Page 4 - NORTHERN GUANACASTE TOURIST GUIDE

Introduction
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Guanacaste is a province located in the northwest of Costa Rica. One of its main characteristics is that, despite being the second-largest region of Costa Rica, it is the least populated. Only 326,953 people live in its extensive area of 10,140 km2. The warmth of its people, magical forests, natural parks, picturesque beaches and a cultural richness worth experiencing await you there.
Geographically, Guanacaste can be divided into two parts. The northern and southern cantons, also known as the highlands and the lowlands, La Altura y La Bajura.
The Highlands (La Altura)
This area is traditionally associated with the cantons located along the Cordillera de Guanacaste and the Sierra Minera de Tilarán: La Cruz, Liberia, Bagaces, Cañas, Tilarán, Abangares.
The Lowlands (La Bajura)
This region is comprised of the cantons located in the Nicoya Peninsula: Carrillo, Santa Cruz, Nicoya, Hojancha, Nandayure.
This Cultural and Tourism Guide to Northern Guanacaste (La Altura) covers the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, from the border with Nicaragua to Punta Cerritos, located 22 km west of the city of Santa Cruz. It includes the cantons of Cañas, Carrillo, La Cruz, Liberia and Bagaces. The cantons of Abangares and Tilarán are included in the Monteverde Cultural and Tourism Guide. Meanwhile, the Southern Guanacaste Cultural and Tourism Guide includes the cantons of Carrillo, Santa Cruz, Nicoya, Hojancha and Nandayure.
Along the Pacific coastline of Guanacaste, there are numerous beaches of exuberant beauty. The coastal landscape is exceptionally varied, with extensive beaches of white, gray, brown and even black sand next to a calm sea tinged with intense blues, beaches that are bathed by the warm water of the Pacific Ocean.
This area is home to an important portion of Costa Rica’s natural and cultural heritage.
It’s no accident that there are a significant number of protected areas that include aquatic, terrestrial, mountainous and coastal ecosystems, in whose territories life develops with exuberance. Likewise, the region holds a rich history, culture and heritage, with cultural expressions that are well worth experiencing, from its wonderful gastronomy to its traditions, music, dance and crafts.
The history of Guanacaste’s culture reflects that of Latin America more broadly. Its food, rituals, festivities and handicrafts share a common indigenous past and a history marked by colonial rule, a dynamic that led to important processes of hybridization, cultural exchange and transformation of the local customs, knowledge and, especially, their cultural universe.
This pre-Columbian and colonial influence is reflected in the traditional recipes of Guanacaste, tasty rural dishes based on corn and animal products, which include bizcochos (corn doughnuts with cheese), chorreadas (flour and corn pancakes), corn rice, pozol (corn stew with meat) and moronga (homemade sausage made from pork blood, rice and spices).
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