Environment

Olivia with adorable kitten

Costa Rica is the most beautiful place I have ever visited, possibly the most beautiful in the world. In urban areas, the happiness and optimism oozes from everywhere.  Outside of the cities, every glance is filled with amazing plants and animals. Throughout the past two weeks, we have learned about many things, but the most amazing is the environment.

leaf-cutter ants

Everything you see here in Costa Rica has a very specific role in the natural system. On our first full day here Beto told us about a special tree that was planted in coffee fields because it shaded both the plants and workers, but did not absorb many nutrients from the soil. On one of our many hikes through the rainforest, we learned about epiphytes, plants which grow on other trees and provide moisture, but do not harm the host tree. This is a great example of the way things work in Costa Rica. Aside from the big bustling cities, everything appears to be built into the original environment, with special care taken not to disturb the existing objects. In places where the forests have already been removed, you can barely walk a mile without seeing a sign saying, "Regeneración del bosque" (Forest Regeneration). The people here are making an effort to return Costa Rica to its natural state.

Monteverde cloud forest

In the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Beto told us a lot about how the plants work together to keep the forest alive. Despite what most people think, the soil in the rain forests is not particularly fertile soil. In fact, the usable portion of the soil is only the top foot or less. Because of this, most plants have short, wide spreading roots that don't go far into the ground. Many large trees topple over with the slightest wind, causing a domino effect and opening a large hole in the canopy. As a result, the plants growing below the old tree will get more sunlight, allowing them to grow faster and healthier in order to replace the big hole and cover the floor in darkness once again. The carcass of the giant tree will also become home to hundreds of new plants and maybe even house a colony of bugs or a rainforest mammal. Animals and plants work together in other ways too. Without the help of birds, bugs, and bats, plants here would not be pollinated. A few of the plants are germinated in other ways, such as spores, but for the most part, flying creatures do all the work.

Sloth with baby, Manuel Antonio

Television paints a very different picture of the rainforest wildlife than what truly exists here. When we first arrived I expected to see monkeys, frogs, and birds everywhere! In reality it takes a lot of patience and quiet time to find the animals. Luckily Beto was an excellent guide and was able to make the trips worthwhile (usually). We have seen wild deer, several types of monkeys, sloths, birds, enormous crocodiles, tons of iguanas and many more awesome animals. Some of the bugs here are hideously frightening, but we have been informed that none of them are deadly (still scary). While on a family stay excursion to a nearby volcano, we got a little to close with some raccoon-like animals. They were very hungry! Luckily no one was harmed and no food was stolen (from our group anyway). - Olivia