Ecology

Although Costa Rica only covers 0.03% of the surface of the Earth, Costa Rica has almost 6% of the world's bio diversity.  For this reason alone, Costa Rica has become a Mecca for ecotourism.

Astonishingly, Costa Rica has 12 different climatic zones, and by some reports, as many as twenty-seven different weather patterns.  Perhaps even more astounding, almost five percent of all known species on earth can be found here.

Additionally, more species of butterflies can be found in Costa Rica than on the entire continent of Africa, and for bird watchers there are over 850 species, more than there are in ALL of North America!

Costa Rica is located in Central America, between Nicaragua to the North and Panama to the South.  It is not an island, despite what you saw in Jurassic Park!

Much of the country rests on a fault zone and thus includes a large number of volcanoes and mountains.  This is part of the Andean-Sierra Madre chain, and runs the length of Costa Rica separating the Caribbean Sea to the East from the Pacific Ocean to the West.

Costa Rica has twelve distinct ecological zones - incredibly, more than all of North America combined!  While Costa Rica is assuredly in the tropics, the extreme variations in elevation provide climatic conditions that separate it from tropical climates elsewhere.

The Pacific coast lowlands averages about 90° F while the mountain Cerro Chirripó has peaks above 12,800 feet, and where you will find daytime temperatures that seldom exceed 48° F.

So what will you find in Costa Rica?

• 1,000 Species of Butterflies
• 1,200 Varieties of Orchids
• 850 Species of Birds
• 130 Species of Freshwater Fish
• 300,000 Species of Insects
• 60 Species of Amphibians
• 220 Species of Reptiles
• 1,600 Species of Fresh and Salt Water Fish
• 208 Species of Mammals
• 9,000 Species of Plant
• Cloud Forests
• Rain Forests
• Volcanoes (2 Active)
• Mangrove Wetlands and Swamps