Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hacienda Blog

It’s the dream of every nature lover that I have  met in Costa Rica along 13 years working as a guide…Cris, are we gonna be able to see a Jaguar?

This big cat always awakes the interest of people. It was reverenced by indigenous civilizations like the Mayas and Aztecs…that talks about his power and importance in the rain forest.

Unfortunately, the jaguar is listed as an endangered species, althoug their population is still large in Costa Rica. In my whole life, I have seen only 2 of these animals in the wild, but is known that they are masters of camouflage. I am wondering if, in some of my lonely hikes to the rain forest, I’ve was’t been watched or followed by one jaguar…haha. Maybe, I am not a kind of yammy snack for these cats, thank God.

Well, a single male normally patrols his territory, being this larger than 40 square kilometers, and it is sometimes shared with 2 or 3 females.

Males get as large as 6 feet in length, and can reach over 250 pounds in weight. Females are a little bit smaller than males.

Jaguars have one of the most powerfull bites in nature, even stronger than the bite from Lions and Tigers. They kill their preys through a bite between the ears, being able to reach the brain. Jaguars prey on big mammals, like Tapirs and Peccaries, but also prey on birds, reptiles and, just once in a while, humans.

Melanistic individuals occur often, I mean, those black jaguars seen in movies and known as ‘Black Panthers’, but this phenomena occurs because a dominant alelum, as same in Leopards, so, there is nothing called ‘black panther’ but a melanistic cat from these 2 species…

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It is said that beauty means danger…isn’t it? This is true in the case of one of the most beautiful creatures of the tropical rain forest: The Poison Dart Frog (Oophaga pumilio)

This little tiny amphibians (not larger than a nail) are found on the floor of the forest, on the caribbean slopes of Costa Rica. You can easily find them if you follow their sharping noise, putting your hands right behind your ears. Suddenly, their bright colors (red and blue) display their position and…there it is! A letal weapon for most of the predators in the forest, with the exception, maybe, of the huge Bull Frog (Leptodactylus savage)

This froggies feed on ants and termites, they get the formic acid from their preys and turn it into a neurotoxin called pumiliotoxin, a substance wich is able to paralize the muscles and kill by sofocation or a heart attack.

The males on this species are highly territorial, they defend their territory (about 8 square feet) from other males. The defense of it asures the quantity of ants and termites they will eat, and, also, it has been reported that, the number of bromeliads (air plants) in that spot has some influence when they choose the territory. Both, male and female, will bring their tadpoles up to the ‘pool’ of water found in the bromeliad, where they will finish the metamorphosis.

Some indigenous groups in South America used to get the toxins from the skin of these frogs, in order to poison their arrow heads. This is why the common name given to the species. There is no problem for humans, any ways, as long as you keep your distance from them…

As a tour guide, I like to find them for the fellows in my tours. Many people get amazed about their size, and the potencial danger in such a small creature. This is one of the most interesting animals in the rain forest.

This is the first post of a series, where I will let you know some more interesting details about plants and animals from the Costa Rica’s jungle.

I hope you guys find this interesting.

Carlos Salazar Cercone is a costarican man who, back in 1991, decided to settle Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hacienda.

This place was one of the first hotels in the Arenal Volcano area, in the Northern Plains of Costa Rica.

Since the very beggining, Chachagua Rainforest Hotel hires only locals, that policy has been truly important, in order to improve the hotel’s efforts in the conservation of the rain forest. So far, more than 25 families of the area in Chachagua, depend on the hotel and the working ranch here.

In 2010, four visionary men, called Grupo Los Cuatro, joined Carlos Salazar in the businnes; the place was totally remodeled and everything is working on better and better.

I am so proud to be part of the crew, for sure. It is really nice to know that, if you have an idea, you can develop it, always having the support of the boss. That makes me feel good.

Our place is more than a resort. I can tell that we all are ‘experiences creators’, having what we call ‘win-win  situation’, our interactions with both, nature and our guest, allows everybody to win…

The biodiversity in this area is so rich. More than 100 species of birds are easily spotted, over 40 species of amphibians and reptiles occur here, and several hundreds of species of plants have Chachagua as their home. Every morning you could get up listening the howlings of monkeys in the forest or just around your room, the screams of the parrots or the call of a Laughing Falcon. Then, you can walk down to the stable, meet a lady cow and try to get some milk from and for your own breakfast…And, this is interesting, since, not many people from big cities have the chance to become face to face to farm animals every day, don’t you think?

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Pura vida, amigos!

It’s been a while since the last time I did  heard a baby crying close to my ears…in my house.

Andres, my 4 years old nephew is excited about his new brother or sister, and same here!

A new baby in the world…a healthy one, a beloved one.

But, how many babies born every day, lacking love, care, shelter, food?…there are millions of them, unfortunately.

It is time to do something, it is time to become more human and see what happens in the world.

For one minute, ask yourself: What can I do for those babies? Answer your own question and act, please.

I am grateful with mom and dad, because they answered their own question. And, because of that, here I am, writting a blog….

How many times we hear only bad news about the global warming every day?

There are so many to count. But the solution of that such important item is maybe easy to be found…by school kids.

In my village, at Chachagua, Costa Rica, every week I can see an ‘army’ of children from 6 to 12 years old, planting 2 or 3 trees each, having fun and playing with dirt and water…it brings beatiful remembrances to my mind!

They are always asking about the importance of conservation of the forest, in order to get drinkable water for all and for free in the community, they are so interested on a lucrative program they are developing with the certified woods they are planting, and more…

I am so glad finding native species of trees for them to plant, I like to talk to the farm owners to get permissions for the kids to work in their terrains, and I love to see their happy little faces once the job is done.

It’s known that the new trees are the good ones capturing the CO2 from the atmosphere, and then, to be added to their trunks.  A hectare of young forest is more usefull than ten hectares of a forest older than 30 years. It is also important to plant only native species on the area, that way, we are making sure that the older forest will be fine, and we are not breaking the natural balance…

We need to improve this stuff, we need to start with this iniciative all over the world, we need more concerned goverments and everything is gonna be all right.

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-Hey, buddy, wake up! -My father said.

-Ok, dad, I’ll be right there in a minute- I used to reply.

It was 4 o’clock in the morning of any day, no matter when: every morning it was the same. And I was out of school, by the way, enjoying my ‘vacation’ period…

The day started after a cup of coffee given to me by my mother in the kitchen; then, I followed dad down the trail, in order to check the fences, work on the crops and attend the cows. And, same thing every day, since I remember.

Kids in Costa Rica go to school from february to december, having short breaks during the lective time.

December to february is the harvest season for coffee, black beans, rice, and many other costarican produces. We got let out of classroms to help on the family’s economy, working in the farms. Perhaps, this sounds crue to some people, but, I can tell, that was the best heritage that I had from my parents.  I realized that things have a value, because they made me to work for all of those toys, clothings, or whatever I wanted to have. And for sure, I enjoyed each and every little thing I’ve got, because it costed me lot of work!

Life in the country side of  Costa Rica is simple and beautiful.

Every day is a new experience and we learn from everybody. I learn from the Doctor of the town, as well as I learn from don Julian, an 80 years old man, who barely writes and reads. It is about the same, because in the country, there are no differences among the people.

My love for nature comes from my childhood, since I had have learned about wildlife living inside the jungle, getting used to the animal sounds, their behaivor and their habits.

I am now 33 years old, but, every time I have children to work with, no matter where they come from, I love to teach such a kind of simple values, giving respect for all the people around and, of course, showing love and respect for the animals and plants, the waters, the enviroment.

Sometimes, I think that we shall take a look to the old days, and bring to the present day all of those values that we have been missing, don’t you think?

Last weekend, I met the Anderson family, from North Carolina. Martin, Craig,Nancy and the friendly Joel. Such a nice people!

They wanted to have a real experience in the rain forest, so, here we go! We did a nature hike to the jungle, spending about one hour in our private biological reserve. After that, we drove all the way to Arenal Volcano, the most active volcano in the country since 1968.

Once there, we started the walk up to the summit of the 1968′s lava flow. I was amazed watching my friend  ’don’ Joel, who is 74 years old, climbing up as a little boy! Great!

He told me a couple of phrases that I will use for ever. The first one was: ‘Win-win situation’, the best description to the job we are doing at Chachagua Rainforest, being friendly to Mother Nature, working on a sustainable way.

The other one was: ‘Grow where you were planted’, meaning that we shall to be happy with the resources that we have, no matter if we got a lot or just a little. So we are in Costa Rica, ‘don’ Joel, so we are.

Thank you for this, mi amigo, I won’t forgget about your advices!

On the top of the lava flow, we had such a magnificent view to the volcano and the Lake Arenal. On the way back, we stopped for a drink at a bar in Chachagua Town, listening some cumbia and salsa music. Then,we cameback to Chachagua Rainforest.

Next day, we shared a typical meal in my house. My mother was teaching them how to prepare corn tortillas, and they learned so fast!

We ate some pork chicharrones, rice, black beans and salad, and, of course, the tortillas they made.

I think they were satisfied with the experience that we created for them here at Chachagua Rainforest.

And, to me, this is exactly what a ‘win.win situation’ is all about. Isn’t it, ‘don’ Joel?

Costa Rica is a small territory, covering only 0,03% of the Earth’s surface.

However, our country is home to about 5% of the total of the species in the world, being recognized as one of the most biodiversed areas in the whole planet.

Chachagua Rain Forest has over 300 acres of protected Pre-montane Wet Forest, and it’s amazing to walk through the forest by day or by night and be part of this nature wonder.

As a tour guide, I love to show the different interactions of the species in the jungle, but, I also love to see the amazed faces of our guest, every time that we find a troop of monkeys, a spider or the beautiful poison-dart frogs!

This is the real way to learn about nature, being part of it.

This is the way we can save the planet, when we realize exactly how it works.