Urban City in Costa Rica

San Pedro in the San Jose Province

Costa Rica is known for it's beaches, forestation and wildlife. But contrary to the popular belief, in the midst of this paradise lies a vibrant and bustling metropolis. San Pedro, which is located in San Jose province, is known for its top-notch commercial development, numerous universities and centers of higher education, and its active night life. It is one of the most urbanized and busy places in Costa Rica.

San Pedro is known in Costa Rica as the Cradle of Higher Education as it is home to the University of Costa Rica as well as other university-level centers, such as the Universidad Latina and the Universidad Americana. The canton can boast of 99% literacy, compared with 95% in Costa Rica at large. One good reason for staying here is that this is a great place to learn Spanish. With numerous language schools that even provide accommodations, these places are a great help for those who plan on working or staying for an extended period of time.

Also at the heart of the place is the Mall San Pedro, a shopping center with tattoo parlors, movie theaters, food courts, video game shops and clothing stores that all flairs with the authentic latin appeal that only Costa Rica can give. Near the mall is the Fuente de la Hispanidad, a large fountain in a major street intersection that caters to the country's cultural heritage. An important landmark in the area, the place is also adjacent to lines of intricate cave-like rock formations facade of the Mall San Pedro.

Another known feature of the San Pedro metropolitan area is Calle de la Amargura, a four block long street near the University of Costa Rica, which is the hot spot for partying. La Calle, as it is often called, is a home to many bars, restaurants, nightclubs and discos like Terra U, La Villa, Tavarua, Caccio's and Mosaikos, which are known for being very active everyday (except Sundays). Its proximity to the university and its young, economical inactive students makes this area offer food and drinks for relatively low prices.

Despite the hustle and bustle apparent, San Pedro nestles at the heart of Costa Rica's lush valleys surrounded by verdant green volcanic mountain ranges. If the downtown city gets too busy, then San Pedro's beautiful suburbs offer the perfect peaceful and quiet rest you needs to get away from the urban humdrum. It has a lot of accommodations to suit every budget ranging from luxurious hotels to reasonably priced villas or apartels. The soothing suburban air and the green succulent backdrop provides a very suitable place to go and relax.

A Latin American city boosting with culture and spirit, the climate here is near perfect with a spring-like temperature throughout the year. Located just a few miles away from San Jose, where a bus to anywhere in the country is always available, it boasts wonderful, warm and friendly people, surreal adventure that awaits and scenic environment ready to awe. Offering stunning and picturesque panoramas of nature and countryside, San Pedro is the perfect place to savor a travel to Costa Rica.

Planned Trip to Guanacaste

Planned Trip to Guanacaste
With stunning beach shoreline, breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside, wonderful mountain ranges and chain of volcanoes and lush, dense forests which play host to a fabulous array of exotic plant and wildlife, Guanacaste is the perfect destination for the active soul who is looking for an adventure. With several tasks in mind, like trekking, hiking, horseback riding, surfing, snorkeling and windsurfing, I came up with a planned trip to Guanacaste—a guide on how to spend my vacation. Mostly, my planned trip is a crash between a quiet time out from the hustle and bustle of city life and the eagerness to explore nature at it's finest.

Daniel Oduber International Airport will be my entry point since Liberia is my first stop. Liberia is also home to an expo that takes place in the month July, celebrating the Annexation of Guanacaste on July 25, 1824, and I want to witness this event. Since the event is taking place in the plaza in front of the church, restaurants are at reach. I also choose Liberia as the first stop because the place is en route to such beaches as Playa del Coco, Playa Hermosa, or the Papagayo peninsula, and that American fast food restaurants in the food mall located at the city's main crossroads and the 24-hour Subway sandwich shop located down the roads are at hand.

Next stop will be in Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park is located just to the northwest of Liberia. Located along the park's many kilometers of hiking trails are such volcanic wonders as hot springs and bubbling clay pots as well as numerous waterfalls and rivers, this scenary is something i look forward to. Though the Nicoya Peninsula is home to a lot of beautiful beaches and one of the most popular tourist destinations, during the rainy season from April to November most of the roads can get quite impassable due to rivers washing them out. So the plans of going out and spending time again on a beach will have to wait for a venue which entails less hassles.

I am madly drawn to wildlife and nature—hiking, trekking and the like. And since Rincon de la Vieja, an eco-adventure hotspot is only hours of car drive away from Liberia, it is my next destination. The dense lush forestation and plethora of wildlife and insect species is simply irresistable. I might do a round robin on Costa Rica’s most stunning national parks; the Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja, the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, the Parque Nacional Guanacaste and the Zona Protectra Miravalles. Horseback riding trails in the country is definitely on my list, as well as a canopy tour, for visiting Rincon de la Vieja entails an exploration of the largest and last remaining tropical dry forest in Central America. Another attraction would be the active volcanoes, with its stunning vistas of the surrounding landscape, boiling mud pots and fresh water volcanic lagoon. Of course, I wouldn't want to miss the white water tubing or relaxing dip in the therapeutic sulfur hot springs near the Volcan Rincon de la Vieja.

Nature trip will be continued in Monteverde, which boasts to be Costa Rica’s most beautiful cloud forests. In addition to that, the area showcases a plethora of unique and exotic animals and plants. It is home to resplendent quetzal, ruby red poison dart frogs, over 300 species of orchids and the rare and endemic golden toad. With an almost mystical environment due to the cloud cover in the area, the region's lush and dense place with unparallel greenery is very inviting.

Other must see stops I would stop at would be the Isla Santa Catalina, Playas del Coco or Playa Ocotal, where an abundane of marine life is apparent and the Marino las Baulas National Park, where every year hundreds of leatherback turtles come ashore to lay their eggs.

To Tamarindo Airport is the last flight. The place attracted me because it is busy and energetic town. I'd settle for the cheaper and more crowded hotels, because I want to learn as much as I can, about the culture and the way of life in every place that I visit. Since Tamarindo is a crowded place, it would be fun watching people enjoy their time out, basking in the sun. And then i would try and experiment on water based activities—swimming, sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, sea kayaking and surfing. The more people I would encounter, the more strangers I meet, the more varied outlook and ideas I will encounter, the more understanding of the culture i would get.

The idea of spending time in Guanacaste coast is to stretch along the warm waters of the beaches while enjoying a gorgeous sunset, to witness nature in its purest form while exploiting the warmth of basking in the wilderness, to learn about culture and another country. With this in mind, and the places on a target schedule, the trip would be definitely worth it.