Location and lenguaje

Location

• Location in Costa Rica Costa Rica borders the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. In historical places we have: 1. Arenal Volcano National Park & La Fortuna Used to be one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica, the beautiful Arenal is indeed a sight to behold. Visit La Fortuna, a tiny town near the base of the volcano and you will not regret the sheer beauty. 2. Corcovado National Park & Drake Bay Located on the gorgeous Osa Peninsula, the Corcovado National Park has been called as one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Together with Drake Bay, this region has become an ecotourism hot spot for those who want to be one with nature. 3. Tamarindo, Playa Langosta & Playa Grande Located along the north Pacific Coast, Tamarindo and its surrounding beaches are some of the most easily accessible beach towns in the region. Boasting crystal clear turquoise water and pristine weather, Tamarindo is one of the most popular tourist destinations for good reason. 4. Manuel Antonio & Manuel Antonio National Park What this park lacks in size, it makes up for in the incredible wealth of attractions found here. Stunning tropical beaches, an amazing array of birds and wildlife, rich dense forestation, easy accessibility and a plethora of things to do, all make this park one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country 5. Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Shrouded in clouds, the stunning Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve has a unique air of mystery to it. A distinctive mountain rainforest where the humidity is usually 100%, Monteverde is home to more than 3,000 species of animals and plants

6. Tortuguero National Park
A key turtle breeding ground in the Caribbean, the Tortuguero National Park is the habitat and nesting ground of four of the eight species of marine turtles in the world.

Known for its meandering rivers and lovely lagoons, this area is also home to the endangered West Indian manatee.

some more!

• 7. Santa Teresa & Mal Pais The tiny beach village of Santa Teresa is located in the south of the Nicoya Peninsula, almost at the tip, in north of the Puntarenas province. This beach is renowned worldwide for some of the best surfing in the entire country. Private and secluded, Santa Teresa is often described as "Paradise". 8. Matapalo Matapalo is a small, laid-back beach village located at the tip of the Osa Peninsula in the southern portion of Puntarenas, filled with small cabinas and eco friendly bungalows that prompts guests to enjoy an all-encompassing experience with nature. Matapalo has actually earned the Blue Ecological Flag for its dedication to conservation and preserving the surrounding environment - it's the perfect place to visit without leaving a carbon footprint behind 9. Puerto Viejo & Cahuita National Park Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica has a lot to offer. From world-class surfing, snorkeling and diving among the many reefs in the blue waters, to mountain biking, horseback riding and cultural visits to indigenous people. Nearby Cahuita National Park, protecting Costa Rica’s largest and only coral reef, combines beautiful beaches with lush coastal rainforests to provide a truly wonderful atmosphere to relax in 10. Nosara & Playa Guiones Nosara is a tranquil beach community, ideal for a surfer or nature lover's vacation. Located where the turtles meet the monkeys, this serene unspoiled corner of Costa Rica has enjoyed both the protection of the national park system, as well as the efforts of the local citizens association that keep the beaches pristine and ensure hundreds of acres of protected forest interspersed with small-scale development You can observe how much culture and places there are!

monuments

• 1. Museo Nacional de Costa Rica This museum is the largest museum in Costa Rica. The building was actually the Bellavista Fortress built in 1870. This fortress was used in the 1948 civil war. You can even see bullet holes in the wall! This museum is actually my favorite. It looks grand on the outside and it has amazing old artifacts and items from the war. In general, it has pre-Columbian artifacts from the aboriginal people, old clothing, antique furniture, religious art and black and white photographs. You’ve got to visit this place. 2. Museo de Oro Pre-Columbino This museum is a two in one visit. It’s artifacts are mostly pre-Columbian gold jewelry, a valuable bunch and the second largest collection in Central America as well as the largest collection in Costa Rica and the pride of the Ticos. Inside there is the Museo Numismatica, the national coin museum. 3. Atlantic Railroad Station (a.k.a. The Museum of Shapes, Spaces and Sounds) Yes, this museum actually used to be a estación de ferrocarril, a railroad station. This station was built in 1871 and was used to trade with European markets until 1890. Later on, trains on this railroad were used less and less because there was less to do with the European market and so closed down.After closing down the government carefully preserved the items and stores and trains on he station and arranged and cleaned the area so it became like a museum, then opened it to the public as a museum.

Monuments

• 4.Cartago City Yes, a whole city is a historical monument! Cartago city was the first capital of Costa Rica, the predecessor of San José. It is 24 kilometers south of San José and was found in 1563. Cartago city was found by Juan Vasquez de Coronado. It was an unfortunate city and was always attacked by earthquakes. Soon, the whole city was destroyed and abandoned in 1823. The city had beautiful stone bridges, wooden houses, and a huge Romanesque cathedral. In 1910 an immense earthquake ravaged Cartago and destroyed the cathedral, and now the whole city was turned to a walking road winding around the ruins of the cathedral and the city. 5. The Guayabo National Monument This monument is on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano. It is the most significant archaeological site in Costa Rica. It is actually the ruins of a city abandoned in 1400 AD of 49 acres and 20,000 people. There were houses, bridges, and more in this site. Similar to Cartago 6. The Dr. Maria Eugenia Bozzoli Museum of Indigenous Cultures This museum is in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqiu. This monument has information on the indigenous people of Costa Rica. The indigenous people make up 40,000 out of 4,000,000 people. This museum has artifacts from the Maliku, Boruca, and other tribes. In the center of the museum theres is also a large, lovely botanical garden filled with the medicinal herbs that the indigenous people used. Don’t steal any, you’ll get caught. 7. Museo de Arte Costarricense This is the perfect place for art lovers! It used to be an old airport, but after the new international airport built in San José, it was changed into a museum filled with pinturas and esculturas– the finest collection of art in costa rica!

And talking about sities of interest
on Costa Rica

sities of interest

• 1. The Central Cathedral This cathedral is located in Alajuela. The cathedral is connected to a foresty area, and that’s what brings the tourists. The architectural design of the cathedral isn’t that great, so most people go just to get a good look of the forest and parrots and sloths residing in it. 2. Juan Santamaria Park This park doesn’t seem like much of a park. It’s named after the famous Tico folk hero, Juan Santamaria, and what’s left is a nice walking path and a building from the 1860s with old cannons. Nearby there is the Juan Santamaria International Airport, and a museum. Visit all three. 3. Poas Volcano National Park This volcano is pretty dangerous. It is still active you know. I guess that’s why it’s such a popular place for tourists. At night the hot lava is beautiful sight, and in the daytime you can take a tour to the summit where you can see freshly made craters.

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• 4. Lankester Botanical Gardens These gardens really are lovely. If you’d like a nice relaxing stroll in a beautiful garden full of songbirds, trees, orchids, and other plants, this place is for you. 5. Arenal Volcano Yes, Costa Rica has many volcanoes, and this another famous active one. Once again this beautiful volcano gives you nice red lava to look at. There are guided tours all over the Arenal Volcano, and if you take a full guided tour you’d be taken to a place called El Mirador to look at the volcano from close, but not too close. If you go on a full tour you’d stay the night, and El Mirador gets pretty chilly once the sun sets, so I recommend a jacket. 6. The Fortuna Waterfall This just might be the most popular place for tourists. It’s a lovely waterfall, but what’s great about it is that you can swim in he deep pools and streams flowing from it and see the waterfall from close up. Once again, the full tour requires you to stay the night, so a jacket would be needed here as well. 7. Cauhita National Park This national park focuses on its beautiful marine life. This place is probably the best to snorkel and scuba dive in in Costa Rica, and you can see thousands of species of tropical fish and a beautiful coral reef. 8. Corcovado National Park This national park focuses on it’s thick forests. It really is a lovely place, the air is fresh, you can see an interesting assortment of plants as well as fur different species of monkeys, hundred of birds, and tons of endangered wild cat species.

Lenguaje

What Are the Languages Spoken in Costa Rica?

• Although Spanish, or Castellano, is the official language of Costa Rica, you can find other living languages spoken here on a daily basis. Before Spanish conquerors arrived in the early 16th century, a great variety of different languages were spoken by the indigenous population. Indigenous communities in the Northern province of Guanacaste spoke languages derived from the Nahuatl language family and were strongly influenced by Aztec culture. The Southern inhabitants used languages from the Chibcha language family, and are thought to have developed these languages after they migrated to Central America from the areas that are now Colombia and Venezuela. There are five different pre-Columbian languages that have survived to the modern day.

for instance

• Maléku or Guatuso is spoken by around 600 people across three towns in the province of Alajuela.
• Cabécar is the indigenous language with the most native speakers in the country, approximately 10,000. Speakers of Cabécar reside mainly in the indigenous reserves of the Talamanca mountain range.
• Bribri is the only indigenous language currently taught at university level in Costa Rica and boasts around 6,000 native speakers.
• Ngäbe or Guaymi is spoken by more than 100,000 people on both sides of the Costa Rica-Panama border, with most speakers residing in Panama.
• Bokotá is the dialect of Buglere spoken in Costa Rica. Buglere is spoken in the same border regions as Ngäbe and the two languages are closely related.

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• The Caribbean coastal province of Limon is home to yet another distinct dialect, Costa Rican creole, known in Spanish as Criollo Limonense, Patuá or Mekatelyu (make I tell you). It is spoken by the descendants of Jamaican migrants to Costa Rica, who arrived to work on banana plantations and to construct the railroad system. Like other creole and patois languages, this developed when Africans originating from different countries were brought together in the Caribbean and had to devise a way of communicating with each other. It is heavily influenced by English and can be heard spoken by up to 100,000 people in Costa Rica.

Although the Government recognizes and supports the conservation of indigenous languages, the number of native speakers is declining quickly. Two languages, Térraba and Boruca, are considered extinct or almost extinct, with only a handful of elderly fully fluent speakers remaining.

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• A discussion of languages in Costa Rica could not be complete without mentioning Pachuco, or Costa Rican slang. Spanish students should be warned, although Costa Ricans speak a relatively easy to understand version of Spanish, with no heavy accent, the speech you hear on the street will likely be peppered with Pachuquismos, or slang words particular to this country. The two most common expressions you will hear are ‘mae’ which means ‘dude’ or ‘mate’ (depending on where you are from) and ‘pura vida’, which literally translates to ‘pure life’, but is used as a general positive expression, as well as a greeting, a question, an answer, and a perfect stall for time when you’re not quite sure what to say. Some of modern Costa Rican slang can be traced back to a peculiar code invented by General Malespín, a 19th-century political leader from El Salvador. The code consists of swapping the letters b and t, a and e, i and o, f and g, p and m, turning the word ‘buenos’ into ‘tuanis’ and the word ‘trabajo’ into ‘breteji’ or ‘brete’ as it is usually pronounced. Listen out for everyday slang while you are in Costa Rica and let us know if you manage to pick up any interesting ‘Pachuquismos’.