|
TILARAN , 40km northeast of Monteverde, is a useful stop-off between Guanacaste to the west and the Zona Norte to the east. It's also about the best place in the country for windsurfing - the Tilawa Viento Surf & High Wind centre (tel 695-5050, fax 695-5766) can arrange all kinds of rentals and advise on conditions on the Laguna de Arenal. There are a few cabinas in Tilaran: try Cabinas El Sueno (tel 695-5347; US$5-10), 150m from the northwest corner of the central Parque, with good rooms with private bath and a nice patio, or Hotel Naralit (tel 695-5555; US$5-10), for comfortable and spotless rooms. Tilaran has good bus connections with Canas and the Interamericana, from where you can head on to Liberia and the Guanacaste beaches, or south to Puntarenas. The bus station is 100m north of the Parque Central. Some 37km southwest of Santa Elena and 10km off the Interamericana, LAS JUNTAS DE ABANGARES was a small gold-mining centre in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Just off the road to Monteverde, 5km outside town on a rough (4WD only) little road is the Ecomuseo Oro , or "Gold-Mining 'Ecological' Museum" - one of the more bizarre uses of the "eco-" prefix in Costa Rica, since gold-mining is not known for respecting environmental integrity. Commemorating the activities of the Abangares Gold Fields Company, the small-scale exhibition features dusty photographs of the area's mini-gold boom, along with a ragbag collection of mining artefacts. The museum is meant to be open daily between 6am and 5pm, but is often closed; donations are gratefully accepted. Short trails pass through the pockets of tropical dryforest surrounding the building. You can ask to be dropped off the bus from Santa Elena at the turn-off to the Ecomuseo, although it's a hot thirty-minute walk from here (follow the signs). If you're driving down the road from Monteverde, look for a fork on the left just before you hit the outskirts of Las Juntas, and the museum is signed from here. You'll need 4WD, or could drop your car in Las Juntas and hop in one of the 4WD taxis waiting at the rank around the corner from the church.
Your Tip for Around Monteverde
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Around Monteverde - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Around Monteverde - visit the main Around Monteverde forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Around Monteverde webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
