Page 43 - NORTHERN PLAINS TOURIST GUIDE

Access to the slopes of this colossus is easy, as there is a gravel road for this purpose. There are places to stay and eat in the surrounding area. An imposing lake extends on its slopes, artificially built to make the largest hydroelectric plant in Costa Rica possible, and where there is abundant fishing.
Lake Arenal is famous for its windy conditions that make it one of the most important windsurfing spots in the world. The waters of Lake Arenal, which feed the power plant of the same name, are also used in an extensive and complex irrigation system that has transformed agriculture in the province of Guanacaste, where they flow thanks to national hydrological engineering.
Besides the Arenal Volcano National Park, this extensive province hosts other tourist attractions including the mighty rivers that cross the region, hot springs, extensive vegetation, the lowlands of Santa Clara and many waterfalls of astonishing beauty.
A particularly whimsical expression of nature can be seen in the Venado Caves, a moving example
of natural subterranean architecture, in which stalagmite and stalactite formations abound. The Venado Caves are close to Santa Clara and are part of a private property open to tourism.
The Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge is in the towns of Guatuso and Los Chiles, a water reservoir that is home to an impressive variety of migratory and resident birds that call this place their natural habitat.
Tenorio National Park and Rio Celeste
Tenorio Volcano National Park is in the Guanacaste Volcanic Mountain Range and includes several life zones like low montane rainforest, very humid tropical forest, and very humid premontane forest. Its main attraction is the Celeste River that, as suggested by its name, has an amazing sky-blue color! Named after its peculiar color, which is the result of an optical effect produced by the dispersion of sunlight due to the high concentration of aluminum silicates in its waters, it is one of the main tourist attractions of the park and of the country.
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