Costa Rica

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Costa Rica By Melissa Morse June 1, 2003

	Costa Rica is full of beautiful tropical flowers.

Its hard to know where to start when I tell friends about my first trip to Costa Rica including one week traveling there with my dad. It felt like I traveled through seven countries. Each area I visited was a distinct ecosystem with a different climate and unique community. It was amazing. The goal of my trip was to meet colleagues we work with and become familiar with different areas we send our travelers and the local guides, outfitters and accommodations who create our Wildland Adventures. Everyday I felt very privileged to learn more about Costa Rica first-hand and to meet the professional Ticos we work with!

Tamarindo
The beach town of Tamarindo is a great introduction to the Pacific culture of Costa Rica. The area is known for its beautiful beaches, small-scale boutique beach development, and great surf popular with families and young travelers. One of our favorite beach hotels, the Capitan Suizo, was my home for two nights. The grounds are landscaped in exotic, colorful, tropical flowers and foliage that attracts many birds and even monkeys. I met a honeymoon couple who will never forget waking up to a family of Howler monkeys roaring outside their window. We were fortunate to see the baby Howler monkeys so close.

View the jungle up close on a hydrobike.

Natures Venice
Tortuguero, located on the Caribbean lowlands of the east coast, is famous for turtle conservation and its elaborate system of natural canals through lowland jungles. Based from the lovely Tortuga Lodge, I saw an amazing amount of wildlife including howler and spider monkeys, caiman, frog, snake, lizard, butterfly and several different species of birds. My first sighting of the Keel-billed toucan was surprising. I didnt realize that they were really that large! Our guide, Franklin, was a great interpreter of nature. He knew the natural history and behavior of each animal and shared his knowledge in a way that made everyone want to learn more. Hes also a conservationist at heart: speeding in his boat on the way back to the lodge, he stopped, picked up a lizard swimming across the canal and gently deposited him in a tree on the other side of the canal, safe out of sight of predators. The second day I rode a hydrobike through the canals with Franklin, which was very easy, stable and a great way to hear and feel the rain forest.

Is that a jet plane I hear?
Where in the world can you lay in bed at night and watch red, molten lava spew out of a volcano? Arenal Observatory Lodge. The Arenal area is cooler and drier than other regions making it perfect hiking weather. My naturalist guide and I hiked to a lookout area complete with a view of Arenal volcano and Lake Arenal. The birds even sound different my favorite was Montezumas Oropendola (it was so loud and reminded me of some wacky videogame). The jet plane I thought I heard flying overhead turned out to be a volcanic eruption! I looked up and saw massive boulders tumbling down the side of the volcano (no binoculars needed)! It was awesome to be that close, and yet at a safe distance from power of nature.

	There are over 1000 species of butterflies in Costa Rica.

Cool Monteverde
Most travelers combine Arenal with a visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest because it's so close. The private nature reserve is famous for having six different ecological zones in 4,000 acres with 320 species of birds and 100 species of mammals. The climate is similar to our weather in Seattle: cloudy, cool and plenty of showers (I visited during the start of the rainy season, after all). Monteverde is one of the best places to view the Resplendent Quetzal and I was lucky enough to see three! Ive enjoyed bird watching since I was a young girl, but this was tough! The thick, tall cloud forest makes it difficult to spot birds perched near the top of the canopy. The Quetzals bright red and green colors and two foot long tail makes it very striking. Again, like the toucan, I was amazed at the size of this bird it was very large! It is true that our naturalist guides provide the necessary eyes and ears to the forest. Hotel Fonda Vela had beautifully decorated dark wood rooms and very friendly staff.

Corcovado canopy
My dad joined me for the last week of my trip to the Osa Peninsula on the southern Pacific coast. Our first accommodation was Corcovado Lodge Tent Camp. The staff working there were some of the friendliest people Ive ever met and all of the guests seemed so excited and happy. Family style dining allowed us to share stories and get to know each other better. It was hard to believe how food in the middle of the rain forest could be prepared so tasty! Our highlight was a hike and 120 foot ascent to a canopy platform. The platform is securely fastened to a large, sturdy Guapinol tree and is very safe. We scanned the tree tops for toucans, macaws, hawks and even monkeys. Our tent was very comfortable and we slept with the sound of the ocean at our door. We awoke to the happy trilling call of a family of House Wrens that were nesting right outside of our tent.

Red-eyed leaf frog found in the rain forest.

Lapa wild animal park
We were greeted with smiles and a glass of cold, fresh fruit juice upon arrival at the award-winning Lapa Rios Lodge. Although I was a guest of the lodge it felt more like I was staying at wild animal park with all the birds, monkeys, sloth and coatis! Situated on a terraced bluff, our ocean view bungalow was in the local arterial of the animal highway. There was a constant stream of animals going up or down the cecropia and palm trees as they moved through the forest canopy. We saw howler, spider, white faced and squirrel monkeys, coati (a close relative of the raccoon), macaws and many other creatures. We were definitely in the rain forest! At night we were serenaded by the frogs and at 4:30 in the morning my dad finally got to hear the legendary roar of the howler monkey. I was impressed with the commitment to ecotourism from the architecture and operations, including hiring staff from the local community and sponsoring the establishment of the local Carbonera School. One of our favorite places at Lapa Rios was the lookout from the top of the restaurant. Just climb up the spiral stairs, pull up a chair and watch the birds and monkeys at eye-level! What a fabulous place.

Overall, my first trip to Costa Rica was an unbelievable experience. Its amazing that a country as small as the state of West Virginia has so many distinct ecosystems with so much wildlife and so many activities, all in one country! I was also impressed by the professionalism of people in tourism from drivers, guides to hotel staff as well as the overall infrastructure that makes travel in Costa Rica and accommodations within beautiful natural environments so comfortable. Theres something for everybody here.