La Amistad

La Amistad, the friendship park, is shared with Panama and inscribed by UNESCO as a single transboundary site covering the Talamanca range, the largest and wildest protected area in Central America. It runs from lowland forest to páramo above three thousand metres, and because the Talamancas were never glaciated and never fully connected to North or South America, the biological diversity here is exceptional even by Costa Rican standards, with a large share of the country's species and many found nowhere else. Almost none of it has trails. The park is also home to the Bribri, Cabécar and Naso peoples, whose territories adjoin and overlap it.

What you actually see

• The altitude range - lowland rainforest to páramo above 3,000 metres.
• Endemic species - a concentration found nowhere else in the isthmus.
• The Altamira sector - the most accessible ranger station and trails.
• Indigenous territories - Bribri, Cabécar and Naso lands around the park.

When to go

December to April is the drier season, though the Caribbean side of the range is wet year-round. Access is easiest from the Pacific side at Altamira. Anything beyond the short station trails requires a guide, a permit and several days.

Honest expectations

This is not a park you visit casually: there is no visitor centre in the usual sense, almost no trail network, and the roads to the ranger stations are rough enough to need four-wheel drive. Weather changes fast at altitude and people have been lost in it. Most of the park is accessible only on multi-day guided expeditions.

Nearby

San Vito and the Wilson Botanical Garden are the base; Chirripó is north along the range.