Studded by a string of volcanoes, Costa Rica’s cowboy country abounds in dramatic landscapes, from dry deciduous woodlands to mist-shrouded cloud forests. Guanacaste’s unique culture owes much to its Chorotega Native American Heritage.

It’s easy to understand why Guanacaste has become one of the country’s premier attractions, drawing visitors to its untamed splendours. The region is bounded on the east by a group of green-swathed volcano forming the Cordillera de Guanacaste and Cordillera de Tilaran.

You can hike to their summits, where jaguars and tapirs still forage on the densely forested flanks. The rivers that tumble out of these steep mountains flow down to rolling flatlands, forming a vast alluvial plain drained by the Rio Tempisque, which empties through swampy wetlands into the Golfo de Nicoya.