On the morning of September 5th, we left our mountainous home for a lowland tropical rainforest, the La Selva Biological Station. We were prepped on the hot weather paired with constant rainfall that we were bound to encounter, but were pleasantly surprised when our first day (and next 4 days for the fact of the matter) remained rain free. Upon arrival, we were greeted by enthusiastic naturalists, friendly staff, and the station director Carlos de la Rosa. After an exciting night hike where we saw a rarely spotted ocelot, sloths, an adorable big-eyed vesper mouse, and multiple frogs and insects, we all situated into our cozy dormitories.
The following morning, it was beautiful outside and a perfect day for us to have our river float. We were split into three groups, each lead by one of the resident naturalists. The rapids were calm, the sun was soothing, and the wildlife was constant. My naturalist was Lenny, who was enthralled by birds of all sorts. He pointed out perfectly still tiger herons and water-skimming swallows the entirety of the trip, while simultaneously attempting to speak to the howler monkeys in the branches above us. We had a quick pit stop at a swimming hole where we had a cannon ball competition that Grant blew out of the water (literally) followed by a tropical fruit snack.
After the river float we had a natural history presentation given by Carlos de la Rosa that really put into perspective what a dynamic and biologically rich landscape we were lucky enough to be staying in. With species counts around 2,077 for plants, 470 for birds, 125 for mammals (72 of them being bats!), and 135 for reptiles and amphibians, we were all excited to get out and explore to say the least. Carlos finished with an inspiring message emphasizing the importance of scientific research of the natural world, and offering methods for us to inspire our generation to take steps in the direction of preserving and saving the biodiversity it supports.
Other than our trip to the Paradiso pineapple farm and Tamarindo chocolate tour, we spent a majority of the trip exploring the trails that winded through rainforests and hovered above the river. My favorite walk was the morning of September 8th, which was led by Albert the naturalist. His ability to point out animals was outrageous and when asked how he did it his only explanation was “I can smell them”. Throughout the trip I saw a toucan, 2 different colorations of the eyelash pit viper, a white-whiskered puffbird, a family of peccary and guan, a helicopter dragonfly, blue jean frogs, bullet ants, iguanas, and colorful motmots. It was a beautiful and educational trip spent with a staff of passionate people!
