Costa Rica

Rural Tourism in Costa Rica

Erin Raub — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:32:22 +0000

Get a first-hand look into the day-to-day life of Costa Ricans with rural tourism, which focuses on the preservation of local culture while encouraging sustainability. Give back to the people and places that make your trip unforgettable as you learn about local traditions and cultures. Enjoy the most authentic Costa Rican experience possible – sit down for a typical family dinner, stretch your Spanish skills, or help collect farm-fresh eggs for your breakfast. Community tourism is respectful tourism – preservation of local customs, a nod to history, and consideration for the local environment.

As a rural tourist, your dollars bolster the local economy and directly benefit the communities you visit. On the Nicoya Peninsula, rural tourism monies help protect private reserves and develop environmental education programs. In the North Pacific, your tourism dollars help support a youth collective and a women’s crafts cooperative. Visitors to rural communities will share in true Costa Rican hospitality. Sit down for a family dinner of homemade gallo pinto, fresh cheese, locally farmed chicken, and sip a fruit drink made from backyard bounty. If you’re interested, learn how to make the cheese and choose the ripest, juiciest fruit. Use the trapiche, or sugar press, to make a delicious sugar cane drink. Participate, enjoy, make lifelong friendships – you’re a rural tourist.

Central Valley

Travel to Puriscal, a town of picturesque, green mountains and deep valleys just 30 miles west of San Jose. Explore Costa Rica's great outdoors in a way you never have: meet farmers, learn to herd cattle at a local ranch, or learn to fish with just a hook and line. Later, dive into Central Valley traditions with a visit to Don Franklin’s Trapiche Tour where you can learn how sugar cane is transformed into granulated sugar, make your own sugar cane juice, and dig into some sweet treats. Later, visit the Vegas de Santiago Tobacco Tour and discover the process of cigar making and how tobacco traditions have had a positive socioeconomic effect on this mountain town.

Monteverde Region

Finca La Bella offers its guests a look into its 122-acre community-farming project located just three miles from Monteverde. Here, you’ll stay with local farming families – wake up with the roosters, help milk the cows, and try your hand at making traditional foods. Learn about the Finca’s farming projects that include organic arabica coffee, beans, sugar cane and bananas. Share in daily activities and learn what it’s like to be part of a Costa Rican family – by the time you leave, you’ll feel like you’ve made friends for a lifetime.

Northern Region

Take a trip to the Juanilama Reserve, located in Santa Rosa de Pocosol, around 20 miles from Arenal and La Fortuna. The town’s friendly residents gladly share their traditional knowledge with guests – start by milking a cow, then help turn your freshly-squeezed milk into a mouthwatering cheese. When you’re done, fry up the queso tierno, or young cheese, grab some bread, and sit down to snack with your new friends. Juanilama Reserve also offers hikes to the beautiful La Leona Waterfall, horseback rides, and tours of their agro-industry, which produces yucca and ginger, among other edibles.

North Caribbean

Head on up to La Casona, or The Big House, located in downtown Tortuguero. You’ll be welcomed with warm smiles and plenty of hospitality from a Costa Rican family who shares the house with their guests. Dine on Costa Rica’s favorite dishes – heart of palm lasagna, chicken with rice, and other delicious goodies – and lounge in hammocks under thatched roofs. Explore the canals like the residents do, in a dug-out canoe, and hike through Tortuguero National Park with a local guide. You’ll enjoy Tortuguero as if it were your hometown, too.

Southern Caribbean

Known as the cradle of Costa Rica’s remaining indigenous cultures, the Southern Caribbean offers many chances to visit traditional communities. The Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve is an ideal place to begin your quest for ancestral wisdom as well as Bribri and Kekoldi traditions. Visit the reserve’s green iguana breeding and preservation project, take a chocolate tour, dine on traditional foods, or climb to the birding tower and observe one of the largest raptor – vultures, osprey, kites, hawks, and falcons – migrations in the world. As you become one with nature, you’ll feel the tug of ancient traditions and begin to understand the knowledge that has been passed on for generations.

Central Pacific

Visit Reserva Los Campesinos, or the Peasant’s Reserve, just east of Quepos and Manuel Antonio to experience the rural traditions that have sustained Costa Ricans for centuries. Wander through the reserve’s 80 acres of protected rainforest, meander through a maze of hanging bridges, learn about medicinal plants, take a basket ride on the river, or jump into natural swimming holes for a refreshing dip. You’ll dine on traditional dishes cooked on a wood stove, nibble on organically-grown greens, and talk with men and women who make their living in the same ways as did their great-grandparents.

North Pacific

Named after an indigenous legend much like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Curubanda Lodge is one of the North Pacific’s most successful rural tourism initiatives. Located between Rincon de la Vieja and the Gulf of Papagayo, the lodge offers exquisite views that stretch as far as Lake Nicaragua and the Caribbean coast. Hike to hidden gems like Cacao Volcano and untouristed waterfalls, participate in twice-daily cow milkings, and investigate the area’s prolific flora and fauna.

South Pacific

Located near the Osa Peninsula's Puerto Jimenez, Finca Kobo is dedicated to sustainable farming, chocolate production, and showing tourists a great time. Meaning "Dream Farm," Finca Kobo is divided into four sections: primary forest, secondary forest, regeneration areas, and biological cooridors. While you learn about local ecosystems, your guide will provide insight into chocolate production and the history of cacao in Costa Rica -- including its signifcance to early indigenous groups and ongoing importance to modern agriculture and the local economy. Best of all, the tour ends with a delicious feast -- chow down on fresh cocoa beans, homemade chocolate, home-baked sweets, and fresh fruits.

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Ali Long — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:10:56 +0000

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Ali Long — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:01:46 +0000

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Ali Long — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Thank you for registering in our Flamingo Beach Vacation Contest!

You still have two (2) more chances to win:

                    Become a Facebook Fan

AND

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Contest participants may only enter once per method, via CostaRica.com, Facebook, and Twitter, for a total of three (3) entries. Each chance requires its own entry form; please see our Facebook page and Twitter feed for more details. Good luck!

Eco-Friendly Costa Rica Travel

Erin Raub — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:53:57 +0000

Costa Rica’s ecotourism industry is booming – from oceanfront rainforests to active volcanoes and balmy beaches to biodiverse cloud forests, the great outdoors take center stage. Eco-friendly hotels and lodges blend into their spectacular surroundings, offering you exquisite views, secluded settings, and some of the world’s best hospitality. Relax by a waterfall, watch the sun set over the ocean, or experience the raw power of an erupting volcano – this is Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is Spanish for “rich coast,” and the country is very serious about protecting its namesake natural resources. Sustainable and responsible tourism projects work to provide excellent amenities and services to tourists while protecting the environment, fortifying local communities, and benefiting Costa Ricans. By choosing responsible and eco-friendly hotels and tour operators, your tourism dollars will directly benefit local sustainability projects, help preserve local cultures, and give something back to the communities and people who make your trip unique and enjoyable.

Costa Rica’s ecological journey begins with laws to protect its verdant lands – in fact, more than a quarter of Costa Rica’s nearly 20,000 square miles are designated as national park, wildlife refuge and private reserve, which together protect four percent of the world’s total land animal species. The country’s energy consumption is pretty impressive, too; more than 90% of Costa Rica’s energy needs are produced in-country by alternative means, including hydropower, wind farms, and geothermic generation. Additionally, in 2008 President Oscar Arias pledged that the entire country would be carbon-neutral by 2021 – if Costa Rica reaches its goal, it will be the first country in the world to have entirely offset its carbon footprint!

In recognition of its environmental accomplishments and continued commitment, a joint study between Yale University and Columbia University ranked Costa Rica fifth in the world for superior environmental health and ecosystem vitality – the highest ranking in the Americas. In a nation so proudly protective of its biodiversity, Costa Rica’s tourism industry works diligently to provide eco-friendly products and services to their ecologically-conscious customers. As Mahatma Ghandi said, “be the change you wish to see in the world” – Costa Rica leads by example and so can you. From reducing your energy consumption to offsetting your carbon footprint, Costa Rica lets you travel green and with a clean conscience.

Hotels

Costa Rica’s tourism board, ICT, has developed the Sustainability Certification Program to help hotels recognize their impact on the environment and also to provide solid, eco-friendly options to tourists. The program focuses on Costa Rica’s diverse ecosystems and their delicate balance, and defines sustainability in the tourism industry as:

• Administration of Cultural and Natural Resources: Responsible and sustainable hotels must not exploit national resources – cultural, social, nor environmental – for their own development. They must strive to seek a balance, giving back to the community and land more than they receive.

• Economic Success that Contributes to National Development: Costa Rica’s resources are vast, but they are fixed – the country will never have more than what it possesses today. Sustainable hotels must dedicate themselves to protecting the environment and realizing conservation goals.

• Quality of Life Improvements in Surrounding Communities: In order to be sustainable, hotels must nurture the surrounding community. This may include employing local residents, promoting local attractions, and contributing time and resources to community development.

When booking your Costa Rican vacation, ask your travel agent for CST (Sustainably Certified) hotels and eco-lodges only. Rated on a sustainability scale of one to five (most sustainable), these hotels will provide you with the service and amenities you expect without compromising the environment. Rest assured that they implement ecological practices, among them:

• Proper disposal of produced waste.

• Measures to reduce or eliminate emissions.

• Exchange of harsh chemicals for eco-friendly, biodegradable and recyclable products.

• Implement a water and energy efficiency and conservation program.

• Patronize local companies instead of huge conglomerates.

Tours and Activities

In Costa Rica, the best way to go eco is to stay local. Ask your travel agent to arrange locally operated tours, patronize national parks, and embrace rural tourism.

• Local Tourism: Support the communities you visit by patronizing local companies. Request tours owned and operated by residents, eat at local restaurants, and hire local guides. Their knowledge and community pride will add a personalized touch to your vacation and your tourism dollars will help families and improve local communities.

• National Parks: Costa Rica’s private reserves and national parks benefit directly from your patronage, using profits to fund conservation projects and environmental education. Most national parks charge a very reasonable $10 entrance fee, which grants you access to a priceless web of trails and natural beauty.

• Rural Tourism: Rural tourism is important to the economic development of Costa Rica’s isolated areas, and your support will help these communities grow. Additionally, rural tourism offers a unique look into Costa Rican culture and life – learn to milk a cow with cowboys, participate in an indigenous ceremony, or indulge in a typical meal with a Costa Rican family

.• Tour Companies: Most of Costa Rica’s popular activities have several tours and options in each hotspot, so you’ll have your pick. When possible, choose sustainable tour companies, as defined by ICT and its Sustainability Program.

Transportation

When going on vacation, you can’t avoid planes, trains, and cars, but luckily, Costa Rica offers several transportation options for the eco-conscious consumer.

• Car Rental: When traveling to remote locations, you may decide that car rental is the only viable option. Don’t despair, there’s a solution: rent a car from one of the country’s carbon-neutral car rental companies. Reforestation and other carbon-offset projects help companies compensate for the effects their cars have on the environment.

• Domestic Flights: In 2004, one of Costa Rica’s premier domestic airlines went carbon-neutral. Its inexpensive flights use biofuel derived from cooking oil and will deliver you quickly and efficiently to many popular destinations without cause for environmental concern – their reforestation and rainforest conservation projects have helped the airline completely offset its carbon footprint.

• International Flights: Consider flying an eco-friendly airline into Costa Rica. These companies are committed to environmental leadership, research and the use of alternative fuels. Additionally, in November 2009, Costa Rica announced its intention to become the world’s first nation to offset its traveler’s carbon footprints. The federal government, in conjunction with Costa Rican tourism companies, will pay to offset all carbon emissions so you can fly guilt-free.

• Public Bus: Though often heralded as a budget-conscious option, Costa Rica’s public bus system is also very eco-friendly. Extensive, economical, and mostly punctual, public buses let you ride share with many passengers, therefore reducing your carbon footprint to almost nil.

• Public Shuttles: Hop aboard a sustainably certified, comfortable, air-conditioned van with passengers headed to the same destination. You’ll save some hard-earned cash – shared shuttles are inexpensive – and you won’t have to worry about getting lost. Best of all, your choice to travel via shuttle will save gasoline during the trip and at your vacation destination, where you can walk or hire taxis as needed.

Volunteering

If you’re passionate about the environment, love animals, or just want to make a difference in your free time, Costa Rica offers hundreds of responsible volunteer projects.

• National Parks and Private Reserves: Costa Rica’s national park system covers 26% of the country, offering a first-hand look into each diverse ecosystem. Volunteer to help maintain trails, tag plant species, and to keep the beaches clean.

•Conservation Projects: Work with private organizations to rehabiliate and care for injured wildlife, preserve the rainforest, create permanent biological corridors, and tag plant species.

• Turtle Protection: Costa Rica is one of the world’s most important sea turtle habitats – the country is home to six of the world’s eight species. Volunteers are invited to help in the research, tagging and protection of sea turtles, especially with Tortuguero’s Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC), one of the world’s premier turtle advocates, and along the Pacific coast.

• Village and Communities: Help Costa Rica’s small and rural communities to build infrastructure and become more sustainable. Plant trees, build recycling stations, help paint rainforest signage, and use your enthusiasm to inspire the next generation of eco crusaders.

• And so much more: Costa Rica’s volunteer opportunities are almost limitless. Contact your travel agent and explain your interests – you’ll have more than enough options to find your ideal eco volunteer experience.