Costa Rica

On this, our seventh trip with Natural Habitat Adventures, we explored biodiversity-rich Costa Rica. This tiny country, wedged between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and between North and South America, has recognized that protecting natural habitats for native plant and animal species promotes a very healthy economy.  Over 25% of Costa Rica is preserved.

On the Caribbean side, we viewed wildlife from our boat as we traveled through estuaries and canals in the lowland flooded rainforests of Tortuguero. On the Osa Peninsula, the Pacific side, we hiked the coastal rainforests of Corcovado National Park. In the northern part of the country, the Monteverde Cloud Forest, we experienced plant diversity from bridges high in the canopy of a montane mist environment, and we wrapped up our adventures exploring the tropical rainforests around the steamy Arenal Volcano.

We delighted in seeing two and three-toed sloths moving slothfully upside down in the mid-canopy; lazing iguanas; Jacanas with their large toes and Jesus Christ lizards named for their ability to walk on water; three species of monkeys—Howler monkeys with their babies, Spider Monkeys flying through the air, and mischievous Capuchins. And frogs. Poison Dart frogs that are about an inch long, and red-eyed tree frogs with huge eyes, blue sides, and sticky orange hands and feet. But primarily we were surrounded by Costa Rica’s rich avian world—Scarlet and Great Green Macaws, Keel-billed Toucans, Blue-crowned Motmots, Summer Tanagers and over twenty species of Hummingbirds, all vibrant and territorial. And rain. Lots of rainforest rain.

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