Description:

Turrialba, 45km east of Cartago on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central, has sweeping views over the rugged eastern Talamancas.

When pitching the Angostura dam and hydroelectric plan on the Reventazon River to the whilewater riding fanatics of the mountain town Turrialba, authorities framed the project as a tourist attraction as well as another in Costa Rica’s arsenal of fossil-fuel-free power generators. The idea was that the reservoir that the dammed river formed would become the perfect weekend getaway for romantic boaters and high-speed Jet Ski junkies. The fact that the pitch was made to Turrialba residents was probably not just a symptom of the tourism-industry boom that Costa Rica is experiencing, but a prescient acknowledgement of the fact that the small town in the country’s easternmost mountains is poised for a position among the royal family of Costa Rican tourism destinations.

And not necessarily because of its take. The muddy waters of the Angostura are plied day and, interestingly night, by pedaling couples in banana boats, plastic canoes and, indeed, a jet ski, courtesy of the Colombian-owned Lago Tours. But the town and its sport-craving mountainous surroundings are the undiscovered backcountry of Costa Rica that has remained largely unknown to visitors.

The adventurous reputation of the green mountains and rocky canyons around turrialba has been slow to awaken in the minds of jet set Costa Rican vacationers. But the town is near the banks of the country’s liveliest rapids – the Pacuare – and at the foot of its namesake, which is the country’s highest dormant volcano.

Thrill seekers and nature lovers have begun to notice and the list of tour operators vying for bodies to fill their whitewater rafts and struggle into their harnesses for zip line rides is growing.

The town is close enough to San Jose for adventurers with tight schedules to scoot out for a romp in the woods for a day and get back to the city in the evening. Staying the night, however, is a minor, but rewarding, adventure. Turrialba has its own mellow rhythm, notable when the uncanny number of shoe and clothing boutiques lock down their steel curtains for the night and only a few bars, most frequented by the river rats – rafters and kayakers – and travelers planning mountain bike rides or ascents of the volcano at dawn. The buildings are the haphazard collage of new-meets-old indicative of any town in the throes of change. For example, the mid-scale and clean hotel Kardey faces a dilapidated line of buildings fit for the wrecking ball, for example. Those seeking quaint luxury will find a number of converted hacienda style houses in the emerald hills surrounding the town.

The Pacuare rapids legendary in Costa Rica – any river guide who doesn’t tell you it’s the best – meaning the biggest rapids – has money aat stake in a trip on another river. As many as a half dozen tour operators or more will take you over those rapids. Loco’s and Explornatura operate out of Turrialba but can arrange for San Jose pickups. For adrenaline addicts and naturalists, river trips are usually the priority, but a small group of committed rock climbers have opened the mossy, prehistoric fern choked river canyons near the town to the average and modestly fit. The canyoneers – novices and experts alike – rope themselves to metal anchors in the rock above sheer waterfalls and leap off backward, rappelling at their leisure, swinging in and out of the torrent to splash finally in lazy pools where the water collects itself after the excitement of its fall.

The pioneer of the canyoning trip, as it is called, is Anuar Hassan, a wiry Singaporean with waist-length hair, a frequently broken heart and Muslim diet of wavering strictness. He set the anchors, called chapas in Spanish, in Turrialba’s canyons as he has on rock faces in climbing spots from Cachi, near Cartago, to locally managed by guides like José Solano and Raul Coto, who work with Explornatura, who mingle their jungle knowledge of the natural world with their rope swinging antics and a few fun surprises to round out the tour.

Compared to its neighbors, both northern and southern, Costa Rica is archaeologically negligible. Lacking the glamour of the showy Mayan temples up north or the religious zealot retreats in the crags of Peru down south, the piles of rocks in Costa Rica are meager. Its archaeological record, however, is invigorated by facts such as that it was a crossroad between the northern and southern cultures and the only region, for example, where both of the two dominant styles of spear points on these continents are found together.

Take that nerdy fun fact with you to the Cabecar ruins at Guayabo, a half-hour drive outside of Turrialba. It is the largest archaeological site in the country, a collection of excavated circular bases of homes, graves, a well and rectangular drinking pool and a broad stone road active between 1000 B.C. and A.D. 1400. The site is still relatively undeveloped for tourists – there is no written material or explicative signs available. Instead, guides at the entrance to the site will give a tour for a tip.

Mountain bikers can get in touch with Ricardo Monge at Ciclo Monge tips on races and group rides most Sundays.

Paths through the wilderness connect the dots among volcanoes and the town and emphasize the overdue conversion underway of an agrarian community of sugarcane and coffee farmers taking their part in the outdoor sports industry that has been gripping Costa Rica for more than decade.

Scenic Turrialba is located in the province of Cartago in Costa Rica. Known as the door to theAtlantic, this piece of paradise will take you out of the Central Valley and into the lowlands of the Caribbean through a scenic road surrounded by sweeping valleys and rolling hills and the towering Turrialba volcano. It is the southeastern most Holocene volcanoe, a large vegetation-covered stratovolcano located northeast of the Irazu Volcano. Three well-defined craters are located at the upper end of a broad summit depression that is breached to the northeast. This colossus has been quiet since a series of explosive eruptions in the 19th century that were sometimes accompanied by pyrolastic flows. Fumarolic activity continues at the summit craters. This area of Costa Rica is made up of fertile farmlands, stunning rustic scenery and bright green pastures blanketing the mountains, with hotels and lodges folded away into nooks in this bucolic environment. Turrialba?s principal activity is agriculture: here you can see large acreages of coffee, sugar cane and macadamia nuts, as well as the only milk processing plants and cattle ranches that are allowed to produce the popular Costa Rican ?Queso Turrialba?, their traditional cheese. The town has approximately 80,000 habitants distributed in a 1,040 square miles area (1,664 square km). The constantly pleasant weather and friendly atmosphere make this a wonderful location to purchase real estate.