Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Travel Story

Costa Rica's ecotourism boom: From volcanoes to jungle wetlands Costa Rica cashes in on its extraordinary natural diversity

Travels in Central America, Part 7

Crossing the border from Nicaragua into Costa Rica is like stepping out of the Third World into the familiar surroundings of our own privileged society. Although both countries have their roots in Spanish Colonialism, Nicaragua remains one of the poorest countries in Latin America - second only to Haiti in the poverty of its people. And though Costa Rica is by no means a wealthy nation it has a thriving economy and a stable government that gives priority to the education, health, and welfare of its people, and to the preservation of its natural environment.

Costa Rica's unique position among the nations of Central America stems largely from its history of neutrality and democratic government. Sometimes referred to as the "Switzerland of Central America", the tiny country is surrounded by nations that have known little but warfare, revolution, and corruption since gaining independence from Spain almost two centuries ago.

In 1948 Costa Rica abolished its armed forces and, while its larger neighbours squandered their human and physical resources on warfare, armaments, and the personal fortunes of corrupt dictators, Costa Rica remained neutral and developed a strong well-co-ordinated civilian society with the second highest standard of living in Central America (after Panama). Today it is one of the easiest and safest places to travel in Latin America.

We crossed the border into Costa Rica at Sapoa and travelled south through the Pacific lowlands to Canas where our bus left the main highway and turned inland, up winding switchbacks, into the highlands of the Cordillera Guanacaste. The rolling foothills are dotted with small farms, patches of hardwood forest, cultivated fields and coffee plantations - and above the foothills a string of towering volcanoes forms the spine of the Cordillera de Guanacaste.

Near the crest of the highlands the road skirts the northern shore of Arenal Lake which fills the valley between the mountain ranges of Guanacaste and Tilaran. Lago de Arenal, the largest body of fresh water in Costa Rica, is an artificial reservoir dammed in 1973. It supplies hydroelectricity for both local use and export, and high on a nearby ridge the rotating turbines of a modern wind-farm are a reminder that Costa Rica is a rapidly developing industrial nation. No longer reliant on the fragile economics of coffee and banana production, the country's top dollar earner is now high-tech manufacturing, followed closely by tourism.

Our destination is La Fortuna, the closest village to Vulcan Arenal, and across the lake we get our first view of the volcano. The perfectly symmetrical cone of barren lava is in stark contrast with the lush greenery of the surrounding landscape. Its grumbling summit sends out daily puffs of black ash that linger in the air like smoke from a perpetual signal fire. For centuries the volcano lay dormant, until the 29th of July 1968 when a huge explosion sent lava coursing down its slopes, obliterating farms and villages and killing almost 80 people who had no warning of the impending disaster. Since its reawakening more than three decades ago Arenal has been in almost continuous eruption, making it one of the most active volcanoes in Central America, and the nearby village of La Fortuna one of the most popular tourist destinations in Costa Rica.

After checking in to the Cabinas Oriuama we set out in search of a pre-dinner beer. Walkways lead from our hotel, through well kept gardens, to a line of cafes on the opposite side of the central square. The waiter at the first likely looking spot simply shook his head and pointed to the gleaming white church in the park. Same thing at the second place. Curious but undeterred I tried a third - "dos cerveza por favor" I said hopefully.

"Si Senor," answered the waiter and our beer was delivered in ice cold coffee cups complete with saucers. I later learned that it was either illegal or immoral to serve alcoholic beverages in full view of the church but I'm still not clear whether the coffee cups were meant to assuage the sensibilities of the clergy or confuse those charged with enforcing the bylaw.

Arenal Volcano which looms over the western edge of town is definitely the centerpiece of La Fortuna's thriving tourist industry but the town offers a variety of other activities and attractions. In clear weather night-time hikes to lookouts on the flanks of the volcano offer spectacular views of the summit pyrotechnics. Or, as we did on a previous visit, you can watch incandescent chunks of lava roll down the slope and burst into showers of sparks, while you relax in one of the outdoor pools of Tabacon Hot Springs. Some of our group went white-water rafting and others went horseback riding. Betty and I elected to take a river tour to the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge.

On our way to the boat dock on the Rio Frio the driver stopped and led us onto a bridge over a narrow ravine choked with dense vegetation. Looking down on the top of the jungle canopy we were amazed to see hundreds of iguanas that had climbed up to warm their spiny, reptilian bodies in the early morning sun. The one- to two-foot-long, greenish-grey females and juveniles were dwarfed by the dragon-like males in their bright red breeding colours. Despite our presence not one of them moved as they stared with unblinking eyes into a dozen camera lenses.

At Los Chiles, about a two hour drive from La Fortuna, we boarded our boat and headed up river to the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. Late November is near the end of the rainy season and the Rio Frio had overflowed its banks, turning the surrounding jungle into an everglade-like swamp of vine-draped channels and shallow backwater lagoons. The refuge is home to a bewildering array of exotic birds, mammals, and reptiles. Egrets and herons stand in the shallow water, waiting motionless for a fish to come within range. Cormorants are poised to dive from overhanging branches and anhingas pursue their prey below the surface. Nicknamed the "snake bird" the anhingas swim with their bodies submerged, leaving only their long necks and stiletto-like bills above water. We see them between dives with wings outstretched to dry their feathers.

Our boat driver spots a couple of caimans, small relatives of the American Crocodile, and lets the boat drift onto the mud bar where they are lounging in the morning sun. As the metre-long reptiles slip into the water a startled Jesus Christ lizard darts across the bar. Running on its long hind legs like a miniature Tyrannosaurs Rex it keeps right on going across the glassy surface of the water. On a nearby branch a cluster of long-nosed bats, looking like patches of dead bark, rely on camouflage to protect them during their daytime sleep.

From overhead the resonant half-bark, half-grunt of a howler monkey warns the others of our approach. The boat driver replies and a large alpha-male drops down to a lower branch to glower and roar his defiance. Despite their threatening appearance these large black, leaf-eating monkeys are relatively sedentary creatures, full of bluff and bluster.

Farther up river we spot a group of spider monkeys playing in the canopy. Unlike the howlers they paid no attention to us as they romped and swung from their long arms and tails - apparently just for the fun of it.

Half way through the five-hour river tour we stopped for lunch in the thatched outbuilding of a local farm and I had a long conversation with Ricardo our guide/naturalist. The Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, he told me, is only one of many parks and reserves that have been set aside to protect Costa Rica's diverse natural environment. Although the clearing of agricultural land has already lead to widespread deforestation, ecotourism is now seen as Costa Rica's great hope for the future. As a result 25 per cent of the country is now protected in national parks and reserves that attract more than a million foreign visitors each year.

But Ricardo is concerned that the present policy of encouraging local people to build small hotels and link tourism with environmental protection could give way to mass-tourism in the future. The country is too small and too fragile, he says, to support mega-resorts like those of Mexico. And having been to both I couldn't agree more.