Providing safer trails for visitors is part of the plan in the rebuilding 100% of the eight paths that weave through the natural attractionof Manuel Antonio National Park.
“The trails are currently in very poor condition, in the rainy season tourists may fall and twist an ankle and we want to avoid accidents”, explained Alfonso Duarte, director of the Áreas de Conservación del Pacífico Central, to La Nacion.
The trains of the Manuel Antonio park are some 4.862 metres (4.9 kilometres or almost 3 miles) long.
The work that includes the placement of signs and guardrails should be complete in June.
According to Duarte, among the significant changes is the construction of a new trail that takes visitors through the mangroves and access to Espadilla Sur beach. The trail will also be accessible to persons with disabilities and seniors. In addition, there will be prepared food and refreshment stands.
Duarte explains that tourists often take junk food on visiting the trails and often feed the animals, like raccoons and monkeys, which has lead to the animals becoming aggressive. The rebuilt trails will try to avoid this type of situation, according to Duarte.
The trail will also have lockers for tourists to store their belongings safely.
Manuel Antonio, located in Quepos, on the country’s Central Pacific coast, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of San José, receives some 380.000 visitors annually, making it one of the most popular tourist (foreign and national) tourist destination in Costa Rica.
The national park was created in 1972 1.983 ha ((and portion, the smallest of any Costa Rican national park) and the marine part an area of 55.210 ha. In 2011, Manuel Antonio was listed by Forbes among the world’s 12 most beautiful national parks.
