Expedition 2009 Nicaragua & Costa Rica
June 15th, 2009Hi all,
To start our travels off, we flew into Nicaragua and spent two days there. On the first day we took a small boat out onto Lake Nicaragua and explored many small islands and lake edge forests. We found small clusters of unidentified palms along the lake’s edge. We believe they were endemic and a member of the Bactris family.
There were also other palms doting the landscape, including large Coconut Palms, Dypsis lutescens, and what we believe to be Pritchardia pacifica. Check them out below.
After the Lake, we left Nicaragua and headed south for Costa Rica. Nicaragua was seemingly all dry temperate grass terrain, used mostly as farm land for Cattle and other agricultural uses. As we crossed the border, which took over 2 hours with all of the passport and flu checks, the terrain changed almost immediately. The land changed from open grass lands into small brush forests. We could see different palms doting the landscape from our bus, including large Attelea sp.
The second palm we believed to be Acrocomia aculeate. Let us know if you can ID these palms.
As we traveled south the terrain turned more mountainous, tropical and wet, eventually reaching San Jose.
After a night in San Jose we left for San Vito. On this ride, we traveled along winding mountain roads. The trees along the road were filled with both large and small brightly colored bromeliads. We stopped at a mountain side rest stop and restaurant. They had bird feeders by the windows, attracting 4 different types of humming birds.
After we traveled through the mountains we reached a town named Sailvas. Along the road, we came across large stands of Bactris gasipaes. The stands had 5-20 large spiny palms loaded with large green seeds. There were also large Attelea Palms and Oil Palms that popped up throughout the natural terrain.
Outside Sailvas, we ran through miles of pineapple farms. There were pineapple fields as far as the eye could see, covering hills and mountains.
As we headed farther away from Sailvas we started heading into lowland tropical forest, with large muddy rivers running along and under the road. As we neared San Vito, we traveled through small hill side villages. These villages were well landscaped, filled with many tropical and colorful plants. They even had some exotic palms; including various Euterpe, Archontophoenix, Cyrtostachys, Pinanga, and Wodyetia species.
We reached San Vito and Wilson Botanical Gardens.
We spent 1 ½ days at Wilson exploring and photographing various tropical plants and palms. Wilson is truly a tropical paradise. Wilson is home to the world’s second largest collection of palms, not to mention 100’s of different species of Anthuriums, Philodendrums, Heliconia’s and other tropical plants. We stayed in the cabins they have in the garden. There are also tons of bird watching opportunities, including Toucans. The nicest part of the stay there is the food. The staff serves you 3 delicious meals a day, full of fresh fruit and vegetables. We highly recommend visiting and staying there. Below are some good pictuers of the garden.
After leaving Wilson we started the long journey to the Osa Peninsula. We began by bus, traveling downward through the mountains. Once we got to sea level, we drove through 100’s of acres of Oil Palm plantations. The farmers mostly grow the African Oil palm, instead of the native American Oil Palm, Elaeis oleifera. We saw huge tractor trailers moving the huge seeds pods harvested that day.
Eventually, after taking two buses we reached the coast at a small city named Golfito. The town has a massive palm on the coast. The locals say it is non-native, and we figure it to be a Borassus sp. Golfito also has a few other palms we could not identify, due to our lack of time there. See them both below. We took a water taxi out of town over the bay, where we hopped on another bus to La Palma where we passed through more large Oil Palm farms.
After we reached La Palma, we grabbed a bite to eat and drink and speak with the locals. They pointed out the Scarlet Macaws eating almonds out of almond trees. See a large Almond tree below. Notice the tree grows in large distinct layers.
Finally we boarded our last bus to Drake bay. This ride was the best so far. We traveled through the jungle on small dirt roads, some washed out by flooded rivers on a small bus. We began to see large stands of Socratea exorrhiza and another palm we could only identify as Euterpe sp. throughout the thick rainforest. When the rainforest opened up to clear land, Astrocaryum standleyanum could be seen doting the terrain. Some had large bright orange seeds on them.
Once in Drake Bay we took a water Taxi to the large National Park of Corcovado. It was proclaimed by national Geographic to be one of the most bio-diverse places in the world. We followed a very knowledgeable guide as we hiked through the thick rainforest. We saw many palms along the trails including; Astrocaryum standleyanum, Attelae sp , Bactris sp, Chamaedorea sp, and a few other unidentified palms that you can see below. We also saw many bird species, 4 different types of monkey, a tapir, a few crocodiles, and a few deer. See some of the palms below.
Towards the end of the hike, we entered the primary forest (never touched by man) and saw huge stands of Asterogyne martiana. The martianas were everywhere, visible for as far as the eye could see. They were all seeding; however none of the palms had ripe seeds on them.
After leaving the park, we took a hike along the beach on the Osa Peninsula. We could see more palms, including Astrocaryum standleyanum and Socratea exorrhiza growing wild. We also saw large cycads growing on hill sides, which we believe to be Zamia fairchildiana.
That pretty much wraps up the trip. After that, we flew home exhausted and happy for what we had seen. Hope you enjoy the pictures.