Good Morning. Well, this is the third video in this series of videos on what you can expect on
a wildlife holiday in Costa Rica. If you missed the introduction video there's a
link at the top now and in the text below. Sarapiqui is in the province of Heredia,
about a two-hour drive north from San Jose, Costa Rica's capital.
Sarapiqui has a long history of conservation, research and environmental education. Tirimbina
Rainforest Lodge where we stayed is a scientific research centre which specializes in eco-tourism
as well as research. It's quite a simple lodge but has everything that you need.
Most importantly, it's right in the rainforest! We stayed in the room that David Attenborough
stayed in when he visited Tirimbina in 2019. We called it the David Attenborough Suite.
Costa Rica is a country with many micro climates
and you need to be prepared to get wet at any point.
This video was shot in January in the middle of the dry season! We're having a heavy shower.
This is our own little piece of the rainforest at the back of our room.
In the tall tree that I've highlighted an iguana had taken possession and he was there
for the entire three days of our stay here. He was guarding his territory. We called him Cyril.
One day a troop of howler monkeys swung by and they obviously liked the leaves in Cyril's tree.
I think he pretended they weren't there and looked the other way.
They were all very acrobatic, even the baby one.
After about three hours they left the tree and Cyril breathed a sigh of relief.
That didn't last long though as a couple of other iguanas appeared in nearby trees.
The next morning the other iguanas were gone but Cyril was still there, guarding his territory.
Huge numbers of plant and animal species live in Costa Rica's rainforests.
Costa Rica accounts for 0.03% of the world's land mass but 5 % of the world's biodiversity.
Amongst the many birds we saw was this toucan and it was here that we saw our first sloth.
Sloths are nocturnal, so during the day they're usually sleeping - like this one.
I'm not sure if this spider is poisonous but it looks like it could be and this
poisoned dart frog speaks for itself. This is a centipede - they can give you a nasty bite too.
There are lots of hanging bridges in Costa Rica
and there's a big one here at Tirimbina Rainforest Lodge over the Sarapiqui river.
The lodge is at one end of the bridge and it's also the entrance to the main rainforest area.
The Sarapiqui river below is one of the rivers where you can go white water rafting.
We're approaching the other side of the river now
and entering the huge rainforest, which covers thousands of acres
In this area several trails have been made through the rainforest,
which you can walk around at your leisure. I definitely recommend going with a guide,
either a personal guide or as part of a guided tour. You'll see a wide variety of
flora and fauna with the guide, most of which you'll miss if you go on your own.
Look out for another video in this series which is a walk around one of the trails here.
During our stay in Sarapiqui we learned about the ancient art of chocolate making,
which included a very popular tasting. This took place in a clearing in the rainforest.
Chocolate originated in Central America about three thousand years ago when the
Mayas and the Aztecs made a bitter, spicy drink from the fruits of the cacao tree.
The fruits are split open to reveal the beans which are covered in a white pulp. The beans
are fermented, dried and roasted and then ground up to make a thick paste called chocolate liquor,
While we were watching this demonstration we had a real David Attenborough experience!
In front of us, an anteater came wandering down the trail. None of us could believe our eyes.
The anteater suddenly saw us and raced off into the bushes.
It was all over in a few seconds so much too quick to get a photo.
These images are stock images to show you what the anteater looks like.
Then it was time for our chocolate tasting - yum yum!
In case you're worried about the amount of dark chocolate that you eat,
look at all these health benefits - it's convinced me!
In the next video in this Costa Rica series we'll be travelling to Arenal, famous for its volcano.
We'll be looking for more wildlife there too. Please subscribe to our channel to
see more videos from The Country Traveller and thanks for watching!