7 Natural Wonders of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is famous for its luscious green junglesPark, this light blue river is surrounded by gorgeous
and pristine white sand beaches, however notrain forest, waterfalls, and natural hot springs. The
everyone who comes here is fully aware of whatamazing feature of Rio Celeste is its unique but
this country has to offer. Its reserves, volcanos andnatural light blue colour. The sulphur emitted from the
movie quality islands are gems in this country, andvolcano combines with calcium carbonate to form the
have been major tourist attractions for years.translucent light blue colour, also making it one of
In 2007 a newspaper held a contest for Costa RicansCosta Rica's natural wonders.
to vote on the 7 natural wonders of Costa Rica, and#3) Cerro Chirripó: The highest point in Costa Rica is
here they are, as voted by the "Ticos" starting withfound in Chirripó Nacional Park, called Cerro Chirripó.
number seven..."The great height of Cerro Chirripó relative to its
#7) Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve: One of thesurroundings is also evidenced by its particularly high
most awe inspiring reserves in North and Southtopographic prominence of 3,727 m (12,228 ft), which
America is the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.makes it the 38th most prominent peak in the world"
Located along the continental divide, split between(Source: Wikipedia). Another interesting point about
the Pacific and Caribbean sides, Monteverde Cloudthis natural Costa Rican wonder is that light snow
Forest experiences both eastern and westernactually falls here from time to time!
weather patterns. The Caribbean weather patterns#2) Arenal Volcano: Arenal Volcano is an andesitic
add moisture to the area, and mix with the warm airstratovolcano located in north western Costa Rica, in
from the Pacific, creating a cloudy and mistythe province of Alajuela. It is believed to be the
environment for the reserve's ecosystem. There areyoungest and most active mountain in all of Costa
over 3000 plant species, 500 orchid species, 120Rica, rising 1657 meters above sea level. It was
mammal species, 130 amphibian and reptile species,believed to be dormant until its major eruption in
and well over 400 different types of birds.1968 wiped out the town of Arenal, killing almost 100
Monteverde's different weather conditions and uniquepeople. Since this eruption the volcano has been
climate, along with the diverse flora and fauna makeconsistently active, and it has been a huge attraction
it Costa Rica's 7th natural wonder.for hundreds of thousands of Costa Rican Tourists.
#6) Poás Volcano: Located within the Poás Volcano#1) Cocos Island: As one of Costa Rica's national
National Park, this volcano has two large craters nearparks, Cocos Island is extremely protected, and for a
its summit. The northern crater, Laguna Caliente, isgood reason. Its underwater climate is extremely
one of the most acidic lakes in the world, with a pHwet, and when combined with its oceanic characters
of almost 0. Poás Volcano is a stratovolcano and hasthis island has characteristics that differ from any
erupted approximately 39 times since 1828other island, including the Galapagos Archipelago.
(Wikipedia). It is a beautiful sight to see in Costa Rica,The 1998 film Jurassic Park: Trespasser - the
however in the afternoon the steam rises, renderingproducers obtained special permissions from the
the creator nearly impossible to see.Costa Rican government to film most of the movie
#5) Tortuguero National Park: Among the moston Cocos Island. In 1997 Cocos Island was
visited parks in Costa Rica is the Tortuguero Nationaldesignated as a world heritage site by UNESCO and it
Park, despite the fact that it can only be reached byhas also been named one of the world's best scuba
boat or plane. Tortuguero's biological variety isdiving spots by PADI (Professional Association of
amazing, with eleven different habitats includingDiving Instructors). The island has over 235 known
swamps, beaches, lagoons and rain forests. Thisspecies of plants, almost 30% are endemic, it has
tropical climate is located on the north-eastern sideover 400 known types of insects and over 90
on Costa Rica, in the province of Limon and is a wellknown bird species. Its marine life is exquisite, with
protected area and houses over 375 species of birds,more than 30 species of coral, 600 species of
over 400 different types of trees, and more thanmollusks and over 300 species of fish. Other types
2,200 types of plants. The parks biodiversity andof marine life include many types of sharks, sting
beauty have claimed the #5 spot in the 7 naturalrays, dolphins, humpback whales, pilot whales, and a
wonders of Costa Rica.few different types of endangered turtles.
#4) Rio Celeste: Located in Tenorio Volcano National