CARLA 2019 took place in Turrialba, Costa Rica, at the Atlantic Campus of the University of Costa Rica.
Welcome to Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a small country in Central America and one of the most visited destinations in the world. Bordering Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south, it is a democratic and peaceful country without a standing army since 1949. Despite its small size, Costa Rica shelters about five percent of the existing biodiversity in the world.
Being a tropical country, Costa Rica landscapes and climate zones are immensely varied: jungles with lush vegetation, beaches, mountains and active volcanoes. The country is divided into seven provinces, with San Jose as its capital, and its territory stretches across 51,100 square kilometers from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, barely 200 miles from shore to shore.
The currency is the Costa Rican colon and the official language is Spanish. There is a lot of cultural diversity, with ethnic groups and communities of immigrants including African descendants, Chinese, Italian and Hebrew, as well as several indigenous populations such as Bribri, Cabecar, Maleku, Teribe, Boruca, Ngobe, Huetar and Chorotega.
About Turrialba
Turrialba is a town that prospered when railroads were introduced to the Caribbean during the nineteenth century. Declared a City of National Archeological Interest, it is the entryway to the Costa Rican Caribbean. Two universities are located here: the Tropical Agronomy Research and Learning Center (CATIE) and the Atlantic Campus of the University of Costa Rica. The economy is based on commerce, sugar cane, coffee, dairy products and tourism.
Turrialba, in the Cartago province, is home to the Pacuare River, which flows out of the Talamanca mountain range and is well known for rafting and scenery. The Turrialba Volcano National Park is also located here, with a 3,340 meter stratovolcano that has three craters at its summit. The Guayabo National Monument, ten miles northeast of Turrialba, preserves archeological structures inhabited from 1000 BC to 1400 AD and has been declared a World Heritage Civil Engineering site.
Atlantic Campus, University of Costa Rica
The University of Costa Rica (UCR) traces its origins to 1843 and was officially created as a higher education and culture institution in the 1940s. It opened in San Jose in 1941 and later developed regional campuses, including the Atlantic Campus. The University of Costa Rica was declared in 2001 a Meritorious Institution of Education and Culture in Costa Rica. The Atlantic Campus is located in Turrialba, about 67 kilometers from San Jose, and was created in 1971.
Getting to Costa Rica
Entering Costa Rica can be done by land or by air. By land, the Inter American Highway crosses the country from the Nicaraguan border to the Panamanian border and leads to San Jose, from where you continue to Cartago and follow the signs to Turrialba. By air, you should plan to land at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (airport code SJO), located in Alajuela about 20 kilometers from San Jose.
Immigration requirements
The following information comes from the Costa Rican immigration office and is provided as is. Please consult the Costa Rican consulate in your country of citizenship for the latest official information.
- No entry visa is required for Canada, the United States, any European country or Great Britain.
- Citizens of some Latin American countries require an entry visa, including Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru and the Dominican Republic.
- If you are in that group but hold a valid entry visa for at least three months for the United States, Canada, South Korea, Japan, the European Union or the Schengen area, you will not need a Costa Rican entry visa.
Learn more at the University of Costa Rica.