Costa Rica
Copyright by Wheel Me On... 2009
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Photography by Daniel Arias
Find the Sloth Among Foliage in Photo Above!
Veragua Rainforest
Research & Adventure Park
Copyright 2009 by Wheel Me On...
On January 19, 2009 the Island Princess cruise vessel docked in Puerto Limon within the Caribbean Sea with a small threat of rain in an overcast sky. Shortly after arrival, an escort accompanied me to a waiting tour bus and as the wheelchair lift was being deployed rain began softly pelting me. Daniel Arias, Tour Guide and Narrator for the travel to Veragua Rainforest in Limon, quickly took his jacket off and covered my shoulders, even with the threat of my not returning the jacket to him.
Fortunately, the Tour Guide had a great sense of humor and thus began a terrific (and sometimes hilarious) venture into a very different world of nature, including information about the areas passed to and from Veragua Rainforest Research and Adventure Park.
Shortly after 8 AM (CST) the tour bus headed inland, first on smooth pavement and then later on a narrow winding road mixed with gravel, taking passengers through valleys, farmlands and interesting scenery to the top of a mountain.
Landowners appeared to live as witty economists, with small houses built meagerly and fences made of tree branches instead of posts. Even with rain hitting the windows on the bus and the vehicle in near constant motion, these scenes would easily recall the experience.
Photography by Daniel Arias
At 9:26 AM (CST) the tour bus unexpectedly came to a stop and Daniel Arias quickly moved from the passenger seat next to the driver to announce he had seen a Sloth. At first, everyone thought he was kidding and then someone spotted it up in a tree; passengers craned their necks to see and many stepped off the bus in the drizzling rain to take its photo. The window next to me had barely passed the tree the Sloth was perched and there was no way to photograph it from the rain soaked window or for the bus to let its lift down. Daniel Arias looked at me and asked for my camera; it is to him we owe our gratitude for the photo of the Sloth. (Photo above cropped from photo at the top of this page, bringing more focus to the Sloth.)
Ten minutes later the tour bus arrived at Veragua Rain Forest where at the receiving desk passengers were quickly divided into two groups; one group able and willing to climb stairs and the other with the choice of walking or wheeling. Each group received matching colored plastic bracelets fastened around their wrists to easily identify the group apart from other groups of visitors. The passengers in our non-climbing group wore pink bracelets, which in itself is a well thought out plan, for nothing could be worse than losing a tourist!
Andres Chavez, Tour Guide at Veragua Rainforest, joined our small group of five persons, beginning a unique introduction of the rain forest and warning not to touch anything and stay together. It appeared to me, our group had the best of the groups, first with a smaller amount of people and second with Daniel Arias who also was a nature enthusiast joining them.
Fifteen minutes into the rain forest, amazing sights began quickly unfolding. First there was a huge spider web and an explanation from Andres Chavez describing the scene and creatures of nature. Again the warning to "stay together" and "do not touch anything" from Andres Chavez, but three minutes later a woman let out a curdling scream when seeing large ants crawling across a handrail, startling everyone and causing all seven people to move back or jump aside. After realizing the woman began screaming because of ants and had not been bitten by a snake or something worse, boisterous laughter emerged from everyone and the tour continued with a few people still giggling. The tour guides composed themselves and led us quietly through the vast forest while reminding everyone they would see things they had never seen before. "Stay together and don't touch anything".
A few moments later, Andres Chavez jumped over the protective fence and squatted down to show everyone a paw print from a tiger. There were actually two paw prints and the reality of nature's surroundings probably became quite realistic to all of the tourists at this point in time. In the photo on the left, Andres surrounds one paw print with both hands and on the photo on the right, he points the two paw prints out to spectators.
After listening intently to Andres Chavez explain the natural history of frogs in the informational area, we entered a sterilized environment for the habitat of frogs, cleansing hands thoroughly and shoes in treated alcohol, before going into the darkened room where the frogs lived in natural surroundings.
Dark as night with very small lights hugging each side of a walkway, Andres led people through this protected environment and with a small flashlight in his hand, he was quick to point out the amphibians living in the dark.
The room heavy with humidity, I felt the excitement of nature while the tour increased my interest with more knowledge; extremely interesting and very nicely presented. Daniel Arias, also a naturalist, was just as quick to spot the frogs, making it even more interesting with quick responses to seeing unimaginable small frogs become visible unexpectedly.
Re-entering the outside world, there were many flowers and plants not seen before by me and this in itself was interesting because I had spent years in tropical surroundings and visited several other countries with tropical environments. The photo of the orange colored flower is an orchid.
The same appeared to hold true for a huge butterfly collection I looked at and mentally compared it with another one previously visited many times while thinking, "Nothing could come close to what I was seeing at Veragua." Two butterflies photographed outside are the Owl butterfly (left photo) and the Heliconius butterfly (right photo) shown above.
Gondola Tram Ride
When learning I would be riding a gondola tram through a rainforest canopy I could not imagine how they would get me on it, but I went along with the group and had one of my biggest surprises ever! They made access for me easy and not only that, I had a fantastic view deep inside of the forest! The tram was actually a means of transportation connecting the upper section of the park with the lower section of the valley below.
The opening between the trees at the top of the hill reminded me of the "window" seen between the mountains at Big Bend National Park in Texas, with the foliage appearing as hills, the further the gondola traveled downward.
Magnificent scenes unfolded while the gondola made its way down the hillside and another gondola passed us on the right returning to the top, causing excitement within me, taking photography vertically and horizontally, from the seat where I managed to slide onto next to the rear side of the gondola.
Within approximately ten minutes, the tram descended to the lowest level of the valley. Here in the deepest part of the valley, we traveled along an accessible bridge in nature's true wonderment, stopping to witness many sights never seen before and explained in depth by Andres Chavez.
Part of the family of "Bird of Paradise", this species known as a red Heliconia is certainly fairly common in several tropical countries, but left me perplexed over the original Bird of Paradise, which is a larger flower resembling that more of a bird. Leaves near this plant have been nibbled upon by insects and other natural habitat, but little is to fear with this phenomenal because in forests, plants grow quickly, sustaining life and health to mankind and that of which lives in the rain forest. (Photo above on left.)
To the right of the large Elephant Ear leaf, in the lower right hand corner, the hint of a predator snitching food from another leaf is told upon. (Middle photo above.)
One of my personal favorite sightings was seeing the tiny red frog perched on what appeared to be a tee leaf dangling into the stream of a small river. Learning this little frog was a Poison-Dart frog, I do not believe I would want to get too close. In Costa Rica there are 180 amphibian species recorded and 135 are frogs and toads. I have no great fondness for toads, but the frogs have me slightly curious because my service canine has a tendency to jump like a frog when she plays and in fact, was bestowed the name of "Froggie". (Photo of the Poison Dart frog above on right.)
On the lower side rail of the walkway, an amazing sight of an army of large ants carrying food of foliage back to their camp to feed their young, and now learned why some of the leaves in the forest are nibbled apart. This sight was truly one of the most amazing things to see; the pieces of leaves larger than the ants, carried vertically by a single ant and the ants all walking in uniformed succession! Daniel Arias could not help but laugh at my interest, but the woman who dreaded ants kept moving. In truth, ants are probably one of the more intelligent species, working in teams while taking care of their troops. (Photo of Daniel Arias on right.)
We returned to the main building of Veragua Rainforest and enjoyed the pleasure of a great lunch provided by this facility. Having had been subject to warnings of eating food provided in South America, my fears were certainly cast aside quickly when seeing sterilization with preparation for the sake of sanitation; the lunch was delicious!
I had the pleasure of visiting with Daniel Torres, Manager of Veragua Rainforest Research and Adventure Park, who was keenly interested with my reaction to the accessibility of his facility. Consequently, I am providing a quick overview for our readership:
The Veragua Rainforest is completely accessible and is strongly recommended by this organization for persons requiring mobility devices such as wheelchairs. There are accessible bathrooms meeting ADA requirements; the covered open-air eating area is fully accessible, the gift store is small but considerate sales people are polite and helpful. (Of course I bought an interesting folder about the amphibians of Costa Rica, two great shirts and a matching bag with a popular Costa Rica frog on them, and a ceramic frog for a table.) Tours for persons unable to climb steps or who use mobility devices and are provided with tours specifically designed for them.
Returning to the cruise terminal, the sights continued interesting and exploding with nature. One of the interesting sights provided additional fences, made with branches from trees, which began growing as shown in the photos above, taken while the bus was moving.
The Swiss Travel Service in Costa Rica is highly recommended for transportation to and from this extraordinary escape. If you are as fortunate as our group, they will provide a tour guide with the driver who is as knowledgeable as Daniel Arias pictured below, sharing information and joking with passengers while on the tour bus.
During our return to the cruise terminal, Daniel announced we would be taking a different route. Several minutes later, he reappeared as the bus came to a stop, excitedly announcing another Sloth could be seen in a tree. The passengers scrambled for a view, craning their heads near the windows on the same side of the bus as before. "There it is!" Someone exclaimed as Daniel agreed and urged others to locate it high up in the tree.
"That's not a different Sloth!" A man indignantly stated and went on to yell out, "This is the same place we stopped at earlier - I recognize that post!" A roar of laughter filled the bus as Daniel retreated to the cabin with the driver behind the wheel, laughing on his way back to his seat.
The tour bus did however take a different route back to the highway; the light rain now over, we eventually passed along a coastline for a few miles which allowed an opportunity to see a changed land through the force of yet another nature. Unfortunately, while I was able to see this narrated portion of the tour, I was located on the opposite side and unable to photograph the scene.
Swiss Travel Service in Costa Rica has buses with lifts, the bus obviously comes with a driver and the bonus is a knowledgeable tour guide who is informative, providing information about areas, nature and history. In the case of this particular travel, our group on this tour bus received the best of both worlds with many a moment of hysterical laughter brought together by joking with Daniel. On our return to the cruise terminal, Daniel Arias used coconut leaves to make small animals and then presented them to passengers. (At the end of the tour, I did return his jacket to him.)
Julia Hollenbeck
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