“Rich Coast” – Costa Rica Eco Diversity Is Gold

Arriving in Limon, Costa Rica

As we had found earlier on this 26 day cruise in Guatemala, our Oceania Cruises ship was docked at the commercial port in Limon on the less developed coast of Costa Rica. Costa Rica had for a long time been on our list for places to visit but we had debated a visit to the rain forests to see the exotic species to be found or to head to the coast for a scuba diving trip. But who could pass up on the Costa Rica eco diversity and the infamous Red Eyed Tree Frog?

We were hoping this visit to the rainforest would give us a little bit more information to help us to decide where we might want to come back. Puerto Limon was a small, relatively undeveloped town. The vast majority of Costa Rican’s live in the central part of the country where it was a bit cooler than on either the Caribbean or Pacific coasts.

The story was told that Christopher Columbus first came to Costa Rica in 1502. He landed at the small island just off the port of Limon and the locals came to greet him in their best finery and gold. This resulted in his naming the country “Rich Coast” or “Costa Rica”. As we toured the Caribbean over our 26 day trip, we would find most countries claiming some kind of visit from Columbus.

Heading Into The Countryside

We boarded our bus and it was a quick trip through the actual town of Limon. We saw houses built up on stilts. Even water that looked like small creeks rose dramatically in the rainy season. Cemeteries on both sides of the road were a dominant feature. One was for locals and the other was for the large population of Chinese that came to Costa Rica to finish the railroad. There was also a large population of Jamaicans that worked on the railroad.

Creating the railroads was a major endeavour in Costa Rica.  Rivers were wide and forests were dense. Exploring was so hard on the Caribbean side that most of the early exploration was done on the Pacific side first. Rainfall was also significantly more on the Caribbean more southerly coast.

It was a long ride to cover a relatively short distance.  The roads quickly turned rough and rutted. Our guide joked about us having to get out to push the bus.  But it was clear that these roads would be close to impassable once the rainy season began. Costa Rica eco diversity was evident everywhere we looked.

We were lucky we visited Costa Rica in April. It was dry and hot from January to April.  But then the rains began. The bus driver joked about there being rain for 13 months a year! Great to create the lush green tropical rain forests we were travelling throug.  But not so great for tourists as they moved about and hoped not to be carried away by insect swarms. We forgot our insect repellant.  But other than one nasty bite, we returned to the ship unmolested.

We again got a good education about Costa Rica on the bus ride. Both the bus driver and the guide kept a sharp look out for things to show us. At one point they stopped the bus and we saw a two toed sloth awake and looking at us. They normally sleep 15 to 20 hrs per day curled in a ball, so we got a bit of a treat. They only come down about once a week.  And they even bury their excrement to stop predators from knowing they are close.

Costa Rica Eco Diversity at Veragua Rainforest

We finally bounced into the Veragua Rainforest. In season this facility is used for tourism and education of the tourists and is then used for research and education for the rest of the year. During our tour we talked to one researcher about the work he was doing related to the DNA of butterflies to determine how many distinct species there were in that spot.

As we walked about, we entered buildings with prominent educational displays and viewing areas – frogs, butterflies, reptiles and snakes. It was quite amazing to see the broad variety of species. We were reminded over and over again of their pride in the bio diversity of Costa Rica – they have 5% of the world’s bio diversity!

We took the gondola on a ride down to the lower level – sorta along the canopy line but not really a true canopy tour as advertised. While we heard howler monkeys a few times, we never saw any. One sloth was asleep in a ball but we were very disappointed to see no other animals or birds.

Arriving at the lower level of the park, we did our 350 steps up and then down and back up again to get to a small waterfall in the forest. It reminded us of the waterfalls you see all over British Columbia when you hike through the Canadian woods.

Things We Learned About Costa Rica

The things we learned along the way from the guide:

• Skinny cows grazed in many of the fields but we were assured that they produced good lean meat
• Horse breeding was a relatively new export business for Paso types of horses
• The dense rainforest was heavily protected. It had been logged but this was cut back. Currently only 1% used for tourism
• In early times, the natives existed purely with barter and by growing what they needed
• At one time, cacao seeds were used as currency – 80 seeds equally one Spanish coin
• Today the currency is “colón” – named to honour Christopher Columbus
• In 1776, coffee was introduced to Costa Rica and in the 1920’s the first coffee exports were done. But that was expensive, slow and difficult.  At the time as transportation was all done by ox carts from the central part of the country to the Pacific coast. And then once at the Pacific coast, the coffee needed to be transported by water to Europe (6 months travel by boat). This was the major driver for the creation of the railroad from the central part to the Caribbean coast.  It was then a much shorter ship transport to Europe.
• It took 19 years to complete the railroad.  This was often considered to be one of the most expensive railroads in the world
• There was no army in Costa Rica.  This freed up money for education and healthcare

Such Interesting Costa Rica Eco Diversity

We found this trip to be interesting to see Costa Rica eco diversity but would have liked to see more species (especially monkeys and toucan birds). Maybe we would see more when we visited Panama next!

Where should we go when we go back to Costa Rica? Did you see a more varied collection of animals and birds?

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