SIMBIOSIS TOURS

Although it is located in Puntarenas, this zone has its own territorial division as tourist zone because of its efforts on behalf of conservation and its high concept about harmony and interaction with nature.

Its main distribution and service center is the town of Santa Elena.  It has several companies that provide commercial offers and tourism, besides San Luis and San Gerardo.

Monteverde Biologic Reserve is its main attraction, internationally famous for its cloudy forest and recognized as a wildlife sanctuary of the New World’s tropics. But besides, it is possible to find great variety of ecotourist places, wooded paths and places for the observation of flora and fauna.

You can also visit hummingbird galleries, snake zoos, butterfly gardens, bird farms and the Quaker’s cheese factory.

Among the main activities that visitors can enjoy:  birdwatching, especially quetzals, flora and fauna, regular walks through mountain paths, canopy, walks on suspension bridges, visit to butterfly gardens and frog exhibitions.

Weather

Temperature: the annual average varies between 16°C ( 60.8°F) and 18°C ( 64.4°F).

Rainfall: annual average of 3000 mm.

Strong winds on the highest parts. There is a lot of fog and drizzle at Guacimal.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

COMMUNITY OF SANTA ELENA

This special community, located on the mountain range of Tilarán, offers its main attraction combining the rural zone with cobble, dirt roads and city under development that offers visitors diversity in commercial and tourist services.  Due to its 1330 m of altitude and its cool climate, you can enjoy extraordinary natural landscapes.

You can get there through Tilarán, las Juntas de Abangares, the Sardinal-Guacimal route and the traditional road of Lagarto river, and it has a spectacular view of the Gulf of Nicoya.

QUAKER COMMUNITY

This group settled in this zone in the fifties and they are known for their willingness to continue with the principles that have characterized them. Moreover, with their participation in agriculture and livestock, they have created and developed a milk cooperative and in this way have made important economic contributions in the zone, for its development.  In general, they have also benefited the Costa Ricans that live in the zone.

Among their big contributions to the zone, the creation of a school in which they shared teaching with the Costa Rican colony of Santa Elena stands out.  This allowed a bilingual culture that is a strength for the attention of tourists who love nature and visit the zone.

Currently, there are only a few of the original colonists, but they still keep some of their customs and practices.  One of them is the “Meeting,” in it they make comments and various readings for world peace.

With a great vision, they protected the zone of the Tilarán mountain range, which today is one of the most visited protected areas in Costa Rica and where people can enjoy the beauty of the flora and fauna.

COFFEE TOUR MONTEVERDE

The big Cooperative in the community of San Luis opens its doors for tourists to visit their plantations and coffee processing plant, where the whole process is shown to them. It ends with the visit to the toasting company to taste the product.

SAN LUIS WATERFALL

After a short walk, in which you can enjoy the wonderful vegetation, you will get to San Luis Waterfall, named after the community. It is a striking water fall of approximately 300 meters which, combined with the natural environment that surrounds it, presents and excellent option for nature lovers.

CHEESE FACTORY, MONTEVERDE

The factory is famous for the quality of the cheese.  There you can see how different dairy products are elaborated. The schedule is: Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

ETERNAL FOREST OF CHILDREN

This breathtaking scenario represents the biggest private reserve in Costa Rica and the area that is visited in Monteverde is named San Gerardo Biologic Station, located 7 km ( 4.3 miles) from Santa Elena.  It has an area of 5 kilometers ( 3.1 miles) and offers a great amount of paths inside the rainy forest, besides an amazing view of Arenal Volcano.

100 mammal species and 400 bird species have been identified.