"It Is a Jungle Out There" a Costa Rica Travel Page by BruceDunning

The island was a first discovery by Columbus in 1502, and the Indians offered him gold (mistake-that creates greed). That sealed the fate for them. The terrain was far too rough for many, but some little towns sprouted up. Over the years foreigners introduced many crops because the growing was good here. The farmers were a bit slow to catch on, though. See this depiction of the leisure.
There are 4.3 million people in the country now, and that is up form 2.5 million in 2000. They imported 900,000 from Nicaragua to pick bananas and cannot sned them back. Then 200,000 expats showed up to enjoy the pretty scenery, mostly in the NW coastal area. Prices of real estate on the west side are 50-100 times of that on the east due to high rise condos and developments. It is a casual life style, and only 8,000 police serve the population, so you need to be alert. Barbed wire and high steel fences are all around

The country has had its share of travesty in recent years with an earthquake that shook the whole country, and an upheaval of the coral reefs offshore. Then came rains that flooded the eastern coast and was a disaster. Now they fear the volcano from the famed Irazu volcano at 11,257 feet continual erupting may be arising, so to speak. You can see the devastation of these tragedies, and they are still working on clean up in some areas.

Rainforest still is prevalent in most of the country. The vegetation is plush and plentiful. The access, though may not be easy. There are steep mountains (highest is 12,537 feet), and winding roads. It rains much of the year, especially on the east coast side. The country is the 5th best global preserved territory for eco-tourism. The costline covers 940 miles.
They have 25% of their land as preserved territory/parks. There were 2 million tourists to come here in 2007 and it supports 10% of the national GDP, at $2 billion revenue.