Kids love adventure. And Costa Rica provides just that!
Costa Rica is the perfect destination for a fun learning experience for kids. It is a treasure trove of wildlife, rainforests and volcanoes. The diversity of its natural landscape and plant and animal life offers endless opportunities for kids of all ages to discover the natural world. Slide through treetops like Tarzans, float down a river teeming with exotic wildlife, experience dense forests, waterfalls and rivers on horseback., view dozens of colorful butterflies flitting around a tropical garden, be amazed at the wide collection of historical relics. All these and so much more await the kids.
Downtown San Jose has a plethora of kid-friendly attractions. A visit to the Gold Museum is a step back in time. It houses the biggest collection of pre-Columbian gold jewelry in Central America. A glittering array of pins, pendants and other decorative items in stylized animal shapes is on display. At Serpentario, kids can view colorful reptiles such as iguanas and dart frogs. They will be astonished by the sight of myriad colorful butterflies hovering around the tropical garden. The orchids and waterfall are likewise feasts for the eyes.
At nearby Alajuela, the Zoo Avenue, a wildlife conservation park, is the excellent place to see animals that are native to Costa Rica. In search of the elusive quetzal bird? Here at Zoo Avenue kids are guaranteed a long look at the beautiful emerald-colored most beautiful bird in the whole of Latin America. Kids can have a fill of colorful parrots, toucans, crocodiles, iguanas and other birds at the open air enclosures.
The tiny town of Tortuguero is home to the Tortuguero National Park. Each year hundreds of green sea turtles come to the beach to lay their eggs. The kids will have a great time watching these unique primeval creatures, descendants of the dinosaur age. Aside from turtles, they can trek through the rainforest swelling with monkeys, bats or leaf cutter ants or take a boat trip through the network of canals and spot iguanas, calmans, or even a boa constrictor camouflaged on a branch.
The Arena Volcano is the most active in Costa Rica. What sets it apart is that it spews lava regularly and spits out ash and rocks everywhere. On clear nights, kids can join a night tour to watch the volcano put on a fireworks display of red-hot molten lava. They may even hear the rumbling sounds of the volcano. They will surely be mesmerized. During the day, kids can sign up for one of the hiking trails or go horseback riding around the Arenal National Park.
Monteverde is famous for its “cloud forests”, verdant forests where streaks of rain envelop the hillsides and clouds race across the sky at high speed. This is a great place for kids. Kids will surely enjoy the Ecological Farm Night Safari. Armed only with flashlights, kids get to follow English-speaking guides who will help them hunt for nocturnal animals. Near the entrance to the reserve is a section of the rainforest, the Children’s Eternal Rainforest maintained by children from all over the world. Kids can take the Bajo de Tigre Trail and help contribute to its preservation.
But the most exciting activity in the reserve is the SkyTrek. It is a thrilling aerial adventure where kids get to zip along through the trees like monkeys suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. For the more timid kids, the Skywalk is a loop trail with a series of suspension bridges. From the bridge, kids get to gaze into an extravaganza of colorful plants. For those who love horses, they can go horseback riding through the forest and catch glimpses of the coast far in the distance.
The Manuel Antonio area has plenty of places for kids to explore. There are mangroves, pristine warm beaches, lush tropical rainforest, and exotic wildlife such as the endangered scarlet macaws, sloths and toucans. The Manuel Antonio National Park is one of Costa Rica’s popular parks. The trails through the park are easy and convenient for kids. The park has unspoiled beaches. Kids can swim at the nearby Manuel Antonio Beach.
In Costa Rica, it is great to be a kid.