COSTA RICA, is a small shelter between Nicaragua and Panama, a harmonious space, almost magic, where nature is a means for the communion of the earth and the spirit, where the body can liberate its senses and the soul can get richer and higher.

This land is “a spiritual temple”, the nerve connection where the energies of the world combine in a carrousel of colors, shapes, and sensations.

Biodiversity is the key word: exuberant and mysterious tropical forests, unpolluted rivers and streams that sneak through the land, crossing mountains and becoming impetuous waterfalls to finally join the sea.

In the east, 220 km (132 miles) of beaches washed by the relaxing Caribbean sea. In the west, a coastline shaped by bays that border the impetuous Pacific Ocean. Ancestral woods, volcanoes and mountains that rise up to cold peaks, some 4,000 meters high, are also part of the Costa Rican landscape.

Within this strip of land of only 51.100 square km, rich in geographical contrasts that make it seem wider than it really is, nature’s very essence is concentrated.

Such a varied scenery, which attracts the attention of important international biologists, researchers and scholars, nests 850 kinds of birds and shelters 250 species of mammals (5% of all the world’s biodiversity).

Click on the map to see the national parks and the protected areas.