Costa Rica Guide
The Valle Central and the highlands
CATIE
Plant- and bird-lovers should not miss Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, otherwise known by its acronym CATIE ( 
558-2700, 
www.catie.ac.cr/jardinbotanico ), a 10-square-kilometre tropical agricultural research and higher education centre 2km east of Turrialba. Regarded as one of the world's premier tropical research stations, visitors are free to drive or wander around the campus. Birders will be particularly drawn to the central lagoon - the roosting site for a hundred or so white herons. Tours are offered of CATIEvs landscaped Botanical Garden (daily 7am–4pm; $5 admission, $10 with guided tour for five or more people, reservations recommended) where you can stand beneath a hundred-year-old ceiba tree and munch on freshly-picked tropical fruit. As well as being home to a variety of wildlife – including armadillos, coatis, sloths and caimans – the campus harbours some fascinating ancient archaeological discoveries, including a formidable stone sacrificial altar dated around 1300BC adorned with spiral petroglyphs.