North Pacific

Pampas and savanna, beaches and marimba

The Nicoya Peninsula is located in the Costa Rica North Pacific: tourism there can offer the typical attractions that embellish Guanacaste Province. Particularly, it stands out the figure of the savanna man or rider, with his cheerful character, and skillful as anyone in taming and driving livestock. When the patron saint festivities are celebrated, bullfighting and bull riding are the central attractions to the public.

During the course of bullfighting, there will always be delicious Guanacaste dishes, almost all of them made with corn, inviting guests to try them. The name Guanacaste is a symbol of something more than just the resonant name of our national tree: this province was the historic scene of three important battles against the siege of foreign mercenaries. The most famous one is the Battle of Santa Rosa, in 1856 because, from there, we expelled the enemy forever. Today, it is a National Park.

In Guanacaste, music is part of the landscape. Perhaps, it has been the province which has given more composers to Costa Rica. Its main folkloric musical instrument is the marimba, which is very similar to the metallic xylophone from the orchestras but made of wood of the area. Thanks to its tonal register, as wide as that of the piano, it can be played by three marimberos at the same time, offering to the listener a wide scale of tones of unmistakable beauty.

Other attractions:

In the geological aspect, it is notable the caverns of stalactites and stalagmites of the Barra Honda National Park in Nicoya. In this place, vast extensions of dry tropical forest are protected, which form an important area in the process of regeneration. Most of its forest loses its leaves during the summer, and because of this, the landscape has practically a desert-like appearance during the months of November and May; meanwhile, between June and October, it appears on the surface a range of green tones, when the ravines and rivers recover their volume of water.

Besides Guanacaste, the national tree, there are other predominant trees such as the Savanna Oak, the Chilamate and the Indio Desnudo (naked Indian), whose name is due to the reddish color and the semi-anthropomorphic configuration of its trunk. Some of the common animals in the area are the white-tail deer, the iguana, the pizote and the white-face monkey.

Ecologic patrimony

The protection of some areas of the region is infinitely valuable to the human race. Without the protection of wildlife species, their observation, study, and enjoyment would not be possible, as it is now the spawning of the Baula turtle in Playa Grande and that of the Lora turtle in Nancite and Ostional beaches. Beautiful birds abound in Palo Verde National Park. In addition, one of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano proudly exhibits its basins of mud and lagoons in constant emission of volcanic gases or fumaroles. Currents from the Ocean sweep along with nutrients from the deepest abyss where exotic species such as the golden fish, the swordfish and the marlin live.