Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
a bit about Costa Rica
What’s up, y’all!
Costa Rica is a beautiful country (from the pictures, anyway, still haven’t been there yet ourselves), but there is something you should know about it from the start:
It’s not an island. That’s Puerto Rico you’re thinking of, probably.
Costa Rica is in Central America, with Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. Though it’s not an island, it does have both a Pacific and Atlantic coast.
Notice the mountain ranges in the above picture. The three cordilleras effectively divide the country in half. The capital city, San José, sits in a valley right between where the upper ranges meet the lower one.
The country has a population of approximately 5 million people, and nearly half of them live in the San José metropolitan area. So obviously, we won’t be living in that area!
Costa Rica is famous for its beaches, of course. The most popular destinations are near Tamarindo, on the northern Pacific coast. Though if you were to ask a surfer, they would probably prefer the beaches in the middle, from Jacó to Uvita.
Halfway between Jacó and Uvita is the Manuel Antonio National Park, one of the most beautiful national parks in the world with tropical forests, gorgeous beaches, and I can’t forget to mention the monkeys and sloths.
Beaches are nice, and we do plan to visit them occasionally, but it’s the mountain life for us. We’ll be looking for a spot nestled in the hills at the base of Cerro Chirripó, the tallest mountain in the country.
Though if living in Oregon has taught me anything, it’s that I don’t want to live on a hillside. I hope we can find a nice flat spot to live on, but I accept that we might not. If nothing else, though, during these last seven years we have learned a lot about terracing, so we can make it work! 😁
There are still other parts of Costa Rica that I didn’t cover, like the five (or six, depending who you ask) active volcanoes and the rainforests. There’s also the Caribbean flavor of the Atlantic coast, along with the national park famous for its sea turtles. And I can’t forget to mention Corcovado, the national park so dangerous and remote you can only enter it with a guide.
And the birds, so many birds! The bird pictured above is the official bird of Costa Rica, and locals are fond of its exquisite mating song, which occurs at the beginning of the green season. Ticos hear the song and know that at last, the rains are coming and the dry season is over.
I’ve already picked up a local bird identification guide, and it’s been fun to see how many birds overlap between the United States and Costa Rica. That’s because Central America is a land bridge between North and South America, and over the years, migrations have occurred in both directions.
Because of this, Costa Rica is extremely biodiverse. There are over half a million species, which is 5% of the entire world’s biodiversity. Considering that the land mass itself only takes up 0.03% of the world’s land mass, that’s a country pretty stacked with flora and fauna.
Though there was extensive logging in the last century, the country reversed itself, and began reforesting and protecting the natural areas. Today, nearly 28% of Costa Rica is either a national park or a wildlife refuge of some type.
What else do you want to know about Costa Rica? Is there a place you’ve visited or heard of that should be on our list to check out? We’re always up for learning new things about our future home. Let us know in the comments!
Video of the Week
Still sorting through video from the trip, but that hasn’t stopped gnob from shooting new footage while he’s working on Danny Bonaduce. He’s gotten way ahead of me, which is good for our moving purposes, but bad for our YouTube followers, haha. This morning he even started up the Fairlady to make sure she was ready to go. Now that the weather is finally nice enough to drive a convertible around, it’s time to get that b*tch out of here!🤭
Quote of the Week
That wraps up another week with Snale Racing! We’ll leave you with the quote that was most powerful for us this week. Peace!✌
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