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.