Costa Rica is a favourite of the eco-tourist crowd (which won’t mind getting down and dirty) because it’s a land of extreme natural diversity and offers to its visitors rain forests, volcanoes, marshlands and everything in between. Costa Rica crams 6% of the world’s known animal and plant species in an area that measures only 51,100sq.km. – these include over 1,500 species of orchid and more than 800 species of bird.

Monteverde Forest Reserve

Eco-tourists traveling to Costa Rica can choose between several excellently preserved parks and reserves in different areas of the country and heading the list is the Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves. Situated in South Costa Rica and lying right on the continental divide, this reserve features an overwhelming collection of birds, big cats, insects, orchids and plants spread out across several different conservation areas.

Monteverde : image by Eljefe

Travellers in Monteverde are also faced with a dazzling array of activities and the only problem they will experience is deciding what to do first. Highlights of the jungle experience include the thrilling zip lines and canopy tours (try the exhilarating Selvatura tour), tree top suspension bridges, night walks, and insect museums and gardens. Those interested Monteverde should visit the reserve’s official web site at www.monteverdeinfo.com to obtain more information.

Rincon de la Vieja Volcano National Park

The Rincon de la Vieja Volcano National Park in Costa Rica’s North Zone offers tourists a splendid example of the type of eco-system that grows up around a live volcano. Although it has not erupted in over 3,500 years, Rincon de la Vieja, an andesitic stratovolcano, has been known to grumble from time to time and has interacted with the surrounding countryside enough to have created a vibrant and unique natural system.

Visitors to the park can look forward to climbing the volcano and inspecting the mud pots and fumaroles that are intrinsic to such a system before swimming in the natural lagoons and marvelling at the waterfalls. Animals to watch out for include the two-toed sloth, the howler monkey and the armadillo and the park has the largest concentration of Costa Rica’s national flower, the delicate Guaria Morada orchid, than anywhere else in the country. Learn more about this unique venue at www.liberiacostaricainfo.com

Cocos Island

Cocos Island lies 310 miles southwest of Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast and is home to the UNESCO protected Cocos Island National Park. This park comprises the island itself as well as 240,171 maritime acres of surrounding ocean and features yet another of this country’s splendid natural systems: the marine ecosystem.

The inspiration for Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’, this isle was once a pirate haunt but is now best known for its tropical lowland eco-systems that lie only a short way away from its cloud forests. The marine areas that fall under the park’s protection are riddled with reefs where divers are likely to encounter friendly dolphins side by side with awe-inspiring giant manta rays and lethal hammerhead sharks. Diving is the park’s most sought after activity and exciting night dives are available for the more adventurous. Visit www.costarica.com to see what else this magical island has to offer.

Travellers who have visited Costa Rica and caught glimpses of the magnificent jaguar or the nocturnal margay count themselves extremely lucky and would recommend their Costa Rica experience to anyone even vaguely interested in the natural world.