Ecotourism in Costa Rica

There are many reasons to visit Costa Rica, but ecotourism was the draw for me.  Having been a biology major in college I find it appealing that Costa Rica has chosen to preserve its biodiversity by setting aside 25 percent of its territory for nature preserves.  There are tropical forests, cloud forests, central valleys, Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, and even underwater preserves.  Luckily I'm the kind of person who likes snakes and spiders and sloths and other things that creep and crawl.  We saw large termite nests, ant metropolises, gorgeous butterflies, and more.

As we traveled to different locations we had excursions with well-trained guides who were certified naturalists.  At Manuel Antonio National Park each guide took no more than six people on a two-hour exploration of the rainforest, stopping frequently to point out wildlife hidden from casual view, but discernible once the guide set up a high-powered scope trained in the right direction.

The golden silk orb weaver was easy to spot, with a web that could be 3 feet across.  The thread is strong enough to be a fishing line, and may one day be used in bioengineering for guiding peripheral nerve regrowth.  Human beings have much to learn from invertebrates.

At Playa Chiquita, near Puerto Viejo, we were privileged to visit the Jaguar Rescue Center. It's an NGO that grew from the backyard of a couple from Spain, Encar and Sandro, who came to Costa Rica to retire. One happened to be a primatologist from the Barcelona Zoo,the other, a herpetologist.   It seemed natural for local people to bring them native animals that had been injured, mistreated, or confiscated, seeing that the couple worked to rehabilitate and then reintroduce the animals to their natural habitat in protected areas.    The Jaguar Rescue Center was established in 2008, named after an orphaned jaguar that the couple tried to save but couldn't because it was too weak when they got it. Encar has remained dedicated to helping orphaned animals, recognizing that they need more than food and a safe environment. She mothers baby monkeys by having one or another clinging to her until it is ready to explore the world on its own.

Based on our experience on a snorkeling expedition near Manuel Antonio  I can report that sergeant major fish don't like fresh pineapple.  We had gone out on a day of murky water conditions, and we couldn't see much other than fellow snorkelers. Our guide threw bits of leftover lunch in the water, and sergeant majors swarmed in to investigate. The general rule in ecotourism is to not feed wild animals, or in this case, fish. Pineapple was the perfect choice. Sergeant majors investigated but found our food to be uninteresting, and the biodegradable bits sank slowly to the bottom, which was some unknown depth beneath us. Meanwhile we had the fun of swimming with sergeant majors and seeing dolphins in the distance.

Two of our most appreciated ecotourism experiences occurred with Ticos who were not trained as guides.   Diego was the driver of the shuttle van that took us from La Fortuna to Siquirres, and although he had a schedule to keep he stopped on the road to let us out and get close to a sloth in a nearby tree. It was a three-toed sloth, a relative of the anteater.  We did see other sloths when they were pointed out to us, but I never spotted one on my own.
The second fabulous experience was in Cahuita National Park, when Pierre, our host at Blue Conga Lodge,  pointed out howler monkeys in the tropical forest, and challenged the alpha male in an argumentative exchange. For a while I thought Pierre was winning the howling contest, but he said that once we moved on, the alpha male would brag to his two females and two offspring that he had frightened us away.

Ecotourism also took us on adventurous hikes, such as near Arenal Volcano.  We saw the differentiation in plant life that marked the land affected by the last eruption in 2010.  I'm glad to report that we escaped without having to run for our lives.