| COSTA RICA |
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In recent years Costa Rica has also become the prime eco-tourism destination in Central America, if not in all the Americas, due in no small part to an efficient promotion machine that trumpets the country's complex system of national parks and wildlife refuges. Every year hundreds of thousands of visitors come to walk trails through million-year-old rainforests , raft foaming whitewater rapids, surf on the Pacific beaches and climb the volcanoes that punctuate the country's mountainous spine. More than anything it is the enduring natural beauty that impresses. Milk-thick twilight and dawn mists gather in the clefts and ridges divided by high mountain passes; on the Pacific coast, carmine and mauve sunsets splash down into the sea like meteors; vaulting canopy trees and thick deciduous understoreys carpet large areas of undisturbed rainforest, and vestiges of high-altitude cloudforest offer glimpses into a misty, primeval universe, home to the jaguar, the lumbering Jurassic tapir and the truly resplendent quetzal. The beauty of Costa Rica is enhanced by the fact that the land and its people - known as “Ticos” - are a wonderful, peace-loving society, making this lovely Central American country a place where travelers can feel safe and secure. A stable democracy for more than 100 years, Costa Rica is proud of the fact that they have no standing army. Surrounded by other countries where peace has been shattered from time to time, Costa Rica is a haven for visitors who want to explore Latin America without fear. |
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