MATAPALO: THE STRANGLER FIG

Perhaps the best known tree in this area is the towering strangler fig tree, so well known that the area close to the beach here and actually the entire ridge Lapa Rios is situated on is named after this tree, but in Spanish: Matapalo. This impressive tree, a type of epiphyte, starts life as a tiny seed high up in the canopy on another kind of tree. The roots grow down to the forest floor where they dig in and begin to take nutrients from the soil. Gradually the roots wrap around the host tree, widen, and slowly form a lattice-work that surrounds the host's trunk. The fig's crown grows foliage which soon overshadows the tree. Eventually, the host tree dies, leaving the fig with a hollow trunk, which is easily climbed thanks to the many openings in the trunk. Figs are often the only tree species remaining after forest clearing since their knotted and twisted wood is shunned by loggers.
Ironically, this agent of death provides an important niche and food source to many rainforest creatures. Its hollow trunk, with an abundance of nooks and crannies, provides an important home to thousands of invertebrates, rodents, bats, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Many other species are attracted to the fig tree because of its production of large amounts of good-tasting fig fruits. These fruits are packed with seeds, many of which are not destroyed when they are consumed, and are passed out in the dung of animals far from the mother tree. In many forests the fig tree is considered a keystone species since during parts of the year it is virtually the only tree producing fruit. During these lean times, many primates and birds feed almost exclusively on fig fruit.

Photos by Frances Figart

A SURPRISE TOUR!

Thanks to their dedication and effort to always provide an exceptional service to our guests, three of our staff members went with our Operations Manager on a surprise tour. Greivin (friendly receptionist), Gabriel (excellent waiter) and Olger (cook who gives the Lapa Rios cooking lessons) never expected to be rappelling from a waterfall when they started at work that day at 6 a.m. One of the nearby lodges, Remanso, offers a waterfall rapelling tour and invited us to check it out. None of the four had ever done this before and it was a team building experience and reward for hard work that they will never forget!

ODE TO HUMMINGBIRDS

The hummingbird family (trochilidae) is one of the largest bird families in the world with about 330 species, ranging over south, central and north America. Although they are found from Alaska to Tiera del Fuego, hummingbirds are far more numerous in the tropics. In Costa Rica we have 57 species of hummingbirds distributed over the whole country. Following are a set of interesting facts that you maybe didn’t know about these gorgeous little acrobats of the sky.

● The hummingbirds’ flight involves rapid wingbeats and a unique rotation of the entire wing at the shoulder joint; changing the angle of their wingbeat permits flight in any direction including backward or hovering in place.

●Depending the species, hummingbirds beat their wings 22-79 times per second.

● Because of its size, in relation to other birds the hummingbird has the highest metabolic rate and energy needs.

● One of their most important mechanisms of saving energy is their ability to enter into a state of torpor on cold nights, regulating their body temperature 30-50⁰F (17-28⁰C) below active level.

● About eighty percent of a hummingbird’s day is spent perched in trees and bushes.

● Their bills range in size from 4 inches to ½ inch in length.

● Half a hummingbird’s weight is in chest muscles, which are used to power their flight.

●Often a hummingbird’s tongue measures two times the length of their bill.

●The smallest hummingbird, the bumblebee, is two inches long with half the length in its beak and tail. The largest hummingbird is the giant hummingbird and can reach eight inches in length.

Hummingbirds are undoubtedly the best known New World avian family - and one of those things in nature that are so fascinating to see, you just have to stand still for a while. During a stay at Lapa Rios, you are sure to see them every single day if you are watching.

Photos by Frances Figart

LAPATHON FUNDS MATERIALS FOR SPEECH THERAPY

On June 30, the Lapa Rios staff went to hand over the materials and equipment which was bought with the donations of our latest Lapathon Jungle Run on May 1. This 18 km race - with a total of 143 participants and many more supporters - was able to raise funds for a total amount of 1,016,000 colones (about $1,900) to buy the equipment for the only classroom on the Osa Peninsula that serves children with communication difficulties who require speech pathology. Materials bought with this money included furniture such as chairs and tables, big mirrors, archive equipment, a computer, a CD player, desks and educational materials, all of which are necessary to provide better care for the 60 students of this speech therapy room. Everything was received by the teachers, school administration, parents, and community members with great appreciation and a lot of smiles from the students. A big thank you for everyone who helped with this educational project!

OUR SCARLET MACAW GOT A FACE LIFT

In celebration of the amazing Scarlet Macaws that surround our rainforest ecolodge, we have updated our logo and a new web site is on its way. And to help you celebrate our new look in person, we have extended Lapa Rios’ “Stay 5 nights, pay for only 4” promotion to include July and August.

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is is native to humid evergreen forests in the American tropics. It is about 81 centimeters (32 inches) long, of which more than half is the pointed, graduated tail typical of all macaws. The average weight is about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). The plumage is mostly scarlet, but the rump and tail-coverts are light blue, the greater upperwing coverts are yellow, the upper sides of the flight feathers of the wings are dark blue as are the ends of the tail feathers, and the undersides of the wing and tail flight feathers are dark red with metallic gold iridescence. Some individuals may have green in the wings.

Scarlet Macaws make loud, low-pitched, throaty squawks, squeaks and screams designed to carry many miles to call for their groups. A typical sighting is of a single bird or a pair flying above the forest canopy, though in some areas flocks can be seen. The Scarlet Macaw can live up to 75 years in captivity, although, a more typical lifespan is 40 to 50 years. Scarlet Macaws eat mostly fruits and seeds, including large, hard seeds. They like nuts and fruits. They also feed on nectar and buds.

The Scarlet Macaw’s distribution used to include much of Costa Rica. However, by the 1960s Scarlet Macaws had been decreasing in numbers due to a combination of factors, particularly hunting, poaching, and the destruction of habitat through deforestation. Further, the spraying of pesticides by companies cultivating and selling bananas for export played a significant role in decreasing Scarlet Macaw populations. The combined factors stressed the population of Scarlet Macaws in Costa Rica, where they had previously occupied approximately 42,500 km of the country's total national territory of 51,100 km, leaving viable populations in the early 1990s isolated to only two regions on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica; the Carara Biological Reserve and the Osa Peninsula, where Lapa Rios is located. By 1993 surveys had shown Scarlet Macaws occupied only 20% (9,100 km) of their historic range in Costa Rica.

Photos and editing by Frances Figart