Costa Rica Trip

<--Maeve and Gus bravely explore the rainforest at night.

The Primary Rainforest
Clyve Lagerquist

I’m now going to tell you about my trip through the primary rainforest. The path we took the second time we entered the rainforest that day in Costa Rica was much the same as the first except a few subtle differences that can make a significant difference. The trail was right along the Rio del Sarapiqui, or Sarapiqui River. To cross it we went along a somewhat rickety bridge, this trail biggest difference to the first is that it is hillier. In the rainforest trees grow tightly together to form the canopy. Animal such as birds, monkeys and snakes live here. The hills broke up the canopy giving a better view of the birds but made it very hard for other animals to live there.

Along this trail we saw as many strange plants as animals. One such plant was the walking palm tree, this looks like a tree that’s sitting on about a hundred little stilts. It gets its name because if it isn’t getting enough sun it will just move by growing out new shoots in one direction and letting the ones in back die off. In this way the walking palm tree can move about a half-foot per year!

Along the trail I happened to be ahead of the group for a while. While here I heard what sounded like a soft, subtle laugh, later I asked our world-class guide Gerardo about it and he told me it was a rare Costa Rican bird, the laughing falcon. So you see the animals that you hear everyone always talking about really are there, you just have to look and listen.

While on the return journey we saw a termite mound on the side of a tree. After Gerardo told us that they were in fact edible and that they did in fact taste like chicken, some of us just couldn’t resist. One of the people to eat one was Mrs. Hagen, our principal. The hikes through the rainforest was just one of the things that made the trip worth while.

Clyve, Gus, Mr. Lagerquist, and Maeve

Mrs. Lagerquist, Maeve, Clyve and Gus

Blue tailed Anole

Iguana

Robyn point to a croc

Anna proves that this is a working vacation. For more work see This is a working vacation!

Robyn and Anna enjoyed the Pacific Rainforest

^ Hello, Jesus Lizard!

BIRDING IN COSTA RICA
Joshua Briggs

My name is Joshua Briggs, I went to Costa Rica in February. Our trip took us from the capitol city of San Jose through the central highlands and finally to the pacific coast region. This was the best overall experience I have had in my entire life. While we did many interesting things in Costa Rica, I particularly enjoyed birding. Bird watching or birding as some call it is an interesting event. There are around 780 bird species in Costa Rica, which lends itself to a rewarding experience. While in Costa Rica we would go on scheduled bird-walks at about six in the morning, but every walk we took turned into a bird walk after a while. On these bird walks, we would take our guide, Herardo (Gerard) with us. Herardo has been birding for about 27 years and has seen about 710 of the 780 bird species in Costa Rica.

The birds were so different it was amazing! We saw birds from the bright purple crowned fairy, which is a hummingbird, to the bland brown pelican, to my favorite, the Turquoise-Browed Mot-Mot! We saw birds in various locations, such as the in and around the Selva Verde lodge, and on the Sarapiqui and Tarcoles rivers.

There were some birds for which people would make nests. An example of which would be the Great Green macaw. The Macaw’s nests were in an area with several nests of Montezuma Orependula, which were made out of whatever the birds could find, namely leaves and sticks. The Macaw nests on the other hand, were man-made. They were half of a drumcan painted green and nailed to a tree, it was also painted blue and had a hole cut in it for an entrance.

There is a word for the difference between male and female birds. An example of which is the cardinals that live up here. The males have red breasts, but the females are a dusty brown color. This is so the females can tell which bird is the strongest, the brighter, the stronger, usually.

There are tons of birds in Costa Rica, and it would take a very long time to see all of them. Our guide, Herardo, only saw 710 of 780 in 27 years! He told me that there is only one breeding pair of Harpy Eagles in the entire country of Costa Rica. Being in Costa Rica is a fabulous experience both as a student and amateur bird watcher.

Mrs. Warman with Costa Rica school students

We are not sure how Anja found a frosty drink in the middle of the rainforest, but we hope she shared!

Onekama Students and Rain forest Animals, page 2

Everyone keeps a Journal of their activities

http://www.onekama.k12.mi.us