Traveler's Companion Costa Rica 98-99

Book excerpt: Overwhelmingly green and moist, smelling of river mud and the salty sea, Costa Rica is the Earth's national park. While visitors can find a wealth of modern comforts in San Jose and the ever-expanding beach resorts along the Pacific shores, the true soul of the country lies beyond these plush enclaves in the accessible wilderness. The Traveler's Costa Rica Companion highlights the places that no visitor to Costa Rica should miss and surveys the country in terms of holiday themes - such as hiking, walking, rafting, touring, living it up or relaxing in palm-fringed comfort, or absorbing the local culture - that readers may personally relate to. Visitors will be led along the accessible jungle and rain forest trails, up volcanos and down riverbeds and on to scenes reminiscent of the film African Queen.