Spend A Vacation Backpacking Through Costa Rica
If you really love scenic locations with plenty of wildlife then you should plan to spend your vacation backpacking through Costa Rica. The best time of year to visit depends on whether or not you like crowds. From December to April is peak tourist season in this country with crowded beaches and attractions and higher prices. The rainy season during the months of June to September which is also hurricane season is not a good time to visit because the roads often become impassable. The best time to plan your backpacking trip is from midOctober to midDecember because the temperatures are just right and you still have sunny weather.
You do have to plan your trip carefully because it is not an easy task to find your way around Costa Rica unless you have some idea of the layout of the country. The road system is very poorly maintained. Even though it is only 100 miles wide at the widest point this journey can take a very long time. The country is made up of five regions so the best advice is to choose two of these regions for your first visit and them make plans to return for another backpacking vacation to see the others.
It will take you about two days to backpack through San Jose and the Central Valley. This region is home to the majority of the population of Costa Rica. In this area you can visit a volcano hike through a cloud forest and engage in whitewater rafting on rivers classified as Class 1v. Some of the Olympic kayaking teams actually train on the rapids in the rivers of this region.
In order to backpack through the Alajuela And Northern Guanacaste Region you need to allow yourself four or five days. This region is located inland from the Pacific and contains one of the last dry tropical forests in Central America located in an inland area. Here you will find clear areas where there are scattered umbrellashaped conacaste trees standing alone under which the Brahman cows seek shade from the sun. Climb up the Monteverde Range to backpack through the Cloud Forest Biological Reserve of Puntarenas. You can also take a fourhour drive from San Jose to reach this forest.
The Nicoya Peninsula and Quepos will take you about fourto six days depending on how much time you want to spend in the various locations. This area is the domain of surfers international tourists that own houses here and the tico farmers of the country. You can spend time on the beaches and trekking inland to see the wide variety of wildlife and birds. As a side trip you can take the ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya to visit Manuel Antonio National Park where you will meet other backpackers resting on the beach.
The Osa Peninsula is located in the Southern part of Costa Rica. Allow yourself at least five days for backpacking in this region. This area has one of the most biologically dense rainforests on the planet and was one of the first ecological reserves to be built in the world. Here you will glimpse many of the elusive animals that inhabit the rainforest such as howler monkeys and scarlet macaws. There are many public and private reserves in this area.
The accommodations you choose when backpacking in Costa Rica depend on your finances. There are cheap hostels and hotels as well as expensive resorts in all regions.
About the Author: For more information on backpacking through Costa Ricacheap Costa Rica travel and other topics related to travelling in Costa Rica;visit http://www.CostaRicaTravel.com
South Africa For Travellers
The first time we went to South Africa we walked across the Limpopo River from Botswana and picked up our rental car… but that’s another long long story…. That’s probably not the way you’d want to enter the country but I mention it to illustrate the point that it’s really a pretty easy country to travel in.
There is so much to see and do in South Africa… there are safaris of course but get down to the Cape region and you will be awed by the richness of the plant diversity…. Plants I’ve never even heard of… but then I’m not really a gardener. A little inland you find the great wine regions of Paarl and Stellenbosch.
The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park has the highest mountain range in Africa south of Kilimanjaro… you can explore there for rare animals and ancient rock art.
And then there is the coast…. more than 1500 miles 2500 km of coast. It starts in the desert area of the border with Nambia on the Atlantic Ocean wraps around the southern tip of Africa and all the way to the subtropical border shared with Mozambique on the Indian Ocean. There are beaches to sun on beaches for surfers and beaches for penguins.
And for entertainment and gambling there is Sun City billed as “Africa’s Kingdom of Pleasure”.
South Africa does have a reputation for a high crime rate but it is mostly restricted to the townships and not the tourist areas. Check with your government travel advisory pages for current information. You should always practice your travel safety precautions but we always felt safe enough. We didn’t drive at night but then we generally always try to have our hotel before it gets dark no matter where we are.
After our walk across the border the first thing we did was to drive straight to Kreuger National Park. On that trip it was a “doityourself” safari. You can see the “Big Five” and all the other animals that you’ve always heard of in Kreuger. There are several National Parks in South Africa and your safari experience can range from that doityourself type of experience to the most luxurious safari camps.
The roads driving from Kreuger to Johannesburg are good. We really just used JoBurg as the locals call it as a transfer point. We did stop to visit a friend then caught a flight to Cape Town. It’s a beautiful little city and we wanted to see Table Mountain and get to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. And though the Cape of Good Hope doesn’t really mark the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans it was the landmark we wanted to visit.
We also drove the Wine Route through Stellenbosch Franschhoek and Paarl. You can grab a wine route map at most tourist information centers and at the wineries. Be careful about drinking and driving.
There is so much more in South Africa than just safaris…. You have to plan what part of the country you want to see.
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Skiing In Switzerland
St. Moritz Skiwelt Engadin
In St. Moritz 322 days per year are sunny and warm thus being a unique place in Switzerland.
The ski and snowboarding season begins at the end of November and ends in May. St. Moritz was officially opened as a ski and nowboarding resort almost 145 years ago. On St. Moritz surroundings there are many beautiful towns that worth visited: Celerina Maloja Pontresina Sils/Engadin Silvasplana St. Moritz and Zuoz.
According to the Swiss magazine Bilanz St. Moris is at the time being the most popular winter sports resort being followed by Zermatt Gstaad and Davos. Apart from the skiing infrastructure entertainment options hotels restaurants and the quality of services were also taken to consideration.
Today the city of St. Moritz is well known throughout the world. In 1986 the name St. Moritz become a trade mark for worlds most favourite holiday destination. This enchanting place was the craddle of winter sport of the Alps in 1864. In the same year the first travel agency from Switzerland was opened.
In St. Moritz took place the first curling figure skating golf snowboard and bob contests durring 1880 1890. The first ski school was opened here in 1929. Another reason for having the name of St. Moritz well placed in mind is the opening of the first Palace Hotel in world 1896.
The regions St. Moritz and Engadin were declaired by ADAC Sky Guide the best winter resort for five types of skiing in 2003. On the second place only a few points away was placed the region Davos Kloster.
In 2003 Alpine World Ski Championship took place in St. Moritz.
Davos Kloster
In the ski and snowboarding region Davos Klosters can be found beautiful resorts like Jakobshorn Rinerhorn Parsenn Madrisa and Pischa.
Davos Klosters is the region with the best kept traditions. Many activities take place here durring the summer e.g. tennis and riding contests. The city organizes also political symposiums.
The city of Davos is situated at the highest altitude from Europe. Due to the clean air a tuberculosis sanatorium was built here.
The two main cities Davos 1560 m and Klosters 1194 m welcome tousands of tourists each year. The region has 250 m of slides with 51 modern cable transport utilities 5 slides for toboggan run ski schools etc. The tourists come here to enjoy the biggest ski slope from Switzerland with its total length of 14 km.
Zermatt Matterhorn
The ski and snowboarding region lays at 3900 m. The highest peak is Matterhorn 3885 m being followed by Rothorn 3403 m Stockhorn 3405 m and Gornegrat 3090 m.
The winter season starts at the end of November and ends in May buy the iceberg wich is one of the attraction points of the region is covered in snow the whole year. There are 195 km slopes. The region Zermatt is linked to Breuil Cervinia Italy forming the extended region Zermatt International with 400 km slopes overall.
Zermatt at 1620 m is closed for traffic but tourists may live their cars in Tasch or in Visp and from here they can contine the journey by train. To Visp it takes only an hour by train and to Tasch only ten minutes.
The longest slope in Zermatt measures 17 km with a diffrence of altitude of 2200 m.
About the Author: AAtravel is a Romanian travel agency turism that offers custom tourism packages and helps clients with various travel arrangements such as Easter Holidays Paste.