Looking Back At Costa Rica Tour -- by The Butterfly Lady

By Pat Schuler

Now that I've been back from Costa Rica for a month I think I may be ready to see an overall picture, rather than recall the trip as a rapid series of places, events, and scenes.  The memories impressed on my mind are now a beautiful collage of: people, landscape, plants, and animals.  Everything merges, somehow, into a blend of brilliant colors against cool greens and exotic flavors, smells, and sounds.  All this accompanied by the gentle personality of the Costa Rican people. Before I could write this final report, I had to ask myself why this trip was so important to me.  The answer to that question takes me back to my childhood in central Florida and seemingly endless summer days spent collecting butterflies and moths, checking reference books out of the library, and comparing notes with friends who shared the same interests.  Sadly, my grandchildren don't share much, if any, of my interest in nature.  Their entertainment is through TV and computerized games played on a TV or a handheld device.  I see an ever widening gap between a generation that grew up close to nature and a generation with little interest in nature.  If nothing else, I hope this blog may awaken a spark of interest in the minds of a few people.  Humanity was not created to live in a self absorbed world of ever more complex technology.  If possible, I'd like to offer enough food for thought to open a few eyes to the wonders all around us, and perhaps stimulate some to ask "How did all this get here ?" and "What is my place in it ?" and "What can I do to guard this heritage for the next generation?".
     The Bible tells us that, after God created everything, He planted the garden of Eden and "took the man and put him in the garden to tend and keep it." (Gen.2:15)   Sadly, we have too often destroyed, rather than tended.  Worse yet, we have been like children destroying toys without any thought of a future deprived of them, greedily using up resources for momentary gain.  Costa Rica is no stranger to this historic pattern.  In the four centuries since the Spanish conquest and gradual settlement, sixty percent of Costa Rica's once dense forest cover has been stripped to provide timber and to clear land for cattle grazing.  In the lowland dry forest over ninety five percent of tree cover has been lost.  In the past decade, though, there has been growing interest in reversing this trend.  Incentives are now being provided for the planting of new trees of native species; and major efforts are under way to restore native plants such as the lovely Guaria morada, Costa Rica's national orchid.   The country has set apart twenty eight percent of its land in national parks and reserves, slowing the rate of deforestation, and actually beginning to reverse the trend.
     While this is a complex problem and  not one which can be solved overnight, at the present time Costa Rica is a world leader in its attempts to make its natural environment profitable without destroying it.  The country is doing this by developing ecotourism and also by encouraging industries which involve its citizens in the growing of salable forest products which are self-sustaining.  Such products include, for example: ornamental plants native to Costa Rica, butterflies for live exhibits in nature centers around the world, iguanas as a meat source, and exotic woods which can be tree farmed and are used in making beautiful handcrafted objects for sale.
     In a short blog I can only provide a brief introduction to this delightful Central American country, but, since a picture is said to be "worth a thousand words", I'll attach a few pictures of things I found to be especially memorable from my trip.  I hope you enjoy them.