Top Costa Rica eco lodge to host scientific guest lecturers

Two top U.S. biology research scientists are coming to Costa Rica in early March to lead a study trip deep in the Costa Rican rainforest on the south Pacific Coast of the Golfo Dulce.

The scientific tour will be held March 1-7, 2014, at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, a member of Enchanting Hotels & Resorts Costa Rica. Drs. Howard Topoff and Carol Simon of Arizona – both professors emeriti of The City University of New York and Research Associates at the American Museum of Natural History – will be guest lecturers.

Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge is a unique Costa Rica eco lodge immersed in the dense tropical rainforest bordering the Piedras Blancas National Park in southern Costa Rica. The only way to get to the remote wilderness retreat, set on a 165-acre private preserve, is by boat across the pristine waters of the Golfo Dulce from either the towns of Golfito or Puerto Jimenez. 

The area joins an immense biological corridor that extends from the world-famous Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula to the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve and the Piedras Blancas National Park, down into Panama. Known as a tropical fjord, the Golfo Dulce (“Sweet Gulf”) is a critical habitat for migrating Pacific Humpback Whales, and resident and migratory communities of dolphins and sea turtles.

Drs. Topoff and Simon have been scientific study trip leaders for the past 30 years for the Smithsonian Institute, The American Museum of Natural History, Naturalist Journeys, Elderhostel, and several cruise lines. The husband-and-wife team’s specialty is social behavior of animals, tropical ecology and evolutionary biology. Their educational programs and entertaining multimedia presentations are highly popular.

At Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in March, the scientific researchers will address the natural history of Costa Rica:

• Introduction to Rainforest Animals & Plants
• Social Behavior of Monkeys of Central and South America
• Social Insects of the World
• The Evolution of Animal Coloration
• Poisonous Reptiles and Amphibians of the Rainforest
• The Evolution of Animal Communication
• Courtship and Mating Strategies of Animals

For more information and reservations, contact Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge. The award-winning eco-lodge offers ecotourism, nature and adventure vacations, family holidays, honeymoon trips, and yoga classes and retreats.

Article by Shannon Farley