Santa Ana
Everybody who wants to escape from the hustle and bustle of San José is in the right place here in Santa Ana.
Approximately 30.000 residents live in this calm and attractive town. In less than half an hour you can get to the center of San José as well as to the international airport Juan Santamaria. The climate is very pleasant and dryer as in the other parts of the country. This is why Santa Ana was elected to the place with the fifth- best climate on earth. Nevertheless, the town that is protected by the mountains “Cerros de Escazú” is not too touristic.
San José
San José is the capital of Costa Rica with a population of around 355 000 residents. But at the same time, San José is one of the 7 provinces of the country with totally 2, 2 million Costa Ricans which is the half of all the inhabitants of the country.
The City is situated 1100 m above the sea level and the annual average temperature is around 20° C.
Facts about Costa Rica:
• Surface: 51.200 km²
• Population: 4, 43 Mio.
• Form of government: Presidential Republic
• Languages: Official language is Spanish but there are further ones like Patois or indigenous languages
• Religion: 77% Catholics, 14% protestants
• Holiday: 15.09. Independence Day (1821 from Spain) with patriotic celebrations
• Capital: San José; most important cities: Alajuela, Cartago, Puerto Limón, Puntarenas, Liberia, San Isidro
• Shore line: Pacific 1020 km, Atlantic 211 km
• Extension: north-south: 464 km, east-west 259 km
• Highest mountain: Cerro Chirripo Grande with 3839 m above sea level
Safety:
Costa Rica safety is easy to come by here in this stable and functioning democracy with the most cosmopolitan capital in Central America, which is a relatively safe place to visit. Making a few common preparations and reading the following Costa Rica safety tips will increase your chances of having a safe and stress-free vacation.
Costa Rica safety tips are similar to precautions you would want to take in any foreign country. Traveling here, we recommend you always to carry a business card of our hotel for the case you get lost, photocopies of your Costa Rica airline ticket, your passport and your driver´s license.
Telephone and cell phone in Costa Rica:
Phone calls in Costa Rica are quite cheap. This is one of the reasons why we allow national calls to cell or home telephones for free. Just take the phone in your room, dial a 9 followed by the number of the person you would like to call.
If you want to call to US or Canada, you can do this for free from the Lobby- Computer. International calls to the rest of the world are really cheap from the Reception desk. please ask.
The batalla de Santa Rosa
The national park of Santa Rosa was founded in commemoration of the battle of Santa Rosa and Rivas.
The unscrupulous North American commander William Walker was struggling to turn the Central American states into slavery states and to incorporate them into the Southern States of USA. In March 1856, his troops out of war-hungry outlaws set off from Nicaragua to the south and invaded Costa Rican territory.
Luckily, the Costa Rican were informed early enough by their representative in Washington so that they activated military forces for a battle against the unsuspecting enemy. Mercenaries and inexperienced small farmers armed themselves and marched from San José to the north until they met the invaders on March 20th 1856 in Santa Rosa.
During bloody struggles the brave Juan Santamaria went to the hiding place of the enemy, an old wooden fort in order to set fire. In this way, the Costa Ricans bate and expelled the surprised troops of William Walker after a quite short time and marked up an incredible victory which guaranteed their own independence.
Today, Juan Santamaria is celebrated as the national hero and in order to keep him in honor, the international airport San José bears his name. William Walker who did not appear at the battle was shot some years later.
