During our study abroad we traveled all over the northern part of Costa Rica, trying to explore all sorts of different ecosystems ranging from cloud forest to saltwater wetlands. Every place had unique species that had adapted to survive in the environment, but one of my favorite places was the Caribbean lowland rain forest in La Selva Biological Reserve. La Selva was closed to the public for most of the year, and even when the public was allowed in, it was strictly regulated. Before entering the area, one had to pass through a guard gate and check in properly to the reserve. La Selva is a major research center, and many people from all over the world come to conduct experiments on the plants and wildlife in the area. I was really excited to enter the reserve, as they boasted hundreds of bird species alone and an even greater variety of insects. One of their most famous insect inhabitants was the bullet ant, which is notorious for an extremely painful sting. I was pretty excited to see them, despite my fear of getting stung, as I have heard a lot of bullet ants since I was little. Once we arrived we saw tons of bullet ants, especially at night. Our guide told us to avoid touching railings at all costs because they were a favorite spot for the bullet ants, and sure enough, there were tons of them. Outside of the bullet ants, one of the birds I was really excited to see on the reserve was the Great Curassow. It is an exceptionally large bird, around the size of our Turkeys here in North America, but significantly fancier. Male Curassows are known for their fancy black crests and yellow located near their beak. During one of our hikes, we not only saw managed to see one, but we manage to see a whole group walk right across the path in front of us. They seemed quite unafraid of humans and so we were able to get quite close to them as they continued their journey through the forest.
