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The 10 Best Costa Rica Eco Tours

November 28, 2019
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Costa Rica is a small country in Central America bordered by Nicaragua, Panama, the Pacific Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea. Nearly 30% of Costa Rica is protected as a national park, wildlife refuge, or private reserve.

Costa Rica is inhabited by 5 percent of all of the world’s species. During your eco-vacation, you can see coral reefs, cloud forests, and mangrove estuaries. Costa Rica is one of the world’s frontrunners in sustainable travel, and while you’re here you can book ecologically friendly tours and hotels.

The benefits for the local economy through environmental tourism go to local communities and replaces industries harmful to the landscape as logging and mining. You can either go on your own, or you can join an organized eco-tour.

The eco-tours available in the country, causing a minimal impact on the environment, offered in Costa Rica attract people who have a common interest in nature, culture, and wildlife. These tours provide environmental education, allowing tourists to get involved in conservation projects.

But with so many options for things to see and do, it can be hard to decide which of the many Costa Rica eco tours is right for you.

One of the best ways to explore all of the beauty of Costa Rica is a few nights stay at one of the country’s jungle lodges.

Coffee Plantation
Photo credit: Cherie Stafford / Flickr

Coffee Plantation Tours in Costa Rica

Costa Rican coffee has grown to be much more than an economic boost to the local culture and plays an important role in the history of coffee. Some of the reasons Costa Rica produce quality coffee beans are the combination of ideal conditions such as higher altitudes, fertile soils of volcanic origin combined with cool climates and steady rainfall.

100% of the coffee produced in Costa Rica is arabica beans.

The government gave anyone who wished to grow the beans their own land and plants to get started and the industry quickly surpassed tobacco and cacao as the leading crop.

Whitewater Rafting Down the Pacuare

Rafting on the Pacuare River – rated one of the most exotic and scenic rivers in the world is an amazing experience due to thrilling rapids coursing through rugged canyons and verdant tropical rainforests.

The Pacuare is home to colorful toucans, parrots, sloths, frogs and morpho butterflies. You’ll experience some of the best whitewater that Costa Rica has to offer.
The river has been divided into three sections, the Upper Upper Section, the Upper Section, and the Lower Section. The most commonly rafted section is the Lower Section.

Arenal Volcano
Photo credit: Leonora (Ellie) Enking / Wikipedia

The Arenal Volcano

Arenal Volcano is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western of the country. Arenal is considered a young volcano and most active of all the volcanoes, and it is estimated to be less than 7,500 years old. It is one of the few historically active Costa Rican volcanoes along with Poás, Irazú, Miravalles, Orosí, Rincón de la Vieja complex, and Turrialba.

Travelers to Arenal will still enjoy its bountiful sights, sounds and activities— there are mountains to be hiked, lakes to be fished and rivers to be floated. If you are visiting this area consider an exciting and scenic trip to the national park surrounding Arenal.
Many visitors do not realize that Arenal National Park is actually home to not one, but two volcanoes.

Manuel Antonio National Park
Photo credit: Ian D. Keating / Flickr

Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio was listed by Forbes among the world’s 12 most beautiful national parks. Located on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, Manuel Antonio is easily one of Costa Rica’s most famous tourist attractions. It’s the country’s smallest National Park, complete with exotic toucans, lizards, howler monkeys.

This park has impressive landscapes and several coves with many white-sand beaches and lush foliage amidst great mountains and forests. our beaches are contained within the limits of the park: Manuel Antonio, Espadilla Sur, Teloro, and Playita.

The Central American squirrel monkey, Panamanian white-faced capuchin monkey, black spiny-tailed iguana, green iguana, common basilisk, white-nosed coati and many snake and bat species are also common in the park.

Poas Volcano
Photo credit: Daniel Borman / Flickr

Poas Volcano

Mario Boza lead the effort to preserve the region and to have the government declare the volcano a protected area.
Active volcanoes are the most exciting features of Costa Rica’s geological composition. The Poás Volcano is an active 2,708-metre stratovolcano in central Costa Rica and is located within Poas Volcano National Park. It has two unique crater lakes – lake Botos to the south is an inactive crater with cold clear lake water and the north is Laguna Caliente, a mile wide volcanic crater filled with water so acidic that no plant or aquatic life can survive.

Tamarindo Estuary Kayaking Tour, Guanacaste

This tour gives you the unique opportunity to enjoy the spectacular views of the beautiful mangrove in Tamarindo and observe the wildlife. You can observe abundant wildlife of the tropical dry forest while learning about the unique ecosystem of the mangrove forest. You will see brown pelicans, brown booby, magnificent frigate birds, and neotropical cormorants.

During your tour, you can stop and have a deeper explanation of the local flora and fauna, specifically the famous local Guanacaste trees, Costa Rica’s National tree.

Tortuguero National Park
Photo credit: Global Water Forum / Flickr

Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero is a village on the Northern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica in the Limón Province. Tortuguero National Park can surprise you with its network of canals, rivers, lagoons, beaches, and dense rainforest here are interlinked. You can explore these canals and observe the wildlife by boat, kayak or canoe and it makes it a great and relaxing way to experience nature.

Its beaches are famous nesting grounds for sea turtles, including endangered green turtles. The surrounding rainforest is also rich with wildlife with many bird species. During September and October many local “guides” will offer tourists the opportunity to watch turtle nests hatch.

The National Park is also host to an incredible biodiversity of insects, resident and migratory birds, and mammals, including jaguar and four species of monkey.

Wildlife Rescue Center
Photo credit: carol patterson / Flickr

Wildlife Rescue Center

Some of the tours also includes a stop at the world-famous Wildlife Rescue Center, a not-for-profit organization that rescues wild birds and exotic animals, helps them rehabilitate and then releases them back into the wild.

The passion of the owners, the dedication of their staff and the generosity of volunteers and donors makes everything possible.

Carara National Park
Photo credit: Tom Benson / Flickr

Carara Biological Reserve & National Park

It was established in 1978 as a biological reserve, but due to the growing popularity after 1990 its status was changed to a national park. Carara is one of Costa Rica’s most popular National Parks, mostly because it is located close to San José.
You can watch for the 150-200 scarlet macaws that nest and feed throughout the reserve. There are two hiking trails in Carara. Bordering the Pan-American Highway, this park is unique as the Amazonian and Mesoamerican ecosystems.
This national park has 10 of the most uncommon and rare hardwoods in the country.

Also, it can be found in the park many pre-Columbian archaeological sites dating back 2,000 years.

Leatherback Turtles
Photo credit: Reiner Kraft / Flickr

Leatherback Turtles National Park Guanacaste

Leatherback Turtles National Park was established in 1991 to protect Leatherback turtles species from extinction. The park is part of Caravan’s Costa Rica eco tours.
Leatherback turtles can grow as long as six feet and weigh up to 1100 pounds or more. Along with the Olive Ridley and Hawksbill turtles, Leatherback turtles use this area of Costa Rica as their annual nesting grounds and each year thousands of turtles return here to nest.

Although sea turtles live most of their lives in the ocean, adult females must return to land in order to lay their eggs. Scientists believe that nesting female turtles return to the same beach on which they were born.

The flora in the area includes mangrove trees that are greatly common and for instance monkeys and crocodiles can be observed in the park area. The park is the ideal place for hiking and after that sunbathing and relaxing at the lovely Playa Grande.

During your visit to the park you are not allowed to use flash cameras or flashlights, and to approach a turtle.

Featured image photo credit: Coral Blanche Hummer / Flickr

Want to learn more about Costa Rica? Check our other posts:
Sustainable Tourism in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Eco Travel – Top Eco-Friendly Travel Packages

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Air Travel impact

7 Ways to Reduce the Impact of Air Travel

August 14, 2019
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Dismissing air travel entirely is unrealistic in this day and age, but we can try to reduce the impact of air travel. People fly for many different reasons, and doing it in a less impacting, more eco-friendly manner is always a good idea.

You try to keep your travel as eco-friendly as possible, but sometimes, you have no choice but to fly up.

The International Council on Clean Transportation says:

Taking one roundtrip flight abroad generates one metric ton of carbon, which is roughly equivalent to driving a Prius 20 miles (35 km) to work every day for a year!

We should all try to fly less and stay for longer when we go, but there are things everyone can do to lessen the impact and make your trip as green as possible by following these suggestions:

“I think we’re on the brink of a new era of flying responsibly,” says Sophia Leonora Mendelsohn, JetBlue’s Head of Sustainability. “The vast majority of carriers [are] completely focused on the upcoming United Nations ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) agreement.” This mandates that all airlines cap CO2 and commit to carbon neutral growth after 2020, among other significant measures.

A progress being made — from buying newer more fuel-efficient airplains to NextGen technology — but our collective high-altitude emissions are still staggering. There are about 100,000 commercial flights per day, and the number of air travel will only continue to grow, says Scott Mayerowitz, airlines reporter at The Associated Press. “Last year, U.S. airlines burned through 16.2 billion gallons of fuel [or 340 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions],” says Mayerowitz.

Take a nonstop flight

As much as 50 percent of a flight’s emissions come from takeoff and landing. We could mention also the fuel burned while waiting for a runway. non-stop flights are exponentially better for the environment.

Keep in mind that taking off and landing use up more fuel than cruising at high altitude. It’s better for the environment to seek a different airline when you’re searching online to make a flight reservation than many low-cost airlines that fly via a third location rather than non-stop.

It is always better for the environment to take a non-stop flight.

Book an air travel that uses newer model planes.

Newer planes usually have better fuel economy than older ones.
If you have a choice between an older aircraft and a newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft, book the modern aircraft. Green, options include Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350. Many leading airlines use new versions of 737s and A320s/A321s for shorter flights. A 2016 study on airlines’ fuel efficiency revealed a huge discrepancy between carriers when it comes to how much fuel they burn. This is caused by two main differences – the number of premium seats and the type of aircraft. In the U.S. Alaska Airlines is the most fuel efficient, followed by Frontier and Spirit. In Europe, Norwegian Airlines is 51 percent more efficient than British Airways, the worst ranking. Porter Airlines, which operates in Canada and the U.S., uses turboprop planes that fly much lower than jets and use 64 percent of the fuel that jets do.

Choose daytime flights

Studies show that jet can contribute to warming the atmosphere because as they disperse they can trap heat radiating up from the earth. Especially at night because during the day, the contrails partially offset the heat trap effect by radiating light from the sun away from the earth. It’s believed that flying during the daytime is more eco-friendly. Nighttime flights have a greater warming impact because, as the David Suzuki Foundation explains, the contrails trap heat that would otherwise escape the Earth.

Reduce the Impact of Air Travel

Photo credit: itsbytespixels from Pexels

Lower the window shades

According to Delta rep Ashton Morrow. “Why does the flight attendant ask you to lower your shades and open the vents when it’s warm outside?” Because it helps keep the aircraft cool. When all window shades are closed, the aircraft can be 10 degrees cooler. Reducing the cooling load saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”

Purchase carbon offsets for your air travel

Carbon offset programs might be more of a quick fix than a long-term solution, and they go toward reducing the same amount of environmental costs that your trip expends.
In 2007, Delta first started the use of an airline carbon offset program. Up to today this program benefits The Nature Conservancy’s forest projects in Chile, Virginia, and Belize. For example, a roundtrip flight from New York to London will emit one ton of CO2 per passenger, while one tree conserved through the program will capture up to 7.5 tons of CO2 over its lifetime.

“If I have a choice of airlines, and I know one has an effective carbon-neutral program but the other doesn’t, I can chose, as a consumer, to put my money where it does the most good,” – says Skift’s aviation editor, Marisa Garcia.

JetBlue’s CarbonFund.org program supports The Envira Amazonia Project, which preserves 500,000 acres of endangered tropical rainforest in Brazil and also providing the community with educational programs, and health care. When you spend about $13 to offset your flight from New York to Paris, 100 percent of the tax-deductible donation goes to these and other projects, including wildlife conservation or renewable energy.

You can do this voluntarily to some airline tickets at the time of purchase of your air travel ticket. Learn more about how carbon offsets are used.

Use economy class.

The more passengers that an aircraft carries, the less fuel is burned per passenger. When you choose an economy seat, you’re responsible for fewer emissions than if you choose a seat in a roomier class of travel.

Atmospheric scientist Peter Kalmus calculates that sitting in first class emits 1.5 kg C02-equivalents per passenger mile, compared to 0.5 kg CO2e in the economy. A 2009 study by World Bank calculated that first class has a higher carbon footprint than their economy class.

Pack light.

Every pound of weight that a plane carries increases the amount of fuel that it burns, the havier the load the more carbon emissions will be released. Consider reducing your luggage weight which will reduce your environmental impact and it makes your traveling far easier, faster, and more pleasant.

“Delta is packing lighter in an effort to cut fuel consumption and lessen environmental impact by reducing the amount of ice boarded on overnight international flights, replacing heavy pilot manuals (50 pounds) with Microsoft Surface tablets and flight attendant manuals with Nokia Lumia 1520 phablets, as well as installing lighter carbon brakes in place of the high-capacity steel brakes where possible,” says Delta’s Morrow. “If customers pack lighter—making simple changes like leaving that extra pair of shoes at home (two pounds)—the annual environmental impact from reduced fuel consumption is the equivalent to removing 10,500 cars from the road for [an entire] year.”

As you are preparing to take off for your next vacation, consider reducing your carbon impact by using some of these simple tips. You can check our other posts about becoming a sustainable traveler.

Photo credit: Miroslava from Pexels

Sustainable Portland USA

Sustainable Portland USA

February 10, 2019
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Portland, Oregon’s largest city, sits on the Columbia and Willamette rivers with a population of 632,309 and is the 26th largest city in the USA. It’s known for its parks, bridges and bicycle paths, as well as for its eco-friendliness.

In 2017, Multnomah County and City of Portland committed to transitioning the community to  100% renewable electricity by 2035 and 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Our region has an incredible opportunity to test scalable and catalytic strategies in urban sustainability – and we believe the results will fuel innovation, diversity, and urban environments that are not just sustainable, but restorative.

Bus lines and train routes bring many sustainable benefits to the Portland area and the city has encouraged cycling and walking. The use of cars in the city and the suburbs is decreasing with the increase in availability and affordability of public transport. The goal is by 2030 the use of public and active transport to increase to 80%.

Choosing transit over driving eliminates over 200,000 daily car trips and reduces carbon emissions by over 60 percent compared to driving alone in the Portland metro area.

Solar power

Solar power

The solar panel array near Portland State University — the largest in Downtown — generates 64,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity and saves tons of CO2 every year. In Portland, even with a reputation for being a rainy place, you can get enough sun to power a home for a year with a normal size installation.

“While Portland certainly endures long stretches of cloudy winter and spring days, we also enjoy lots of lengthy, uninterrupted days of summer and fall sunshine. In fact, Portland gets substantially more sun than Germany—the world’s leader in reliable, pollution-free solar energy use.”, said The City of Portland representative.

One of Oregon’s largest solar farm west of the Cascades will be a 10-megawatt solar farm using 35,000 photovoltaic cells for Portland General Electric.

Cost/effective energy storage is vital. In addition to a 2030 deadline to phase out importation of coal-fired power, Oregon’s utilities must obtain half their power from renewable sources by 2040
and comes with a solution that would provide inexpensive, sustainable energy that’s cheaper than coal and gas while providing peak power demands when no wind or sun power is available.

Electric buses

Portland’s public mass transit agency TriMet started transitioning to a clean energy bus fleet with the introduction of its first all-electric bus and the agency has committed to a non-diesel bus fleet by 2040. TriMet is using the 40-foot version of the New Flyer Xcelsior Charge battery-electric bus, which will be powered through PGE’s Clean Wind program.

The new bus will save TriMet about $400,000 in fuel costs over the 12-year lifespan of the vehicle. This type of bus has a range of 80 miles per charge and can be re-charged in 30 minutes

Parks Portland

Green Infrastructure in Portland

Portland uses green streets, trees, eco-roofs, and other green infrastructure to protect water quality and improve watershed health and manage stormwater. Urban streams, forests, and wetlands manage stormwater naturally and are part of Portland’s green infrastructure.

Green infrastructure protects the aging sewer system and makes it operate more efficiently by keeping stormwater out of sewers.
Ecoroofs replace conventional roofing with a living, breathing vegetated roof system. An ecoroof consists of a layer of vegetation over a growing medium on top of a synthetic, waterproof membrane. This type of roof significantly decreases stormwater runoff, saves energy, reduces pollution and erosion, and helps preserve fish habitat.

Ecoroofs also absorb carbon dioxide, cool urban heat islands, and filter air pollutants. It increases habitat for birds and insects and provides much-needed green space for urban dwellers.

The city’s regional government supports an environmentally sustainable lifestyle by promoting natural gardening practices, recycled paints, public transportation.

The region has attracted visitors from North America and overseas, many of whom are keen to learn more about how to replicate some of its successes.
With population projections of up to 2.5 million people by the year 2040, Portland’s growth rate is twice the national average.

Want to find more sustainable destinations? Check our other posts.

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