Introduction
Travel to Costa Rica: literally, the “rich coast.” With its unusual variety of deserted beaches, dense rainforests, misty cloud forests, savannas, and towering volcanic summits strung along a rugged cordillera of mountains, Costa Rica cruises are cultivating a well-deserved reputation for offering multi-environment escapes. Tucked between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south on the Central American isthmus, Costa Rica is flanked by 200 miles of Caribbean coastline and 1,000 miles of Pacific surf.

The interior teems with wildlife, from coatis, tapirs, jaguars, and white-faced monkeys to humpback whales and huge sea turtles. Its 1,200 varieties of orchids and 850 species of birds make the country a botanist’s and birder’s paradise. Twenty-five percent of Costa Rica’s land is protected in a carefully structured network of refuges, national parks, and reserves; it strives to be a model for conservation practices worldwide.

Costa Rica is sometimes referred to as the “Switzerland of Central America” because of its comparable size and its political stability. It is one of the few countries to successfully resist being drawn into regional conflict; in fact, its military was abolished completely in 1949 and replaced by a civilian police corps. Proud of their 95% literacy rate, Costa Ricans like to boast that their country has more teachers than soldiers.

Costa Rica travel offer an ideal opportunity to view the country's wildlife and environments and learn about its rich biological diversity. Zodiac rafts maneuvered by professional naturalists offer the chance to explore the coast. For certified divers, ships provide dive masters so you can explore reef formations and sea life. Inland exploration by day trip is feasible on Costa Rica cruises, given the country's long, narrow shape.
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Natural History
Costa Rica’s botanical diversity rivals that of the great Amazon forests. In 1989, the year it was established, Costa Rica’s National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) launched a project to take samples of and catalog the plant and animal species living within the country’s borders—all estimated half-million of them. Now more than a decade later, this ambitious effort is still underway.

The first wild animal a visitor is likely to see is one of the four species of monkeys that swing through the forests of Costa Rica: white-faced capuchin, howler, squirrel, and red-faced spider. White-faced capuchins have a mutually beneficial relationship with plantation farmers: the monkeys devour diseased mangoes and bananas, and knock down and eat dry and rotten branches that the farmers would otherwise need to trim, and in return enjoy full bellies and protection from poachers.

In contrast to the nimble monkeys are the three-toed sloths, all light brown shaggy fur and curved, three claws, snoozing in the treetops. Sloths can pack a top speed of almost two-tenths of a mile per hour—but only when really pressed.

Costa Rica travel provides a rainforest menagerie where howler monkeys roar, swallow-tailed kites soar, and the shiny eyes of caiman and crocodiles glisten just above the surface of narrow waterways. The coatimundi, a nosy raccoon-like character with a passion for half-eaten pack lunches, scampers around the forest floor.

The upland dry, lowland evergreen, beach-marine, and mangrove forests of northwestern Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula are a stronghold for woodland wildlife such as collared peccaries, agoutis, white-tailed deer, kinkajous, vampire bats, coyotes, armadillos, more than 25 amphibian species, and eighty-plus species of reptiles. Among the more talented of these reptiles is the basilisk lizard, or “Jesus Christ lizard,” which when threatened can sprint on its hind legs and dash across the surface of water. Overhead, long-tailed manikins, with a crimson cap and long, black, wire-thin central tail feathers, sail overhead and come to rest in mango trees.

Birds include marine species like the magnificent frigate birds, pelicans, and red-footed boobies. On the Osa Peninsula, in southwestern Costa Rica, scarlet macaws gather at communal roosting sites in the mangrove thickets. At least 57 different species of hummingbirds buzz the wide array of flowers throughout the forests and lowland savannas. An endless variety of butterflies—about 1,400 different kinds—flit about overhead.

Alert visitors may spot a poison-arrow frog, an extremely rare golden toad, or a tree-climbing frog. A favorite of nature photographers, the delicate tree frogs are bright green, red, or blue. The truly sharp-eyed might even spot a glass frog, so translucent that it scarcely throws a shadow.

The coastlines of Costa Rica provide nesting sites for green, leatherback, loggerhead, hawksbill, olive ridley, and Pacific green turtles, six of the world’s eight species of sea turtles. Humpback whales make seasonal migrations from northern Pacific waters to the south. Some frequent the protected shores of the Osa Peninsula not far from the rich, lowland rainforest of the renowned Corcovado National Park.

The visitor to Costa Rica should be aware that most of the country’s protected areas are oriented toward preservation and research, not tourism. National parks typically offer more amenities for visitors than do wildlife refuges and biological reserves. Where tourist facilities may not exist, however, travelers will be rewarded with opportunities to meet biologists and scientists and to see their research first-hand.

For more information on the natural history of Costa Rica, see book selections below.
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History
The area today known as Costa Rica was a cultural crossroads of pre-Columbian peoples migrating between North and South America, as is evidenced by the Ice Age spearheads found in the soil. The earliest farming techniques, which may have arrived from ancient Colombia, were for the cultivation of tubers and trees. About 3,000 years ago, a corn-based culture arrived from the south and left behind beautiful jade artifacts. Somewhere around 1,500 years ago on the archeological record, the jade artifacts give way to those of gold and may indicate a shift from northern peoples to southern peoples. South American pottery styles suggest increased immigration or trade. In Costa Rica there are few remaining ancient sites of the grandeur and type found in Mexico or Guatemala.

When Columbus arrived at the port of Limón in 1502, an estimated 20–30 thousand people lived in the region, but no single group of Indians dominated. The Nicoya Peninsula may have held the largest population of native peoples. The Chorotegas lived there among the dry forests in town-like settlements surrounding plazas and temples. Like the cultures of Nicaragua and El Salvador, these people engaged in intensive farming, growing corn, beans, tobacco, cacao, and other foods. On the Caribbean coast and in the Central Valley other peoples lived in dispersed villages. Stone causeways and suspension bridges connected some of these communities. The Cotos, Quepos, Borucas, and others lived south of the Central Valley.

The first Spanish explorers received peaceful welcomes from the natives. Kindness dissolved when the greed of the Spanish revealed itself. Stories of endless gold treasures hidden beneath the tropical veneer of the Caribbean coast (which never proved true) inspired the name Costa Rica, the Rich Coast. For decades, Spain’s colonization efforts were hampered by English pirate raids, impenetrable jungle, illnesses, and by the Indians themselves, who resisted as long as they could. The first successful colony took in1563, when Juan Vasquez de Coronado settled Cartago in the Central Valley. By that time disease, war, and mistreatment had wiped out most indigenous peoples. Those who remained retreated deep into the forests.

In the face of such difficulties and with the promise of gold treasure unfulfilled, Spain’s interest in Costa Rica waned. The announcement of independence from Spain arrived in Costa Rica a month after the fact in 1821, purportedly via a lone messenger riding a mule to deliver the news. Costa Rica set up a provisional government, and a brief civil war broke out between monarchists favoring annexation to the Kingdom of Mexico and republicans favoring independence and membership in the Central American Federation. The republicans won, and the capital moved from Cartago to San José. Several years of political instability followed, but were put to rest in 1848. As an independent nation, Costa Rica scrambled to choose national products to export and tax for revenues. The country chose coffee, an exotic plant brought over from Jamaica in 1808. Costa Rica became the first Central American country to grow coffee for export. The government gave land to coffee growers which encouraged nationwide homesteading and widespread coffee production. Ox-cart trails wound down from the cloud-shrouded hills to the port at Puntarenas for shipment around Cape Horn to Europe. By 1850, Costa Rica reigned as Europe’s main coffee supplier. Production increased tremendously in 1890 when railroads connected San José and Cartago to Puerto Limón, eliminating the long, dangerous trip around the Cape. The “coffee aristocracy” of huge landholders prospered—at the expense of the small growers.

The period of the late 1800s to early 1900s saw great social and political change, characterized by disputes among the government, the church, and rich landholders. The results set the stage for modern Costa Rica: legislation separating the church and state was enacted, universal compulsory education and male suffrage were introduced, and modern innovations such as railways and electrical lines were installed. In general, the country’s infrastructure was strengthened.

Bananas, introduced to Costa Rica in 1878, rose to the rank of import revenue sources in the late nineteenth century. International investors encouraged the development of the railroad. Powerful companies such as United Fruit grew into political influence. These companies ran semi-feudal systems over local communities and workers. Labor organized in the 1930s and the intense power of the banana companies dissipated.

In 1948 a brief civil war occurred when the liberal Congress annulled the presidential election to block the entrance of the conservative opposition’s candidate. Jose Figueres, a former coffee aristocrat, overthrew the government. Figueres maintained social reforms established by previous parties, declared universal suffrage and the equality of blacks, and abolished the army. Figueres set the precedent for the present state of political stability in a region rife with government upheavals.

Figueres’ successors made further health and education improvements, and broadened the country’s export products to cushion against the rise and fall of coffee and banana prices. In the 1980s, when coffee and banana prices plummeted, Costa Rica took out international loans to subsidize dams, industry, and large-scale farming. Such debts still burden the country.

In 1983, President Luis Alberto Monge declared Costa Rica’s neutrality in Nicaragua’s conflict, despite pressure from the United States, which backed the Nicaraguan Contras. Monge’s successor, Oscar Arias Sánchez, not only upheld his policy but also managed to broker a peace deal, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

Costa Rica’s pacifist policy helped encourage tourism, which skyrocketed in that decade. Now tourism surpasses even coffee and bananas in economic importance. Costa Rica has discovered the economic potential in eco-tourism, and is eager to sensibly manage its cash cow. The government plows some of its revenues back into conservation, environmental education, and management of its protected areas. It also actively supports scientific research.

For more information on the history of Costa Rica, see book selections below.
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Culture
In general, Costa Ricans are a friendly, polite, and hospitable people. They refer to themselves as ticos, or for women, ticas, short for hermaniticos and hermaniticas —little brothers and sisters. The country’s population numbers approximately 3.5 million, with the majority in urban centers. Only about .5 percent are native Indian; the majority are whites, Creoles, and mestizos (a mix of white and Indian descent).

The lowlands of Costa Rica’s northern Caribbean coast, cut off from the rest of the country by dense rainforests and sharp-rising, volcanic peaks, have their own distinct culture. Afro-Caribbean descendants make up close to half of the region’s population. They arrived from Jamaica in the 1880s. Creole (an Afro-English) and a rather rhythmical dialect of English echo around the waterfronts instead of the nation’s official language, Spanish. West Indian spices still flavor the foods, and the hypnotic sounds of reggae and soca music blare from boom boxes on the docks and from restaurants and discos.

The majority of people (89%) are Roman Catholic, from the days of the Spanish colonizers. Religion is less of a dominating factor for daily life for Costa Ricans than for their Central American neighbors.

For more information on the culture of Costa Rica, see book selections below.
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Dos and Don'ts
Costa Rica Travel Tips:

Don’t underestimate the forces of nature. Bring rain gear to cover you from head to toe and plenty of lightweight clothes to protect you for the sun, sharp thorns, and mosquitoes.

Use caution; dangerous riptides riddle Caribbean beaches.

Rise early, the best time to view wildlife is in the early morning hours. Walk quietly in the rainforest to increase you chances of seeing animals.

To enjoy watching wildlife, tote powerful binoculars and remember to ask your guides if they carry spotting scopes. Don’t feed or handle any wild animals; Costa Rica is not a zoo.
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Weather
Costa Rica is a tropical country and experiences only two seasons: wet (May – November) and dry (late December – April). The Caribbean coast tends to be wetter year-round. Temperatures vary little between seasons; the main factor is altitude. Inland temperatures range from 60° to 80°F. On the coast the temperatures are much hotter and humid, averaging between 70° and 90° F.
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Best Time to Go
Late December – mid-April
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Temperature Range
80° – 95º F
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Books
Insight Guide Costa Rica, by Insight Guides
Guide Book
Wonderful photographs and essays with an emphasis on providing an understanding of the country and its culture.

Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: A Field Guide, by L.H. Emmons
Field Guide
An illustrated guide to 300 species of the New World tropics.

A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica, by F. Gary Stiles and Alexander Skutch
Field Guide
A well researched, comprehensive field guide to the birds of Costa Rica.

A Brief History of Central America, by Hector Perez-Brignoli
History
A good overview of the economic, political, and social history of the region through the 1980s.

Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish, by Joseph Keenan
Language and Phrasebook
Idioms, common mistakes in word usage, and other helpful advice on tackling spoken Spanish.

Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life, by Paul Humann
Field Guide
A practical, compact, full-color guide to fishes you'll encounter while snorkeling.

Costa Rica’s National Parks and Reserves, by J. Franke
Guide Book
An overview of the flora and fauna of Costa Rica with profiles of its 40 protected areas.

Costa Rica: The Ecotraveller's Wildlife Guide, by Les Beletsky
Field Guide
An outstanding field guide to the natural history of Costa Rica with 350 color illustrations of birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Introductory chapters cover habitats, parks, and conservation.

The New Key to Costa Rica, by Beatrice Blake and Anne Becher
Guide Book
A fantastic general guide to Costa Rica for the nature-oriented independent traveler.

Costa Rica : The Forests of Eden, by Kevin Schafer and Alvaro Ugalde
Natural History
Stunning photography accompanied by insightful text capture the beauty of this fantastic country.

Tropical Nature, by Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata
Natural History
A lively portrait of the rain forest. Marvelous essays that introduce the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rain forest. Plenty of practical advice for the tropical traveler.

Costa Rican Natural History, by Daniel Janzen
Natural History
A serious resource on all aspects of the natural history of Costa Rica, with 174 contributors.

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