White-Lipped Peccaries at Lapa Rios

The peccaries are active both during day and night depending of the area they live in, they tend to take a rest during the warmest time of the day. In Lapa Rios we have trap cameras set-up in the forest and this is our catch of the week: for four consecutive days this group of about eight collared peccary’s have been bathing in these mud pools very close to the Osa trail. So we managed to get some nice pictures.

Cornell Hotel School Alumni, Forbes and Yahoo Travel

Lapa Rios Ecolodge received quite a bit of media attention last week. Not only was the Ecolodge featured on the cover of the Cornell Hotel School Alumni, but it was also chosen as one of the world’s top five hotels with the best views by Forbes and Yahoo Travel.

Remember our green season values starting next month at Lapa Rios and all other Cayuga Managed Properties!

Squirrel Monkeys at Lapa Rios Ecolodge

The squirrel monkey is the smallest monkey of Costa Rica it is also the most threatened primate of Central America. The Osa Peninsula where Lapa Rios is located is home to the biggest population, left over here we still see big groups of up to 45 individuals. These cute looking monkeys forage through the forest with incredible speed and accuracy looking below every leaf and in every nook and cranny for small animals, they mostly feed on invertebrates and fruit but they are able to change their diet to small vertebrates, nectar and fruits when insect abundances are low. They are very easy to recognize because of their size and lighter colorings they are also the only species that doesn’t have a prehensile tail but rather use it as a rudder when making their incredibly far leaps trough the trees. In the Osa Peninsula we have the privilege to host all four species present in Costa Rica.

The Bullhorn

The Bullhorn is a swollen-thorn acacia native to Central America and Mexico. The common name of "bullhorn" refers to the enlarged, hollowed-out, swollen thorns, that occur in pairs at the base of leaves, and resemble the horns of a steer, locals call them "cornisuelo". The tree grows to a height of 10 meters (33 ft).

Bullhorn Acacia is best known for its symbiotic relationship with a species of ant ,(Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) that lives in its hollowed-out thorns. Unlike other acacias, Bullhorn acacias are deficient in the bitter alkaloids usually located in the leaves that defend against ravaging insects and animals. Bullhorn acacia ants fulfill that role. The ants act as a defense mechanism for the tree, protecting it against harmful insects, animals or humans that may come into contact with it. The ants live in the hollowed-out thorns for which the tree is named. In return, the tree supplies the ants with protein-lipid nodules called Beltian bodies from its leaflet tips and carbohydrate-rich nectar from glands on its leaf stalk. These Beltian bodies have no known function other than to provide food for the symbiotic ants. The aggressive ants release an alarm pheromone and rush out of their thorn "barracks" in great numbers.

According to Daniel Janzen (Costa Rican Natural History, 1983), livestock can apparently smell the pheromone and avoid these acacias day and night. Getting stung in the mouth and tongue is an effective deterrent to browsing on the tender foliage. In addition to protecting A. conigera from leaf-cutting ants and other unwanted herbivores, the ants also clear away invasive seedlings around the base of the tree that might overgrow it and block out vital sunlight.

Snake doctors use the bark and root to slow down snake venom from entering the bloodstream. Acne and various skin problems can be treated with water extract of the thorns. It is used to treat impotency in males.

Osa Peninsula Lapathon Jungle Race 2010

The second edition of the Lapathon, a race for a good cause organized by Lapa Rios Ecolodge will take place on May 1st. Start of the 18 kilometer race is the Carbonara School in Matapalo at 2:00 p.m. and the finish is at the Plaza in Puerto Jimenez. Participation fee is of 8,000 colones (about $15) and all proceeds from the race will go towards an educational project for children with learning disabilities in Puerto Jimenez. Prices include hotel stays and dinners at lodges, resorts and hotels managed by Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality as well as domestic airline tickets. And for the first time, children age 8 to 12 have the chance to participate in the Kids Lapathon of 3 kilometers!

Special offers and discounts to stay at Lapa Rios or fly to the Osa on Nature Air are available upon request. Contact our reservations office in Lapa Rios at (506) 2735-5130 or info@laparios.com.

Starfish Tour

The Osa Peninsula is not only interesting and bio-diverse on land but there is also a wide variety of marine life in this area. The starfish tour is available for about four days a month this because it is only done with the negative tides. This tour will open a completely new world just before your eyes, you’ll see: starfish, sea orchids, pufferfish, anemones, blue danzel-fish, sea sloths , crabs and occasionally we even see some octopus or morane eels. Make sure to request if this tour is available during your stay at Lapa Rios!

The Naked Indian Tree

The Naked Indian tree or Bursera simarouba belongs to the Family Burseraceae. As a medicinal plant it is used in the treatment of stomach ulcers. To prepare this medicine you have to boil twenty centimeters of bark in one quarter of water for about fifteen minutes, then you drink one cup first thing in the morning every day. One of the nicknames for the naked Indian tree is the tourist tree this because the bark of this tree is constantly exfoliating which gives it an appearance of sunburned skin. This is one of the trees that is commonly seen along the roads in the Osa Peninsula because a lot of local farmers use it as a live fencepost. Look for it on your way to Lapa Rios!

From our Manager at Lapa Rios Ecolodge this week...

Today I get a call by Radio form Luis our Reserve "Ranger" he says 'Juan I found a baby Macaw on the ground in the middle of the Ridge Trail what should I do?' Normally I tend to let nature lead the way and keep things in their natural order, but in the case of animals that are in danger of extinction (not by natural order but because our human ways have tilted the balance one way it’s hard not to think it’s best to help out and try to balance back a bit...) Any way so I tell him to bring it back to the lodge, and so he did, look at the cute guy, he is still growing its feathers and it’s not ready to fly, apparently fell of from the nest, but looked healthy enough and was very docile, everybody fell in love, guests staff and visitors all wanted to take a picture and pet it.... No wonder there is a market for this animals as pets, as some even suggested we keep it as a pet and let her roam free here at the lodge, we explained the importance of leaving animals in the wild and specially the importance of being an example by keeping it as a pet even under this circumstances we would be joining the many how keep wild animals in captivity so we send her off to the animal Sanctuary on the other side of the Gulf where they will work hard to release it back to the wild as soon as she is able to survive on her own.