Tropical Rainforest, Costa Rica

 Tropical rainforest biome is the most abundant animal and plant terrestrial environment on earth; and any rainforest animal, plant or tree live in mutual interdependency as part of a food web. Costa Rica rainforest is an astounding magical sanctuary plenty of shapes, colors, sounds, and aromas of animals like the bird, butterfly, frog or monkey living with each plant, tree, vine, liana and flower. So your Costa Rica vacation can have a taste of rainforest paradise, whether into Hotel Los Lagos diverse areas and facilities or outside with the Costa Rica tour operator nature adventures.

Tropical rainforest
Location: Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica. Hotel Los Lagos
Features: Greatest flora & fauna richness, highly rainfall, humidity, pristine water and air.
How to enjoy: While staying at Arenal Volcano Hotel Los Lagos. See: >>
With its featured facilities: the Rainforest Ants, the Butterfly Garden as well as the Crocodile and Rainforest Frog farms.
At Arenal Volcano Lakes surrounds overlooked from Arenal Volcano observatory point.
With the Canopy Tour Los Cañones.
With the Costa Rica Tour Operator options like the Bird Watching, Tropical Waterfall, or La Marina Protective Zoo tours. (This last is very suitable to see and take pictures of Costa Rica rainforest animals that are hard to find in the wild like the tapir, ocelot and jaguar).
*Please follow the rainforest conservation guidelines such that properly management of wastes, and not extracting plants nor animals from the rainforest.

Costa Rica tropical rainforest showing lush vegetation. Costa Rica tropical rainforest has plentiful springs. Howler monkey feeding on tree leaves near the frog farm. Howler monkey calling, as seen while in the canopy tour. Lush vegetation of tropical rainforest. The Rainbow-billed Toucan sighted at rainforest. Fortuna Waterfall Tour leads you into tropical rainforest. Rainforest flower near Fortuna Waterfall top. The Arenal Volcano's flanks full of lush rainforest. The Chestnut-mandibled Toucan sighted into vegetation. Rainforest view from Arenal Volcano Vantage Point. There is a tree sanctuary on Arenal Volcano flanks. The shaded and wet world under that green canopy cover. Heliconius butterfly exhibits warning coloration. The rainforest surrounding one of Arenal Volcano's lakes. An easy to see rainforest animal: The Green Basilisk. The water of rainfalls and Arenal Volcano create this lake. Red Eye Tree Frog, a symbol of tropical rainforest. A pristine water ecosystem in Arenal Volcano's lakes. Heliconia flower (Calathea crotalifera). Sublime beauty of aquatic flora & fauna at volcano lake. Tropical rainforest Heliconia flower (Costus pulverulentus). Canopy Tour shows you the Costa Rica tropical rainforest. Lianas, ferns and palms are common at rainforest. Tropical rainforest heliconia flower. Costa Rica tropical rainforest at Fortuna Waterfall Tour. Pristine water spring into rainforest. This Green Basilisk can run upright over the water surface!

 Rainforest biome is so important (basically a biome is a set of similar ecosystems) because is home of 2/3 of all species of animals and plants on our planet. Even the tropical rainforest is home to more species than all other biomes combined! ... Even more, hundreds of millions of new species of plants, insects, and microorganisms are waiting to be catalogued. The rainforest is divided into five different layers, each with different plants and animals, adapted for life in the particular area. Costa Rica rainforest is characterized for having plenty of rivers and springs everywhere. Located near the equator, Tropical rainforests are the "Earth's lungs".

Among tropical rainforest animal examples that can be seen are the Basilisk, sloth, butterfly, howler monkey, coati. Rain forest provides bird watching delights: the colorful toucan, parrot, hummingbird, tanagers, honeycreepers, robins, etc; and you can see some of them at the rain forest restaurant, the canopy tour and with the nature tour options of the Costa Rica tour operator, specially the bird watching tour. You can see exotic and colorful frogs at the rainforest frog farm as well as massive and powerful reptiles at the crocodile farm. Our butterfly garden, featuring the Blue Morpho butterfly among others and the rainforest ants showcase will immerse you in the fascinating world of insects.

The dominant rainforest tree is tall, evergreen with leafy canopy whose upper ceiling shelter epiphytes: orchids, bromeliads, mosses, and lichens. The set of canopies restricts the sunlight at the ground, making space for animals (and people) to walk through.

Bromeliads play the fundamental role as water containers at the canopy and overground rainforest ecosystem layers, because of its rigid leaves concentrically arranged at their convergent wide bases, serving as natural water dispensers for each thirsty rainforest animal inhabiting there (any bird, monkey or sloth looking for water). Also works as the home for insects and frogs while in their metamorphosis aquatic phase. This fact has caused that frogs emerging from tadpoles living in the water stored have evolved specialized body shapes to fit into the narrow spaces among the bromeliad leaves.

Rainforest animal seeds dispersion effect is another great link that engages most of the ecosystem members, this way the seeds of each fruit eat and carried by some monkey or bird have the possibility of being left far from its producer plant, by dropping or carrying them, increasing that plant survival and spreading potential. About this, there is the interesting fact that the dropped seeds trace left by rainforest monkeys to their step through the forest are clues that allows us to follow them and be able to see them; this is of great help in the case of the Howler Monkey, because despite its name and loud call, at most time is a very silent rainforest animal.

Another conspicuous phenomenon happening in some rain forest animal cases: evolution has created colorful patterns that play the function of being a very gorgeous warning signal of bad taste or being a dangerous (even deadly) snack, in order to avoid this way to be devoured by the myriad of potential predators. That's called aposematic coloration and is present in the poison dart frog (as you can witness at our frog farm) and some butterfly groups. Even more the butterfly coloration has produced that some inoffensive butterfly species mimics the color patterns the dangerous ones so accurately that are considered by predators into the avoiding group (Müllerian mimicry). The best available example of this can be seen in the Heliconius butterfly, and you can admire it at our butterfly garden.

We must save the tropical rainforest because it play an important role in water cycle and maintaining nature equilibrium at planet level, which is being in danger because of intervention of human's wastes & consumption. Indeed we must strive for any forest conservation and protection right now that finally the real trouble of global warming with all its catastrophic consequences for all if is not stopped and controlled. Furthermore, besides its contribution with Earth's illnesses tropical rainforest provide us scientific knowledge, spiritual and physical health, and indispensable pristine air and water as well.

Don't forget that after an intense and active tour day you can enjoy relax in the natural hot springs hotel facilities and get relax, health and beauty at our Fangus Spa Resort.