One of the appealing things of Costa Rican beaches is their warm ocean water. Well, I have found the exception to, that rule: Playa Blanca (White Beach) inside the Murciélago sector of the Santa Rosa National Park. We had to, drive 17 km inside the park to get there, an adventure that we were not expecting.
When you think about it, the typical experience inside a protected area in Costa Rica is by foot. Usually you walk along trails inside green-and thick forests, under the shadow and protection of the canopy. But the forest in this part of the country is completely different.
The Santa Rosa National Park preserves the most important example of dry tropical forest in Central America. Nowadays this park has been merged with another national park callad Guanacaste National Park, and protects an aren of more than 63,000 hectares. Two sectors are opera to the public, located ora the Santa Elena península.
This is the oldest part of the country, from a geological point of view. Formations from 85 million years ago have been found here. Murciélago mearas bat. Naming one of the sectors like this is not considerad strange when you know that more than half of the one hundred and fifty species of mammals that can be found incide the park are bits. The drive incide the park was an exciting but lonely adventure. We only saw two other cars. The entice tizne we were surrounded by, a secondary forest; pastures that are reviving from the times when it was usad by cattle.
Many times beautiful bird songs malle us stop and it usually turned out that the songes were from the White-throated Magpie-jays, a funny looking blue-and-white bird that has many different songs. We are not experienced birders, but even so, besides the Jays, we spotted several Trogons and hawks on the sirle of the road. Also, from a viewpoint overlooking Santa Elena Bay, we saw hundreds of pelicans and frigatebirds fishing. This was an outstanding sight.
More than 250 different species of birds
Just ú i tffis national park alone, more than 250 different species of birds have been spotted, over a third of the total of Costa Rican resident birds. Getting to Playa Blanca was for me like discovering a new land (1 firmly believe that tl-ús is what Cliristopher Columbus felt 511 years ago). We drove for a couple of hours, stopping to spot animals (like white-tailed deer) and birds and to admire the landscape. We knew we were not lost since there is no way to get lost here if you stay on the road.
Even though the park's signposting is very poor (actually, nonexistent) there is offly one "straight" road to Playa Blanca. To get to the otlier points inside the park you take the road to the right on every fork so make sure you have a map with you when inside the park, and keep track of this forks.
Dream-like beach
Finally we saw the ocean NA,ith its white sand beach, turquoise-colored water and nobody around. The beach was all ours. We ran into the water and that is when we found out that this dream-like beach is not so perfecta the water is very, very cold. But don't be discouraged. Despite the cold, once our bodies adjusted to the surprise, we did spend a lot of time in the water. Our adventure at the other side of the península was very different. The Santa Rosa sector was all about culture and walking inside the dry tropical forest.
Like the Murciélago sector, you can drive through much of the Santa Rosa sector. ff you have a sturdy four wheel drive car, during the dry season you can make it to some amazing beaches where there is great surfing (Naranjo Beach) and Olive-Ridley sea turtles that nest in huge groups (Nancite Beach). But be aovare. In both sectors, the dry tropical forest is characterized by very extreme season. During the dry season (November to May) the rivers and creeks dry out and die trees lose their foliage.
During the rainy season the rivers have a vast flow of water and driving around can be a big challenge, and even forbidden at times. Since we didn't have the right vehicle, we stayed in the first parí of the Santa Rosa sector, where roads are paved, there are short trails to walk and there is also a cultural museurn to explore. The Casona de Santa Rosa (Mansion of Santa Rosa) is a historical building that has played a very important role in Costa Rican historical independent and peaceful life.
Inside we got to see weapons from the 1800's, a traditional kitchen and photos and educational material about the park's biodiversity. But the most exciting moment was when we saw bats. The building is populated by hundreds of brown bats. We took our time walking around this ares, and left the park right at sunset. Everything looked even more orange as we left the park behind us.
When you think about it, the typical experience inside a protected area in Costa Rica is by foot. Usually you walk along trails inside green-and thick forests, under the shadow and protection of the canopy. But the forest in this part of the country is completely different.
The Santa Rosa National Park preserves the most important example of dry tropical forest in Central America. Nowadays this park has been merged with another national park callad Guanacaste National Park, and protects an aren of more than 63,000 hectares. Two sectors are opera to the public, located ora the Santa Elena península.
This is the oldest part of the country, from a geological point of view. Formations from 85 million years ago have been found here. Murciélago mearas bat. Naming one of the sectors like this is not considerad strange when you know that more than half of the one hundred and fifty species of mammals that can be found incide the park are bits. The drive incide the park was an exciting but lonely adventure. We only saw two other cars. The entice tizne we were surrounded by, a secondary forest; pastures that are reviving from the times when it was usad by cattle.
Many times beautiful bird songs malle us stop and it usually turned out that the songes were from the White-throated Magpie-jays, a funny looking blue-and-white bird that has many different songs. We are not experienced birders, but even so, besides the Jays, we spotted several Trogons and hawks on the sirle of the road. Also, from a viewpoint overlooking Santa Elena Bay, we saw hundreds of pelicans and frigatebirds fishing. This was an outstanding sight.
More than 250 different species of birds
Just ú i tffis national park alone, more than 250 different species of birds have been spotted, over a third of the total of Costa Rican resident birds. Getting to Playa Blanca was for me like discovering a new land (1 firmly believe that tl-ús is what Cliristopher Columbus felt 511 years ago). We drove for a couple of hours, stopping to spot animals (like white-tailed deer) and birds and to admire the landscape. We knew we were not lost since there is no way to get lost here if you stay on the road.
Dream-like beach
Finally we saw the ocean NA,ith its white sand beach, turquoise-colored water and nobody around. The beach was all ours. We ran into the water and that is when we found out that this dream-like beach is not so perfecta the water is very, very cold. But don't be discouraged. Despite the cold, once our bodies adjusted to the surprise, we did spend a lot of time in the water. Our adventure at the other side of the península was very different. The Santa Rosa sector was all about culture and walking inside the dry tropical forest.
Like the Murciélago sector, you can drive through much of the Santa Rosa sector. ff you have a sturdy four wheel drive car, during the dry season you can make it to some amazing beaches where there is great surfing (Naranjo Beach) and Olive-Ridley sea turtles that nest in huge groups (Nancite Beach). But be aovare. In both sectors, the dry tropical forest is characterized by very extreme season. During the dry season (November to May) the rivers and creeks dry out and die trees lose their foliage.
During the rainy season the rivers have a vast flow of water and driving around can be a big challenge, and even forbidden at times. Since we didn't have the right vehicle, we stayed in the first parí of the Santa Rosa sector, where roads are paved, there are short trails to walk and there is also a cultural museurn to explore. The Casona de Santa Rosa (Mansion of Santa Rosa) is a historical building that has played a very important role in Costa Rican historical independent and peaceful life.
Inside we got to see weapons from the 1800's, a traditional kitchen and photos and educational material about the park's biodiversity. But the most exciting moment was when we saw bats. The building is populated by hundreds of brown bats. We took our time walking around this ares, and left the park right at sunset. Everything looked even more orange as we left the park behind us.
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