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A brief view of a great place… by Marco Garrido With almost 46.6 square kilometers, 24 kilometers of coastline and located two hundred and seventy miles Southeast of Costa Rica; Cocos Island represents a world-known nature’s jewel which the memorable Jacques Ives Cousteau(1910-1997), scientific oceanographer, professional diver and filming director of sealife documentaries, brought up this island worldwide through the communication media together with his Calypso Ship's crew, in the late '80s. Cousteau deemed Cocos Island as ”the most beautiful island in the world…” and Michael Crichton wrote “Jurassic Park” with this place in mind. Cocos Island was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1997 by UNESCO and more recently it has been nominated as a candidate in the 2nd phase of the New 7 Wonders of the World contest. Exuberant vegetation typical of tropical rainy climates and a high level of rainfall generates abundant rivers of fresh and crystalline waters that cascade into the sea in waterfalls of extraordinary beauty. A rugged-shaped coastline full of steep cliffs, turns the island in an almost impregnable fortress which rises over 500 feet above sea level. The only points of access are two bays: Chatham Bay and Wafer Bay, which are separated from each other by the “Presidio” Peninsula. Mount Iglesias which reaches an altitude of 2,178 feet over the sea, is the island’s highest peak. Since Cocos Island was first mentioned in 1541 in Nicolás Desliens cartographic map, it is assumed that it was discovered before that date. Nevertheless, its exact date of discovery is not known. In Desliens’ map it is identified as “Coques” (Inst. Geog. of C.R., pp. 33., 1964). It is said that Cocos Island owes its name to the abundance of coconut palms and fruit. A captain by the name of Colnett mentioned having loaded 2,000 coconuts onto his ship on a visit to the island in 1793. Mi cumple número 40 en la Isla del Coco (Spanish)
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