La Fortuna…..the ultimate rainforest!

 La Fortuna presented to us another totally different environment- the rainforest.  It is a tropical rain forest and can get quite humid.  It can rain anytime of year, even during the dry season.  The forest areas are very lush with beautiful flowers and tropical plants.  But what brings most people to La Fortuna is the mighty Arenal Volcano.  This volcano measures over 5,300 feet tall and has a conical shape. It is presently dormant, however, it erupted in 1968 and destroyed the small town of Tabacon.  The eruption actually lasted from 1968 until 2010.  The volcano sits in the center of Arenal Volcano National Park. There are many hiking options both within the national park and adjacent.  We chose to hike at Mirador el Silencio- a nature preserve that borders the 1968 trail property of Arenal. Mirador has about 8.5 miles of trails and we traveled about 4 miles.  Here the forest has both primary and secondary forest.  The primary forest has very mature trees that have never been cut down, resulting in a jungle environment.  During this part of our hike, we could hear howler monkeys, but never saw them. Boy, are they loud!  The secondary forest has grassy fields and gardens attracting birds and butterflies. Also, there are cattle grazing along the trail.                   

Tailed Blue Metalmark butterfly

Once you get to the highest point of the hike, you get a great view of the volcano- if the weather cooperates.  We were very lucky to see almost the full Arenal Volcano-it is so impressive! 

Our best view of Arenal Volcano

View over the area

The trail leading up to the volcano

At that point, we also hiked the Lava Fields trail of 1968 trail.  Here you get to hike on the lava rocks that the volcano tossed out of the volcano during that big eruption.

Lava rocks from 1968 eruption

The lava trail 

The following day we spent the afternoon at Tabacon Hot Springs. This hot spring is Costa Rica’s largest network of naturally flowing thermal springs. The water has been naturally heated by the volcano.  There are numerous river pools with varying temperatures from 98-105 degrees. The higher up you go, the hotter the water.  We enjoyed drinks and lunch at one of their swim-up bars. Soaking our legs felt like a real treat!

                                           

As we walked around the property, there were beautiful gardens to enjoy.

                                            

Birds of Paradise

“Lobster claw “ plant

Bamboo

Our last full day in La Fortuna was spent hiking the Bogarin Trail with a naturalist guide. Bogarin nature preserve is just outside of downtown La Fortuna and was named after Joann Bogarin, a local conservationist.  The owner, Giovanni Bogarin, transformed this secondary forest into a home for birds and animals. When he purchased it, it was mostly swamp land and in just 25 years, it has become a sanctuary for nature.  The main trail is about 1.5 miles long, but there many more side trails along the property.  We got to see so many creatures.  First, we got to see numerous sloths, 2 toed and 3 toed, laying around in the treetops.  Their main source of food is the trumpet tree.  These trees are 5-30 meters tall with big palm like leaves.

                                       

Trumpet leaves

2 toed sloth.  Note their piglike nose

For the first time ever, I got to see 2 more types of poisonous frogs, which I had only ever seen in the Baltimore Aquarium: the green and black poison dart frog and the strawberry poison- dart frog.  The green and black one is diurnal and its coloration serves as a warning to their potential predators of their toxicity.  The strawberry one, also called the Blue Jeans Frog, has such vibrant coloring.  These poison dart frogs are about an inch long and get their name from the indigenous people of Columbia who used their poison on the tip of a dart for hunting.   The potency of their toxin, which is found in their skin, varies among the species. So, never touch a poison dart frog especially with a skin surface that is not intact.  And wash your hands well without touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.  The green and black one has a small amount of toxin, but it is enough to stop the human heart from beating. The strawberry poison dart frog’s toxin is not lethal to humans,

                               

And then there were the birds First, the famous fruit loop toucan, the Yellow Throated Toucan with its large oversized bill.  The beak is two toned- yellow above and dark brown below.  They are totally exotic looking!  They live on fruits, primarily.  They are very vocal and like to hang out on very high perches in the canopy making them hard to spot. Next, we saw the black and white owl- quite cool looking!  It is a nocturnal hunter, foraging mostly at the canopy level.  It likes to examine its surroundings, then make short, silent flights for its prey. Some of the smaller birds that we saw included lots of red & black Cherrie’s tanagers, some gorgeous small blue colored birds, the Blue-gray Tanager, and a pretty turquoise bird, the male Green  Honeycreeper.                                                        

                                                        

                                                       

Finally, 2 more creatures to show you.  We saw the infamous coati- actually a whole family of white- nosed coati, which are native to Costa Rica. They are a member of the raccoon family of mammals.  I find them so interesting because as they scamper around, they hold their tall erect. Their snout is quite long and pig-like.  And we also got to see a small rodent called an agouti.  They have a little button tail and seemingly-too-long legs.  They are actually related to Guinea pigs!

Coati

Agouti 

I could ramble on and on about such amazing jungle creatures, but I’ll close with our Airbnb.  It was really neat.  After parking our car, we had to walk a narrow windy path of 100 yards (length of a football field) through the jungle, ending at a river across from our place.  Interesting path given we each had a suitcase to pull. We then traversed a swinging bridge to our place…..well worth it!