Esquinas & Casa Orquideas
Our first day in Costa Rica was phenomenal. We started the day Zodiac cruising in the mangroves of Esquinas.
Costa Rica has a wonderful diversity in nature and mangroves are a good example of this diversity. We saw 2 species of Rhysofora: R. Mangle (red mangrove), which is the one everybody knows especially from Florida, and mister R. Racemosa, the tall red mangrove. The differences between these two species are very clear. The red mangrove has no trunk and is all either stilt roots or branches. These adaptations work very well for these species, being short allows them to take very strong winds, which is why they thrive in areas that are damaged by hurricanes. On the other side, we have the R. Racemosa, the tall red mangrove. This species is tall and proud but sensitive to strong wind, which is why it thrives here due to the lack of hurricanes. Together with tea, white, black and button-wood mangroves, they form the diverse mangroves of Costa Rica.
In the afternoon we visited Casa Orquideas, a fabulous botanical garden where not only the plants were admired, but the scarlet macaws. These birds were the stars of the day, together with the spotted pantropical dolphins that visited us near the ship.
The list of orchids is very large from Brasavolas to Epidendrums, from exotic palms like the Pinanga culy to native ones like the Iriartea deltoidea. Crowned with Philodendrons, spices, and beautiful lianas, Casa Orquideas is a magical place to visit.
Our first day in Costa Rica was phenomenal. We started the day Zodiac cruising in the mangroves of Esquinas.
Costa Rica has a wonderful diversity in nature and mangroves are a good example of this diversity. We saw 2 species of Rhysofora: R. Mangle (red mangrove), which is the one everybody knows especially from Florida, and mister R. Racemosa, the tall red mangrove. The differences between these two species are very clear. The red mangrove has no trunk and is all either stilt roots or branches. These adaptations work very well for these species, being short allows them to take very strong winds, which is why they thrive in areas that are damaged by hurricanes. On the other side, we have the R. Racemosa, the tall red mangrove. This species is tall and proud but sensitive to strong wind, which is why it thrives here due to the lack of hurricanes. Together with tea, white, black and button-wood mangroves, they form the diverse mangroves of Costa Rica.
In the afternoon we visited Casa Orquideas, a fabulous botanical garden where not only the plants were admired, but the scarlet macaws. These birds were the stars of the day, together with the spotted pantropical dolphins that visited us near the ship.
The list of orchids is very large from Brasavolas to Epidendrums, from exotic palms like the Pinanga culy to native ones like the Iriartea deltoidea. Crowned with Philodendrons, spices, and beautiful lianas, Casa Orquideas is a magical place to visit.
