Costa Rica 2003

Poas volcano

The Poas volcano is more than 2700 meters high. The crater is 1,5 km in diameter and it is 300m deep.

Arenal

The Arenal volcano is more than 1600 meter high. It is located near the village La Fortuna.

Over centuries people thought that the Arenal volcano was extinct, so the eruption in 1968 caught everybody by surprise. Villages were destroyed and many people were killed. Since that time the Arenal stayed active.

Arenal emitting lava

Today the Arenal is one of the most active volcanoes. Eruptions can be monitored regularly. During the day it's mainly the thunder caused by the eruptions that is noticed but at night you can see the red glowing lava stream.

Arenal at night

Located at the bottom of the Arenal is the Tabacon hot spring. It's not really a spring but the combination of two creeks, one hot because it is running through the volcanic area and one cold. Water of the two creeks is mixed in the various pools, so that each of them has a different temperature. It's great to relax in the hot water while watching the volcano.

lake Arenal

Lake Arenal is a storage lake. It spreads over more than 80 square kilometers.

La Fortuna waterfall

insect

caiman in Caño Negro

The Caño Negro national park is located near the Nicaraguan border.

It's the home of many reptiles such as caimans and water birds.

heron

rain forest near Santa Elena

The village of Santa Elena lies just between the two protected areas of Monteverde and Santa Elena.

bird

The parks are in the Cordillera de Tilarán, on the continental divide.

hummingbird

There are more than 400 different kinds of birds living in the Monteverde area. On of them is the famous Quetzal.

rain forest near Monteverde

"rain" forest

It's a very humid area.

fig

The seeds of this fig get transported on the braches of the higher trees by birds. There, they start to grow downwards until they reach the ground. Then the fig starts embracing the tree. Since the tree can't grow anymore it dies and the fig takes over.

creek

coati

creek

beach in Manuel Antonio

Manuel Antonio consist of a few buildings only to accommodate the visitors of the Manuel Antonio national park.

beach near Manuel Antonio

You are almost alone on the fantastic beach. Only on weekends it gets a little more crowded.

lizard

You can find small animals wherever you look.

beach in Manuel Antonio national park

The national park also includes fantastic beaches with even less people than outside.

beach at high tide

When it is high tide, the beach is almost entirely flooded.

even more beaches

driftwood

crab

You can find these crabs everywhere in the Manuel Antonio national park. Where ever you go you hear the rustling caused by the fleeing crabs in the try leaves.

in the national park

There are several trails in the park that allow exploring the variety it has to offer.

iguana

view from Mirador

From this lookout you have a scenic view of the whole park that also includes some of the island near the coast.

what a view

capuchin

The monkey got used to the many visitors of the park and if you are not careful they try to steal some food.

crocodile

The crocodiles love the Rio Tarcoles. From the bridge it's save to look at them.

frog

The Carara national park is quite small but still it offers a fascinating nature.

coral snake

Coral snakes are very poisonous. Other snakes try to imitate the look to scare of predators.