosa National Park is located in the province of Guanacaste, in the North Pacific of Costa Rica, just 36 Km north of the city of Liberia. It was created by Executive Order on March 20, 1972. It has an area of 37,117 hectares of ground and has 78,000 hectares in the sea. It is one of the most important historic areas of the country, the mansion of stone and pens were the scene of the largest national heroic epic: The Battle of Santa Rosa, on March 20, 1856.

The park is important for the protection and restoration of habitats of the climatic region known as the Pacific Dry. The beaches of Nancite and Naranjo are of great scenic beauty and important areas for spawning of sea turtles as Lora and the leatherback. There are about ten habitats in Santa Rosa of Costa Rica, including deciduous forests, forests of oak, evergreen forests, mangrove swamps, coastal forests, forests of little trees, beach vegetation and grassland or savannah.

Savannas in Costa Rica consist mainly of the Jaragua grass and scattered trees such as the oak, the nance, the chumico or raspaguacal, the cornizuelo and jicara. Deciduous forests contain some 240 species of trees and shrubs: the Guanacaste that is the national tree, the Indian naked, oak savanna, the chaperno, El Jobo, the pochote, the madroño and Guácimo.

In the evergreen forest of this part of Costa Rica the dominant species with the nispero, the oak, and the Tempisque and the Aceituno. Wildlife is abundant and diverse. It has been observed 155 species of mammals; over half are bats, 253 birds, 100 amphibians and reptiles, and more than 10,000 insects, including some 3140 species of butterflies by day and night.  Among the mammals is easy to find the congo monkey, the white face monkey, the armadillo, the cheap, the tapir, the pizote, the zain, the puma, the jaguar and raccoons. The semi thorny mouse is the most abundant mammal of all. Some of the most outstanding birds are the magpie, the parakeet orange front, the red widow, the soterrey matraquero, the cargahuesos, the Pavón, the crab hawk and Jumping tailed.

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Horseback riding in the northern-highland area near Arenal - Costa Rica

Posted on Dec 04, 2008

Near the area of Arenal in Costa Rica the horseback riding tours are really interesting, due the natural beauty of the area and the imposing presence of the Arenal volcano, one of the main attractions of the country. For this reason there are several types of tours that you can take and in most cases are a good combination of hiking and horseback riding with a beautiful landscape. The horses are trained and they will take you to the entrance of the waterfall through grass areas, forests and high hills. The views of the San Carlos Valley of Costa Rica and the tropical forest that surround it are spectacular. At the end of the road, you will stop and descend from the horses to walk along a nature trail to the base of the waterfall.

This fantastic area in Costa Rica is very quiet and a special place to relax and swim for a while. Generally the tours leave La Fortuna in the early morning until the Arenal dam. After that you will take a motorboat for 20 minutes that will take you to El Castillo on the other side of Lake Arenal, the horses in this town will be ready for you. Then you will ride for three and a half hours to cross rivers, meadows and forests and climb to about 3300 feet from the rain forest to reach the cloud forest. Probably this is the most spectacular trip you will find in Costa Rica, traveling on horseback by the old route that the villagers used for decades to trade. One of the tours leaves La Fortuna at 7:00 a.m. and travel to La Tigra where we changed the transportation to 4×4 car to climb 10 kilometers until The Biological Station in Pocosol which is a city in Costa Rica. In this place you will receive a little chat about location and information on the research work being carried out in the place.

Later we started a walk on the trail of Catarata Velo de Novia of about two hours to come into contact with the dense forest. When you return to the station you will eat a lunch to get energy. In the afternoon you will travel on a horse the path of Zamia, for two and a half hours, where you can contemplate the secondary volcanic activity. After going out of the path you will take a swim in the natural lake of volcanic origin. The dinner will be at 6:00 pm. At 7:30 pm you will hike at night to identify amphibians, reptiles and insects. The lodge is located inside the installations of the Biological Station.

Another interesting horseback riding tour in Costa Rica in this specific area is near Rio Celeste, located near the Tenorio Volcano National Park. In this place you will begin a tour on horseback of 7 km (4 hours) across the rainforest. You will arrive at Lake River Celeste, in this place there are two nascent crystal clear water of light blue color a really beautiful spectacle. When the tour is returning it travel along a trail where is possible to find “Pots”, these are like smoke-filled mud, produced by the volcanic activity. This place has a unique beauty which you can appreciate and care at the same time. During the journey you can see the high temperature gases and also you will find a beautiful waterfall with its crystal clear. The tour ends with a delicious lunch.

In another horseback riding tour in Costa Rica is Monteverde, where you will travel by horse to travel on muddy and rocky roads, through a lot of beautiful natural surruondings. In addition, you have the chance to see some of the wonderful scenery in the world when you arrive close to the “Forest of Eternal Child”, the Monteverde reserve and through the reservation of Santa Elena. This is an adventure that you will enjoy to the maximum.

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