Costa Rica - Rainforest and Jungles

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The first thing that came to my mind was:

“What’s the difference between a ‘Rainforest’ and a ‘Jungle’? 

My past experience is a temperate rainforest (on Vancouver Island, BC) and to my knowledge, I had never been in a jungle.

- The first resource told me that the 'Jungle is dense, impassable and usually a tropical forest while a Rainforest is a forest with high rainfall.' The biggest contrast is the amount of sunlight that peeks through the treetops.

- "Rainforest" is a technical term in ecology, referring to a particular kind of biome or climate. "Jungle" is not, and so its definition is determined in part by how people use it. "Jungle" is a word the specifically refers to land overgrown with dense, tangled vegetation.

-   Over a quarter of natural medicines and around 40% to 75% of all biotic species have been found in Tropical Rainforests (often called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's largest pharmacy").

Trees that heal:

 tourist tree 

Cacao

Geonoma epetiolata: called “naked Indian” or “tourist tree”. It is used in different ways to lower fevers. To treat kidney diseases it is suggested that you cook the leaves and take them in the morning and at night. 

Vines:

In Costa Rica the rainforests have layers. There’s a high canopy of treetops that shields the sun from peeking through. Vines climb up long tree trunks to reach the sunlight.

Palms

Costa Rica has 109 of the 4000 species.

Palm oil – not to be confused with coconut oil – is the world’s most consumed vegetable oil and accounts for 33% of vegetable oil and 45% of edible oil worldwide, according to the Scientific Journal Nature.

Palm Oil production has been one of the largest agricultural industries in Costa Rica. But has had a considerable impact on biodiversity and sustainability of the tropical growth. It is reported to be responsible for about 8% of the world’s deforestation.

 Dave’s Natural Pavilion (as noted before in the Costa Rica – Pineapples; Heart of Palm; . . . posting) was developed on an abandoned Palm Oil Plantation in the hopes of rescuing the tropical forest.

Growing houseplants for export has become a booming industry in Costa Rica:

Philodendron

Everywhere the tropical plants are awe-inspiring:

Heliconia Wagneriana 

Rainbow Plant 

A Wondrous Experience

Costa Rica - Butterflies and Orchids

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We spent the last couple of nights before we went back to San Jose at the Punta Leona Hotel & Club in the Central Pacific Region . . . where the rainforest comes down to the ocean. Well this is far more than a resort – it’s more like a community. In addition to the Hotel (or many hotels) there are apartments, condos, grocery stores, floating bars, lounges, restaurants, bars and many more activities. Actually I think I would have liked to come here at the start of the tour rather than the end.

 On the second day of our stay, the schedule included an outrigger canoe trip along the coast to view more wildlife and geological formations. Most of the folks went on the outriggers but my choice was to spend that time at the butterfly farm. Costa Rica has 90% of all Central American species and 18% of the total earth’s population of butterflies.

Butterfly Farm

The Mariposario butterfly farm is within the Punta Leona property.  It is open air but enclosed with netting. It’s so peaceful with beautiful flora and a marvellous array of butterflies.

It’s not difficult to identify the big, colourful butterflies like the Blue Morpho and the Owl Butterfly but finding the identification of the smaller ones, less common ones has been quite a challenge.

The Blue Morpho is often called Morpho Peleides. They are not actually blue. The sun is reflected off scales on their wings that emit the blue colour – that is the males, the females appear brown.
The Blue Morpho 

The Owl Butterfly

The Owl Butterfly is native to Costa Rica but has spread out over most of Central and northern South America. Some theorists speculate that the dark owl eyes on its wings will ward off predators and allow the butterfly to escape.

 

Owl Caterpillar

The Owl butterfly has been a curse for the banana industry. The caterpillars grow on banana plants causing considerable destruction and then the adults feed on the fermented fruit.

The Tiger Clear Wing

The Monarch Butterfly

Butterfly vs. Moth?

Moths tend to be nocturnal while butterflies generally come out during the day. Butterflies land with their wings closed while moths land with their wings open. A more often than not, butterflies are more colourful with a greater variety of decoration while moths tend to be rather dull and yellow/brown tones.

Orchids

In Costa Rica, the orchid is the ‘Guaria Morada’ and has been the national flower since 1939.

The Botanical Orchid Garden has developed as an ecosystem for the growth and development of the orchids. As you meander along the tropical trails there are varieties of gardens, exhibition spots, nurseries and above all - learning experiences.

Most of the orchids are developed in the laboratories and then integrated into the gardens to propagate amongst the surrounding tropical growth.

  Show Room

  

 Water Gardens

  

 Demo Nursery and Laboratory

Walking Trails

Costa Rica - Cruising Down the Rivers . . . Birds and Beasts

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The rivers tours were not my favourite but offered some interesting sights.

We did trips along both the Sarapiqui River and the Tárcoles River hoping to see all kinds of birds, wild-life and local development. The boats were covered and open, built especially for tourists to view the birds and wildlife along the shores. Unfortunately, because of the lack of rain, the rivers were low and the river banks were deep and wide. The birds and wild life were way over there and without binoculars or zoom-lensed cameras the viewing was limited.

BUT having said that, folks on the tour contributed lists and photos they took, so not all was lost. Our guide was great in pointing out the various bird and wild-life, even if I couldn’t see them.

The Sarapiqui River is a tributary of the San Juan River and helps irrigate this region. It winds through dense rain forests. It’s very important for water resources and biodiversity protection of the area.

 

There was a turtle along the way but the most interesting thing was the Anhinga (snake bird) we encountered.

It is a water bird, sometimes called a water turkey. It earned the description as a snake bird because when it swims, only the neck appears above water and looks like a snake ready to strike. As well we watching it skim along the water; we caught it sunning itself on a log while it dried out its wings.

 The Tárcoles River is reputed to be one of the dirtiest and most polluted in Costa Rica carrying about 67% of sewage and industrial wastes of over 50% of the country’s population. It is about 111 km long and the watershed covers up to 2,121 kms. BUT it also houses one of the world’s largest crocodile populations with about 2000 in the area (about 25 crocodiles per square kilometre). (Costa Rica Journeys - September 6, 2011).

The one we encountered was extremely docile and didn’t even disturb the egret wandering along the bank.

 

Birds

Kay, a fellow traveller recorded sighting about 68 birds . . .

With the help of others (with special credit to Jim), here are some of the birds we captured digitally:

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Black Vultures

Great Curassow

Crested Guan

Great Blue Heron

Green Honeycreeper

Montezuma Oreopendola

White Hawk

Passerini

Red-legged Honeycreeped

Reseate Spoonbill

Social Flycatcher

White-necked Jacobin

Yellow-throated Toucan

 Beasts:

Howler Monkey

Iguana

Sloth

Vaughnda on the Water Buffalo

Onto the Butterflies and the Orchid Gardens