Playa Zancudo
Encyclopedia
Playa Zancudo is a village in Puntarenas Province
, Costa Rica
near the Golfo Dulce
. It has a population of approximately 450.
. Zancudo is located on a long and narrow peninsula, sometime only 100 yards wide, at the mouth of the Rio Colorado. On one side of the peninsula is Zancudo's beach, protected from the full force of Pacific waves, while the other is home to a mangrove swamp. The whole beach is 6 miles long, with the southern three miles of it having jungle and farmland on the east side and most of the town being located within the northernmost mile. The town of Playa Zancudo contains a school, several churches, a soccer field, some Tico restaurants and bars, three sportfishing areas, and a general store.
's port was developed by the United Fruit Company
in the 1930s. While this was happening, excess bananas that washed down the Rio Coto river came upon Playa Zancudo's beaches. During this time, pig farms thrived on the leftover bananas. Gringos began moving to Zancudo in the 1980s, with the rise in foreign settlement aiding the demise of pig farming in Zancudo.
.
The dirt road which connects the community is in severe disrepair, which prohibits bus service in and out of the town. This has been a major problem to its inhabitants, especially for the youth since they must travel to nearby communities daily for school. An odd consequence of this is that groups of up to 25 students have been forced to collectively rent pickup trucks for a daily charge.
Puntarenas Province
Puntarenas is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the western part of the country, covering most of Costa Rica's Pacific Ocean coast, and it is the largest province in Costa Rica. Clockwise from the northwest it borders on the provinces Guanacaste, Alajuela, San José and Limón, and the...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
near the Golfo Dulce
Golfo Dulce
Golfo Dulce may refer to:* Gulf of Dulce, the name of an inlet in Costa Rica which also is known as 'Golfo Dulce'.* Lake Izabal, the largest lake in Guatemala which also is known as 'Golfo Dulce'....
. It has a population of approximately 450.
Geography
It is located 9.5 kilometers south of GolfitoGolfito
This article is about a Costa Rica town. For the ship see TSS Golfito.The port town of Golfito is located in Puntarenas Province on the southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, near the border of Panama...
. Zancudo is located on a long and narrow peninsula, sometime only 100 yards wide, at the mouth of the Rio Colorado. On one side of the peninsula is Zancudo's beach, protected from the full force of Pacific waves, while the other is home to a mangrove swamp. The whole beach is 6 miles long, with the southern three miles of it having jungle and farmland on the east side and most of the town being located within the northernmost mile. The town of Playa Zancudo contains a school, several churches, a soccer field, some Tico restaurants and bars, three sportfishing areas, and a general store.
History
The area around GolfitoGolfito
This article is about a Costa Rica town. For the ship see TSS Golfito.The port town of Golfito is located in Puntarenas Province on the southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, near the border of Panama...
's port was developed by the United Fruit Company
United Fruit Company
It had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the...
in the 1930s. While this was happening, excess bananas that washed down the Rio Coto river came upon Playa Zancudo's beaches. During this time, pig farms thrived on the leftover bananas. Gringos began moving to Zancudo in the 1980s, with the rise in foreign settlement aiding the demise of pig farming in Zancudo.
Transportation
The nearest airport is in GolfitoGolfito
This article is about a Costa Rica town. For the ship see TSS Golfito.The port town of Golfito is located in Puntarenas Province on the southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, near the border of Panama...
.
The dirt road which connects the community is in severe disrepair, which prohibits bus service in and out of the town. This has been a major problem to its inhabitants, especially for the youth since they must travel to nearby communities daily for school. An odd consequence of this is that groups of up to 25 students have been forced to collectively rent pickup trucks for a daily charge.