Verdant Veragua

President Oscar Arias, right, was all smiles July 4 as he celebrated the first anniversary of his Peace with Nature initiative by cutting the ribbon to officially inaugurate Veragua Rainforest Research and Adventure Park, a 4,000-acre private reserve just west of the Caribbean port of Limón. The new $8 million park is a buffer zone for the 500,000-acre La AmistadInternationalPark and promises to be a shot in the arm for tourism in the Caribbean province. Veragua offers an ambitious mix of natural adventure and education, in cooperation with the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio), which will be carrying on active research here. Attractions include creative pavilions focusing on reptiles, frogs, insects and butterflies, along with a precipitous tramline that ferries visitors down into virgin rain forest, where wooden walkways wend through ancient trees to a waterfall. Left, Veragua General Manager Felipe Koberg, in white hat, leads the first visitors along the Trail of the Giants path. For more information about the park, visit www.veraguarainforest.com.