Drive the back roads and you pass block after block of tall straight trees in geometric rows, leaves the size of dinner trays, bare in the dry season. That is teak, and there is a great deal of it.
Where you’ll see it
Plantations across the province, especially on former cattle land inland from the coast. The trees are planted in lines and you will know them by the leaves.
What to know
Teak is from South and Southeast Asia and produces one of the most durable timbers in the world, resistant to rot and termites, which is why it is on boats and outdoor furniture. Guanacaste’s dry season suits it, and it was planted in huge quantities from the 1990s. The leaves are rough as sandpaper and stain fingers red when crushed. A plantation is a poor habitat compared with the forest it often replaced, but it is a crop, and a long one.
