Note: Javascript is disabled in your browser.
To see the gallery in all its glory, you'll need to enable Javascript.
Introducing Northern Peninsula
Like most of Nicoya, the dry forests of the northern peninsula have been cut down over the generations and transformed into farms and pastureland. Lifestyles here have always revolved around the harvest and the herd, though today Ticos are adapting to a different cycle – the tourist season. Each year from December to April, when the snows falls on Europe and North America (which is coincidently when Guanacaste experiences its dry season), tourists descend en masse to soak up a little sun, catch a little surf and buy a little property.
Advertisement
Today, the northern peninsula is one of the most rapidly changing areas in Costa Rica. The Gulf of Papagayo is slowly earning its place on glossy leaflets in travel agencies throughout the world, while the coastline, which was once the domain of the leatherback turtle, is increasingly occupied by the leather handbag.
Highway 21 runs from Liberia southwards, with coastal access roads branching out from the small towns of Comunidad, Belén and Santa Cruz.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
Advertisement
