Is Costa Rica Heaven On Earth?
No commentsEvery get so hyped for a trip that once you arrive at your destination, it can’t possibly live up to your expectations? You’ll never have this problem with Costa Rica. It is the ultimate “wow” travel destination.
Costa Rica truly has a little something for everyone. You probably think of golden beaches first and you are correct. Both coasts offer amazing beaches that can range in style from isolated beaches miles long to beaches full of party revelers.
Ah, but Costa Rica is much more than just beaches. It has world class wind surfing on Lake Arenal, stunning eco-tourism opportunities in protected rain forests and so much more. Oh, and the food is tremendous.
Ah, but now I am just throwing words of hype around. You need some facts, so here are a few on the country.
In 1502, Christopher Columbus made the first European landfall in the area. It was his fourth trip the Americas. That being said, it took the Spanish another twenty years to actually settle the country.
Given the name of the country, you probably will not be surprised to learn the people are known as “Costa Ricans.” That is a mouthful, so most of the citizens just call themselves “Ticos”
Costa Rica is not particularly large, covering 19,730 square miles. Of this, over a quarter are protected lands.
The capital city of Costa Rica is San Jose, located in the center of the country.
Costa Rica has four mountain ranges. Also known as cordilleras, they are Guanacaste and Tilaran in the north of the country and Central and Talamanca in the south. Many of the mountains are dormant volcanoes as Costa Rica is part of the Pacific “Rim of Fire”.
Costa Rica has big earthquake issues. The last major quake hit on April 22, 1991. Centered on the Caribbean side southeast of San Jose. It measured 7.4 on the Richter scale.
Travelers to Costa Rica have to be careful with the seasons. There is no winter or summer as such. Instead, there is a rainy season from May to November and a dry season from December to April.
Costa Rica puts Seattle to shame when it comes to rain. 100 inches annually is the number. Mountain areas can get as many as 250 inches. Temperatures always remain in the 70 to 90 degree range.
Instead of a military, the Constitution guarantees universal public education for all citizens. Primary education is obligatory, and both preschool and high school are free. The county has leading Universities in biological fields.
In an old world mix, the Roman Catholic Church and government are in bed on marriage. The government only acknowledges marriages by the church. All other marriagesare civil and must be by a lawyer.
At the end of the day, there are tons of different things you could know about Costa Rica. The most important way to find them out, however, is just to visit the country and take in one of the best travel destinations in the world.
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 8:34 am and is filed under Vacation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
