Educational aspects of Costa Rica

For human geography, Tico culture is multidimensional with influences that range from European to Afro Caribbean and eight indigenous communities. And there is no better country to learn about people and how they interact with their landscapes, with cocoa and coffee plantations to visit, community tourism initiatives and private wildlife reserves. As well as national parks, of course, with 25 percent of the country being protected.

If you religiously feed your garden birds, just wait until you get your head around 800 species of them here, some of the favourites being blue-crowned motmots, great green and scarlet macaws, toucans and resplendent quetzals. Head turners, all of them.

Nothing turns a head or stops you in your tracks more than a sea turtle, however. And if you time your trip between July and October you will be in luck, because that’s when Tortuguero National Park is one big nest for thousands of green turtles. A healthy turtle will lay up to 700 eggs over the course of seven sessions which take place every couple of weeks during the nesting season. Eggs hatch two to three months later. You can also go on a family volunteering trip to contribute to conservation projects to protect them.

For dolphins and whales, Costa Rica is a carnival. Drake Bay on the Osa Peninsula , for example, is one of the best places on the planet to spot humpback whales migrating 18,500km from Antarctica to breed in warmer waters from August to October.

The country’s commitment to conservation has not been without controversy, however, one being the lack of preservation of indigenous cultures, with 60,000 people of indigenous heritage here, many of whom still live in traditional communities in isolated, rural areas. They depend on the forests and rivers in their daily lives – gathering fruit, fishing, and using forest materials for traditional medicines and in the construction of their homes. Yet they were only given the right to vote in 1994, and much of their land has been reallocated to ranchers and farmers of non indigenous heritage. Read more on our Costa Rica responsible tourism page and on the Minority Rights website.