The Diversity of Costa Rica

My husband, Dave, posts photos of Costa Rica every day on his Costa Rica Daily Photo site, so we perhaps have not posted as many photos of Costa Rica as we should on this website.  I hope this Brahma Bull will forgive us.  He is typical of the cattle in Costa Rica, as they are well adapted to the warm weather.

We love the people and culture of Costa Rica.  They are friendly and have been rated as the happiest people on earth.  There is an area near where we have our condos that has one of the longest life expectancies on earth, perhaps because some people ride bicycles and keep physically active.

We have two condos in Tamarindo, and this photo shows part of the reason why.   Tamarindo beach is as close to a perfect beach as we have found.  Warm water, nice waves, gently sloping, not crowded, and indescribable sunsets, with a town that has a wide choice of excellent restaurants.  This photo was taken at the height of high tide.

Costa Rica is still mostly agricultural, with a strong tradition of family farms.  Even as people work in the tourism industry, they will often live in a rural area with a farm.  Costs Rica has health care and literacy equivalent to the USA and its number one export is no longer coffee or bananas.  It is computer chips.  Yet it has maintained the cultural charm of its countryside and has preserved 25% of its land for parks and nature reserves, a higher percentage than any other country.

This photo shows the gentle slope of Tamarindo beach.  You can wade or swim comfortably a great distance out into the surf.  This part of the beach is protected, from the surf by a reef, whereas the northern part of the beach is popular with surfers because it receives the full waves of the Pacific.

The Wildlife, Beauty and Beaches of Costa Rica

Costa Rica has twice as many different species of birds than the USA and Canada combined. This white-throated magpie jay, with his distinctive black necklace, likes to hang around an open-air, pool side restaurant at a resort very close to our condo on the beach in the Playa Langosta area of Tamarindo, Costa Rica's most popular beach resort town.
Howler monkeys are amazing. They travel in packs of 10-15 and let out low, guttural hoots and howls that can be heard 1.8 miles (3 km) over land and 3 miles (5 km) over the water. They are so loud you would think that it is a freight train, not a small animal, that is capable of producing such a loud sound. Howler monkeys are very common to see in Costa Rica.
This is a green iguana, even though it is not green. Green iguanas are distinguished by their dewlap sac hanging from their throat, the large scale at their jaw, and the sickle shaped crest running the length of their spine. They spend almost all of their time in trees and move very slowly. They are very common throughout Costa Rica, as are black iguanas.
The walkways traversing the ravines in the Monteverde cloud forest provide an opportunity to walk amid the forest canopy. Costa Rica is the world's premier eco-tourism destination, with many visitor facilities oriented towards tourist activities to see the wildlife and nature. Costa Rica planted 7 million trees last year to reverse the deforestation.
This waterfall is in Rincon de la Vieja National Park, just northeast of Liberia in the Guanacaste province int he northwest of the country. Costa Rica has set aside 25% of its land for national parks and wildlife, more than any other country. Costa RIca is also on track to be the world's first carbon-neutral nation -- by 2021.
Tamarindo, on the Pacific ocean in northwest Costa Rica, has evolved from a fishing village to a surfing town, and now to an international resort. With reliable waves for surfing virtually any time, it is no wonder that it attracts residents and visitors from around the world.
This is a view of Tamarindo beach and bay, across to Cabo Velas at the north end of the bay. The beach is gently sloping, with multiple surf breaks, and the Pacific is warm enough for swimming all year around.
Colorful sunsets are commonplace in Tamarindo. This is the southern end of Tamarindo Bay. We enjoy our two condos in Tamarindo, and the natural beauty and wildlife of Costa Rica, as shown on Dave's Costa Rica Daily Photo website.