Corcovado National Park & Caletas Beach
Sunrises are as spectacular as sunsets, and Mother Nature gave us a great “good morning” today. We started the day walking through the majestic tropical rain forest of the Corcovado National Park on the southwestern peninsula of Costa Rica.
Corcovado is the largest national park with around 130,000 acres (plus protected ocean reserve) mostly covered by tropical lowland seasonal rainforest. I know… what was all that? First “tropical” refers to the latitude location of the forest; it means no seasons, full water, sunlight, food, no migration deadlines. “Lowland” tells that it has to be close to sea level, and so be hot and humid (I think everyone today got the idea pretty well). The adjective “seasonal” refers to the condition that even in the tropics we do have seasons, a rainy season and a dry season (in the Caribbean Rainforest it rains year round). And last but not least, the term “rainforest” is easy, a forest where it rains a lot.
The tropical rainforest can be compared to a big city; the enormous trees are like buildings with hundreds of organisms living in and on it; all of them are trying to rent the penthouse floor right where the party goes on. As you can see in the picture, the canopy of the forest is perfectly tied together, like a puzzle, where 2 to 7% of the light finally makes it through to the bottom floor.
The forest can then be divided in levels like floors in a building, each level with a specific amount of light, creating a different arrangement of flora and fauna that has adapted their behavior and ecology to each level.
So the main stress of this city is not the rush hour or the pollution, it is the competition for sunlight: the trees grow as tall as 160 feet, skinny and straight, branching very high up (around 90 feet). They are covered with plants like philodendrons, epiphytes such as orchids and bromeliads, which have evolved the ability to live from what the air carries (moisture, dirt, insects, seeds), so they can grow on the branches of the big trees. Broad leaves close to the forest floor are reduced in size as they get closer to the canopy.
On the other hand, the animals have evolved prehensile tails, suction cups, and large claws, anything that provides them with the capability to get to the top. Others will have remained on the ground and will be the masters of darkness, with great hearing and smelling senses. Everything in the rainforest is flexible and open to change. Everyone wants to be part of the game of life, and to win, they know they will have to depend on each other. Do we know this too? Do we feel part of the game?
Sunrises are as spectacular as sunsets, and Mother Nature gave us a great “good morning” today. We started the day walking through the majestic tropical rain forest of the Corcovado National Park on the southwestern peninsula of Costa Rica.
Corcovado is the largest national park with around 130,000 acres (plus protected ocean reserve) mostly covered by tropical lowland seasonal rainforest. I know… what was all that? First “tropical” refers to the latitude location of the forest; it means no seasons, full water, sunlight, food, no migration deadlines. “Lowland” tells that it has to be close to sea level, and so be hot and humid (I think everyone today got the idea pretty well). The adjective “seasonal” refers to the condition that even in the tropics we do have seasons, a rainy season and a dry season (in the Caribbean Rainforest it rains year round). And last but not least, the term “rainforest” is easy, a forest where it rains a lot.
The tropical rainforest can be compared to a big city; the enormous trees are like buildings with hundreds of organisms living in and on it; all of them are trying to rent the penthouse floor right where the party goes on. As you can see in the picture, the canopy of the forest is perfectly tied together, like a puzzle, where 2 to 7% of the light finally makes it through to the bottom floor.
The forest can then be divided in levels like floors in a building, each level with a specific amount of light, creating a different arrangement of flora and fauna that has adapted their behavior and ecology to each level.
So the main stress of this city is not the rush hour or the pollution, it is the competition for sunlight: the trees grow as tall as 160 feet, skinny and straight, branching very high up (around 90 feet). They are covered with plants like philodendrons, epiphytes such as orchids and bromeliads, which have evolved the ability to live from what the air carries (moisture, dirt, insects, seeds), so they can grow on the branches of the big trees. Broad leaves close to the forest floor are reduced in size as they get closer to the canopy.
On the other hand, the animals have evolved prehensile tails, suction cups, and large claws, anything that provides them with the capability to get to the top. Others will have remained on the ground and will be the masters of darkness, with great hearing and smelling senses. Everything in the rainforest is flexible and open to change. Everyone wants to be part of the game of life, and to win, they know they will have to depend on each other. Do we know this too? Do we feel part of the game?
