Wildlife and Plants of Costa Rica: Caribbean Edition

During my time on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, I saw a wide variety of animals and plants, some of which were familiar, others which were quite different than I was used to. One of my favorite things every time I went for a walk was seeing new and exciting creatures and plant life. So here for you now is my list of the most memorable wildlife I experienced. I apologize that I don't know the names of most of them. If you know any of them, feel free to let me know in the comments. 

Hibiscus

By far my favorite flowers were the Hibiscus. They lined part of the path going down to the beach and I loved seeing them everyday. I didn't know what they were called at first, but then Sylvia told me.

This is my favorite picture out of the ones I've taken in Costa Rica so far.

Lizards

The most abundant animals I noticed were the lizards. They were similar to the little ones I see when I'm in Florida, but varied more in color and size, up to one that was probably 8 inches from nose to tail. I don't have any pictures of the lizards because they move way too fast, but instead I will include some anecdotes about them. The best place I found to observe the little guys was in the laundry room while I was waiting for my laundry. The lizards would crawl around on the window screens, waiting for bugs, and when they saw one they would sit and wait for it to fly closer, and then lunge at it to try to catch it. I would watch and cheer them on, and once I actually saw a lizard catch it's bug, which was cool. 

My favorite lizard interaction happened when I was picking up trash around the cabins one day. I crouched down to pick something up, and the tiniest lizard I had ever seen jumped onto my thigh. It was about 2 inches long and adorable. I sat still for a second and admired it, expecting it to leap off at my slightest movement, but then when I finally did move it just hung on. It stayed there for several minutes as I moved around collecting trash, until I encouraged it back onto a branch so it wouldn't get hurt. I had never seen a lizard so unafraid of me before, and it was quite fun to have a tiny lizard friend for a few minutes. 

Crabs

One of the first types of animals I noticed other than the lizards was the crabs that lined the walkway to the beach. They would sit still at the side of the path, and then when I got closer they would scurry back into their holes, so the whole time I walked I would see small movements out of the corner of my eye. The majority of them were a strange translucent blue color, but I never got a great picture of those because they were too quick, only their holes next to the path.

Crab holes next to the path

The only crab that stood still long enough for me to get a picture

Spiders

The first time I saw one of these spiders, I almost freaked out because of how big it was. Not anywhere near Tarantula status, but still much bigger than most of the spiders I'm accustomed to, and they are a striking bright green color. Rubio, one of the employees at the lodge, said they were poisonous, which also scared me at first, but over time I got used to seeing them because they were very common in the area and they never seemed to pose a threat.

Birds

I saw a huge variety of birds, sea birds and forest birds alike. I don't have pictures of most of them because they were too fast or I would see them when I didn't have a camera, but I will do my best to describe them. Some of them were familiar and easy to picture, like hummingbirds and hawks, but others were new to me. 

My favorites were cute little ones that I saw on the beach that had round-ish bodies and were mostly light gray with a white stomach. Sometimes they were by themselves but often then would be in groups, and I really enjoyed watching them. They had a funny way of walking where they would take a few very quick steps, then stop and lift their tails before continuing with their frantic steps again. Watching them look for food in a group was my favorite. The group would all walk towards the water pecking at the ground, and then each time a wave came up they would all turn and race away from it as fast as their legs would take them. Once the wave had lost momentum, they would turn back towards the water and start the process all over again. Very entertaining to watch.

Cute little beach birds that I don't know the name of but loved watching

Some other birds I saw on the beach were pelicans, although only from a distance as they flew by over the water with their wingtips almost grazing the surface, and long-legged birds with long beaks that hunt for food in the shallow areas of the water. In the forest I saw a beautiful yellow-bellied bird with a yellow stripe on each side of it's head, and a bird with a long beak that looked slightly like a tucan but I'm not sure if it was. 

Iguana

I was very excited to see an iguana in the wild on my last day at Playa Chiquita. I didn't have my camera because I was swimming at the time and the iguana was climbing around on the rock face next to the swimming area, but it was really neat. Here is a picture from Sylvia, one of the other volunteers, of a baby Iguana she saw.

Howler Monkeys

The first time I heard the Howler Monkeys it was quite a distressing sound. The best way I can think of to describe it is that their howls sound like a mixture of a seal barking and a wolf howling. It sounded like something terrible was happening to them, and it filled me with this feeling of dread when I first heard it. One of the other volunteers described it as "haunting" and I think that's very accurate. They start howling at about 5:00 am, so it was quite a noise to wake up to, but over time I got used to it until it just because part of the background noise of the jungle. I was lucky on several occasions to see groups of them fairly close in the trees. It was cool to watch them jump around in the branches and wrap their tails around the branches as an anchor to get hard-to-reach leaves. (Picture below)

Sloths

The animal I was most excited about seeing in the wild was a sloth, and I got to see them on three occasions! The first time was from a distance and I used binoculars to get a better view of them. The second time was a little bit closer, and the third time was so close that I could see all the details of it's fur, face and claws. It was amazing to see how it moved and was very agile for an animal that moves so slow. I didn't have a camera the third time unfortunately, but here is the picture from my second sighting, including Howler Monkeys and one Sloth.

Monkeys and a sloth! The sloth is the farthest left towards the top, the rest are monkeys

An even better picture of a sloth from Sylvia

Mystery bird

I never solved the mystery of what type of animal was making this certain sound I kept hearing, but I think it was a bird. The sound was like one of those tiny firework poppers that you throw at the ground and they make a loud popping sound, and one time when I heard it, I saw a bird darting back and forth, and each time I saw the bird move I heard the sound.

Update: Erika, another volunteer from the lodge, told me it's called a White Collared Manakin. It's small with black wings and head, yellow belly and white around the neck. Mystery solved! Thanks Erika!

Agouti

I really enjoyed seeing this large rodent that looked like a large guinea pig with longer legs. The way it moved sort of reminded me of a deer also. I saw a few during my time in Playa Chiquita, and this one was nice enough to pose for me for longer than most.

Jungle plants

The jungle is filled with so many plants that are different than what I'm used to, there are too many to list all of them. So here are some pictures of the jungle and plants that stood out to me. 

So much greenery on the walk down to the beach

Beautiful plant next to the volunteer house. Thanks to Sylvia, I now know it's called Heliconia

Another near the house. Again thanks to Sylvia, I know this is a blossom of a ginger plant.

Surprise! Not a plant, but this bug looks a lot like a leaf

These trees have amazing roots! They're so tall and flat, and they wind around a lot near the tree. Thanks to Sylvia, one of my fellow volunteers, for telling me that it's called a Board Root Tree.

Board Root Tree again

It's hard to see, but this tree has a shower in it! So cool!

Some trees near the water

An almond tree! 

Almonds laying on the beach. There were tons of these in certain areas. I collected some and tried to open them but I wasn't very successful.

So there you have it, a rundown of the major wildlife and plants the Caribbean coast had to offer. Now I am at my next WorkAway location in the mountains outside Monteverde, so I will write about that soon!