Aero: Kevin Urbaitis – Costa Rica 2015 – Biodiversity

Aero: Kevin Urbaitis – Costa Rica 2015 – Biodiversity
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Aero: Kevin Urbaitis – Costa Rica 2015 – Biodiversity

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Kevin Urbaitis

One of the most interesting things about Costa Rica was all the different biodiversity that existed in such a small country. Costa Rica is around the same size as West Virginia, yet holds thousands and thousands of different plant and animal species across a spectrum of environments. Costa Rica weather wise was always warm, but that didn’t mean the weather was always the same across the country. It was interesting how it could always be sunny and dry in Alajuela but not more than an hour away in the mountains it was usually very cloudy and windy. Heading out of the mountains and into the cloud and rain forest the weather would change even more. In the cloud/rain forests, the weather was always extremely humid and rainy. Lastly on the Pacific side of the country on the Coast the weather was different again as it was very sunny and hot out closer to the equator. It was cool to see and experience all the different micro-climates that exist in Costa Rica.

ML@FLCC Costa Rica
2015 Flickr Gallery

Another exciting and interesting part of Costa Rica was getting to see all the different plant and animal life that does not exist naturally in the United States. From howler monkeys to peacocks to toucans to the long hanging liana vines in the rainforest, there was always something new to see and experience that we do not have back home. I enjoyed learning about all the new plant and animal species that we were being exposed too. I found it very interesting that Costa Rica has more species of birds than the United States and Canada combined! The terrain of Costa Rica was very rough and mountain like. The terrain was always dipping and rising and because of that the roads were always zig-zagging and bumpy through the endless mountain ranges. It was good to see that Costa Rica has decided to protect their resources and use them for tourism instead of using the resources of the land for extraction and profit. The wildlife and nature seemed very protected and watched after in Costa Rica by everyone. One of my favorite parts about Costa Rica’s nature was all the volcanoes. I had never seen a volcano in person before and it was cool to not just get to be around and see one volcano for several days but also got to go to the very top crater of another volcano! It was interesting to learn how these volcanoes impact everyday life in Costa Rica from the nutrient rich soil they bring or from the constant threat of eruption the volcanoes bring to the people that live nearby. I think that Costa Rica is very smart by going to a tourism economy and understanding that their country is so biodiverse that it will attract tourists just for the sights of nature alone for many, many years to come.

Kevin Urbaitis
LEAF Contributor