Costa Rica Countryside

 

One thing about Costa Rica that is truly amazing, is the micro climates that can be found along the country. If you are in San Jose downtown, you may be experiencing hot weather, but just 25 kilometers from there, you get to Cartago and have chilly weather with a little of rain. You go 2 hours in a road to a wonderful beach and in just 15 minutes you are in a mountain again with foggy weather. 

This pictures shows a little bit of this, rain a sun coexisting in just the same landscape.

Countryside to the Poas Volcano

Driving towards Poas Volcano, you will find incredibly beautiful landscapes. Its foggy mountains, chilly weather and very Tico environment, really transport you to the core of Costa Rica. On the road you will find farmers that, beacuase they are so used to visitors, will decorate their oxes and charge $1 for a posed picture.

It is truly an amazing trip to the skirts of the volcano, and getting to the National Park is the end oof this road. Poas Volcano has one of the biggest craters in the world and once you get to the look out point you will find yourself in something that will remain you of the moon.

Experience the beautiful site of Santa Juana close to Quepos

If you are looking for a magic experience different to any other you have had in Costa Rica, then Santa Juana Tour is the option. Located on the mountains close to Manuel Antonio and Quespos is a beautiful road that comunicates San Marcos de Tarrazu with Parrita. When visitinf the area experience the magic of nature and enjoy a unique part of Costa Rican rural heritage.

The Santa Juana Mountain Adventure! is a guided nature tour, which combines conservation and cultural wonders, taking you along the lush, jungle-shrouded slopes of the Fila Chonta Mountains where the Rodeo, Coto and Paquita rivers are born.

The tour begins with a typical breakfast on a traditional Tico house on the mountains, then you are set for a horseback riding tour towards the sugar mill. There you will get to knoe the process of getting the sugar out of the sugar cane using oxen. The a walk in the forest before getting to a refreshing swim beneath a mesmerizing waterfalls. Try your luck at organic Tilapia fishing, and also see fascinating regional wildlife, including a myriad of birds, insects and reptiles.

Visit the rustic small town of Santa Juana, where you’ll learn about coffee and citrus production, participate in the Carbon Offset Tree Planting Adoption Program, and enjoy a typical Campesino style lunch while taking in the panoramic vista of the coastline of Manuel Antonio National Park.

Only 8 people are allowed on the tour so you can experience the peaceful site of the countryside of Costa Rica. We just visited the place and can tell you that it was a wonderful experience.

Link: Santa Juana Mountain Adventure

Get a quick look to the Irazu Volcano in Cartago

Irazu Volcano National Park is located on Cartago province, around 60 kilometers of San Jose. It is a great place for a one day excursion, and enjoy the wonders of an active volcano. it is also one of the tallest mountains in Costa Rica; on a clear day a visitor can see both shores.

One of the most remarkable thing about this nature park is that on a clear day, a visitor can see both shores (the Pacific Oceand and the Caribbean Sea), from the highest point in the volcano.


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info@bananaadventuretours.com
Costa Rica Adventure Tours

A little more about Vazquez de Coronado

Coronado is located on an authentic rural town close to San Jose (around 25 kilometers). It is a blessed place located between the National Park Braulio Carrillo and the Irazu Volcano. From Coronado you can connect to Heredia, Cartago and Limon Provinces, so you can arrange your trip to go through this beautiful town and enjoy the wonders that offer.

It is recognized by its beautiful Gothic church, great countryside, wonderful waterfalls, and nice people. It is a special place to visit on a weekend to eat a typical dish "Olla de Carne" or meat soup, and enjoy the surroundings and the fresh breeze.

Coronado´s Gothic Church was built on 1930 with the help of the people that lived in the area. It is a beloved architectonical treasure for the people of Coronado. On the festivities it is possible to get to the top floors of the church and see the whole extension of the town. Also, from close to the church numerous traditional activities take places, making the town a rich place to visit and attracting a lot of national tourists.

Link: Visit Coronado

The Oxcart culture in Costa Rica

In Costa Rican, the so called bueyes (oxen) are animals that have been trained to help peasants on their normal shores. They normally pull a cart (oxcart) painted with great designs and very colorful forms. Peasants have exercised this rustic method for generations in the countryside of Costa Rica, learned from childhood, with his family. Although it is an activity mainly taken by men, recently women have also take a leadership position in the activity.

The oxen are chosen since they are little depending on their temperament and trained during their whole life to work together on a "yunta de bueyes".

Dictionary of Costa Rican Words

Here are some of the words most used by Ticos and Ticas, and that you may want to know when visiting the country during your vacations:

Tuanis - Some people say that it comes from the expression "too nice", it means that something is good or ok.

Maje or Mae - Used a lot by people of all ages; it means "dude", and can be used in femenine or masculine.

100 metros - "Cien metros" means "one block" and "cincuenta metros", means "half a block" – all regardless of the actual length of the block.

Aguevado or Bostezo - bored or boring.

Brete - work or job.

Chunche - Thing.

Di/diay - With no exact translation, diay is best thought of as an interjection at the beginning of a sentence, similar to "um" or "well."

Dolor de jupa - a headache.

Chante - home, place.

Estar de chicha - to be angry.

Estar de goma - to have a hangover.

Guila - A guila in Costa Rica is merely a "girl."

Jama - food.

Jumas - drunk.

Choza - home.

No joda!/no jodás! - don't bother me! / leave me alone!

Pura paja - crap; bullshit.

Pulperia - A small corner store.

Que tigra! - ugh, what a drag!

Salado - unlucky.

Soda - A small, family-run typical restaurant.

Soque! - hurry up!

Una teja - Is 100 of anything, usually money (100 colones).

La vara - the thing.

Upe! - hello? anyone home?

Information about Coronado

The offices of Banana Adventure Tours are located in Coronado, in the canton Vazquez de Coronado, in the suburbia of San Jose.

The regional symbols of Coronado are:

1. The Flag: Designed by Roger Arias Zuñiga Cristian Sanchez Cabrera and Cristian Rodriguez Brenes. They were the winners of a contest created by the Dulce Nombre Municipality. It has three colors: light blue, which represents the pure and clean sky of Coronado; white representing the work of its people in the dairy farm; green, representing the fields of Coronado and the 5 gold stars symbolizing every district.  

     2. The Shield: it was desinged  byt the professor Amaparo Cruz Zuñiga, and talken by the municipality
         on September 8, 1975.

Sunset at Coronado

Poas Volcano National Park

Poas Volcano is an active stratovolcano with frequent small geyser and lava eruptions, and with some of the most beautiful scenery in Costa Rica. It is located in the Alajuela Province, at about 2,708 meters above sea level and lies within two vast calderas. The last major eruptions at Poas Volcano were around 1954. The southernmost of two summit crater lakes, Botos, is about 2 km in diameter and over 1000 meters deep, it is cold and clear, and its last eruption was about 7,500 years ago. The other is warm and acidic crater that has a beautiful blue-green crater lake, and has been the site of frequent eruptions since the first was reported in 1828.

Poas Volcano National Park, founded on 1971, is the most develop of all national parks in Costa Rica and it has the most visitors of every other National Park in Costa Rica. It is a popular attraction located only 37 km from San Jose. This park may become crowded and cloudy so it is always better to visit the park early in the morning. Also the best time to view the crater is early in the morning before the clouds cover the crater and the lake.

This National Park is a great place for a one day tour because of its location, just an hour and a half from Downtonw San Jose. After arriving to the park, visitor can check out the Visitors Center, where is a coffee and volcanoes exhibition. There are very well developed trails that go to the main crater lookout point. The main crater is around 1.5 km wide and 300 meters deep, and is one of the biggest of the world. Another trail, around a 20 minute hike, goes to a second crater now a lake called Laguna Botos. The park is also an important power plant of the hydroelectric and geothermal generation.

There are many options to get to the park; the road is in good condition. There are many tours that visit the park, as well as other touristic sites in the surrounding area, such as the coffee plantations, coffee tours, and beautiful landscapes, among others. There are also public buses that go close to the Poas Volcano. The Poas Volcano bus station, Tuasa Co., is located in the Street 12-13, Ave. 2. The public bus leaves daily at 8:00 a.m. in the morning and returns around 2:00 p.m. The distance from San Jose to the National park is 55 km and the trip takes 1 hour and 30 minutes. To communicate with Tuasa Co., the phone numbers are (506) 2222-5325 and (506) 2442-6900.