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The massive Rincon de la Vieja in northern Costa Rica is known for its imposing outline on the horizon, its steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pits, and impressive tropical dry forest. The highly-popular adventure tourism location also is becoming known for spectacular bird-watching.

This weekend, birders from all over Costa Rica will gather at the Rincon de la Vieja hotel Hacienda Guachipelin for the fifth annual Bird Count Rincon de la Vieja.

Bird Count Rincon de la Vieja 2014 will be held June

Parades, lantern ceremonies, traditional music and dancing will take place all over Costa Rica this weekend to mark the day that Costa Rica and four other Central American nations gained their independence from Spain.

Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are all celebrating 193 years of independence from Spain on Sept. 15. On this day in 1821, a Central American congress signed “The Act of Independence” asserting they were free of the Spanish Empire.

Unlike other independence

May and June – the beginning of Costa Rica’s low season – are one of the best times for travel deals. The crowds have gone home. Refreshing afternoon rains (though not every day) have transformed the landscape into a vivid tapestry of green and brightly-colored tropical flowers. And many hotels and tours are offering great Costa Rica travel deals.

Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, at the base of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, is no exception. Winner of the TripAdvisor Certifi

Long, fat, round pipes in dark brown and off-white snake along the rust red ground through the underbrush. They remind me of giant worms from some prehistoric setting … though not quite like that terrible 1990 movie Tremors.

The pipes belong to the Pailas Geothermal Power Plant at the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Costa Rica's northwestern Guanacaste region. As the world investigates alternative energy solutions that are sustainable and not harmful to the environment, Costa Rica is actively explo