Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica

The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is a state owned non-profit reserve created in March 1992, in order to help preserve the unique cloud forest surrounding them and to use tourism as a tool to benefit community development, thanks to the help of Youth Challenge International, a Canadian Non-profit Organization, the Costa Rican government and the Santa Elena Community, making it one of the first community managed reserves in the country, located high on the Tilarán Cordillera slopes.

The original vision was to use this land for agricultural research and education. But, for multiple reasons, the farming proved to be unsuccessful, and in 1989, it was decided to convert the land into a cloud forest reserve. The philosophy of this reserve is unique, where long term sustainability is not only a concern of the Reserve, but of the community as a whole, making it an excellent example of what people can do to preserve and learn from their environment.

A cloud forest is a highland forest characterized by nearly 100% humidity throughout the year. Here in the Santa Elena Clod Forest Reserve, warm North-Easterly trade winds, filled with moisture, blow in over the Atlantic. As the winds sweep up to the Continental divide, they cool and condense to form clouds, bathing the forest in a constant soft mist.

The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is even cloudier and wetter than the Monteverde Reserve because of its higher elevation. Here, the cloud forest receives an incredible 4m (12 ft) of rain every year.

Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve has 83% of primary forest, with the remainder being mature secondary forest. Birds are less abundant than in Monteverde Reserve, but you can find a wide variety of birds as the spectacular Resplendent Quetzal, Three-wattled Bellbird, and animals such as Red brocket deer (Mazama Rufina), sloths, coaties, ocelots, howler, capuchin and spider monkeys, as well as a wide variety of insects, amphibians and mammals which never even come down to the forest floor, making it a perfect place for hiking, bird watching, volunteering or do some research.

One of the most characteristic features of the reserve is the abundance of vegetation, where competition for growing space is so intense that trunks and branches are almost entirely covered with a variety of lichens, liverworts, bryophytes, mosses and epiphytes, mats store moisture, which is especially important in the dry season (from February to May).

The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve trails will take you on an amazing journey of discovery as you blaze your way through the hanging vines and moist vegetation. The reserve has four main trails: the Caño Negro Trail, the longest trail (4.8km – 3.5hrs); the Encantado Trail, excellent for bird watching (3.4km – 2.5hrs); the El Bajo Trail, extends through more secondary growth forest (2.6km – 1.5hrs); and the Youth Challenge Trail, ideal for lookouts (1.4km – 45min), which are more natural and more difficult to walk than those of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. There is also a tower offering beautiful views of 5 Costa Rica volcanoes on a clear day: Arenal, Rincon de la Vieja, Tenorio, Miravalles and Poas, where visitors can even appreciate the Nicaragua Lake, as well as similar habitat and wildlife like the one in Monteverde reserve.

This reserve together with the Children’s Eternal Rainforest (El Bosque Eterno de los Ninos), the Arenal Conservation Area and the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, constitute a contiguous conservation area of approximately 28,000 hectares (69,000 acres), with plans to raise funds to buy and restore adjacent farmlands for future inclusion into the Santa Elena Reserve. Conservation efforts in the area are concentrating on establishing forest corridors, so the Resplendent Quetzal, American Pumas, Jaguars, Ocelots and Red Brocket Deer have large territories in which to forage and breed.

The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is the less visited sister reserve of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Less crowded, lush green forests full of flora and fauna, this reserve boasts one of the best places to hear and see howler monkeys in all of Costa Rica.

The Reserve is administered by the Professional Technical School of Santa Elena. All the profits from entrance fees, guided tours and the souvenir shop are dedicated to help and to give support to the education of Santa Elena’s youth. They are also invested into the development of courses in environmental education, biology, agriculture, language and tourism. In using the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve as a natural classroom, students and teachers harness an unlimited educational resource that can be used for anything from studying tropical plant ecology to leading tours.

At the entrance of the reserve, you can find a visitors center, a restaurant, a souvenir shop, boots for rent, etc. The reserve also has a canopy tour with pulleys and cables running between platforms. Other nearby Costa Rica parks includes Monteverde Biological Clod Forest Reserve.

Getting there:

The road to Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve is unpaved (a vehicle equipped with four-wheel-drive is recommended). From San Jose take the inter-American highway North to kilometer 133, then turn right towards Sardinal until you reach Santa Elena (about 29 Kilometers). Once you reach Santa Elena continue for another 6 kilometers following the signs. It is a 1 ½ hour trip and this will bring you to the entrance to the reserve.

For those who wish to use public transportation, there is bus service leaving from San Jose to Santa Elena (a community 6 kilometers from the reserve). The buses leave twice a day, at 6:30 a.m. and at 2:30 p.m. (Auto Transportes Tilaran 506 222-3854). The trip takes 4½ hours. There is bus service from Santa Elena to the Reserve at 6:15 a.m. and at 1:00 p.m. Return to Santa Elena is at noon and 4:00 pm. There is also cab service between Santa Elena and the Reserve.

Location: 5km (3 miles) north of Santa Elena town, between Puntarenas and Alajuela provinces, Costa Rica.
GPS Coordinates: 10°18’38.66″N, 84°49’44.10″W
Size: 310 ha (765 acres)
Altitude: from 1,300 m (4,800 ft) to 1,700 m (5,600 ft.).
Toll Free: 1-888-456-3212
Telephone: +(506) 2479-8811
Schedule: from 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. all the year round. Night walks from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (with previous reservation)
Website: www.monteverdeinfo.com

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August 26th, 2010 | Category: Alajuela, By province, National Parks, Puntarenas | Leave a comment

Corredor Fronterizo Costa Rica – Nicaragua National Wildlife Refuge

Corredor Fronterizo Costa Rica – Nicaragua National Wildlife Refuge was created on February 15th, 1194 to give protection to the forest, as well as to recuperate it from past degeneration, since in this area logging the forest reduced it to critical levels.

It crosses the entire range of life zones, from Pacific Coastal, rainforest and mountains, to the Caribbean coastal zone, which extends as a biological corridor of 2,000m wide along the border with Nicaragua, from Punta Castilla, in the Caribbean, to Salinas Bay on the Pacific. It is an important biological corridor that connects the Tortuguero Conservation Area with the Maquenque and Tamborcito wetlands, the Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge, El Jardin and Cureña Forest Reserves and the Guanacaste Conservation Area. This refuge, partially disturbed, includes beaches, dry forests, wetlands, rain forests and coastal lagoons, so the refuge has a big number of research programs of different disciplines.

Corredor Fronterizo Costa Rica – Nicaragua National Wildlife Refuge has a large variety of ecosystems such as tropical broadleaf forests, tropical moist broadleaf forests, Central American Atlantic moist forests and tropical dry broadleaf of the Central America Pacific region. Similarly, this area has the highest biodiversity indices for trees and shrubs, with endemic species such as Capparis pittieri, Dussia macrophyllata, Costa Rican Sclerolobium and Vochysia allenii.

With its variety of ecosystems, Corredor Fronterizo Costa Rica – Nicaragua National Wildlife Refuge has a great variety of wildlife with large populations of jaguars, deers, coyotes and peccaries, as well as wading and waders birds. On the other hand, in the San Juan River the Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) and two species of sawfish (Pristis pectinata and Pristis perotteti) are easily observed, while in the Remolinos and Caño Tambor sector, in the same river, are the most important populations of manatees (Trichechus manatus) and garfish (Belone belone).

This zone hosts many research projects of the varying disciplines, as well as university monitoring programs. For more information on research projects in the area, contact MINAE.

There are no public facilities in Corredor Fronterizo Costa Rica – Nicaragua Wildlife Refuge. Other Costa Rica Parks near the northern borderlands include Cano Negro National Wildlife Refuge, Guanacaste National Park, Barra del Colorado National Wildlife Refuge and Tortuguero National Park.

Location: extends along the border with Nicaragua, from the Pacific Coast to the Caribbean Coast in Costa Rica
Size: 59,276 ha (146,000 acres)

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July 29th, 2010 | Category: Alajuela, By province, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limón, National Parks | Leave a comment

The Juan Santamaría Museum, Costa Rica

Museo de Juan Santamaría en Alajuela, Costa Rica

The Juan Santamaría Historical Cultural Museum (Museo Histórico Cultural Juan Santamaría) was created by Republic Act No. 5619 on December 4th, 1974, amended by Law No. 6572 on April 23rd, 1981. The project that led to this law was the initiative of Dr. Luis A. Salas Corrales from Alajuela.

The museum bears the name “Juan Santamaría” in honor of the national hero whose heroic epic takes on April 11th, 1856 in Rivas, Nicaragua. On April 9th, 1980, the Museum opens its doors to the community. This is the only museum in the country specializing in the issue of the National Campaign on 1856 – 1857 against the filibuster invader. On the other hand it is the museum responsibility to maintained in the collective memory of the Costa Rican people, his heroic epic starring. It also assumes a responsible role on the Alajuela cultural heritage values.

As depositary of the historical heritage of the nation and the Community Cultural Center, the museum contributes to the democratization of cultural services, with a clear vocation commitment. In addition the Museum has assumed his duties as a civic and communal dedication. For its work in cultural promoting; has been the subject of several awards and is attached to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. The Museum is governed by a Board composed of five members, who perform their functions ad-honórem. Chaired by the representative of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, and the remaining four are chosen from lists consisting of: the Local Government (Alajuela Municipality), Alajuela Institute, Alajuela College University and the Geography and History Academy of Costa Rica.

This institution is located in the city of Alajuela, the birthplace of national hero Juan Santamaría, the buildings known as “Former Alajuela Jail”, a building constructed between 1894 and 1895, and the”Former Weapons Barracks” of the Alajuela city, also built in the nineteenth century. The two buildings were of historic – patrimonial interest. In establishing its headquarters in this city, the legislators had in mind the necessity of this nascent institution maintain a close link with its immediate environment, Alajuela.

Address: 1st Avenue, Central and 2nd St., next to the north side of the Alajuela Central Park, Costa Rica.
GPS coordinates: 10°01’0.63″N, 84°12’50.46″W
Schedule: from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Website: www.museojuansantamaria.go.cr
 Phone: + (506) 2441-6926

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March 17th, 2010 | Category: Alajuela, By province, Museums | Leave a comment
 
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