Costa Rica Guide
Guanacaste
For the majority of the Tico population, the Guanacaste Province, hemmed in by mountains to the east and the Pacific to the west, and bordered on the north by Nicaragua, is distinctly apart. Guanacastecos still sometimes refer to Valle Central inhabitants as "Cartagos", an archaic term dating back to the eighteenth century when Cartago was Costa Rica's capital. Though little tangible remains of the dance, music and folklore for which the region is distinct, there is undeniably something special about the place. Granted, much of the landscape has come about through the slaughter of tropical dry forest, but it's still some of the prettiest you'll see in the country, especially in the wet season, when wide-open spaces, stretching from the ocean across savannah grasses to the brooding humps of volcanoes, are awash in earth tones, blues, yellows and mauves.
Highlights
1 Parque Nacional Rincón de la Vieja The beautiful landscapes of Volcán Rincón de la Vieja encompass terrains varying from rock-strewn savannah to patches of tropical dry forest, culminating in the blasted-out vistas of the volcano crater itself.
2 Parque Nacional Santa Rosa Costa Rica's oldest national park, and also one of its most popular, with good trails, great surfing and plenty of turtle-spotting opportunities.
3 Leatherback turtles Playa Grande is the annual destination for hundreds of leatherback turtles, the largest of the three species of marine turtle that lay their eggs along Costa Rica's shores.
4 Playa Sámara One of Guanacaste's finest beaches, with excellent swimming and spectacular sunsets.
5 Parque Nacional Barra Honda Explore subterranean, limestone caves filled with eerie formations, stalagmites and stalactites.
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