Lookout Inn Tropical Update

Tropical Update Special

The Monkey Census in Pejeperrito Watershed, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

The four species of monkey that inhabit the tropical forests of Costa Rica, Geoffroy’s Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), the Mantled Howler Monkey Alouatta palliata), the White-faced Capuchin Monkey (Cebuscapucinus) and the Central American Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri oerstedii) have reduced populations. The main reasons for this decline are poaching and habitat lost for agriculture and development. The main goal of this study was to estimate the population sizes of the four monkey species in the Pejeperro watershed area, Osa Peninsula. Click here to read the see the entire report.

Tropical Update March 2007

Pura vida to all our friends and family who have joined us over the years at the tropical Lookout Inn!

Before we bring everyone up to date, we have a treat. Last year a team of Canadian producers filmed a documentary illustrating life on the Osa Peninsula. They set out to find a location so remote that their viewers could get a taste of life at the fringes. Because of our unique combination of the triple canopy tropical rainforest and isolated Pacific coastline, they decided to stay at the Lookout Inn.

You'll see they didn't need go very far from our grounds to get all the splendor they caught on tape. If you are thinking about suggesting the Osa to family or friends, we highly recommend a visit to this website where they host a six minute clip of their adventures. It provides an excellent depiction of life at the jungles edge. You also may want to take a moment and relive your stay at, as they perfectly refer to it, "the essence of exotic:"

Thanks to www.stepoutexperience.com for the video

Let The Rain Begin! We are entering what biologists and botanists commonly refer to as the rainy season. We know it better as the time when the rainforest returns to life. Though the deluges don't start until October, the increase in moisture brings out everything that makes the Osa Peninsula, the Osa Peninsula. The trees, now exploding with fruit, draw out the wildlife in amazing varieties and numbers. This is also the season for the next generation of macaws to make their arrival. As happens every year these jewels of the forest gather in the almond trees that dot the Inn, often in numbers too high to count. This is also the season that brings the tree frogs back out. Each night we are treated to a chorus of Costa Rica's famous red eyed green tree frogs. From now through November our guests make the nightly trek to our frog pond to get those once in a lifetime photos, the kind that are typically only found in National Geographic.

Click for a bigger image Copyrighted photos courtesey of John Michels

Turtle season started a little early for us this year. Last week a leatherback turtle made her way up the beach to bury here eggs right in front of the Inn. These enormous reptiles can get to a length of eight feet and weigh as much as two thousand pounds! Though the season really doesn't kick in until next month, we'll be watching our calendars. About sixty days from when the eggs were buried our guests will have a chance to witness a little "bubbling of the beach" as we call it. The sand over the nest essentially percolates as the scores of hatchlings burrow themselves out and make a break for the ocean, continuing the cycle that has repeated itself for millions of years.

Sightings: This is becoming one of our favorite parts of the Tropical Update. As more and more land is returned to the rain forest, the corridors continue to expand. This assures that the various gene pools do not remain isolated and instead the various threatened and endangered species have every opportunity to continue to thrive. For us this means not only a greater variety of animal sightings but vastly more of them. In addition to the leatherback we have had sightings of tapirs, jaguars, ocelots, mountain lions, giant and silky anteaters, sloths, aracaries, peccaries, humpbacks, etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera. We never tire of giddy, childlike excitement of guests returning from an encounter with any of these animals. It reminds us how fortunate we are to live on a small slice of paradise.

Katya and I would again like to extend our warmest regards to all of the guests who have visited and have shared their experiences with friends and family alike. We always love rereading our guest book and often laugh out loud reliving the wonderful times you have shared with us. As always, live life to the fullest and remember that you have a home at the Lookout Inn.

Katya , Terry and the Staff at Look Out Inn