The excitement of flying to Nosara Costa Rica

I have always enjoyed flying, I guess like a vast majority of people in the world, so after I found a good rate with Nature Air, for a flight to Nosara, I decided to use it to get to L’Acqua Viva Hotel during my last visit to this prestigious hotel. The experience of taking local flights while visiting Costa Ricais enhanced during the dry season thanks to the clear blue skies and the magnificent aerial views from the air.

I have always enjoyed flying, I guess like a vast majority of people in the world, so after I found a good rate with Nature Air, for a flight to Nosara, I decided to use it to get to L’Acqua Viva Hotel  during my last visit to this prestigious hotel. The experience of taking local flights while visiting Costa Ricais enhanced during the dry season thanks to the clear blue skies and the magnificent aerial views from the air.

The colorful small Twin Otter airplanes from Nature Air, with a maximum capacity of 18 passengers, are intelligently designed with big panoramic Windows, which are adequate for the tourists’ enjoyment while flying throughout the country.  We departed on time from the international airport Juan Santamaria overflying part of the city of San José, where we could appreciate its great location surrounded by beautiful blue mountains, some of which are imposant active volcanos: Poas and Irazú.

The Captain announced that due to the prevailing weather conditions during this time of the year we might encounter strong winds, which happened, and made the whole experience just more thrilling.



Our adventure continued overflying the mountain range, mostly covered with green dense vegetation of our tropical forests and wide rivers flowing towards the Pacific Coast, until all of a sudden the coastline and the ocean made their majestic appearence.  I was excited taking pictures and many of the other tourists on the plane did the same, even attempting selfies with that unique background.  On the ground you could see pristine, virgin extense beaches with dramatic reefs and sandy beaches, some white, some gray or brown, some champagne, but all beautiful and inviting, with lush green vegetation reaching out into the water.

 Last ones to appear were the two white sand beaches next to L’Acqua Viva Hotel, Playa Guiones, renown for its good conditions for surfers, both professionals and beginners and Playa Pelada, a more family oriented beach.

After landing I took a tuc-tuc motorcycle taxi which complimented my exciting experience, and took me to L’Acqua Viva Resort, considered the best hotel in this region.  I was glad I could check in into a comfortable suite and enjoy this relaxing oasis and nature sanctuary.

Article by Daniel Chavarría

Flowers for export in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is indeed a gifted place! Not only has a lot to offer tourists in terms of places of interest for they to visit and enjoy, but also because it has one of the most outrageous variety of diverse agricultural, and ornamental products. One of the reasons this takes place on this natured covered part of the world is because of its rich soils and plentiful bodies of water combined with the ideal environmental conditions of weather and climate which has converted Costa Rica into an agricultural country with many options for export, retail and wholesale of organic flowers that has made them so popular and, so far, a world demand.




Agricultures and people involved in the flower export business have become very serious on this process that once a flower is being exported, during the whole process, it will retain its own and unique essence.  Costa Rica’s flowers come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Let us show you a little bit more by describing some of our most endearing treasures from our very own nature’s catalogue:

Heliconia

Found in rainforests, Heliconias are widely cultivated as ornamental flowers. It is a herbaceous plant with a simple but unique picturesque leave in different shades of yellow, red and deep orange tones growing opposite one another on non-woody petioles often longer than the leaf.

Anthurium

This bright spathed statement flower comes in a variety of shades which might include green, white, dark pink, pale pink and red . They quite extravagant and will look very elegant in a bouquet and arrangements.

Orchids

Costa Rica’s national flower comes in many colors including The most popular flower for most brides is the orchid.  Orchids come in many colors, including red, purple, fuchsia, white with yellow, white with purple, orange, green yellow, just to mention some. People have the tendency to think that due to its exuberant elegance and beauty, they may be quite expensive. Let me tell you they can be moderately too high priced, depending on season and availability.

As you can see Costa Rica keeps surprising their tourists among its own natural gardens gifted with all its wonderful creations. Visit Costa Rica and see for yourself what we are here talking about!

All of these flowers are growing in the Else Kientzler Botanical Garden in Costa Rica, and are grown for export by their business, Innovaplant.

The beautiful Costa Rica botanical garden of Else Kientzler features more than 2,000 species of exotic tropical plants from around the globe. The Else Kientzler Botanical Garden is open every day from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Guided walks are available in English, Spanish and German with advance reservations, or you can go on a self-guided tour.

By: Gabriela Serrano

Costa Rica is trying to save Americans & Canadians

Essential Costa Rica’s new campaign wants to help save overworked Americans and Canadians from stressful environments and long working hours by drawing them to come visit its natural paradise.
According to its website 59% of Americans feel vacation deprived, and also leave over 500,000,000 vacation days unused. The campaign shows these workers as animals in danger that need to be saved.
Save the American’s website offers traveling ideas and tips to learn when visiting Costa Rica, it displays a map with habitat divisions by region, culture, nature and adventure in case they don’t know where to start and what to visit. These activities and adventures can be done with Horizonte Nature Tours  from visiting national parks to adventure tours all around the country.
Costa Rica is one of the world's most unique tourist destinations. Its natural beauty, pleasant climate, beautiful beaches and easy going people make the country an attractive, must see part of the world.
If you know you are an American or Canadian endangered, what are you waiting for? Act now and book your next vacation, come live paradise in Costa Rica and leave all your troubles at work.
You can watch the campaign’s video here:


By Maria Laura Charles

A little more about Atenas town´s history: Mules, Oxcarts and the train, how were they related?

Costa Rica has a lot to share and you, a lot to discover from this small country. Its history contains many important facts, lots of which are not so well known. This is the case of how mules, oxcarts, and trains, through time helped to create an important route for the future development and growth of the country, all happening here in Atenas, Costa Rica.

Let´s go back in time to give you a little stroke of what was the situation in Costa Rica in colonial times.

It was the year 1640 and the only way to get around the countries in Central America, was through a well known road, if you can call it a road, named “Camino Real” the Royal Road. These paths and trails left San José and continued its way down to a narrow bridge that crossed the Rio Grande River in Atenas, making all the way to Guatemala.  During the XIX century, the coffee export expansion started to increase and became Costa Rica´s most important export product, which led coffee growers to put a lot more interest in the building of a new road uniting the Central Valley with the port of Puntarenas, where coffee was sent to Europe through the Cabo de Hornos in South America. The road was then built in 1843, replacing mules for oxcarts and oxen giving it the commonly name of “Camino de Carretas” (Oxcart Road). 

This road became very important for Atenas since it was the reason for its development and growth as many “sesteos” or boarding houses sprang up along the way to accommodate the boyeros (ox cart drivers) as well as stables where the oxen and horses could rest. Nights filled with music from guitars, accordions, and the typical marimbas surrounded the environment either serenading lovers or setting up the stage for an unforgettable “bailongo” (tradicional dancing party) , while the smell of fresh poured coffee and other typical foods such as tamales and tortillas captivated  the oxcart drivers or “boyeros”, who sometimes traveled along with their families, to spend the night in town.

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The road grew very much in traffic but remained narrow in many sections causing accidents and fights and it was necessary to start setting up a set rules and fines in order to organize the oxcart movement.  Some of them restarted travelling right after the “bailongo”, where they had drunk more “Guaro de Caña” (sugar cane moonshine) than they could handle and jumped in their oxcarts and let, literally, that their good old friends, the oxen, drive them since they knew the way home by heart. This gave birth to the Costa Rican saying “montarse en la carreta” (jump on the wagon) referring to somebody who is drunk.

The road lost its importance on July 1910 when a new railway service started, loosing against progress and new technology. The camino de carretas made some of the towns along the way, including our lovely town of Atenas, become a distant memory in the heart of the people of Costa Rica.

But Atenas did not want to disappear. It  continued its way to grow back and be recognized for its importance as a coffee growing region filled with majestic landscapes and one of the best climates in the world, and since the railroad passed through the heart of the town it allowed visitors from the capital city to continue enjoying this lovely town.

 Nowadays, the train doesn´t work anymore and the only thing remaining which stays intact is a vast group of sweet memories from those good old railroad times, which are carefully and perfectly stored at the Atenas Railway Museum located at the same old railway station. This museum has been opened to the public since September of 2001 and receives visitors on Sundays and holidays from 9am to 6pm.

The museum shows samples of photographs, tools, and objects used during those old railroad times. It is a very nice way to come close with this piece of Costa Rica´s history and for the visitor a unique opportunity to go back in time and understand how everything combined to build what is today your very own Atenas!

Looking to move to Atenas Costa Rica? Try Atenas Real Estate. Reliable realtors Dennis Easters and Gerardo Gonzalez-Porras of Pure Life Development of Atenas offer the best Atenas homes for sale and Atenas real estate.
Article by Gabriela Serrano

Tell a Tale of a Tail of a Whale Seen in Costa Rica!

Something unique you can’t miss when you visit Dominical Beach.

Bahía Ballena (Whale Bay) is located in the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, within the canton of Osa. It’s only 15 minutes south of the town that is very well known for surfers: Dominical. Surrounded by a majestic natural splendor of the southern Pacific region, Dominical town offers its visitors this God’s breathtaking and exclusive nature’s spot.

The main reason for this given name comes from the giant sandbar whale- like tail pattern, when seen from above, formed during low tide at the north end of the Ballena Marine National Park beach.
Sharing a length of about 2296 feet and a width of 820 feet, it is the world’s third largest sandbank. People easily walk to the end of this sand formation without any trouble during any time of the year. You just have to be sure it’s low tide time so you can make your walk back without any mayor difficulties.

Due to its perfect location on the Pacific Ocean, whales from the north and south come to give birth here. Bahía Ballena offers then, not one but two whale watching seasons throughout the year. The Southern Humpback whales come to the national park between mid-July to October late, and then from mid-December through late March it’s the turn of the Northern Humpback Whales.


So what do you say? Put Whale Bay on your future visiting spots for this New Year’s next getaway, and have a tale of a tail to tell your friends back home, you hear?

Central America Travel Experience spcializes in leisure travel, honeymoon programas, family travel , adventure travel and much more, all around Central America. Let us join you along your Central America travel experience.

We don’t have a team of sales people, we have advisors that will make your dream of visiting Costa Rica, a reality and so much more. Relax in the hands of our experts and get ready to enjoy!

By Gabriela Serrano

"Fiestas Bravas" in Costa Rica

Guanacaste’s celebrations are coming up, exciting dates for this side of the country; full of traditional activities, typical music and folklore dancing.
Up coming for the week of January 15th we have lots of festivities in Santa Cruz, typical Costa Rican rural town, where people gather to celebrate with typical music, folkloric dancing and bullfighting to honor the Black Christ of Esquipulas.

Since 1926 it’s celebrated in commemoration of their catholic religion when Christ suffered before being crucified.

In the corners of the main streets of Santa Cruz marimbas are located to brighten the atmosphere; while the bullfights are held where many people come to a roundabout on the main square to challenge the bulls.

During the week they also celebrate the famous horsemen activity “tope” where hundreds of people from all over the country come with their horses and typical costumes to the main streets of the city and parade. During this activity many tourists rent horses and participate in the festival.

Dancing in the park to the sound of marimba music is another traditional activity, among local meals prepared as part of the celebration including the “rosquillas”, sweet “tamal” and coyol wine.

Santa Cruz is a beautiful town filled with friendly and openhearted people who are always open to help tourists when needed. The town is also close to some of the most popular beaches in Costa Rica, which they have buses travelling back and forth almost each hour.

Between the last week of February and early March the “Fiestas Cívicas” of Liberia are held where folklore and traditions are celebrated with music, rides and concerts throughout Liberia.

The city of Liberia is located on the plains of the province of Guanacaste. It has a warm but dry climate characteristic of the area. Its name comes from the Latin "liber" meaning free and independent.

At just 13 miles away from Liberia and 72 from Santa Cruz, in the surroundings of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin is one of the best places to stay in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Now for these celebration dates, you can also enjoy great Costa Rica travel deals at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin and enjoy Guanacaste’s festivities.

Costa Rica's love for “fiesta” is contagious; taste the food, make friends, enjoy traditions and party with the ticos are musts you can’t miss during these dates in Guanacaste, activities you can enjoy at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin.

By Maria Laura Charles

2015 Envision Festival is Coming

For its fifth year Envision Festival returns to Costa Rica, where thousands of socially conscious people from all over the world gather together to share a magical experience of culture, art, music, yoga, meditation and pure nature.

The 2015 Envision Festival  will be held from February 26th to March 1st at Rancho La Merced in Uvita, Costa Rica, next to the Marino Ballena National Park, famous for its beautiful Whale’s Tail sandbar formation.

 The festival is known for its great music performances with an excellent lineup of amazing artists. The building, lighting, sound and ambiance make it a wonderful experience. You can check out the lineup here.

 It’s also full of art and educational workshops  for spiritual activities like yoga and meditation. There are new healthy organic dishes to try and unique handmade products to purchase. There is also a small camp for kids and families.

 The whole location is surrounded by stunning natural settings to visit and enjoy.

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“Our focus on sustainability, art, sacred movement, culture, education and world music along with the natural majestic beauty of Costa Rica ensures that Envision is nothing like anyone has ever seen. This is why we live by the phrase 'Vive La Experiencia' or 'Live the Experience'. You just need to experience Envision… there's no other way to put it," says founder Justin Brothers.

Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living is just a short drive up the coast to the north. It is located between Uvita and the Manuel Antonio National Park, just 10 minutes from the turtle-nesting beach of Matapalo. It has luxury vacation home rentals and tropical bungalows, and also offers Costa Rican property for sale.

The Costa Rican sustainable community has private trails in the jungle, rivers and waterfalls with natural pools, comfortable lodging, and spa services. If you would like to attend the Envision Festival, but prefer a more comfortable, calmer stay, this might be the place for you.

By Maria Laura Charles