... Guanacaste ...
by Infocostarica Staff

The name of Guanacaste come from the Indian word quahnacaztlan, that means "the place near the ear trees ", that’s because of the national tree Guanacaste that grows on this region and its seeds that come in a peculiar package that has the form of a ear.

Guanacaste’s climate is in total contrast to the rest of the country. For the half of the year, November through April, the plains and rolling hills receive no rain. Here the dry season usually lingers slightly longer than elsewhere in Costa Rica, but in wet season, everything turns green and the air is freshly scented

The Guanacaste-Nicoya region was the center of a vibrant pre-Columbian culture- the Chorotegas. Descended from the Olmecas of Mexico, they had arrived in Costa Rica around the 8th century and soon established themselves as the most advanced in what would be Costa Rica. They alone, for example, developed art and writing schools. Their culture was centered on milpas and cornfields. Today many of their stone metates are on display in the National Museum in San Jose, elaborately carved with turtles, crocodiles, monkeys and jaguars, this kind of figures and different forms show the strength of their culture.

No region of Costa Rica displays its cultural heritage as overtly as does Guanacaste. The culture owes much to the blending of Spanish and chorotega. The campesino life revolves around the horse and cattle ranch, here sabaneros, which may be cowboys in North America, are really common. Guanacaste has been called Costa Rica’s Wild West. Here nothing is cheered more than the corridas de toros (a kind of bullfight) and topes, the region’s colorful horse parades in which the Guanacastecos show their groomed horses and its footwork.

Santa Rosa National Park the first one created is located in Guanacaste, with the five next others and half a dozen wildlife refuges and biological reserves like Monteverde Biological Cloud Forest Reserve and Santa Rosa which are both the most visited. National parks, wildlife refuges, and private reserves in Guanacaste and the Northwest area preserve just about every imaginable.

The coast is indented with bays, peninsulas, and warm sandy beaches that are some of the least visited, least accessible, and yet most beautiful in the country.