Travel agents & airlines inspired by Costa Rica travel

In these digital times, with the internet flooded with travel websites, it's easy to think that no one needs travel agents anymore. But in fact, travel specialists have become more important than ever for people who want personalized service and luxurious touches on their trips.

The continued popularity of travel agents was evidenced by the big attendance at Educational Travel Agents Seminars held recently in three major cities in California by members of the Pro Image Costa Rica Group. Hundreds of travel specialists in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego attended the seminars, held from July 21 to 24, 2015, to learn how to sell Costa Rica vacations and travel to Costa Rica.

“We had very high quality agencies and tourism companies attending, who were seriously interested in business in Costa Rica. We are very pleased with the results,” commented Daniel Chavarria, president of the Pro Image Costa Rica Group. “California is a market that has a lot of interest for Costa Rica. We are really content that so many people came, even more than planned.”



The Pro Image Costa Rica Group is an alliance of tourism companies that promote tourism in Costa Rica as an attractive destination internationally. With the support of the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT), since 1997, the Pro Image Costa Rica Group has strengthened Costa Rica’s image in traditional markets such as the United States, Canada, Germany, and Spain, and is opening new tourism markets in South America, Europe and Asia.

More than 300 travel agents in all three California cities eagerly learned how to sell Costa Rica travel, attending events of dinners, cocktail receptions, trade shows and sales meetings. The three high-profile travel events were supported by leading travel wholesalers to Costa Rica, including Pleasant Holidays, Festival Tours, Passport Costa Rica and Apple Vacations, and representatives from United Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines and Alaska Airlines – all solid partners with regular flights to Costa Rica from the U.S.

Costa Rican tourism companies made valuable contacts eager to do business in groups, weddings, health tourism, honeymoons, fishing and incentive travel, Chavarria noted. Future Educational Travel Agents Seminars will be held from Sept. 22 to 25, 2015 in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore in the USA, and later this year in South America and Mexico.

Article by Shannon Farley

The fun never stops in Playa del Coco Costa Rica

For me, there’s nothing better than the sound of waves on the beach, the smell of salty sea air, fresh breezes and sunshine. The ocean has a way of relaxing us and giving us a sense of bliss and peace.

Nearly all of Costa Rica’s two million-plus tourists each year visit at least one beach during their vacation. Logistics are easy given that the San Jose International Airport is a little less than one hour from the closest Pacific Coast beach, and it only takes 30 minutes or so to get to the coast from the Liberia International Airport in Guanacaste in the north Pacific.

Called “El Coco” by Costa Ricans or “Coco Beach” by foreign visitors and residents, Playa del Coco Costa Rica is one of the oldest beach communities in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The festive beach has long been a popular tourist destination for both foreigners and Costa Ricans, and is one of the fastest growing areas of tourism in Costa Rica.

People come from all over to visit this tranquil horseshoe-shaped bay to relax and enjoy the village’s ongoing beach party. The village is always hopping with happy people and lots going on at plenty of restaurants, bars, casinos, discos and shops. Newly opened this month in Playa del Coco is the second Hard Rock Café in Costa Rica.

Hills surrounding the bay and three little islands offshore of the grey sand beach provide beautiful views. Things to do in Playa del Coco include scuba diving, snorkeling, world-class sportfishing, boating, surfing, horseback riding, hiking, and zip lines. Nearby is the Las Baulas National Marine Park where you can see nesting Leatherback, Pacific Green and Hawksbill sea turtles.



Costa Rica condo rentals and Costa Rica vacation homes are your best bet for places to stay in Playa del Coco. It’s like having your own luxury beach home in Costa Rica while on vacation. You have privacy, freedom and comfort for an affordable price at vacation rentals in Playa del Coco.

All Costa Rica Rental, which manages a group of vacation rentals in Costa Rica, is your best source for Costa Rica beach rentals in Playa del Coco. Contact them today to see what vacation homes and condos are available for your holiday.

Getting to Playa del Coco Costa Rica is easy. Playa del Coco is located approximately 22 miles (35 km) from the city of Liberia, the capital of the Guanacaste province in Costa Rica, and 17 miles (27 km) from the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia.

Article by Shannon Farley

New Costa Rica mountain biking tour rides Rincon de la Vieja Volcano

If you like the thrill of riding rough and fast down the rugged terrain of an active volcano in Costa Rica, passing through rainforest, splashing through rivers and getting muddy, then this new mountain biking tour is for you.

In Guanacaste, Costa Rica – a major area for mountain biking – Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin has created the Iron-Horse Downhill Mountain Bike Tour for travelers who want to experience the unparalleled adventure of mountain biking in Costa Rica.

Over the years, Costa Rica has become a top destination for superb mountain biking. It started 23 years ago with the debut of the annual “La Ruta de los Conquistadores” (The Route of the Conquistadors), one of the toughest mountain bike races in the world, crossing Costa Rica from the Pacific Coast to the Caribbean in only three days.


Mountain biking in Costa Rica has taken off from there – increasing in popularity and attracting mountain bikers from around the world to ride the Central American country’s roads, tracks and trails, and to compete in annual races. Now in its third year, the annual Rincón de la Vieja Challenge extreme mountain bike race circumnavigates the active Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste for a 100-mile (160 km) ride in 12 hours. This year’s race happens on Aug. 22, 2015 at eco-adventure hotel Hacienda Guachipelin.

The award-winning hotel, located next to the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park, offers the best Costa Rica adventure tours – zip-lines, canyoning, waterfall rappelling, river tubing, horseback riding, mountain biking, nature trails, and natural volcanic hot springs. It also is headquarters for the famous international adventure race The North Face Endurance Challenge Costa Rica, held annually in May.


The brilliant and unique aspect about the Iron-Horse Downhill Mountain Bike Tour is that it includes horseback riding, waterfalls, mountain biking, river tubing and zip-lines all in one full-day tour. A shortened half-day tour also is available.

You start out riding Hacienda Guachipelin’s ranch horses up the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano slopes into higher elevation rainforest to a waterfall where you can go for a quick swim. Then you’ll descend the volcano by mountain bike, riding tracks and dirt roads through the forest, crossing rivers and open fields. When you get to the Negro River, you’ll jump into river tubing right away, a really fun and refreshing adventure. Then it’s back to the hotel for a sumptuous lunch, and an afternoon of flying through the trees on zip-lines to finish a day you’ll never forget.


The tour requires two persons minimum, ages 16 years and older. Difficulty level is medium. Tours include: Full suspension bike or hard tail bike, helmet, gloves, assistance vehicle, hydration, backup equipment (extra bicycles), and bilingual mountain biking guides (English-Spanish). Contact Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin for tour and hotel reservations.


Article by Shannon Farley

Santa Teresa Costa Rica restaurant masters fresh, novel cuisine

It’s a simple recipe: Fresh, good food.

The Buddha Eyes Restaurant at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica has that recipe down to perfection.

Now it’s even better. Known in the popular beach town for its fresh, healthy, innovative cuisine, Buddha Eyes Restaurant recently changed its dinner menu to bring back old favorites and give diners new dishes to look forward to trying.

“Over the years, many different chefs had brought their influences to the hotel menu. We wanted to find 12 star dishes that really identified Pranamar that we could return to with our dinner menu,” commented Pranamar chef Randall Gamboa.

Dishes like Garlic Prawns Pasta in a delicious zucchini and mint cream – a specialty of Pranamar chef Claudio “Ciccio” Mazzone. Or local white fish in an exquisite lemon cream accompanied with potato puree and local vegetables, and chicken cacciatore cooked with red wine and kalamata olives accompanied with herbal risotto and local vegetables.



The new menu is collaboration between both chefs – Randall Gamboa from the Nosara area of Costa Rica, who specializes in Costa Rican flavors, and Claudio “Ciccio” Mazzone from Rome, Italy, an expert in Mediterranean cuisine. There are two selections each of vegetarian, white fish, tuna, shrimp, chicken and beef dishes. Every day there are specials, like Napoli Salad with buffalo mozzarella, Italian salami, kalamata olives, and cherry tomatoes with mixed greens; or eggplant parmesan, from Mazzone’s own grandmother’s prized recipe.

Pranamar’s restaurant sources the freshest ingredients, using organic and locally produced products whenever possible – such as fresh produce grown naturally and hydroponically at local organic farm Hacienda Okhra. Pranamar buys fish fresh each day from local fishermen in Santa Teresa and Malpais. Regional southern Nicoya Peninsula farmers provide the hotel with grass-fed beef and free-range chicken and eggs. The beachfront Santa Teresa Costa Rica hotel also grows some of its vegetables, herbs and fruit.

Chef Gamboa said they are more than happy to accommodate special dietary needs – vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc. The menu notes dishes which can be gluten or dairy free.



Overlooking the lagoon-style pool at the Costa Rica beach resort, the open-air Buddha Eyes Restaurant sports relaxed elegance under beautiful high bamboo ceilings. It’s a place where you can feel at home. Kick your shoes off on the tropical wood floor and relax.

“We are a personalized restaurant where we welcome people like family,” said Gamboa. “We’ve brought together a team of people who are local, well-trained, and who value dedication to work. We work together, surf together and have fun together. We’re like family and we want guests to feel like family with us when they come here.”



The Buddha Eyes Restaurant is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. For reservations, call 2640-0852.

Or better yet, be a guest at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and have insider access to the fabulous restaurant.

The gorgeous, Bali-style boutique hotel is right on the beach at Playa Hermosa of Santa Teresa with elaborate beachfront villas and luxury two-story villas built around a free-form pool and tropical gardens. Playa Hermosa recently was honored once again with the Costa Rica Ecological Blue Flag Award for being one of the cleanest beaches in the country.



Pranamar Villas Costa Rica specializes in yoga classes and yoga retreats, and Costa Rica surf holidays. The hotel recently was awarded TripAdvisor’s 2015 Certificate of Excellence, and was named a Top 5 Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica by Travel & Leisure Magazine.

Article by Shannon Farley

Why you want this unique eco-community as a Costa Rica property investment

You’ve been to Costa Rica on vacation, and you’ve thought: “Wouldn’t it be great to live there?” Or, invest in a vacation home that you can rent out and visit frequently?

Besides being one of the top five best places in the world to retire according to the 2015 International Living Retirement Index, a lot of people from other countries invest in real estate in Costa Rica for vacation homes and rentals.

But where do you start to look for Costa Rica property investment ?

Location is most important. Two of the main attractions of Costa Rica are the rainforest and its beaches. If you’re a nature lover and sustainability and being environmental are important to you, keep reading. There’s an extraordinary eco-development on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast that’s perfect for you.

Portasol  Rainforest & Ocean View Living

Set on 1,335 acres of pure rainforest along the coast, Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living is a unique, sustainable residential eco-community. Portasol’s location is ideal – close to the renowned Manuel Antonio National Park and beaches, the popular surf town of Dominical, and remarkable whale-watching in the Ballena Marine National Park. Minutes away are the beautiful undiscovered tropical beaches of Playa Linda and Playa Matapalo. Rivers and waterfalls flow freely at Portasol making lots of great natural swimming pools. Miles of unobtrusive hiking and mountain biking trails crisscross the development.

Being a sustainable gated community, Portasol Living protects 83% of its land as green space. Two hundred acres of virgin forest have been set aside as a private nature reserve, and there is a community regulation that only 15% of each lot may be used for construction and the remaining space preserved naturally.

Portasol Living is being developed in phases. There are currently 56 lots developed with a total of 180 planned. At present, there are seven new properties available for sale and 11 lots available for re-sale, ranging in size from 1.2 acres up to 11 acres at prices ranging from $46,000 to $300,000. Only six houses have been built so far in the development; four are used as Costa Rica vacation home rentals and two are for sale. Property owners come from all over the world.

Lots are positioned between 250 and 1,800 feet above sea level on mountain terrain covered with forest; each has road access, water, satellite TV, telephone and electricity supplied to the property line. Features include: ocean and mountain views, mature rainforest, river or creek boundaries, and access to trails and public areas. Portasol Living offers financing options for land purchases and home construction, and can assist with architects and building contractors.



What do people say about Portasol Living?

“I first visited Costa Rica in 1998 and fell in love with the people, the climate, and the nature and its beauty,” commented Portasol property owner, Barrett Klutts of North Carolina, USA. “After looking for a place to call home in an extensive search in 2006, I found Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living, located in the most beautiful and best climate part of the country.”

Klutts, who owns Klutts Property Management, a large residential property management company in Charlotte, North Carolina, bought a property in Portasol Living and built his dream retirement home – Casa Monos Locos (“Crazy Monkeys House”). He uses the fabulous house in the rainforest with ocean views for a very popular vacation home rental, until he is ready to retire.



Thomas Paul, of Connecticut, USA, owns several investment properties in the Manuel Antonio area of Costa Rica, and runs the management company of the Tulemar Resort. Portasol Living’s commitment to sustainability and land protection are what attracted him last year to buy and remodel the luxury vacation home, Casa de Paz (“Peace House”).

“I really liked the whole concept behind Portasol – the extent of the acreage and the amount that will remain jungle, and the size of the properties themselves. Also very important to me is the fact it is a gated community and is very secure. Portasol is environmentally unique within Costa Rica and is unlikely to be duplicated,” said Paul.

“We offer a unique, real Costa Rican ambience – both cultural and environmental. It is a place of total peace in a strategic location,” summed up Portasol CEO, Guillermo Piedra Gonzalez. Come to Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living on vacation and explore the eco-development’s many Costa Rica properties for sale.

Property

Services at Portasol Living

• Water: Numerous springs and ground water at Portasol guarantee an abundance of fresh, potable water.
• Electricity: Residents have 110 and 220 volts available to the property line.
• Security: Access to Portasol is controlled by a private gate and 24-hour security personnel.
  
  
  
  
• Telephone: Land lines are available on most of the lots; mobile phones have reception throughout most areas of Portasol.
• Internet Wi-Fi is available.
• TV: Satellite dish technology is available.
• Garbage collection: Living regulations call for recycling and garbage collection on a fee basis.
• Roads in the developed areas are graveled and well-maintained.
• Rain drainage: The community is integrated with the natural terrain. Engineered planning and construction has created a very successful system of culverts and ditches, making the hydrologic environmental impact very low.
• Sewage water disposition: Portasol has a carefully designed system of septic tanks to be implemented by property owners in their construction.

Article by Shannon Farley

 

Why you need to start off every vacation with a relaxing massage

Have you ever had that feeling when you go on vacation, that you’re not really relaxed almost until it’s coming to an end?

There is no better quick entry into that unstressed relaxation mode on vacation than getting a massage or spa treatment. It really is amazing how 60 or 90 minutes of making your muscles and body relax can instantly produce those feelings of bliss and well-being. I recommend getting a massage the day after arrival on vacation to soothe travel-weary muscles.

Massage therapy benefits you by relaxing tight muscles, easing stress, increasing circulation, releasing toxins, and benefiting your whole body in positive ways. Massage can boost your health and keep you feeling full of vitality.

It's easy to fall into being tired, stressed, anxious or exhausted with so many things competing for our attention in our accelerated lives; yet it often seems there isn’t enough time to counteract all of that with something positive like the healing benefits of massage.

While on vacation in Costa Rica, take time for a massage. Your body will thank you, and you’ll feel much more refreshed to fully enjoy your downtime.



When visiting the Costa Rica Caribbean Coast, take advantage of the spa services at Hotel Le Caméléon, on Playa Cocles just past Puerto Viejo. The upscale Costa Rica boutique hotel features modern rooms, beautiful tropical architecture, a gourmet restaurant, and the marvelous beach club La Sula Sea Lounge on Playa Cocles – one of the prettiest Costa Rica Caribbean beaches. Le Caméléon has been awarded the prestigious TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2015.



Professional therapists offer spa services using 100% natural products, such as local organically-grown cacao for a chocolate body therapy and massage, and cured smooth bamboo from the region used in a relaxing bamboo massage. See the full Le Cameleon Spa Menu; English is on the second page.

Hotel Le Caméléon also offers yoga and customized Pilates classes.


How to get to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Daily 30-minute flights to Limon from San Jose on Nature Air or Sansa Airlines make it easy to get to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. From Limon, it is a short drive less than an hour to Puerto Viejo and Playa Cocles. The drive from San Jose to Puerto Viejo is approximately 4.5 hours.
Article by Shannon Farley

Why you want to use a real estate agent in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s real estate market is on the rise again and foreign investors are heading to the popular Central American country for retirement or a simpler place to live, or to invest in a Costa Rica vacation home or other property investment. The good news is that foreigners can legally own property in Costa Rica.

Even the savviest home buyer should pause before entering into a real estate deal in a foreign country. There is no way to know everything you need to without years of on-the-ground experience. Whether you are interested in purchasing land, a home, condo or commercial property in Costa Rica, you want to be informed to make the best decisions. This is where you need a professional Costa Rica realtor.

Buying or selling a property anywhere can be a challenge if you are on your own. Buying property in Costa Rica has the added challenges of a different system and language from North America, for instance. Although Costa Rica is considered one of the best Latin American countries regarding foreign investment and ownership rights, there are still things to look out for. Do your property homework, and with a good professional realtor by your side, you’ll be enjoying your new home or life adventure in no time.

Why you should use a real estate agent in Costa Rica

1) You get access to scores of listings, and someone helping you select the right properties to see based on your requirements and interests. In Costa Rica there is no MLS (multiple listing service), which is a centralized, national database of all real estate for sale. If you use a professional Costa Rica real estate agency, you will have access to a diversified portfolio of properties for sale – including properties not yet listed for sale or actively advertised (“pocket listings”). This is especially true in Costa Rica where for sale signs are not commonly used.


2) Real estate agents know the history of a home or property, the location, neighborhood, town and region.

3) You can obtain recommendations for reputable professionals for home and property inspections. Your real estate agent can help you to coordinate these.

4) Real estate agents can help you negotiate a fair purchase price, along with financing, terms, date of possession, and the inclusion or exclusion of repairs, furnishings or equipment. Statistics show that realtors can typically negotiate and save you more money than negotiating on your own.

5) Professional real estate agents will work with a reputable lawyer who specializes in real estate transactions and title searches, and is completely bilingual with experience working with foreign clients.

6) A real estate agent can lead you through the closing process and make sure everything flows together smoothly, so that you come to the closing table with no surprises.

7) Working with a professional realtor helps to alleviate much of the stress involved in purchasing a new home or property. A realtor can help you connect utilities, arrange moving services, purchase furniture, and introduce you to the local community, among other things.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN ATENAS, COSTA RICA

In beautiful Atenas, Costa Rica, the real estate agency Pure Life Development of Atenas specializes in Atenas homes for sale, Costa Rica properties for sale and Costa Rica vacation homes. Atenas, Costa Rica realtors Dennis Easters and Gerardo Gonzalez-Porras are experts in buying and selling real estate in Costa Rica, land development and home construction in Costa Rica.

Both Easters, a licensed realtor from Florida and real estate professional for 22 years, and his Costa Rican partner Gerardo Gonzalez-Porras are certified with the Costa Rica Chamber of Real Estate. They have been successfully helping customers find new homes in Atenas, Costa Rica for 10 years.

Article by Shannon Farley

Fascinating history of Nosara Costa Rica reveals unusual beginning

The history of a place can tell you a lot about its people, culture and environment, and what makes everything tick.

In the case of Nosara, Costa Rica, its unusual and unlikely history strongly influenced how the area developed and how its communities live and thrive today.

Nosara, and its beaches of Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada, Playa Nosara and Playa Garza, are definitely off the beaten track in Costa Rica. The small towns lie on the Nicoya Peninsula, north of Samara, in the Guanacaste Province. The one road to get there is dirt and gravel, after you turn off the main thoroughfare. The community vibe is relaxed and decidedly “hippie” thanks to the abundance of surfers and yoga enthusiasts who live here, which is where the area’s modern-day history begins.



Pre-modern day history includes a large settlement of indigenous Chorotegas, who lived in the region beginning approximately 1,500 years ago and flourished until around 1520, when the first Spaniards arrived on the Nicoya Peninsula. Over the next decades, the Spanish rulers decimated the tribe by sending thousands to work in the gold mines of Panama and Peru, and took possession of their lands.



The Spanish settlers quickly converted the Nicoya Peninsula into huge cattle ranches. The cattle trade prospered here, along with cultivation of wheat and sugarcane. From this, the cowboy culture of Nicoya is still prevalent today among local residents. Life went on this way for generations.

The land was greatly deforested for cattle pasture, and it was to this stark coastal landscape that the first surfer from the United States happened upon the place in the early 1970s. He discovered the still fabulous surfing waves at Playa Guiones, and the word began to spread, with other surfers trickling down over the next years.



By this time, the Nosara area was made up of five or six large ranches. Modern-day pioneers from the United States, seeking a simpler and more peaceful lifestyle, purchased three of these ranches in the early 1970s. The nearly 3,000 acres became known as “the American Project” – a responsibly planned development originally consisting of about 700 lots and an 18-hole golf course.



A lot next to the beach started at $3,000, and electricity was only available four hours a day from a generator. Townspeople used to have to make a two-and-a-half-day horseback trip to the large town of Nicoya for supplies, and the first building supplies were brought in by boat and then oxcart. That ended in 1979 with Nosara’s first dirt road.

Municipal electricity began in the early 1980s. Landline phone service first started in 1999 and cell phone service in 2002. Before then, CB radios were standard fixtures in homes for communication. Nowadays, you have all of the modern amenities: high-speed Internet, cable and satellite TV, fully-stocked grocery stores and plenty of restaurants.

The Nosara Civic Association formed at the beginning to protect the environment and community’s interests. Reforestation was a priority, and today, thick dry tropical forest grows over the hillsides and along the coast. The original developers’ promise of a golf course was never realized, but that land is officially protected.

According to the community’s clear conservation policy, a buffer zone of 250 linear meters protects the beach at Guiones from any permanent construction as a wildlife refuge for nesting sea turtles. Homes, hotels and businesses are all set back from the beach. As a result Nosara’s beaches annually receive Costa Rica’s Ecological Blue Flag Award.



The Nosara community’s unique kinship of Costa Ricans and “gringos”, or foreigners, remains to this day. Though there are growing pains, like anywhere, residents take pride in working together on continued community planning and management of resources.

The Nosara, Costa Rica area was recommended as one of the best places to go by CNN and National Geographic. Playa Guiones at Nosara is still renowned for the best surfing in Costa Rica.


Visit Nosara for a Costa Rica beach vacation and stay at L'acqua Viva Resort & Spa, a leading eco-friendly hotel in Playa Guiones at Nosara. The Bali-style Costa Rica luxury hotel is located between the beautiful white sand beach of Playa Guiones and forested foothills, full of wildlife like frequently visiting howler monkeys.

L'acqua Viva Resort & Spa is an Enchanting Costa Rica Hotel.



Article by Shannon Farley  

Costa Rica celebrates Guanacaste Day 2015

Guanacaste – the northwest province of Costa Rica – is known for its rolling grassy plains, “Gold Coast” beaches, towering mountains and volcanoes, sunny dry climate and unique dry tropical forest. For generations “Guanacastecos,” as the residents here are called, have been dedicated to farming, cattle and horse ranching. The “sabanero” (cowboy) traditions, folklore, music and dance are deeply rooted in the country’s culture.

But Guanacaste wasn’t always a part of Costa Rica. Once belonging to Nicaragua, the province joined Costa Rica in 1824, celebrated as the Annexation of Guanacaste Day on July 25. The region’s residents are proud to be Costa Rican. Their motto is “de la patria por nuestra voluntad”, which means “part of this country by our own choice”.

A brief history of Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Most of Central America, once called the Kingdom of Guatemala, belonged to Spain. In 1821, when Central America declared its independence from Spain, the area was divided into five provinces which later became republics: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The region of Nicoya, now called Guanacaste, was considered part of Nicaragua.

However, Nicaragua was involved in many civil wars at the time and was somewhat hostile to the Nicoyans. Costa Rica was stable politically and had a trading relationship with Nicoya. So when the Costa Rica government invited Nicoya to join their country, the Nicoyans agreed. The Central American Federation approved the annexation and on July 25, 1824, Nicoya officially united with Costa Rica.

The region officially became a Costa Rican province in 1848 and was renamed after Costa Rica’s national tree the Guanacaste. The province of Guanacaste covers 3,915 square miles with 11 counties; the capital of the province is Liberia. The Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia (LIR) is the principal airport for Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province.



Celebrating Guanacaste Day

This year’s Guanacaste Day 2015 commemorates the 191^st anniversary of the annexation. July 25 is a nationwide public holiday (banks, schools and government offices are closed).

The revelry is especially big in Guanacaste and usually lasts for several days. There are parades, concerts, folk dances, cattle and horse shows, fireworks and traditional foods. Costa Rica’s national instrument, the marimba, features prominently in typical music. Bull riding and bullfights are also traditional, although the Tico style of bullfighting does not hurt the bull.


Hotels in Guanacaste Costa Rica

Next to the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park, 13 miles from Liberia, Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin is one of the best places to stay in Guanacaste. Since 1985, the adventure eco-tourism hotel has been hosting visitors from all over the world on their horse and cattle ranch. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin offers the best Costa Rica adventure tours, and has been awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.

Article by Shannon Farley