1. Manuel Antonio and Jaco, Costa Rica
1) Look at the pictures and describe them in as much detail as you can
2) Read the captions about the pictures.
Within a relatively small corner of Costa
Rica, tourists can find the excitement and
adventure of a vacation in the tropical forest,
surrounded by one of the country’s most
beautiful natural environments, without
sacrificing life’s modern conveniences.
There’s a magic to Manuel Antonio that is
hard to explain. One thing, however, is
absolutely certain: once you’ve been here
you’ll want to come back again.
Last year alone, 143,520 tourists visited the
park. Conservation officials have fixed the
park’s carrying capacity at 600 people per day
from Tuesdays to Fridays, and 800 on
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. On
Mondays the park is closed to the public. If
there are already 600 visitors at 10 a.m., we
close it right then?, said Javier Herrera, in
charge of environmental education at the
park, which is usually open from 7 a.m. to 4
p.m.

2. Manuel Antonio, with its 1700 acres of land
mass and 135,906 acres of marine reserve, is
the smallest of the 20 national parks Costa
Rica has put aside for total protection. Even
so, it is the country’s second most visited
conservation area, after the Poas Volcano.
Located 100 miles south of San Jose the
Pacific Coast (a pleasant three-hour drive, or
a short 20 minutes by plane), Manuel
Antonio, which was declared a national park
in 1972, is the natural habitat of species such
as the endangered squirrel monkey (endemic
to the area), white faced capuchin monkey,
raccoons, three and two-toed sloths, white-
nosed coaties, brown pelicans, black-collared
hawks and green kingfishers. They share the
space with primary and secondary forests,
bursting with cedars, bully trees, locust ?sur?,
black locusts and silk cotton trees. A
mangrove swamp covers about 44.5 acres,
adding to the biodiversity of the region. Three
different species: red mangrove, buttonwood
mangrove and white mangrove - around.

3. In Jaco you will find accommodations to suit
every budget, as well as good food, plenty of
restaurants and a number of local sodas and
stores. There are also plenty of tour operators
in town that arrange everything from
horseback rides on the beach, to some
excellent off shore sport fishing and sea
kayaking.
A laidback bustling town, Jaco is one of the
most popular Costa Rican beaches. Located in
the North of the Puntarenas province along
the country’s central Pacific Coast less than 2
hours from San Jose, Jaco has the reputation
of being a ‘party beach’ with an excellent
nightlife. However, the fun here is casual and
relaxed, and the people here are nice and
friendly. Catering mostly to a huge number of
foreign tourists who want to enjoy a more
tranquil lifestyle, Jaco has a nice clean beach
that is especially popular in the summer.
Costa Rica was aptly named ‘rich coast’ by
Christopher Columbus in 1502. With its many
beaches and temperate climate it is an anglers
paradise, and Costa Rica sportfishing for a
variety of fish such as sailfish, marlin, tuna,
wahoo, roosterfish, dolphinfish, tarpon,
dorado, grouper, etc. is consistent throughout
the year. Over sixty-four world records have
been caught in Costa Rica.

4. One of this town’s major attractions is the
fantastic surfing here as the waves are
consistently big and the breaks are very good.
A yearly international surf contest is also held
in the nearby Playa Hermosa that attracts a
huge number of surfers from all over the
globe to this beach.