Santa Teresa Costa Rica – Costa Rica Resorts

In Cabo Blanco you will find two main trails available to visitors.

The shortest one Sendero Danés (Danish Trail) is about 1.3 km. long and can easily be walked during morning or afternoons.

There are many signs, photographs, and texts that explain plants and other interesting things that you will be encountering along the trails.

The longest trail Sendero Sueco (Swedish Trail) that takes you inside the park to Playa Cabo Blanco beach. This trail is over 4 km long and it will require more than half a day to do it.

There is a historical site at the Cabo Blanco beach, also the Cabo Blanco island can be seen from here. You can relax, have your refreshment, swim, and enjoy the beach before you come back to the park’s station.

About 140 different species of trees have been identified inside the park.

The park is located in a transition area between the dry and wet forest, there is a combination of evergreen trees which are characteristic of the humid rainforest, and trees of the deciduous type (which loose their foliage during the dry season)

Among the forest specimens found we can mention the “Pochote” (Bombacopsis quinatum), the “Guacimo” (Guazuma ulmifolia), and the “Indio Desnudo” (Bursera simaruba) and there are many trees present that are native to the whole Nicoya Peninsula area.

It is worth mentioning the tall and impresive “Espavel” (Anacardium excelsum), the “Guacimo Colorado” (Luehea seemanii), and the beautiful “Cortez Amarillo” (Tabebuia ochracea) which bursts into a yellow spectacle of flowers during the dry months of March and April.

There is a considerable variety of mammals in the park.

Howler Monkeys and the White-face monkeys.

Also very abundant White-nosed coati and the White-Tailed deer.

Also present, but harder to spot are the Margay and the coyote.

But the greatest wealth in fauna is in the abundant marine birds, fish, crabs and mollusks found in the shore waters and in the Cabo Blanco island.

Worth mentioning is the healthy population of brown bobbies and pelicans found in the island, and also the plentiful Conch (Strombus galeatus) found on the park’s waters.

Up to the 1960′s the lands that now constitute the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve were being depleted of their natural forests for use as farm and pasture land. The emphasis in those days was to develop and increase agricultural production and little concern was given to conservation of natural habitats.Olof Wessberg (known as Nicolas) and Karen Mogensen arrived in Costa Rica in the 1960′s in the pursuit of Karen’s dream of finding happiness in harmony with nature. They chose to establish themselves in the Nicoya Peninsula.

Soon after establishing themselves in a farm near the Montezuma area, they set up on an expedition to the Cabo Blanco area in seach for native tree seeds to reforest their newly acquired farm. Upon arriving to the area, he was amazed at the abundant wildlife and the size of the trees in the area. This was like an oasis in the midst of a desert as all lands around had been devastated to give way to low-yield pasture and agricultural lands.

This experience was what triggered their determination to save and perserve this “natural jewel”. With the aid of an international agency, they bought 1250 hectares of land in 1963 and turned these lands into the first protected area in all of Costa Rica.

Nicolas died in 1975 and Karen in 1994. Their bodies are buried at the Nicolas Wessberg Natural Reserve which was the original farm they bought when first arrived in the Montezuma area.

Thanks very much Karen and Nicolas for this great legacy you left Costa Rica and the whole world!!

Stay in Santa Teresa Costa Rica near the Park. Check Santa Teresa Costa Rica Hotels, you wont be disappointed.

Cabo Blanco´s anniversary  is coming soon, please get updated in our Blog. It is fun and very interesting meeting with ecologist from all around, only a certain amount of people are allowed to come to better preserve the atmosphere. Reserve your spot now! Costa Rica Best Resorts