A local song in Costa Rica (‘rich coast’ in the Spanish language) states that once upon a time, Virgin Mary left heaven to vacation in Costa Rica…. and never returned there because she found the country so stunningly beautiful!
A nice introduction for a relatively small Central American country sandwiched between Nicaragua to the North and Panama to the south, but which had more than 2 million visitors in 2008, coming in from countries all across the Americas and Western Europe.
The tourism boom, which is now the biggest foreign exchange earner for Costa Rica, started off in the 1980s when ecotourism became the buzz word. The country boasts the world’s highest ratio of land covered by reserved and other forested areas as compared to total land mass of the country, at 25%. It also has an astonishing 5% of the world’s total bio-diversity! The country is one of the pioneers of and at the forefront of ecotourism, with a well structured program that ensures a balance between sustainable ecological development and responsible business activities, specially related to tourism.
Tourist arrivals are heaviest between autumn and spring peaking in winter, especially around Christmas and the New Year. While the more than 9 extensive private and public nature reserves are the biggest draw for tourists to Costa Rica, there are at least 6 large and imposing volcanoes across Costa Rica that attract its own share of visitors. Those more inclined to vacation on the sea beach have a choice of more than 12 public beaches scattered across both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. There are a number of rivers which attract anglers, while Cocos Island, recently nominated as one of the entries of the ‘New 7 Wonders of Nature’ pulls a large number of tourists on its own.
Besides the natural attractions listed above, most of which are located near towns and cities that provide the best facilities to tourists, other places to visit in the country include the National Theatre and zoo in the capital San Jose as well as the numerous museums, churches, basilicas, archaeological sites and ports spread across a number of cities throughout Costa Rica. Tourists more inclined to adventure sports can choose between surfing, rafting, sky diving, bungee jumping, snorkeling and trekking.
New Year Eve and the New Year itself is celebrated like a carnival, with massive fireworks displays (both coordinated and not!), street music, dances and parties. Special boat cruises are usually arranged both on the sea and the larger lakes. A special fiesta called ‘Fiestas de Zapote’ is held in Zapote district, San Jose and some of the larger cities the week between Christmas even and New Year, where Costa Rican food and drink combines in equal measure with traditional and modern music as well as dance.
Since there are so many options to do enjoy yourself thoroughly, doing the fun things in life while vacationing in Costa Rica over the New Year, what’s your excuse for not planning to be there on 31st December?
