Estacion Biologica La Selva

La Selva Biological Station and Reserve is a protected area of low-land tropical rain forest run by the Organization for Tropical Studies. It is located in northeastern Costa Rica near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. It is rich in species of plants, mammals, arachnids, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish. Though it is established principally for research, the station also runs guided tours for the public.

Two years ago I spent some time working in Costa Rica. During the weekends, I traveled around the country rock climbing, visiting beaches, hiking mountains, seeing the volcanoes, walking through the rain forests, but there is so much to explore that time was always a constraint. La Selva was and remained on my to-do list by the time I left the country. This year I’m back in Costa Rica for work again. Though I’ll be traveling less than in 2018, I’ll still be making time to continue exploring the country in my downtime.

I signed up for the 3-hr guided tour at 8am. The guide was amazing and knowledgeable about the flora and fauna, and very helpful in spotting and identifying wildlife. I was either not paying attention all the time or not taking good notes, so I missed some of the names of the creatures I photographed. Generally speaking, we saw iguanas, spiders, monkeys, colorful birds, and butterflies. But, I did learn what a cacao bean looks like.