From Costa Rica's National Parks and Preserves: a visitor's guide
Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers, 1999

Epithet after epithet was found too weak to convey to those who have not visited the intertropical regions, the sensation of delight which the mind experiences.... The land is one great wild, untidy, luxuriant hothouse, made by nature for herself

  Costa Rica's territory covers 51,032 square kilometers. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and by Panama to the south. The human population numbers 2.9 million, with an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent. Unlike other Central American countries, the indigenous population is small - about 1 percent of the total. Thirty percent of the population is of African ancestry (concentrated primarily on the Atlantic coast), and the remainder is of Spanish descent. There are pockets of people with other European ancestry. The San Vito area, for example, boasts a population of Italian descendants. Because of the historically small indigenous population, there are relatively few mestizos,people of mixed indigenous and European heritage.

The Central Valley region, in which San José, Cartago, and Alajuela are located, contains roughly 60 percent of the population. You might think that this leaves much of the country sparsely populated, but keep in mind the relatively small size of Costa Rica. It is now widely recognized that the nation has a population problem. Unfortunately, the constant electoral changes from one political party to the next leave little room for a consistent planning policy, and the population continues to rise. This puts a tremendous strain on the country, both ecologically and socially.

Costa Rica's last large frontiers for settlement disappeared in the 1950s with the construction of the road from San José to San Isidro and the road from Guapiles to Limón in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, most of the land is settled or privately owned, leaving wilderness only in the parks and reserves and in reservations for indigenous peoples. If Costa Ricans hope to keep their traditionally high standard of living in place, there needs to be a coherent plan for monitoring and containing population growth.

The economy, like that of most Latin American countries, relies heavily on agricultural exports. The three biggest moneymakers are coffee, bananas, and tourism. Costa Rica's economy is starting to diversify, but in the past, reliance on agricultural export earnings created problems when prices for these commodities fell.

Costa Rica has an extremely high foreign debt, and the interest payments sometimes have not been met. The country's economic problems really started to build in 1978, when a fall in coffee prices was compounded with a doubling in the price of oil the following year. Costa Rica borrowed heavily from the World Bank and other lenders to maintain the country's infrastructure. Unfortunately, developing countries are often forced to liquidate their natural resources in order to make their payments. Costa Rica has little in the way of exportable materials outside of the protected areas and reservations. But despite the country's problems, many Costa Ricans from all walks of life have managed to maintain a strong conservation ethic, of which the park and reserve system is a strong manifestation.

ABOUT THE PARKS

If you have never been to a tropical forest, you might be able to appreciate the trouble that even the likes of Charles Darwin had in adequately describing it when he wrote: "Epithet after epithet was found too weak to convey to those who have not visited the intertropical regions, the sensation of delight which the mind experiences."

Consider that tropical forests cover less than 7 percent of the earth's land surface, but contain more than 50 percent of all its species. Tropical forests serve as a huge storehouse of biological wealth, and are regarded as enormously important regulators of climate. They are also, as Darwin attempted to point out, sources of continuous intellectual and aesthetic stimulation for the visitor. In the forests of the American neotropics, a visitor can experience such wonders as iridescent blue morpho butterflies as big as a human hand, brilliantly hued poison dart frogs, and gigantic buttressed trees so covered with orchids, bromeliads, and other plants as to appear to be a forest inside a forest.

Costa Rica has become a mecca for naturalists and outdoorspersons interested in the tropics. It's not hard to see why everyone from backpackers to kayakers to research scientists is drawn to this country with its peaceful, completely demilitarized democracy, breathtaking scenic beauty, and remarkable biological diversity.

Still, it's Costa Rica's forty national parks and reserves, which cover more than 12 percent of its total area, that cinch the country as a natural-historyminded tourist's paradise. The parks have been well planned to incorporate the full spectrum of the country's natural diversity. On the Atlantic coast, they contain steamy lowland rain forests and canals, wetlands, and nesting beaches for turtles. In the central plateau region, there are forested volcanoes shrouded in mist, and the cold, eerily fascinating subalpine paramograsslands. The southwest has the magnificent forests of Corcovado, probably the most species-rich in the country. The northwest offers pristine beaches and the fascinating dry tropical forest, which turns from a leafless brown and gray to vibrant green almost overnight with the coming of the summer rains.

Given the number of parks and reserves in the system and their remarkable diversity, it may surprise you to learn that just four parks get more than 75 percent of all foreign visitors. Why? Certainly not because Tortuguero, Poás, Cahuita, and Manuel Antonio are deserving of all of the attention, but because of the lack of easily available information about the others. This book has been written to fill that need.

I hope that this book gets you off the beaten track, not only so you can benefit from the wealth of experiences that await you, but also so the parks can benefit from your visit. Please keep in mind that while Costa Rica is committed to preserving a large part of its natural heritage, it is also saddled with one of the largest per-capita foreign debts in the world. Servicing this debt could someday push the government into budget cutbacks for new park acquisitions or even for basic operations. It is likely there will be pressure to open some protected areas to timber and mining development.

You can help ward off these potential threats by hiking in the magnificent forests of Hitoy-Cerere or by paddling the lakes and marshlands of Cafio Negro. After your trip, write to the tourist board and the department of natural resources to tell them how much you enjoyed your visits to these areas and that you will recommend them to other visitors. Letters containing this sort of information can be used in arguments against cutting a budget for a particular park. Unfortunately, a park's value as a reservoir of biodiversity does not pay the rent. Tourism ranks as the third-largest generator of foreign exchange in Costa Rica, after bananas and coffee. If the undeservedly lesser-known parks are perceived as being a real or potential "draw," then their survival will most likely be assured.

With that said, open your heart and mind to the natural wonders contained within the protected natural areas of this diverse, lovely, and justifiably proud country known as the Rich Coast.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Part I contains chapters on planning your trip, the different life zones you are likely to encounter during your stay, Costa Rica's conservation history, and the ethics of ecotourism.

Part II consists of chapters for each of four regions and includes the park descriptions. Each park description begins with an information block that details the park's size, its distance from San José, whether camping is permitted, if there are trails, recommended maps, when the dry season occurs, and public transportation to the park. Included in each park description are its location and directions to it, visitor facilities, and detailed descriptions of each trail and river route within it.

The trail descriptions also begin with an information block listing the hike's distance, the time required to hike it, elevation gain, and a recommended map. The trails included in this book range in length and difficulty from 1-kilometer morning hikes to 50-kilometer backpack trips. A map of each region is provided, as well as maps detailing all hikes described within each park.

Appendices include a list of support services such as guides, white-water companies, and air shuttles for independent hikers and naturalists; a list of conservation and sustainable development organizations working in Costa Rica (for those travelers whose experiences move them to action); and a list of suggested reading.