Selvatura

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After a full week of classes, the ASU group enjoyed a Saturday outing at Selvatura, a nature park that is located only about 20 minutes from our host families' homes. The first part of the visit to Selvatura was a two-hour walk through the cloud forest, highlighted by 8 hanging bridges that allowed us to walk high up in the canopy, looking down at treetops and thousands and thousands of plants that attach themselves to the trees. We were divided into two groups, each group with a different local guide who explained many details about the plants and animals that we saw. Even though Selvatura is not known so much for spotting wild animals (usually only birds), we were able to see two howler monkeys, numerous coatimundis (a raccoon-like animal), plenty of hummingbirds, and two large, black, wild-turkey-like birds that hopped from treetop to treetop high in the canopy.

A different guide took us to see the butterfly enclosure. It was so cool and pleasant outside and so hot and humid inside the butterfly enclosure that that our camera lenses fogged up and it was difficult to get many pictures. We did see tons of butterflies flying around the beautiful plants and flowers, and we were able to watch butterflies in the process of hatching from their cocoons. Park staff members had collected the cocoons and hung them in a display area for visitors to see.

Third stop was an amazingly huge insect collection of creepy-crawlies from all over the world that is housed at Selvatura. The insects are categorized and displayed in an impressively artistic way. You would have to see it to believe it!

Our last stop before lunch was the frog and reptile area. All of the frogs and snakes and lizards were alive but housed in glass cases to protect us. We were able to learn which frogs and reptiles in Costa Rica are venomous and which are not, and we were able to see tiny creatures that we probably would never be able to spot in the wild. For a special treat, the guide took us to a back area where they keep the baby snakes, and Lesley and Jonathan were brave enough to handle them. You will have to ask Lesley to see her picture because I only got a picture of Jonathan, after being distracted by a whole pack of coatimundis (with babies) that appeared outside the back window of the snake area. Unfortunately, they were moving too fast for me to get a good picture, and the blurry ones are not worth posting.

After a delicious Costa Rican lunch (choice of garlic tilapia or beef with mushroom sauce or chicken and rice), the group made its final stop at the hummingbird garden. Some group members were much more enthralled than others by the tons of hummingbirds buzzing past our heads on their ways to the many feeders in the garden. If you sit or stand quietly, they will come extremely close and feed without paying any attention to you whatsoever. No matter what, it is still very challenging to get a good picture of a hummingbird. Just when you are sure it is in focus, it is gone!

We returned to the area near our homes at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and everyone was ready for a nap and a relaxing Sunday. Time to re-charge for our last week in Costa Rica!

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Photos

Treetops Below
Looking down from a hanging bridge at the treetops below

Large Wild Turkey-Type Bird
We saw this LARGE bird high in the treetops from one of the bridges

Stare-Down
Xeng and this snake were staring each other down

"I'm petting a hummingbird!"
Lesley developed a technique to actually touch them

Largest Hummingbird Species
This is the largest species of the 52 found in Costa Rica

Comments

[Susan Starks]

Love it :)
Love the blogs! Keep them coming :)