Part 1: Mammals
Part 2: Reptiles
Part 3: Birds

This one gets a superlative, too: most overwhelming. I’d love to be able to bring you a whole bunch more categories: amphibians, insects, trees, flowers, mushrooms, etc. I either didn’t see or photograph enough for a whole post (amphibians, mushrooms) or the taxonomy was far too complicated to tackle in a single trip (insects, plants). Still, there was far more to take in in Costa Rica than mammals, reptiles, and birds.

*Quick note to readers: in the photo collages scattered through this post, one can click to expand any individual image for a larger view.*

Plant life is notoriously diverse in rainforests, and this was evident before we even debarked from the plane. As we made our descent all I could see in all directions was a verdant sea. Early on we took a mangrove boat tour and learned that there are three types of mangroves: black, white, and red. The guide also instructed us on how to tell the difference, but I have since forgotten. In Manuel Antonio NP we were introduced to a plant whose name I don’t remember with violently stinging leaves as well as the poison-death-murder-your-family trees (OK, you got me. I also forget what those were called) which lined the beach. EDIT: Sue Ball identified this tree for me as the manchineel (Hippomane mancinella). In Monteverde the trees of note were scores of strangler fig species. These trees grow from the canopy down and choke out the tree whose branches they germinate in. This forest was also chock full of bromeliads and orchids. Everywhere there were beautiful flowers and fruits which for the most part remain a mystery to me.

I can’t believe I just tried to cover Costa Rica’s rainforest and cloud forest plants in a single paragraph. Can’t be done! I suppose my point is, even the tiny percentage that I learned anything at all about and/or got a good look at was beautiful, complex, and mesmerizing. There’s one last plant tidbit which kind of blew my mind. In Costa Rica there are two plants which, if the leaves are crushed, will serve as a natural insect repellent. One occurs at lower elevations and the other higher. The awe-inspiring thing is how the white-faced capuchins have adapted to this. Not only do they know both plants and use them to ward off insects, but they know which to look for at what elevation. That’s right, there are monkeys who are better naturalists than yours truly.

The diversity of plants leads to diversity in the animals which feed on or otherwise exploit them. Insects in particular are dazzlingly varied. A somewhat alarming number of them are called “giant” something or other, like a whole family of damselflies and one six-to-eight-inch grasshopper.Something about the latter felt straight-up prehistoric.

We saw some rainforest classics like walking sticks and leafcutter ants as well. Speaking of ants, there were ants with gold abdomens, average-looking red and black ants, ants which certainly were giant though I never learned if “giant” was part of their name, and ants cultivating a fungus. It seems as though there’s a different species adapted for just about every plant. There wasn’t quite the same diversity among those walking sticks, but I did see a number of different species – probably more species of walking sticks in a week than I’ve seen individual walking sticks in my lifetime outside of that week.

Butterflies also had a strong presence. We saw some glasswings, Heliconius species, zebra longwings, banded peacocks, and more. I am fairly certain I caught a quick glimpse of a blue morpho but it didn’t stick around long enough for me to really be sure. It may have been a different large butterfly and my eyes playing tricks.

As far as arachnids, I really only noticed the one in my header image, a golden orb weaver. Actually, if you look closely you will see two. The female is front and center, but on the right side of the photo near one of her legs is the much smaller male. That’s a pretty extreme example of sexual dimorphism.

Something I didn’t really expect at all, much less in dozens of varieties, were the tree crabs. On its surface, this combination of words seems as ridiculous to me as “river giraffe” or “desert walrus.” Nevertheless, they are a thing – a surprisingly common thing similar in appearance to fiddler crabs but with a highly developed climbing hobby. Once they were first pointed out to us, we could not stop seeing them.

In the realm of amphibians I really don’t have much to report. I got a look at four frogs, I believe of four different species, and nothing else. None of these was the documentary star I’d hoped for, either. No glass frogs, no red-eyed treefrogs, and no poison dart frogs. I did get to see some poison dart frogs in captivity at the serpentarium in Santa Elena. Not quite a substitute, but fascinating and adorable nonetheless.

That brings me to the fungi, which are a personal interest of mine that had to take a back seat on this trip. For one thing, with all the other exciting stuff surrounding us there was hardly time. For another, mushrooms in different parts of the word are quite easy to confuse with one another and correct identification often requires a knowledge of local plant species and/or a spore print. In other words, I snapped a few photos of interesting specimens but didn’t even try to ID them.

The bottom line is that this was an amazing trip, and Costa Rica has incredible biodiversity which is incredibly accessible. I think in order to really understand the ecosystem there I’d have to live in Costa Rica, learn Spanish, and earn a couple of advanced biology degrees. That actually sounds pretty nice, but I’ll content myself with the small bits of knowledge I can gain as a tourist.