Monteverde Cloud Rainforest

Monteverde Cloud Forest:
Monteverde in Spanish translates as “green mount.” It is called a cloud forest or fog forest because of the clouds that sit at the canopy level. The temperature is much cooler (about 60 degrees) because of this cloud cover and because the elevation is higher. We were amazed at how large the plants and trees were. Things grow so much faster in the tropics. All of the trees were wrapped with epiphytes (plants that are growing on other plants in an attempt to reach sunlight.) The trees have adapted to the rich topsoil by having shallow exposed root systems. We enjoyed viewing the plants and trying to find wildlife from the canopy level of this rainforest by walking on several suspension bridges. What an amazing way to view the Monteverde Rainforest canopy!
We learned that monkeys spend most of their time in the trees (weeks at a time) eating, drinking, and sleeping. They do not come to the forest floor very often in order to avoid predators.

Life Cycle of the Butterfly

Butterflies mate for 20-24 hours. After this the male dies. The life cycle takes about three and a half months. The life expectancy varies from species to species.

Stage 1: Egg

Stage 2: Caterpillar

Stage 3: Pupa (Behind our guide you can see a board where they hung all the pupae to keep them safe. Here the butterflies could hatch and dry their wings.)

Stage 4: Butterfly

Butterfly Garden

One of our day trips took us to the Monte Verde rain forest. While we were there we spent some time in a Butterfly Garden. There are 24,000 species of butterflies in the world and Costa Rica has about 2000 species. There are 16 species housed in this Butterfly Garden.

This butterfly has beautiful blue wings. Underneath its wings are brown and the color helps the butterfly camouflage itself.

This is the owl butterfly, due to the "owl eyes" on its wings.

Butterflies love to eat fermented fruit. When the fruit is fermented it's easier for the butterflies to take in the nectar.

Coffee

Coffee
Coffee is one of the main exports in Costa Rica. It is even sold to Starbucks. The coffee plant produces for 20 to 25 years. Decaffeinated coffee actually has a stronger flavor. The coffee plant was discovered because a goat farmer noticed that some days his goats were acting normal and other days they were overactive and hyper. He was curious as to why this was happening. He observed the goats eating beans off of certain plants. He decided to take the beans and make a tea. After drinking the tea he was unable to sleep and seemed to have unending energy. The coffee growing at high elevations in Costa Rica gives it the Arabica standard. This coffee is considered gourmet.

Elementary School in Costa Rica

We had the opportunity to visit an elementary school in Liberia, Costa Rica. We actually brought them some supplies they needed and some treats for the kids. They have 170 kids in their school with several open air cement block classrooms. We noticed a lack of quality materials, like a need for classroom books and desks. The students were very respectful listeners to their teachers, however they had the same universal goofy elementary kid behaviors. They teach half day sessions with about 15-20 students per class. The teachers work 7:00-4:40 and have 2 groups back to back. We noticed they have an intervention time included in their schedule for students that have special needs. They actually send home the students that don't need any extra help and keep the others. Students ate lunch and had recess while we were there. They had one soccer ball as their recess equipment. It was a very humbling experience.

Flora & Fauna of Costa Rica

Two Toed Sloth: We saw this sloth in a tree on the side of the road. We learned that the sloth stays in the tree only to come down to deficate. Some sloths will turn green with algae from a lack of moving off of the tree.

Dolphins: A pod of dolphins followed our boat.

Iguanas: We were so excited the first day to see an iguana. We soon found out that iguanas are very common around houses, parks, and the buildings. Iguanas eat vegetation and moths that like to spend time in Hibiscus flowers. We nicknamed them the "squirrels" of Costa Rica!

Owl Butterfly: This butterfly is camouflaged as an owl to protect itself from predators.

Sea Urchins: Spiny sea urchins washed up on our black sand beach.

Kapok Tree: Vines grow up the Kapok tree.

Elephant's Ear plant: The large leaves are also known as the poor man's umbrella.

Monkey Tail Fern: This fern got its name because it looks like a monkey's tail.

Day Trip to Arenal Volcano & Rainforest

Arenal Rainforest and Volcano Day Trip:
We drove on a two hour bus ride to hike in the Arenal Rainforest and view the Arenal Volcano.
Costa Rica’s Economy:
Along the way to the rainforest we saw fields of sugar cane. We learned that Costa Rica exports sugar, coconuts, pineapple, bananas, and coffee. Costa Rica has a strong economy. They use laborers from Nicaragua to help with the day labor needed to harvest these crops. Costa Rica also uses hydroelectric towers to generate electricity for the country. The power of the hydroelectric towers generates extra electricity to even supply Costa Rica’s neighbors of Panama and Nicaragua. Costa Rica has worked hard at preserving resources. There is a strong recycling program in the country. Wind farms are also used to generate power. We saw several wind farms and learned that about 300 windmills can provide electricity for about 25 houses.

Lake Arenal:
Lake Arenal is a large manmade lake that was created after the last major eruption of Arenal Volcano. In 1968 lava covered two towns at the base of the Arenal Volcano. The towns were Pronadora and Arenal. 87 people died with that eruption. The government decided to relocate the towns along the manmade lake and now they are called Nuevo Pronadora and Nuevo Arenal. (Nuevo in Spanish means “new.”) The lake is the source of the hydroelectric towers, therefore generating power for the country. Lake Arenal is also used for wind surfing, parasailing, fishing, and kayaking.
Arenal Volcano:
The top of the Arenal Volcano is 6, 000 feet from sea level. There are four craters that make up the volcano. The craters are labeled A, B, C, and D. Crater C is the most active and we could actually hear it rumble while hiking in the Arenal Rainforest. There is a large section at the base of the volcano that has grown over the lava with bushes, trees, and grass. We learned that plants grow very fast in the tropical climate. Clouds cover the top of the volcano during most of the rainy season, however at about 4:00 in the afternoon some of the clouds disappeared and we were able to view the top from a distance. We were not lucky enough to see any lava erupt at night time, due to the dense clouds and rain that came our way in the evening.
Arenal Rainforest:
This rainforest has rain at least 200 days of the year and gets about 225 inches of rain per year. It sits at the base of the Arenal Volcano, and active volcano in Costa Rica. This is a tropical rainforest where trees grow 2 inches per year, where it would take 4 or 5 year for a tree to grow that much in the north. The top layer of the rainforest floor has the richest soil because of the decomposing plant materials. This makes the root system lazy because the roots can stay at the surface for their nutrients. There is not very much light on the forest floor. The plants are constantly competing with each other for any possible sunlight to complete the process of photosynthesis. Some of the things we saw in the rainforest were leafcutter ants that actually do a lot of damage to the forest. The ants are very picky about what they eat. We also saw an interesting plant called the Birds of Paradise. These are red hanging plants that can hold the weight of a snake. They hang from trees and hummingbirds are attracted their red flower. Unfortunately for the hummingbirds there are small snakes that will camouflage themselves around the stem and wait to attack.