Guanacaste

Guanacaste has with approximately 10,000 qkm and about 270,000 souls many faces and a completely different way of life which can not be understood by all foreigners, and definitely not be taken over easily.

The first humans, who entered Costa Rica thousands of years before Chr., arrived on the peninsula of Nicoya. During the colonial ages, Guanacaste was not a part of Costa Rica. The inhabitants of Nicoya, Santa Cruz, and Cañas decided that they did not want to belong to Nicaragua but to Costa Rica and they announced their Annexion on 25 July 1824. Until today the 25 July is Independence Day, which was accepted from both sides in 1821. Nicoya is regarded as the oldest city of the country by many experts and is the commercial center for the beaches, the national parks of Guanacaste as well as its important tourism zones.

When Christopher Columbus arrived in Costa Rica, there were four big native trades: The Caribs who lived on the east coast, the Borucas, Chibchas, and Diquis who stayed at the southwest. With the beginning of the sixteenth century, and the Conquering of the Spanish in the Penisula de Nicoya the cultural influence started to begin. A own Costa Rican culture developed late, also in Guanacaste. Aside from African and Indian population groups the country was affected by European influences. Although 3 million immigrates are from Spain, many families arrived from different regions of Europe, Asia, Africa and Central America. The first Africans who arrived in Guanacaste came through the Catholic Church, later some Pirates who had missed the continuation of their ships journey when they were looking for sweet water, arrived on the Beach Coco. The first dark-skinned people who went to the Caribbean later on came from Jamaica, and have English names which still leads to confusion nowadays. The largest group of peope called the Chorotegas are originally from Mexico. Locals from Guanacaste are considered to be honest, open, friendly and calm. The density of population is 67.5 inhabitants per square mile.

One of the many faces of the peninsula Guanacaste, a very alive and natural one, is the nature paradise with shouting and roaring apes, around flatting hummingbirds, crocodiles in lagoons and sea turtles, queues and iguana, humming birds and parrots, and many other pleasant things, like the beautiful unaffected dream beaches and 10 national parks.

Guanacaste, with its capital Liberia is the most northwesterly province of Costa Rica, and borders west to the Pacific Ocean with a costal length of 1022 km with fully developed tourism zones. When reaching Tamarindo one finds different faces of Guanacaste. Tamarindo changed so much that one can hardly recognize it. There you can see a really good example of how tourism can affect the life. It is the typical model of fast a growing real estate market with a lot of "Condominios" and large luxury hotels for mainly North Americans. In the last year, 2006, Guanacaste represented the largest growth in real estate investment. Proof of this is that the amount of construction permits increased 133.5% in comparison to year 2005.
For people who likes to go out and party Tamarindo is a great choice.

The airport in Liberia got a new terminal a little bit more in the north, where a group of investors announced that they would like to invest $15 million in the construction of a harbour for boots and yachts of all sizes, the marina Papagayo. The construction started at the beginning of January 2007.
Guanacaste, located between 8 and 11 degrees northern latitude has only two seasons; the rainy (May - Nov.) and the dry season (Dec - April).  According to the NASA, Costa Rica has the best climate of the world. Visions of never ending rain during the wet season are often exaggerated. Weather patterns are very local and in Guanacaste the sun shines always in the morning. The average temperature is 80.8°F and the annual rainfall is 59- 79 inches. The phenomenon El Niño, caused by the rapid increase of the water temperature of the Pacific Ocean also exists in Guanacaste, e.g. the rain declined in the year 2007 around 28%, in comparison of the last year. Due to its relatively dry climate through both seasons, Guanacaste has become the center of Costa Rican cattle breeding.
Costa Rica, Guanacaste is a save region for travelers. In their latest study for the year 2007 the Control-Risks-Institut has evaluated that there is a low politcal risk as well as low danger for security.

The cooler and damper region around Lake Arenal is an exception and is very popular under tourists. After laying dormant for the last century, Volcan Arenal suddenly erupted in 1968 causing extensive damage in the region. Since then Arenal has remained one of the most active volcanoes in the world ( there are approx. 1500 active volcans on earth ). From a safe distance you can see spectacular views of lava and smoke.

If you like romantic beaches, friendly people and nature full of exotic animals, visit Guanacaste. The progress of touristy development comes rapidly but today the clocks in Guanacaste still run slower leaving plenty of time to experience the majestic beauty.