Captain's Wheelhouse
Blog #3
Costa Rica 2016 - A Biodiversity Hotspot
Welcome Back my Friends. Even though our Costa Rica trip was a few weeks ago, the memories are still vivid. Since then I have read my journal, looked at some pictures and did a little research in order to write this most recent piece about our Costa Rica adventure.
Around the world there are areas that are extremely rich in biodiversity. Some of these places include Madagascar with its lemurs, Botswana and Costa Rica. These areas are referred to by biologists as Biodiversity Hot Spots. In these areas, the flora and fauna are concentrated in zones that are a delight to the eyes and ears. Everywhere you look you will see amazing creatures flying, jumping, crawling and swimming. Spend three days attuning your ears and you will be able to distinguish the songs of a variety of birds. Biodiversity Hot Spots were created by mother nature over a course of 200 million years. I hope you take some time to visit one or more of these areas during your lifetime because the hand of man is heavy upon the earth and many of these areas are in peril.
Costa Rica
Day 3: We are sitting in a semi-circle listening to our guide talk about how the Costa Rica land mass rose from the sea about 500 million years ago. Apparently, Costa Rica is a fairly new creation in terms of the geologic time scale. It was created as a result of a tectonic collision between two giant plates, the Cocos Plate and the Pacific Plate. This collision caused the lands of Costa Rica and Panama to rise up and connect Mexico with South America. This area called MesoAmerica is a recent arrival to the geologic puzzle that makes up this part of the world. Joel, went on to tell us that the northern part of Costa Rica has the Nicoya peninsula and to the south is the very rich, wild and biodiverse, Peninsula de Osa. Later that day we were scheduled to take a horse back riding trip to a beautiful "secret spot."
Horse Back Riding
After our lesson on plate tectonics we made our way to the horse ranch. At the ranch we all mounted our steeds and headed out into the jungle. My horse's name was Canelo and he was a loyal and sure footed mount. At first, our posse crossed areas that had been cleared for farming and due to this disturbance had a lot of muddy, barren areas. Soon enough however, we were deep in the jungle going up paths that led us through dense forest. Eventually we arrived at a clearing in the jungle where the river created an amazing clear, cool pool for us to swim in. On the other side was a smaller river that created a beautiful waterfall. We swam and played in the water for about an hour. On the way back to the ranch we heard the call of howler monkeys.
Day 4 - Today we went to Hacienda Baru where we took a nature hike. We strolled along the 2 km long trail through the reserve, looking at butterflies, beetles, listening to the sounds of birds and cicadas and talking about the importance of protecting the rainforests. Eventually we ended up at the ocean where we took time to do some beach combing and play in the warm Pacific waters. On our way back we touched the sensitive Mimosa plant which closes up after you touch it. We also saw the beautiful red and orange Heliconia plants. Back at the reserves home station we were shown the Teak tree which was introduced to Costa Rica for its valuable wood. We walked through a small butterfly garden and we were treated to some coffee and more natural history lessons from our guide, Joel.
Below are some pictures for you to enjoy. In my next blog I will talk a little bit about Costa Rican culture and introduce you to some essential Tico slang. Until then, Tuanis Mae!
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| "Though the streams are swollin' keep them doggies rollin'" |
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| Great Composers: Mozart, Beethoven. Here we see great decomposers: Bracket Fungi |
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| Do not swim in the river! |
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| Nature Hike through Hacienda Baru |
