In ecotourism pioneer Costa Rica, being eco-friendly is extremely important. Eco-friendly travel and green tourism continue to be the fastest growing sectors worldwide in the tourism industry.

Nearly two decades ago, in 1999, the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) founded the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program to regulate Costa Rican tourism businesses that are truly sustainable and eco-friendly. Their goal was to differentiate the real ecotourism businesses from those that are “gree

Planning to come to the Costa Rica Caribbean Coast on vacation? While the drive from San Jose to Puerto Viejo is pretty, there is a much easier way to get to Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast. Fly!

It takes about four hours to drive the 217 kilometers to Puerto Viejo from San Jose. The stretch on Route 32 through the Braulio Carrillo National Park is certainly very beautiful, but can also be treacherous when raining, foggy, or after dark – a good portion of the time.

Save yourself the headache and stre

Wouldn’t it be nice to dine in a restaurant that only served freshly-made meals made with locally-sourced ingredients, vegetables picked that same day, sauces that didn’t come from a jar or can, bread hot out of the oven, juices that only a moment ago were whole fruit, and desserts loving crafted by an on-site pastry chef?

In fact, you can. This is what is cooking at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The renowned Costa Rica eco-adventure hotel at the base of the Rincon de la

The dry tropical forest covering the western side of Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste, Costa Rica creates an interesting ecosystem for many different animals and plants than you would see elsewhere in Costa Rica.

The award-winning eco-hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, located at the base of the massive volcano, offers fun and fascinating Costa Rica nature tours. You can visit waterfalls and natural volcanic hot springs, go hiking in the Rincon de la Vieja National Park, learn about ancient cul

Being right on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, with warm Pacific Ocean, uncrowded white sand and shady palm trees, you may never want to leave your hammock or cushy lounge chair. However, there's also a lot going on in this region of the southern Nicoya Peninsula, so if you should get the urge to be active and adventurous, here are 8 top things to do in Santa Teresa Costa Rica.

Daily Yoga Classes

You can go to beginner and advanced yoga classes every day

Small hotels offer unforgettable travel experiences. They enrich your journey with something different – history, culture, remarkable architecture, outstanding surroundings, new friends or unusual charm. Instead of an impersonal homogenous chain, small boutique or family-run hotels are places where design is intrinsic to the experience, where hotel staff gives personalized service, where details and quality count, and where charm eases you into relaxing even before you’ve checked in.

Small, out-o

If you love the idea of roaming through a rainforest looking for monkeys, snakes, exotic birds and wild cats, then this Costa Rica nature adventure tour is for you.

On your next Costa Rica vacation, you should go on the Bushmaster Adventures rainforest wildlife tour. This is one of your best bets in the Central Pacific region of Costa Rica to see an incredibly diverse array of wildlife.

Private or group guided tours visit the coastal rainforest at Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living, located

What is your dream for the planet?

Live sustainably? No unusable trash? Less food waste? Clean oceans and water sources? Trees, mountains and forests protected? Well-being of people and animals? Communities living in harmony and respect?

Horizontes Nature Tours in Costa Rica has the same dreams. They care about how travel and tourism affects not only their home of Costa Rica, but the entire planet.

On June 5 people everywhere celebrate World Environment Day 2015 (WED) with the United Nations Env

In celebration of Earth Day 2015 – celebrating its 45^th anniversary on April 22, 2015 – Horizontes Nature Tours in Costa Rica asked one of their long-time naturalist guides what was his favorite element of Costa Rica nature. Costa Rica’s national parks were his answer.

From a country that was nearly devastated by deforestation by the early 1980s, today over 52 percent of Costa Rica’s territory is protected between national parks, private reserves and wildlife refuges. Costa Rica’s progressive re

Article by Shannon Farley

“Nature doesn’t need people. People need nature,” is the message from Conservation International. The environmental organization’s widely popular video campaigns use famous actors’ and actresses’ voices with beautiful video footage of nature in two-minute messages to promote their important manifesto:

“Human beings are part of nature. Nature is not dependent on human beings to exist. Human beings, on the other hand, are totally dependent on nature to exist.”

In Conservatio

Now getting to the South Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica will be easier than ever with a new 30-minute flight between San Jose and Limon on Nature Air.

Starting Dec. 1, travelers to Costa Rica can fly from San Jose and the Central Valley to the Caribbean port city of Limon on daily flights with the Costa Rican airline Nature Air. Flights depart from the Juan Santamaria International Airport by San Jose at 5:50 a.m., and arrive to the Limon airport at 6:20 a.m. Return flights depart Limon daily at

One of the amazing things about Costa Rica is that there are still remote, wild, little-known places to discover and enjoy … places to experience new adventures, beautiful scenery, fascinating nature and wildlife.

Maquenque Eco-Lodge in northern Costa Rica is one of those hidden places. The five-year-old Costa Rica eco-lodge is located in Boca Tapada in the hinterlands of northern Costa Rica, only 15 kilometers from the Nicaraguan border and that country’s vast Indio Maiz Biological Reserve. To

Every young child has a special place where they feel happiest. For Fernando Madrigal, as a young boy growing up in Costa Rica, that place was his grandparents’ farm – the Finca La Troya in the Orosi Valley of Cartago.

“I spent practically all of my childhood and youth on this farm until my grandparents sold it,” reflected Madrigal. “I remember that La Troya was a magical place. There was a place at the top of the farm where there was a mountain with primary forest. My uncle, Rodrigo Madrigal Mo

History

Itatiaia National Park is the first and so also the oldest National Park of Brazil. It was inaugurated in 1937 and covers almost 30.000 hectares of the
larger Environmental Protection Area of the Mantiqueira mountain range.

Getting there from Rio de Janeiro is a +/- 200 km drive via the BR116 (Rio – São Paulo). The distance from São Paulo is about 250 Km. I’m
lucky to live in Volta Redonda, which is only 80km from the park.

Veu da Noiva (bride's veil) waterfall in Itatiaia

How to get ther

I'm almost a week back in Holland and no, not much has changed. It's still flat and crowded...;-)but I'm happy to be home to see my friends and family again after 4 days of flying.

It started all in Auckland and it will end in Auckland. The last 10 days I flew to Auckland and stayd in the Northland with Tonio. I did some wwoofing to save some money. I worked with a woman who normally was homeless and had big dreadlocks. So Tonio's texted of course:"Did you already smoke a joint with them?" "No, T

Wolves aren’t native to New Jersey, USA but if you know where to look, you are guaranteed a glimpse into their behaviour.

Best seen in the winter, when their coats are thick and full, the wolves present themselves as king of the canines. To observe these animals close-up, you’ll have to follow a winding mountain road up a short distance from I-94.

Look for the camp ground and a burly man with a big bushy white beard, looking much like a wild wolf himself. You can tell he has spent countless yea

India is blessed with diverse culture and breathtaking scenery, and as one of the world's 10 largest countries in term of area, it has hundreds of waterfalls which are perfect tourist attractions.

Thalaiyar Falls, Tamil Nadu

Also known as Rat Tail Falls (top) and viewable as far away as 3.6 kilometers, this 297-meter cascade is located on the Palani Hill of this state's Dindigul District, in the southwest of Tamil Nadu state, about an hour and a half north of the city of Madurai. But to get close

Perhaps the only difference between us and the whales is in the choices we make.

Are whales just the result of our common wolf-like ancestor's great sea adventure? Read more, and then let me know what you think.

These belugas are fully adapted to an aquatic life, but ancient whales

lived where shore meets sea. @Candice Gaukel Andrews

When thousands of birds rained from the sky over Beebe, Arkansas, on New Year's Day 2011, scientists theorized it was due to noise pollution created by celebratory fireworks. This article asks the question: Do you think we need to institute noise regulations around sensitive natural areas, or would such laws be too intrusive, unrealistic, and impossible to enforce?

Perhaps red-winged blackbirds are trying to tell us something. ©John T. Andrews.

There are some statistics that you hear that knock your socks off, and you just can’t quite believe them. You think they’re concocted purely to get attention and for shock value. Here’s one I recently came across that fits that category: there are more tigers in American backyards than there are left in the wild throughout the world.

How could that be? I wondered. After all, the tiger isn’t even indigenous to the United States. It turns out that there is very little regulation on keeping wild tig