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Sardinal, Costa Rica
Long summer days and beautiful beaches are two phrases that best define what Guanacaste is all
about. A province for the active soul, Guanacaste draws visitors with its stunning shoreline,
incredible bird watching, amazing horseback riding, excellent surfing, superb snorkeling and
wonderful mountain lake windsurfing. With so much to do, it’s easy to understand why so many
people come to visit this amazing province.
Forming the eastern borders of Guanacaste are a chain of volcanoes that stretch out to join the
Cordillera de Guanacaste and Cordillera de Tilaran mountain ranges. Offering some truly terrific
hiking facilities, tourists can trek their way to the summit of a number of volcanoes, including
Rincon de la Vieja Volcano Area, to enjoy some really breathtaking views of the surrounding
countryside. Passing through lovely lush dense forests, which play host to a fabulous array of
exotic plant and wildlife, many rare and endangered animals and birds live here including jaguars
and tapirs. From these mountains also flow various rivers that roll down to form an alluvial plain
drained by the Rio Tempisque. This river in turns nurtures the province before emptying itself into
the Golfo de Nicoya.
A region steep in culture, the name Guanacaste is derived from the word quahnacaztlan, which is a
native word for the guanacaste tree. This tree is the national tree of Costa Rica.
One of the easiest ways to get to Guanacaste is to fly into the Daniel Oduber International
Airport in Liberia. A major reason why tourism has boomed in this region, this airport receives
flights from all over the world especially the continental U.S. Most sites of this region are
off the Pan-American Highway (Hwy. 1), which is scenic in its own right, moving northwest through
Guanacaste and continuing almost to the Nicaraguan border. If you are traveling by bus, make sure
to sit on the right hand side when northward bound as the views of the volcanoes in the distance
are quite superb.
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