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All 15 questions. Tap "show answer" under each one.

1. What is Costa Rica's national animal?

   • The sloth
   • The white-tailed deer
   • The jaguar
   • The resplendent quetzal
   Show answer

   The white-tailed deer. Everyone guesses sloth. It is the white-tailed deer, declared in 1995, and the Guanacaste dry forest is where you will actually see one. The deer in the Flora & Fauna Guide →

2. Guanacaste, the province, is named after what?

   • A river
   • An indigenous chief
   • A tree
   • A volcano
   Show answer

   A tree. A tree. The guanacaste is the national tree, the huge lone shade trees in the cattle pasture, and its seed pods are shaped exactly like a human ear. The guanacaste tree →

3. The fastest lizard ever measured lives on the rocks at Playas del Coco. Which is it?

   • The green iguana
   • The common basilisk
   • The black spiny-tailed iguana
   • The house gecko
   Show answer

   The black spiny-tailed iguana. The garrobo, clocked at around 34 km/h. The basilisk runs on water but the garrobo holds the speed record, and you will believe it the first time one takes off. Meet the garrobo →

4. Which of these beaches has a famous resident crocodile population at its estuary?

   • Playas del Coco
   • Tamarindo
   • Ocotal
   • Playa Hermosa
   Show answer

   Tamarindo. Tamarindo, where the river meets the sea at the north end of the beach. People are ferried across it in boats for a reason. Coco has no river mouth and no resident crocodiles. The one animal to take seriously →

5. In what year did Costa Rica abolish its army?

   • 1821
   • 1948
   • 1902
   • 1987
   Show answer

   1948. December 1948, after a short civil war, and it was written into the 1949 constitution. The money went to education and health instead, and it is a large part of why the country is what it is. The complete guide to moving here →

6. What is Costa Rica's currency?

   • The peso
   • The quetzal
   • The colón
   • The balboa
   Show answer

   The colón. The colón, named for Columbus. Dollars are widely accepted on the coast, but you will get change in colones and the exchange rate on that change is rarely in your favour. What a month here actually costs →

7. Humpback whales visit the Papagayo coast from which hemisphere?

   • The northern hemisphere only
   • The southern hemisphere only
   • Both, in different seasons
   • Neither, they pass far offshore
   Show answer

   Both, in different seasons. Both. Southern whales come to breed roughly August to October, northern whales roughly December to March. Costa Rica is one of very few places on earth that gets both. Whale season explained →

8. Which tree turns entire Guanacaste hillsides solid gold for a few days in the dry season?

   • The flamboyant
   • The yellow trumpet tree
   • The golden shower tree
   • The guanacaste
   Show answer

   The yellow trumpet tree. The corteza amarilla. Bare one day, solid yellow the next, carpet of flowers on the ground four days later. All the trees in an area bloom together, often after a stray dry-season shower. The corteza amarilla →

9. Ostional, two hours south of Coco, is famous for what?

   • Surfing
   • Mass nestings of sea turtles
   • A hot spring
   • A crocodile sanctuary
   Show answer

   Mass nestings of sea turtles. The arribada: olive ridley turtles coming ashore by the tens of thousands over a few nights, mostly in the rainy months around the last quarter moon. One of the great wildlife events anywhere. The arribada →

10. "Pura vida" is used to mean...

    • Hello
    • Goodbye
    • Thank you, or no problem
    • All of the above
    Show answer

    All of the above. All of them, and more. It is a greeting, a farewell, a thank you, a you are welcome, and an answer to how are you. It is also a genuine philosophy, which you understand after about a year. The expat FAQ →

11. Which of these beach trees is poisonous to touch?

    • The beach almond
    • The sea grape
    • The manchineel
    • The coconut palm
    Show answer

    The manchineel. The manchineel, or manzanillo de playa. Sap that blisters skin, fruit that can kill, and rain dripping off the leaves is enough to burn. It grows at the top of Pacific beaches and looks like ideal shade. The one beach tree to memorise →

12. What is the airport code for Liberia, the gateway to Guanacaste?

    • SJO
    • LIR
    • GUA
    • PDC
    Show answer

    LIR. LIR. Twenty-five minutes from Playas del Coco on paved road. SJO is San José, four hours away, and the mistake people make is booking it because it sounds like the capital and therefore the obvious choice. Liberia airport to Coco →

13. The mosquito that carries dengue bites mostly...

    • At night
    • In daylight
    • Only in the rainy season
    • Only near swamps
    Show answer

    In daylight. By day, especially the hours after dawn and before dusk, and it breeds in the saucer under your potted plant, not the swamp. Tipping out standing water every week is the whole defence. Dengue and the Aedes mosquito →

14. The roar that wakes you at dawn in Guanacaste comes from an animal the size of...

    • A bear
    • A large dog
    • A house cat
    • A wolf
    Show answer

    A house cat. A house cat. The mantled howler weighs about as much and produces a sound that carries for kilometres. Most people are convinced something is being murdered nearby on their first morning. The howler monkey →

15. Tamarindo, the town, is named after...

    • A Spanish conquistador
    • A tree
    • The colour of its sand
    • A local fish
    Show answer

    A tree. The tamarind tree, whose sticky sour pods make the fresco de tamarindo on every menu. The tree is originally African and has grown here for centuries. The tamarind tree →