A new species of the plant Tachia was recently discovered at Isla del Coco, Costa Rica; the information was published in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Guillermo Blanco park ranger of the National Park was the first to discover the plant and immediately informed a group of botanic experts from the Costa Rica National Herbarium which belongs to the National Museum. Th...

Another giraffe joined the tower of giraffes at Ponderosa Adventure Park in Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. “Maira” was the name given to the new member of the Ponderosa family, and she was born January 23, she stood at 1.45 meters (4’7”) in height and is the daughter of Alika a firs time mother and the alpha male Mao. Maira is the 11th giraffe in the park, and there are two others that are...

Sirenas Diving Costa Rica, a small, diving, snorkeling and fishing tour company that operates in Guanacaste had the opportunity to capture an amazing experience in video this past January 22 about 800 meters from the coast of Playas del Coco. Bobbie Joe and her husband Jose Daniel Barrera from Sirenas Diving, were giving snorkeling lessons in the area when they had a close encounter with a baby...

Contaminated rivers are not something unusual anywhere in the world, every country has their own contaminated rivers, which is sad, but true; Costa Rica being a “green country” is no exception. According to the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) the Tarcoles River in Costa Rica is the most contaminated river in Central America, it receives the equivalent of 100 Olympic pools of contamin...

For travelers interested in going on a fitcation—a healthy vacation where one participates in physical activities, Costa Rica offers a thrilling mix of adventures. Being healthy doesn't have to be placed on hold while on vacation. In Costa Rica, travelers find a myriad of options set in a tropical oasis, which will make staying fit effortless and enjoyable. The country offers a variety of adventur...

Photo Credit: Cusuko fotografía and Iván Meza Photography, members of Volcanes Sin Fronteras-VSF. Volcanes sin Fronteras (Volcanoes without Borders) a non-governmental organization in Costa Rica dedicated to the study of volcanoes shared impressive images of the Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica and its constant activity. The video and the corresponding report regarding the findings by the vul...

Scuba diver instructor and photographer of Ecotourism agency Marea Alta based in Playas del Coco, Rolbin Garcia, had always heard of the existence of the giant albino manta ray (Manta birostris), the largest type of ray in the world, in the waters of the North Pacific, but had never had a chance to see it until last January 12. On that day while he was working at sea he had the great luck of ...

On January 11, The Costa Rica Star reported on the change of coloration of Rio Celeste, which was caused apparently by material that had feel in the rivers consequence of a landslides that were caused by an earthquake swarm that registered at least 42 movements in the area of Guanacaste from January 9th and through January 11th. Authorities of the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC...

Guanacaste Wildlife Protected Areas During the holidays the number of visitors to the Guanacaste Wildlife Protected Areas increases and therefore the Guancaste Conservation Area (ACG) establishes a special attention schedule for tourists to be able to experience the different areas. The following schedules will be in place through Sunday, January 7, 2018: Santa Rosa Sector: The Santa Ro...

A group of tourists and their guide, Costa Rican Angelo Benlis from Tortuga Lodge, had the amazing chance to see a manatee in the waters of the Tortugero National Park in the Costa Rican Northeastern Caribbean. Costa Rica is home to the West Indian Manatees, and the largest population of them is found in Tortuguero, they are rarely seen though, this is an endangered species, and the population...

Renown US magazine The Atlantic published an article including 40 photographs of volcanoes around the world that had activity during this 2017. The article titled “2017 The Year In Volcanic Activity” includes impressive photos of erupting volcanoes around the world, including the Shiveluch Volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula; Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, Indonesia; in America three volc...

Costa Rica made the top 20 in the first edition of the Index of Environmental and Social Development - Laudato Si. Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” was used to create a tool to measure and rank countries’ efforts in human and environmental development. The investigation analyzed 127 countries, it was carried out by the Universidad Catolica in alliance with Viva Trus, Incae Business Scho...

Two hunters were arrested this Monday as suspects of killing several tapirs (Tapirus bairdii), an infringement to the Law of Conservation of Wildlife. After a detailed investigation that began in September this year, the two men, one 23 years-old of last names Valverde Esquivel and the other 43 years of age and of last names Valverde Ureña, were detained in their homes located in the areas of E...

The investigation of non-governmental organization World Animal Protection entitled “A close-up to Cruelty: The negative Impact of Selfies with Wild Animals”, positions Costa Rica as the seventh country in the world where more selfies are taken with wild animals. The practice of taking selfies with wild animals is considered in many occasions animal cruelty. The investigation carried out regist...

Blue Planet II is a documentary series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, presented and narrated by David Attenborough which explores de planet’s oceans; the filming of the documentary series was done over the course of four years and involved 125 expeditions across 39 countries, one of these was Costa Rica. Costa Rican photographer Sergio Pucci was the person in charge of filming the wo...

The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) certified the Zoo Ave Animal Rescue Center and Las Pumas Rescue center for their high standards in animal wellness and conservation of wildlife. The accreditation was decided after a long process of evaluation and the recognition was given during a ceremony with the participation of the Ministry of Environment and the organization Human Socie...

During this 2017 Costa Rica made important investments for the conservation and protection of the Natural Heritage. The country registered 10,000 hectares of land in the Turrialba Volcano, Tenorio Volcano and Irazú Volcano National Parks as well as in the Juan Castro Blanco National Parl, the National Wildlife Refuge Iguanita and the Nicolas Wessberg Absolute Natural Refuge; this involved an in...

Mission Shark is a non-profit Costa Rican organization that promotes the investigation and conservation of sharks and other marine species. For the sixth consecutive year, Mission Shark is calling those scuba divers that want to participate in the annual count of sharks and rays with the intention of extending their data base. The event will be held two different dates, this Saturday, December...

As it is known, wetlands are a very important part of our environment, their impact in our daily lives involve reducing the impacts of floods, helping deal with pollution, improving water quality, among many other things. Costa Rica has 12 wetlands that are considered Ramsar sites, which means, wetlands considered of international importance for conservation due to their ecological and biological...

The Costa Rican Constitutional Court (Sala Constitucional or Sala IV) sentenced the country’s authorities for the supposed abandonment of the National Parks. The sentence, dictated back in September 22 grants the Government a term of 5 years to take the necessary actions to resolve problems such as: the traffic of live animals, the contamination of the rivers, the lack of or damaged basis servi...

A new species of mammal was found in Costa Rica, the discovery of the “bush dog” in Costa Rican territory (Carnivora: Canidae) was confirmed by the Neotropical Biology and Conservation website. The species was first spotted through camera-traps located in the protected zone of Las Tablas in Coto Brus, Puntarenas in May of 2016, however, it was not until September that it was confirmed followi...

The small community of Ojochal in Puntarenas is located in the South Pacific, about 30 minutes south from the popular beach town of Dominical and also 30 minutes north from Palmar Norte. The South Pacific of Costa Rica continues to grow in popularity since many tourists try to escape the crowded beaches of Guanacaste, but this is not the only reason, this area is beautiful and has a lot of att...

These past few weeks Ostional in Guanacaste has been as it is several times a year the nesting site of thousands of sea turtles, an impressive event that attracts national and international tourists to this beach that receives four different species of sea turtles. In this occasion, however, the number of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) arriving at the National Wildlife Refuge ...

Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity is one of the many attractions this small country has to offer, the variety of fauna is more evident when it comes to birds, amphibians and insects. There are actually a few species that are endemic to the country, here is the short list of the animals you will only see in Costa Rica: 1) Red Poison Dart Frog or blue jeans frog: Its beautiful red color lets predato...

A 65-year-old man from outside Rochester, New York, United States, died Saturday, September 16 while rappelling down from a restaurant at a Costa Rican rainforest ecolodge. John Anderson, a respected member of the northwestern New York real estate and banking community, was reported as having traveled to Costa Rica to celebrate his 65th birthday. His visit to the Pacuare Lodge, an upscale ad...

Travelling is something most of us enjoy, there are many ways of vacationing and sometimes the popular vacation experience just takes you to the most beautiful places in a country but doesn’t allow you to really explore the country’s culture, the way of living, traditions, and needs. Turtle Trax S.A. in Costa Rica offers precisely that, it is a company that organizes rural tourism projects on t...

Manuel Antonio National Park has always been the main reason why national and international tourists visit Quepos; The beautiful beaches and lush nature of Manuel Antonio makes it the most visited National Park in Costa Rica, and precisely the high number of visitors in the area that has provided the right conditions for the offer of more alternative and attractions for tourists. Marina Pez Ve...

After filing complaints to no avail with the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MOPT) about the dangers of crocodile viewing on a heavily transited bridge along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, environmental activist and lawyer Walter Brenes appealed to the country's Supreme Court on the issue earlier this year. This week, the country's high court issued a ruling saying the ministry h...

The start of this year's southern Pacific Whale and Dolphin Festival coincides with Costa Rica's Independence Day. The 9th edition of the festival will be held from September 15 to October 1 at Punta Uvita's Marino Ballena National Park. Community members and especially tour operators got some additional good news for their festival week when the Costa Rican Tourism Institute announced the appr...

According to Project Wetlands carried out by SINAC-PNUD-GEF, seven of the country’s wetlands produce US$3 billion for the country annually. The study considers the Northeast Caribbean Wetland which includes the Tortuguero National Park, Barra del Colorado, and the Corredor Fronterizo Norte; the Las Baulas Marine Park; the Gandoca-Manzanillo wetlands in the Caribbean; Caño Negro, Maquenque, Térr...

Conservationists have lauded the proactive actions by park officials in the Tortugero, Costa Rica Conservation Area (ACTO, its initials in Spanish) to restrict areas where jaguars have been sighted. This meant some of the park's trails were closed to visitors for a period. However, this has not stopped a "small but powerful tourist business" from organizing unauthorized forays into such area...

Situated in Quepos, Costa Rica on the outskirts of Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica Fads is one of the top charters for offshore & fad fishing in Quepos, Costa Rica,said the company which organizes customized FAD tours to their special offshore fishing sites. What are the FADs? FADs stand for Fish Aggregating Device and are set up on naturally occurring sea mounts from 100-13...

At around 9:20 a.m. this morning the Poás Volcano in Costa Rica presented a new eruption which is still going at this hour. The column reached over 500 meters above the sea level (3,008 meters or 9,866.24 ft above sea level) according to the report by the National Seismology Network. The Turrialba Volcano in Cartago, on the other hand has also had constant small pulses of ash eruptions...

With the creation of national parks on August 24, 1945 Costa Rica made a commitment to protect areas of biological importance to improve the quality of life of current and future generations. According to information provided by SINAC, the country has 169 protected areas, which represent 26% of the country’s total area; this includes national parks, forest reserves, national monuments, wildli...

Experts from 15 countries will converge on San José, Costa Rica in October to share ideas and strategies on  sustainable tourism. The International Conference on Sustainable Tourism with its theme of Planet, People and Peace (P3), will feature exhibitors from Iceland, Holland, United States, Chile, Canada, Korea, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala and also from some African nations, said event or...

The Association of Bribris de Talamanca Indigenous Tourist Guides (Agitubrit), Costa Rica's first indigenous tourism agency, obtained official recognition from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) last week, said tourism authorities. According to the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC), which provided guidance to the project, the recognition was granted August 4 in Suretka, Talamanca...

The whale watching season begins in the South Pacific of Costa Rica and national and foreign tourists have been posting their videos of the impressive mammals on social media and these go viral very quickly. The spectacle of humpback whales and dolphins during the months of July through October with a peak in September increases tourism to the South Pacific, particularly the area of Uvita a...

Heavy rains that fell during much of yesterday in Costa Rica's northern region caused damages to some of the infrastructure at Tenorio Volcano National Park, and forcing a temporary closure, said a report on Teletica, Costa Rica's Channel 7 television news station. The park was closed all of yesterday, Thursday, August 17, and rangers hoped to be able to reopen the park - even if only partially...

The Central America Birding Trail is the name of a project developed by Birdwatching Central America and Operador Latino two companies that focus on bird-watching tours and that wanted to create a new option for birding fans. Around 1500 species of birds can be spotted in the Central America region, from Guatemala and Belize to Panama. Sergio Arias, director of Birdwatching Central America e...

Photo Credit: To The Wonder Now we can all take pictures of everything anytime we want, but one thing is being able to take a decent selfie and another thing is to have the skills and knowledge to take amazing, breathtaking photos. If photography is something you enjoy, whether as a hobby or on a professional level and adventure travel is on your agenda, this is something you'll certainly be in...