Exploring Costa Rica

Central America’s Costa Rica, nurtures some of the last remaining true natural treasures of the World. Emerald rainforests, marvels of rainbowed colored creatures, milky cloud forests, jeweled birds and bugs, Caribbean and Pacific golden beaches. Together they create the colors that have lured visitors to Costa Rica’s shores again and again. The other part is its people, with their unusual friendliness and heartfelt hospitality. But, with over 25% of its total land mass set aside as protected ecosystems, the emphasis is on the natural. We join Sandy Mortimer to explore both coasts, and in between, to capture the essence and uniqueness of Nature’s nursery, Costa Rica. In the capital city San Jose, we stop by the Police Station to meet some of the men and women who manage to keep order and good humor in this busy cosmopolitan town before touring the City. In Zarcero, there is a whimsical sculptured garden of amazing creatures. Bulbous elephants with lightbulbs for eyes, a bull ring and a cat riding a motorcycle. In the town of Sarchi, the townspeople make delightful handpainted oxcarts. We meet the family who has kept the tradition alive for three generations. In Braulio Carrillo National Park, we join two naturalists to encounter giant bullet ants and other tiny creatures. On board the aerial Tram – first of its kind in the world – we get a bird’s eye view of the forest canopy where new plant species are being Partovered on the tops of the trees. Guayabo National Monument protects the remnants of a lost civilization dating from the 9th century, when another culture inhabited this region from 1000 BC to 1400 AD. Stone roads and ancient house foundations remain. Nearby, a summer festival carries on with its own unique traditions. At Iguana Park in Orintina are friendly but hungry lizards. Arenal Volcano has become the most active of the country’s nine volcanoes. We see its lava flows and Lake Arenal, with its tale of its resident monster…an