Costa Rica Vacations Blog

Go Greener With Nature Air

by Lisa Khajavi

What is the best way to travel within Costa Rica?  Once you arrive in Costa Rica, either through the Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia, or the Juan Santa Maria Airport in San Jose, you will need to decide how to get to your vacation destination.

Due to international carrier arrival times, many travelers need to spend the night in San Jose when arriving to and departing from Costa Rica.  There are many sights and activities to justify spending perhaps 2 or 3 nights total in the San Jose Central Valley.  However the great majority of the tourism destinations are well outside of San Jose.  There are many options which include public transportation by bus, minivans with drivers, tour buses, taxis, rental cars and flying.  Public buses are very inexpensive but take the most amount of time with many stops.  Minivans and larger tour buses are also very time consuming.  Taxis only make sense if the trip is local due to expense and lack of comfort for longer trips.  Most tourists find renting a car exasperating.  With little or no road signs and no numbered address system, one might end up driving in circles looking for the first right after the Coca Cola building which no one happened to mention no longer exists!

I love to drive and have my own vehicle here in the Central Valley.  However when I travel on weekends or vacations outside of San Jose, I always choose to fly.  It is scenic, relaxing, saves time and is the greenest option in Costa Rica.  For example the 208 km trip from San Jose to Quepos would take almost 4 hours by car, but only 25 minutes by Nature Air.  The 4 hours does not take into account anything like road work, cows crossing, accidents, or flat tires from potholes and the like!  These events are unfortunately commonplace and add frustrating, unknown time to your trip.  Further, there are no shoulders, emergency lanes, or exits for bus stops.  When a bus makes a stop, it blocks traffic.

I value the unplanned detours in life, but I have found in Costa Rica I get to my destination and then (if at all) rent a car to meander and explore the areas I am interested in.  This way if you have an interest to drive here, you may partake of some driving adventure and see the local sights, but not be as likely to jeopardize your itinerary.   I have heard so many stories of people driving or being driven to their destinations, only to cancel the return trips and fly instead!  It is easy to see why- flying Nature Air is like an added value scenic tour with beautiful views and efficient travel times.   You will arrive and depart in the relaxed ‘pura vida’ mood, making the most of your precious vacation time.

To elaborate on the point of traveling green, there are many layers to consider.  From an emissions standpoint, the greenest way to travel within Costa Rica is by turboprop airplanes, or airplanes with propellers.

Nature Air’s fleet is comprised of the De Haviland Twin Otter and King Air, both twin- engine turboprop planes.  Looking at a study of emissions per passenger km for travel, the least emissions per passenger were generated by turbo prop planes, then bus, and finally the most emissions were generated by cars.  I don’t mention trains (the least emissions) regional jets or larger aircraft (the most emissions) because these are not options to travel once you are within Costa Rica.

When you plan trips outside of Costa Rica and wish to reduce your carbon impact, trains are the best option as they produce the least amount of emissions per passenger.  To reduce your carbon footprint for the inevitable international airfare on large aircraft to Costa Rica you may choose to purchase carbon credits to offset this portion of your trip though organizations such as Fly Neutral (flyneutral.org) or Carbon Fund (carbonfund.org).

In addition to lower emissions, flying to a destination has less overall impact on the environment than ground vehicles.  It is not just the higher emissions produced by cars, trucks, and buses but many other factors that impact the environment.  The roads required to support vehicles disrupt animal corridors and increase likelihood of more development in the area.  The increased traffic produces sonic pollution which adversely affects wildlife.  This is an ongoing challenge of growth and development versus preserving nature. One of Costa Rica’s most important industries as a whole is tourism.  The key feature is nature and all the glorious flora, fauna and geography.

Nature Air has 17 destinations and brings more than sixty percent of its passengers within 10 kilometers from national parks or other ecotourism destinations.  These natural wonders are the future of this stunning country.  By choosing to  fly, your contribution will be less impact in these zones.  Not only is flying a greener choice to start with, but Nature Air additionally offsets carbon emissions through the carbon neutral reforestation/protection of rain forest program in the Osa Peninsula.  Further, with the use of biodiesel for all ground vehicles, an extensive recycling program and other environmental education programs, the choice to fly Nature Air is even more environmentally friendly.

Come check out the best scenic tour in Costa Rica- each flight is a VIP front row “sky tour”.

Traveling Within Costa Rica
Go Greener With Nature Air

by Lisa Khajavi

Blazing Trails with Biodiesel
By Lisa Khajavi

The NatureGroup of companies again is blazing a trail to be leaders in the travel industry on the quest to be greener.  NatureAir has kicked off the very first Costa Rican alternative fueling station through its own aviation fueling company, Aerotica. Since June 2008, Aerotica has been offering biodiesel in addition to aviation gas and jet fuel. The biodiesel is from 100% recycled vegetable oil and can be used in any ground vehicle that runs on regular diesel.  NatureAir, Costa Rica Nature Vacations, and Aerotica (both fuel company and the eponymous flight school), use only biodiesel for all diesel ground or fleet vehicles.  These include airplane tugs, fuel trucks, delivery trucks, and vans.  Even employees are able to purchase biodiesel for their personal diesel vehicles.  NatureVacations clients, when being transferred by ground, enjoy comfort and style in Mercedes vans powered by 100% biodiesel.

Currently, the airline purchases the refined biodiesel from a local provider, and the supply is complemented by used cooking oil brought in from the homes of NatureAir employees.  Some employees have visited local restaurants to increase the amount collected, thus saving even more used oil from entering rivers.  NatureAir supplies the receptacles with small filters free of charge to employees.  A program to increase the amount collected is being developed to incorporate local school cafeterias and more restaurants.  Additionally, the ability to sell biodiesel on a retail basis in the future is being analyzed.  The aforementioned ground vehicles all proudly display these stickers:

NatureAir purchased Aerotica, now almost fifty years old, in 2003.  In 2000 NatureAir burst onto the scene making the huge commitment to be Costa Rica’s only, and the world’s first carbon neutral airline, recently recognized by the United Nations Environmental Program for this achievement.  Other organizations that have recognized NatureAir’s achievements in responsible travel include the Rainforest Alliance, Conde Nast Traveler, Virgin Holidays and others. Originally, the purchase of Aerotica was to secure the most important resource to the airline.  This enabled the fuel to be of the highest quality (proper filters, tanks, delivery) and that the fueling process would be controlled by NatureAir, thus ensuring safety and on-time performance.

While not directly involved in the costly development of a sustainable aviation fuel, the airline is cautiously optimistic that there will be a viable alternative fuel in the next five years. Based on its commitments to the environment at present, it is certain this company will be at the head of the line for their fleet.  NatureAir continues to be dedicated to being the world’s most environmentally friendly airline, in spite of the very difficult challenges in this current marketplace.

“This program is an important milestone in NatureAir’s dedication to protecting the environment and conserving our natural resources,” said NatureAir Founder and CEO Alex E. Khajavi. “We wanted to do something beyond our carbon-neutrality airline program. The world’s natural resources are precious and this alternative fuel program is a step in the right direction to keeping our air and waters healthy.”

Costa Rica has a wonderful opportunity to capitalize on its well earned reputation as an ecotourist destination committed to conservation of the environment.  This can only happen by companies walking the walk, not just talking the talk by ‘green washing’.  NatureAir, and its group of companies, including NatureVacations, is leading the way by pioneering legitimate efforts to protect and conserve the environment.  The hope is that other companies take the lead and do the same.

Costa Rica Eco Travel News
Blazing Trails with Biodiesel
By Lisa Khajavi

The evolution of ‘Ecotourism’
by Lisa Khajavi

As a world-wide leader in nature-oriented travel, with 5% of the world’s biodiversity within only .035% of the world’s land, Costa Rica continues to be in the spotlight for ecotourism.  Since 1993, tourism has been the top generator of foreign revenues for Costa Rica, surpassing both bananas and coffee.   The ICT (Costa Rican Institute for Tourism) acknowledges that the tourism in Costa Rica has become mainly ecotourism.  It is easy to see why, with Costa Rica’s 25 national parks, 58 wildlife refuges, 32 protected zones, 15 wetland areas or mangroves, 11 forest reserves, 8 biological reserves, as well as 12 other conservation regions.  The array of flora and fauna is staggering.  Martha Honey of the CESD (Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development) cites the following:

“This West Virginia-sized country boasts more bird species (850) than are found in the United States and Canada combined, more variety of butterflies than in all of Africa, more than 6,000 kinds of flowering plants (including 1,500 varieties of orchids),  and over 35,000 species of insects.  Costa Rica is, as former minister of natural resources Alvaro Umana put it, a biological superpower.”  (Honey 2003)

All of this natural wonder in the most stable country both socially and politically in Central America, perhaps even all of Latin America, is heaven for especially the ecotraveler.  To its credit, Costa Rica has the highest percentage of protected land in the world (Fenell and Eagles 1990).  Further, Costa Rica has preserved these lands and natural habitats in such a way that they are more accessible to tourists than those of any other country in the region (Budowski 1993).  The small size of the country is a huge factor as well; a traveler has the opportunity to visit more destinations per visit if desired.

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines ecotourism as:

“Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”

The history of ecotourism is interesting.  The term ‘ecotourism’ was coined in 1983 by Hector Ceballos-Lascurain, one of Mexico’s top architects as well as renowned environmentalist and Ecotourism expert.  Ceballos-Lascurain is the Director General of the Programme of International Consultancy on Ecotourism (PICE), and special advisor on Ecotourism to the World Conservation Union (IUCN).  The following definitions are quoted from Ceballos-Lascurain in an ecoclub.com article Meet the Architect of Ecotourism.

1983 definition:  “Ectourism is tourism that involves traveling to relatively undisturbed natural areas with the specific object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects (both past and present) found in these areas.”   His hope was that the result would be that people would become more knowledgeable and aware of nature and thus likely to be more involved in conservation issues.  This very desire came to fruition.

He revised the definition in 1993, which was then adopted by the IUCN in 1996 as its official definition, which states:  “Ecotourism is environmentally responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features, both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations.”

What began as a niche in the early 80’s has grown exponentially with far-reaching effects.  From the roots of ecotourism sprang ‘responsible’ and ‘sustainable’ tourism, and as seen above ecotourism is now defined to include the latter.  In October of 2008, United Nations Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner joined the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to announce the first-ever globally relevant sustainable tourism criteria at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The new criteria was developed to offer a common guide to the burgeoning practice of sustainable tourism and to help consumers, businesses, governments, non-governmental organizations and education institutions to ensure that tourism has positive, rather than negative effects on local communities and the environment.  To find out more, check out www.SustainableTourismCriteria.org.

In order to promote tourism providers that practice sustainability, the Costa Rican ICT developed the Center for Sustainable Tourism (CST) which provides certification to businesses that are committed to sustainable practices.  The certification is given at levels from 1 to 5 green leaves, with many businesses currently certified and in process.   The Rainforest Alliance recognizes the CST as a valid entity to promote and ensure sustainable practices in Costa Rica.  Countless others in tourism are involved in sustainable practices in Costa Rica that are under the radar.  Also there is the newly formed Costa Rican National Chamber of Ecotourism (CANAECO) which is Rainforest Alliance affiliated.   With all of these organizations to help promote and enforce authenticity, backed by huge consumer demand, there is sure to be more and more in the tourism sector on board to protect Costa Rica’s priceless ecosystems and communities.

If you are interested in Ecotravel or Ecotourism in Costa Rica, speak with an expert contact us here.  We can provide you with invaluable advice about anything you have interest in regarding ecotourism in Costa Rica.

NatureAir and NatureVacations are proud to practice environmental and social responsibility. NatureAir is The world’s first certified Carbon Neutral Airline and presents an informative  video  at http://www.natureair.com/carbonneutral/ .  Also to learn more about our biodiesel program see http://blog.natureair.com/.

Costa Rica Eco Travel
The evolution of ‘Ecotourism’
by Lisa Khajavi