best-travel-apps

10 apps for your next trip to Costa Rica

We all know that travelling is a wonderful experience, and we also know that today technology has an important role in facilitating certain aspects of our trips to make things easier. So, Elemento Natural wants to recommend you some of our favorite apps for travelers, especially if your next destination is Costa Rica!

1. Evernote: This is an ideal app for the organized traveler: you can easily create and organize your itineraries, addresses, contacts, lists and even your first drafts with the key notes you took.

Evernote allows you to create and organize your information in different notes, you can even add audio, images or attach files with important information. You can synchronize easily several devices and then enjoy your vacatios to the fullest.

Download Evernote: https://evernote.com/

2. Waze: This is the most valuable road companion! Waze facilitará will make sure you find your destinations that you want to reach and will let you choose the best routes to avoid heavy traffic, especially during the rush hours.

If you like to drive and use your own means to transfer from one place to another, this is an app you must have in your smartphone, search your destination point and let the adventure begin!

Download Waze: https://www.waze.com

3. Instagram: Instagram is more than the filters you can apply to your pictures. It can be your perfect photo album to remember all those amazing moments during your travel: take a pic, share it with your community, show them all the different places you have been to from your perspective, share how beautiful Costa Rica is, so it becomes the next dream destination for your family and friends. Also, look for those exotic places showing up on the “trends” from the instagram search.

Download instragram: https://www.instagram.com

que-comemos-costa-rica

4. Qué Comemos?:

We can´t forget the food! How about express delivery from your favorite restaurants from an app? This is possible in Costa Rica with Qué Comemos? Order food online, with the full menu at your service and with no phone calls. Just keep enjoying your vacation while the food travels to you, and Bon appetit!

Download que comemos: http://quecomemos.cr

5. Uber: transfering from one point to another in Costa Rica can get tricky sometimes: if you need to do short trips, if you don´t want to drive or if you are just looking for a reference point to start enjoying San José´s hotspots, then Uber is your best and affordable choice for private transfer.

Download Uber: https://www.uber.com/es/cities/san-jose/

6. Spotify: We can´t forget the music! Make your favorite playlists, choose the mood of the music according to your day´s destination or have a blast with a carpool Karaoke with your friends, while you reach your next stop. In Elemento Natural we love good music, so it is a must in each one of our “rides”. Choose between thousands of songs and free music from your mobile device and may the music be with you!

Download Spotify: https://www.spotify.com

eventos-en-costa-rica-yapp

7. Yapp!: are you looking for the best optoins to eat locally, enjoy Costa Rica´s nightlife or just discover what´s on for tonight? Yapp! offers a guide of events close to your location so you can keep on enjoying Costa Rica. Additionally, through its web extension you can buy online tickets to concerts and other events available in Yapp!

Download Yapp!: http://yappexperience.com

8. Wi-Fi Finder

Today more than ever, internet access is one of the key things for a traveler, no matter where he/she is.  However, access and roaming charges can skyrocket when you are not in your country or region: and this is where free wifi becomes a plus anywhere we visit.

Wi-Fi Finder helps you find free wifi close to your location, you just need to scan the area and the app will show you where to go nearby.

Download Wifi-Finder: Available for Android.

 9. Packpoint Packing

Do you usually forget something when you travel? No worries! We found a solution with Packpoint, the most complete travel list for your next trip.

Packpoint will help you make a complete list, orderly, of all these items you must bring with you on your travels. First, you define what type of trip you have, your destination and the long of your stay. Then you can specify the type of activities and finally it will give you specific lists and ideas of the things you can´t forget, Et voilà!

Download Packpoint: http://www.packpnt.com

foundation-arboles-magicos

10. Ojeadores de Árboles Mágicos.

This is an app from the Magical Trees Foundation, that will help you identify tree species by the color of the flowers, by region: you can discover interesting facts about hundreds of trees in Costa Rica. It´s a perfect way to reconnect with nature and become a botanical amateur!

Download Ojeadores:  http://www.arbolesmagicos.org/

If you have a smartphone and you like travelling, don´t think it twice and download all these apps that Elemento Natural recommends you. You know you can´t get tired of travelling, so you need to benefit from technology in each of your trips.


J.Tenorio, Tree Box Studio
for Elemento Natural.

The 5 best photography spots in Costa Rica 

We, at Elemento Natural, also love photography: nature and landscapes are always the main photo objectives of our trips, so we are picking for you the places you can not miss in your list of spectacular photos of Costa Rica and therefore we are recommending: the 5 best photography spots in Costa Rica.

visit-costa-rica

1. Cultural city center in San José

If you visit Costa Rica for the very first time, you will likely start your trip in the capital city, San José, which is an ideal place for taking short distance pictures of some of the most recognized city landmarks of Costa Rica: the National Theater, the Gold Museum, the Melico Salazar theater, the Costarican Center for Science and Culture (Children Museum) and the National Museum are all uniquely beautiful and colorful, which will make a good set of photos. On top of making excellent photography spots, you will have the experience of learning deeply the history and culture of this centralamerican country.

If your field is documentary photography, don´t skip the Central Market or the Artisans Market where you will find lots of friendly and Pura Vida people! You can engage with people, talk to them and have meaningful conversations and of course take their pictures; “ticos” are often accesible and friendly so you will probably get a good smile and a good impression, on top of the photos.

visit-costa-rica

2. Poás, Alajuela

Definitely the main attraction of the area is the Poás Volcano crater: not a bad start for your tour in Costa Rica´s northern region! If you want to get a good shot of the crater, our first recommendation is to make an early visit to the national park so you can get the morning light: the park opens at 8:00 am so you will still get a good lighting for your shot. During the hike on the trails of the park you will enjoy the plants and wildlife and the beautiful lagoon.

Once you leave the Poás Volcano National Park, you will notice a spectacular view from atop the mountain, with the greenest country side, strawberry fields and a few traditional houses; just a perfect set up for a surprisingly good photo.

As you continue going down you will reach the Heredia crossing,  and you will take the road to Vara Blanca and Nueva Cinchona, to reach the amazing La Paz Waterfall, visited by thousands of tourists that come here every year.

visit-costa-rica

3. North Pacific
Some of our favorite destinations to photograph the beach life and the astonishing sunsets are located in the north side of Puntarenas, taking the ferry boat to cross the Nicoya Gulf, and in a couple of hours you will get to paradise! Once in Cóbano just take the road to Playa Del Carmen, Santa Teresa and you will start getting a landscape of the ocean with many surfers, a pet-friendly beach, and that will be your first photo objective.

Schedule your route and make sure to include the rocky beach at Mal País, where the sunset with its incredible colors virtually poses for your pictures. You will also profit from the different animals that wonder around you and the shells and beach rocks on the beach.

Last but not least, don´t forget Montezuma, where the forest and the river with its spectacular waterfalls will complete you collection of Costa Rica photographs. Take a break, a short walk on the beach, visit the little village, taste the local food, enjoy the nightlife and the crafts of the local artists: in the end you will have a good set of ´lifestyle´ photos, that will make a good fuzz in your social networks!

visit-costa-rica

4. South Caribbean culture

The costarican caribbean is rich because its afrocaribbean culture, where the color is king and the smiles of its people are always present: the South Caribbean is a must for photography lovers because it gives you a combination of beach, rainforest and abundant wildlife, on top of the carismatic people and the flavorful gastronomy.

A good start is the beach at Manzanillo, with animals, birdwatching, trails and beach: once you get to the ´mirador´, you will know you have to take that picture of the coastline!

Continue on to Punta Uva, another exquisite combination of rainforest and ocean, ideal for some underwater pictures (if you have the right equipment). Howler monkeys might show up for your wildlife photos. Keep going and visit Cocles Beach, the meeting point for surfers, so your perfect spot for sport photography: you can spend here many hours capturing lots of action!

visit-costa-rica

5. Chirripó Hill

If you want to indulge your wanderlust, then you must plan a trip to Costa Rica´s highest peak. However, a visit to Chirripó National Park has to be carefully and timely planned, since this is one of the most remote protected areas, the entrance must be authorized and the spaces in the lodge inside the park and the guides are very limited.

The journey starts with a highland forest and outstanding trees; save your energies and your pixs since you are only starting! You will see from water springs, to dryer landscapes, including the forest of the burned trees, and the ´old man beard´lichens…just to mention some of the exiting photo objecitves in this 14.5 km route to the lodge.

Once you reach the lodge, you can continue hiking to Crestones Hill, Ventisqueros Mount, Las Morenas, the Lions´Sabana or the Rabbit´s Valley! This national park offers too many different landscapes for your photographs!

But the biggest reward will be unveiled once you reach the highest peak in Costa Rica at 3820 meters above sea level! A picture will probably make it to one of the main walls of your house!

[rev_slider alias=”2weekcr”]

If you want to visit this destination in Costa Rica, or any of the others we suggested, just contact us for more information at info@elementonatural.com and we will help you plan your travels and vacations!
Jose Tenorio for Elemento Natural.