Nature & Culture in Costa Rica

PURA VIDA AMIGOS!!:-) PURE LIFE FRIENDS 

This is the way how the Costa Ricans or Ticos greet each-other when they meet…:-) This tells a lot about how they live and think..:-) Pura Vida is good for almost anything: you can say Pura Vida when you greet someone: "hey guys, how are you? or good morning, bye, see you later, but it is also good for asking your friends... about how they are, don’t worry, all is good, don’t rush, life is good or just take your time, no problem, relax…there is always manana :-) They try to teach you their lifestyle, the typical Latin American style, no worries, life is nice and no need to get angry or nervous and anxious for every little thing, we need to try to enjoy life and that beautiful country of Costa Rica. So, Pura Vida is really the answer to everything in Costa Rica:-)

And would you like to know why they are Ticos, Ticas?? Well.., Costa Ricans are lovely people and they are kind and gentle in everything, they love to bill and coo.. put all words in a minificated version like: cafe, cafecito.., vino, vinito, banana, bananito...pequeno, pequenito...using "ito or ita" at the end.. so they became Ticos, because of this usage:-) Isn't this funny, lovely?:-)

When you are here with us you can get rid off your every day routine, work or problems and enjoy what we/you see..!

So, enjoy the country of PURA VIDA!:-)

some facts about costa rica

 

Costa Rica is the safest country in the region, which is a big thing, however of course also here there is crime, just like everywhere in the World. Being careful in a healthy way is always good.. Generally Costa Rican people -they call themselves Ticos -for male, Ticas-for female- are very friendly and open for tourists who are curious about their beautiful country. They are proud to be Costa Ricans and about what an amazing country they have. And we have to say, they are absolutely right!:-)

SIZE OF THE COUNTRY

about 51,000 km2 (about 20,000 mi2)

POPULATION

less than 5 milllions, about 4.8 millions people

CAPITAL & LARGEST CITY

San Jose with aboit 300.000 people living in it

ETHNICS

castizo or mestizo about 84%, mulatto about 7%, Amerindian 2,5%, black about 1%, other about 6%

RELIGION

more than 50% catholic, about 25% protestant, about 17% irreligion, about 3% buddhism (about 100.000 people) and about 3% unknown

CURRENCY

Costa Rican Colòn (CRC)

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

Spanish, but also recognised Mekatelyu, Patois - these both are Jamaican origins - and Bribri

INDEPENDENCE

From Spain: 15. Sept. 1821, but recognised by Spain only on 10th May 1850. The country has no military since 1948.
it is also renewed for its peaceful and democratic government.

a bit of culture

Have you ever heard of the Boruca people? Probably not..., so here it some information about these people, so you can learn about them and this way maybe you can even help their small local economy to be known and grown.

The Boruca people are an indigenous tribe which claims to be the only one, that has never ever been conquered by the Spanish!! And they are very proud of this fact and their history specially, that they survived all these centuries and still they got their own traditions which they also try to preserve.

These people live now in the Southern part of Costa Rica, high up in the Talamanca mountains in the Boruca-Terraba Reservation. Originally their ancestors ruled the whole southern region by separate regional chiefdoms. They are very proud people and they are the only surviving indigenous tribe in Costa Rica. They are so proud about their past of stopping the Spaniards from conquering them, that they also have a celebration just for this reason, which last for a couple days at the end of December and at New year. At this festival - “La danza de los Diablos”, “The Devil’s” dance - they wear their beautiful masks and they try to bring back the memories of the times when they stopped the Spanish troops.

The older generations teaches the young ones to keep the traditions and make the masks and textile weaving. The cotton, that they use for the textile is grown naturally and all materials used by them are from their nature.

At our shop we have a selection of the bests of their work. And hope you will find some nice ones among them

for you to bring it home as a lovely

Their is also possibility to go to visit them in the dry season, -in rainy season it can be hard to get there- and see how they love, how they work, even who is more adventurous can stay with them for overnight. Nowadays they started to open for tourism, let the tourist see how they live, how they work talk with them about their culture, traditions and sleep there and eat their food..:-) This is a really unique possibility..:-)

a bit of nature

 

GEOGRAPHY

Costa Rica is a Central American country. It borders with Panama from the South about 640 km of border and Nicaragua on the north, about 300 km of borderline. It has borders also with the Caribbean see on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the West.

Its cost is about 1,200 km, from which the about 1,000 km is at the Pacific and about 200 km Caribbean.

The country’s territory is about 51,000 km2 (50,660 km2 land and 440 km2 of water)

BIODIVERSITY

The country has only about 0.03% of the world's landmass, but it’s biodiversity is one of the highest of the whole World with it's 5%. Don't forget, this is a tiny tiny country!

It is also considered by naturalists and scientist as the “Living Eden” and it is obvious why Costa Rica got this nickname. :-)

Abound with the most stunning array of wild, tropical and exotic flora & fauna Costa Rica is home to around 5% of the world’s biodiversity. This means that the number of wildlife species per 10,000 sq km here is 615. This fact alone shows the spectacular natural splendour that Costa Rica has to offer.

A total of 1,077,308 hectares or more than 25% of the country is covered by protected areas. Costa Rica has 26 protected forests, 20 national parks, 9 forest reserves, 8 wildlife refuges, 7 wildlife sanctuaries and 1 national archaeological monument.

Today it is estimated that there are over 10,000 plants and trees scattered all across the Costa Rican countryside including more than 1,200 species of orchids.

With over 35,000 species of insects, 160 species of amphibians, 220 species of reptiles, 950 species of birds and 205 species of mammals, this gorgeous country covers a range of ecological habitats.

It is also because of this very rich diversity that Costa Rica was made the headquarters of the world ‘Earth Council’ in 1992.

At the moment there are 12 ecosystems in the country including tropical wetlands, primary dry forests and tidal mangrove swamps among many others.

It is also home to a number of rare and endangered plant and animal species as well. Leatherback, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley and Green sea turtles, Resplendent Quetzals, Fer-de-lance vipers, Scarlet Macaws and the West Indian manatee are just some of the many wildlife species here that are in danger of dying out.

Costa Rica is known by everyone as the most ecological and most biodiverse country in the World with having 5% of the World’s biodiversity found in this tiny country in Central America. This is the reason why so many people comes every year to visit this little jewel, which is nowadays also called the Switzerland of Central America because of the growing economy thanks to the country being so eco-friendly and tourist friendly.

About 25% of the country's land area is in protected national parks and protected areas, the largest percentage of protected areas in the world:

  • 28 national parks
  • 58 wildlife refuges
  • 32 protected zones
  • 15 wetland areas/mangroves
  • 11 forest reserves
  • 8 biological reserves 
  • 12 other conservation regions
WILDLIFE
  • about 850 species of birds
  • more than 200 species of mammals
  • 220 species of reptiles
  • 160 species of amphibians
  • 35,000 species of insects
  • 1,013 species of fresh and saltwater fish

These are amazing numbers!

PURA VIDA AMIGOS! :-)

Contact

Phone: Call May-October; Text all year 
+36 30-645-9318 or +36 30-211-0006
Call Nov-April: +506 84961012 or 84961417
e-mails: 
ecotoursgabororban @ gmail.com
toucanbirdingecolodge @ gmail.com 

Our mission

Our first priority is to save habitats & species.

Secondly we would like to share our knowledge of wildlife and encourage you to participate directly or indirectly in protecting nature.

We are also working continuously on our carbon balance with developing our 23 hectares of wildlife reserve.

Our partners

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