When Visiting Costa Rica, Look Out Below -- and Above!
Published in the Herald-Republic on Sunday, February 3, 2002
JANE GARGAS/Yakima Herald-Republic
Toucans are among the many species of wildlife that can be found in Costa Rica.
JANE GARGAS/Yakima Herald-Republic
If you decide to go slothing in Costa Rica, don't be surprised if you happen across a two-toed sloth like this one.
By JANE GARGAS
Who made the most egregious mistake:
My 23-year-old son, who, walking in open toed-sandals and gazing skyward,
missed stepping on a deadly coral snake by less than an inch?
My husband, hiking deep in the mangrove jungle, who trekked off trail for a closer look at the pugilistic howler monkeys, not known for their graciousness to territorial interlopers?
Or, me, blithely setting off in a kayak down a meandering jungle river and forgetting to pack bug spray?
You're right. It was me.
Last month my husband and I got a taste of the verdant glories of Costa Rica on a trip visiting our son, who has been working there since September.
The pristine beaches, sultry rain forests, delicate coral reefs and fulminating volcanos make this a magnificently lovely country.
That certainly would be enough, but then add a stunning amount of wildlife -- 560 species of mammals, amphibians and reptiles; 850 bird species and 130 kinds of fish -- and every hectare of this paradise is crawling with scenic wonders.
Our first destination was a town called Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast, where you merely have step out the hotel door to gaze upon rainbows of birds, nod to a visiting lizard inexplicably called Ernesto and watch a regalia-puffing display of the red-headed iguana.
Flora and fauna freaks, this place is it.
Our headquarters, Hotel Costa Verde (where the motto is "Still more monkeys than people"), surrounded by an aquamarine sea and lush landscape, attracts a variety of wildlife, both human and animal.
The owner, a Yale-educated American who decided to travel after a Peace Corps stint two decades ago, arrived in Costa Rica not long thereafter and has yet to leave.
Allan turned out to be not only an amiable host and seasoned raconteur but also a font of a knowledge about the country's indigenous tribes, vegetation and environmental laws, as well as the birthrate in Russia.
Costa Rica, known for ardent preservation of tropical lands, has preserved 21 national parks and refuges from development; clearly these protected tracts, which comprise 12 percent of country, are jewels of Central America.
So that's where we started.
And this is what we saw --
MONKEYS: Squirrel and white-faced monkeys are a delight to watch, cavorting in the jungle canopy.
But most impressive are the howlers, who do just that. The sound is so voluminous that when I first heard the blaring howl, I honestly thought someone had erected a loudspeaker in the forest.
I was wrong.
THE CREEPERS: While we edged by the aforementioned coral snake, and never saw the rumored fer-de-lance, we had the "good fortune" to happen upon a boa constrictor dangling from a limb above our rain-forest trail. Our hiking motto quickly became: You gotta look up, and you gotta look down.
At least snakes don't try to beguile you with a smile. We crossed a river filled with several dozen crocodiles, each one slyly beckoning us to lean over the bridge a teeny bit more.
SLOTHS: Aptly named. We encountered several two-toed sloths climbing up tree trunks; they've probably made it by now.
BUTTERFLIES: These are indescribably wonderful, a fluttering of deep azure, lemon, scarlet, black and orange, sometimes on the same butterfly. My favorite was a brilliant blue, called a morpho.
BIRDS: It's hard to say which is more colorful here -- butterflies, birds or fish. But we saw iridescent hummingbirds, frigates, cow egrets, tanagers, vultures and toucans, and plenty we couldn't identify.
FISH: Snorkeling is almost too stimulating. Surrounding us were parrot, butterfly and angel fish, plus a kaleidoscope of stripes, spots, fringe and glowing eyes, rivaled only by polka-dot frogs, seen commonly on land.
THE OTHERS: Along a beach trail we happened upon two rabbit-sized red-earred agoutis and a racoon-like coati near a waterfall. (I had never heard of them, either.)
AND, IF YOU GO: You gotta look up and you gotta look down.
Features writer Jane Gargas can be reached by phone at 577-7690, or by e-mail at jgargas@yakima-herald.com.
©2002
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