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Costa Rica is a green and wet country! It doesn't rain every day. It doesn't rain all day.
But humidity is high all year round (which is marvelous for your skin!).
If one likes to be technical, it is good to know that Costa Rica has been divided in 12 different zones, called "life zones".
Only one zone is dry and it is called the Tropical Dry Forest.
All the other 11 zones are of a humid type, in one way or another:
tropical moist forest, tropical wet forest or tropical rain forest.
The tropical dry forest is disappearing, and therefore there are a few places to go,
but there are wonderful places to visit; Palo Verde National Park is one of them.
It is one of the best places to watch wildlife in the country.
The Palo Verde Lagoon is a very important wetland of the Americas,
important as a major site for migrating birds.
The Palo Verde lagoon and the surrounding forests provide much of the shelter and food those birds need: birds numerous different species can be seen in this area during migration times. Within the other types of forest is where we find the one we are interested in: the tropical rain forest.
Where to find the rain forests
The country is pretty much a huge rain forest but there are some spots which are of particular interest to the tourist:
Monteverde: here you will find more than 100 species of mammals including 5 species of cats, over 400 species of birds including 30 kinds of hummingbirds, tens of thousands of insect species (over 5000 species of moths) and 2,500 species of plants including 420 kinds of orchids. The forest is located in a mountain and there are many hotels of all categories and lots of 1-day tours are available.
Tortuguero: Tortuguero beach is the most important nesting site of the endangered green turtle in the Western Hemishpere. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest here.
Manuel Antonio: extensive white sand beaches backed by an evergreen forest that grows right up to the hightide line.
The principal habitants are primary forest, secondary forest, mangrove swamp, lagoons and beach vegetation.
There is quite a varied fauna with 109 species of mammals and 184 of birds.
Dolphins abound not far from the beach and at times, migrating whales can be observed.
Please don't hesitate and visit our one day tours page, where you can find
canopy and
horseback riding activities
and also practice biking nor do some
hiking.
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