The Irazú Volcano is one of the wild areas that have the most visits. Since the reopening of the national parks and wild areas in May,
the park has been visited by 30,099 tourists  - A.M. Costa Rica wire services photo-






















Published Thursday, September 17, 2020


Online tickets to visit Irazú Volcano
and Tapantí wild reserve


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

In October the online ticket purchase access will open to visit the Tapantí Wild Reserve and Irazú Volcano National Park, both in Cartago Province, announced on Wednesday the National System of Conservation Areas, SINAC.

According to SINAC, Tapantí - Cerro de la Muerte Massif National Park covers 583.20 square kilometers (225.17 sq miles) in two life zones: lower-montane rain forest and pre-montane rain forest. These forests provide habitat for some 45 mammal species, including Baird's tapir, kinkajou, white-faced capuchin monkey, paca, agouti, ocelot, and jaguarundi. The park's 400 bird species include sparrow hawks, resplendent quetzals, emerald toucanets, and violaceous trogons. There are 28 species of reptiles and amphibians, among other animal species.

The Irazú Volcano National Park encompasses the area around the Irazú Volcano where the most visited zone is the Prusia Forest Reserve. One of the volcano's most famous eruptions occurred in March 1963, when the ashfall started the same day as the visit of  U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

According to SINAC, the Irazú Volcano is one of the wild areas that have the most visits. Since the reopening of the national parks and wild areas in May, Irazú Volcano has been visited by 30,099 tourists in its two sectors, Prusia and Cráteres.

Last week, the government began the process of relocating the telecommunication towers, located on the Irazú Volcano to restore the services affected by the landslide that happened on August 26 in that area.



Specialists from the Volcanological Observatory and the National Emergency Commission presented the study of the landslide, which details the existence of new cracks and a movement of earth detected in areas where there are still telecommunications antennas and infrastructure.

According to the Ministry of Science, the study identified two new dangerous areas. For that reason, and with the goal of safeguarding the workers in the area near the landslide, as well as guaranteeing the continuity of telecommunications services such as radio and public television, that location will be closed.

The area is used as one of the main points for installing antennas and telecommunications buildings, to provide the service in the central region of the country.

According to the ministry, since 2015, modifications and improvements have been made to protect the lives of the park rangers and as well as the area of the workers of the telecommunication companies.

Those antennas and buildings are located in the 60-meters near the main crack. The companies were informed about a large unstable land block in that area.

According to the study, the main landslide happened on August 26 at 4:02 a.m. It was a block of about 25 million cubic meters in the area near the location of the tower that fell over the Sucio river. "This did not cause a risk to any nearby population," the ministry said.

As a result of the landslide, work was carried out to restore telecommunications services. Currently, they are working on reestablishing some services that continue disconnected.

The study also recommends removing all the telecommunication structures during the remainder of this year, since they are located in the area of highest danger.

The Commission recommended as a preventive measure to keep the zones of El Roble, Puma and Micaela trails closed to the public.

However, another area in the park is open to the public, because the landslide happened away from the tourist zone.

Other wild reserves with online ticket purchase available are Chirripó National Park, Poás Volcano, Manuel Antonio Beach, San Lucas Island, and Tortuguero.

Online tickets can be purchased on the SINAC website. A tutorial on how to buy tickets can be found on the SINAC YouTube Channel.


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Should the authorities close the Irazú park to prevent damage from potential landslides?
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