Wanderlust Travel Magazine (UK)
Find your sanctuary and win a Costa Rica adventure for two
Costa Rica is the definition of biodiversity, with its wildlife and landscapes offering thrilling natural adventures. Here’s how you can win a dream trip there for two, plus Family Membership to the Eden Project in Cornwall, England.
BIODIVERSE ESCAPES
Your journey to Costa Rica with Journey Latin America, the UK’S number one specialist in travel to Central and South America, will start in the cultural capital San José. From here, you’ll head to the Central Valley to see coffee farms in towns such as Heredia, where traditional methods are used to ensure top-quality coffee.
Costa Rica is home to some 6.5% of the world’s biodiversity, and you’ll have a chance to see plenty of it at the Arenal Volcano National Park. Admire the perfect cone of its eponymous volcano and walk the hanging bridges above the forest canopy to learn about the native flora and fauna. Finish at Manuel Antonio National Park to relax on the beach and seek out the monkeys, sloths and some 950 species of bird in the forest.
From riding rapids to wellness retreats and meeting sabaneros
(Costa Rican cowboys), to watching turtles nest, there’s so much to do.
But before you set off, bear in mind the “Pura Vida Pledge”, a four-step plan for sustainable travel in Costa Rica. First, choose to book with a UK tour operator such as Journey Latin America, who are working with sustainable hotels and excursions in Costa Rica. Next, offset your carbon. Lastly, support local communities and respect the land by leaving no trace. Learn more at: costarica-sanctuary.com
CLOSER TO HOME
Across the Atlantic, another kind of sanctuary can be found in Cornwall, where a barren china clay quarry was transformed 21 years ago into a beautiful global garden called the Eden Project. Today, Eden is a popular visitor destination and cultural venue where you can enjoy trekking through a vast indoor rainforest and extensive outdoor gardens while picking up plenty of tips on caring for the planet.
The project has even extended to Costa Rica, where it aims to restore a biological corridor of dry tropical forest while supporting local communities on the Nicoya Peninsula. It is working with the Matambú Forest Reserve, an area left damaged by overfarming and logging. Today, it’s being transformed back into lush forest where birdsong fills the air and rejuvenated rivers flow freely.
Back at Cornwall’s Eden, get a taste of Costa Rica this April in the new Eco Lodge exhibit in the Rainforest Biome, which puts the country’s commitment to eco-tourism on full show. The lodge will be built with natural materials and will tell the story of Costa Rica’s biodiversity and reforestation work. And that’s just the start, with more exciting Costa Rica projects coming to the Cornwall site later this year.
Whether exploring Project Eden or Costa Rica, with this prize, you’re bound to find your sanctuary amid so much natural wonder.