My favorite place in Costa Rica? That is a question I tend to always get from Package Costa Rica customers I am privileged to meet and chat with. That happened more frequently in the past when I lived in San Jose, but less so now that I live in Perez Zeledon, far removed from either of the two international airports.
So, I will take a stab at an answer here. Because, believe me, it ain’t an easy question!
I love it all! Okay, I know that is a cop-out answer. So, let me force myself to be a bit more specific. I do love it all, but I love some parts more than others.
Three Places I really really love:
Northern Central Zone (including Arenal) – actually I love the entire northern central zone from the volcano to Upala, just south of the Nicaraguan border. Back when I used to have to make border runs to renew my visa (before I received my residency), I always went through this area rather than down the Pan American (boring) highway. Why? Because it is lush and green, exotic and intensely tropical, and adventurous. Places like Rio Celeste just outside of the little pueblo known as Guatuso, Caño Negro, and of course Arenal itself, make this section of Costa Rica one that I truly love and never grow tired of.
Manzanillo-Gandoca Wildlife Refuge – There are few beaches in Costa Rica that can rival the beauty of this place. You have to drive to where the southern Caribbean coastal highway (the one that runs through Puerto Viejo and other beaches to the south of it) comes to an abrupt end. Then you park and start walking. And you can walk and walk and what you will discover is, to put it simply, paradise. And there are very few things to disturb your experience of it. I have never been to this place when it was crowded. Usually you can find your own little private beach nestled within a cove with a combination of interesting coral formations teaming with colorful fish and crystal clear pools of warm ocean water. Just thinking about it makes me want to go there right now!
The Southern Zone – Well, what can I say. These days, once again, I am a southern boy (southern Costa Rica that is). I currently live in Perez Zeledon, which is the largest city and gateway of the southern zone. What do I love about this area of Costa Rica so much? I guess the fact that it is still largely undeveloped. This part of Costa Rica is the wild part. From the rugged Talamancas, to the Fila Costeña-hugged southern pacific coastline and on to the dazzling bio-diversity of the Osa Peninsula, this place is just everything I always dreamed Costa Rica would be. Jungles teaming with wildlife, pristine crystal clear unpolluted rivers barreling down mountains on their way to the sea, people who are all smiles most all the time, these are the qualities of Costa Rica that hooked me 12 years ago. And in my humble opinion, there is no place that better exhibits them than my beloved southern zone. I have to add that it is home to Costa Rica’s highest mountain, Chirripo, a place that is very near and dear to me (I have scaled it twice).
So if I am forced to pick my favorite place in Costa Rica – and you are going to force me, aren’t you? – it would have to be (drum roll please) the southern zone! Now, please don’t ask me to get more specific than that!
But if you must, it would have to be filtered down to that narrow and hallowed patch of rocky soil, the summit of Cerro Chirripo – a place that is extremely hard to get to, but worth all the trouble.
Post by CRG