We wake to the sound of howler monkeys in the valley below the crater; to pale veils of steam rising from the softly rounded vee of the volcano, etched against a gray and rose sky. We are at the Arenal Observatory Lodge and a mere mile and a quarter lies between our picture window and the volcano that put on a spectacular fireshow for us last night.
The landscaping at this lodge is as impressive as the view. Bright colorful dots of flowers peer out from the lush green foliage, and the air is filled with the darting shapes of birds, butterflies, and bees. It takes an experienced birder or entomologist to identify these darting shapes because the amateur's eye is bewildered by the sheer variety of lifeforms. By the time you've tracked down one species in your identification guide, six more will have swept past you.
It's the diversity in the plant life around the lodge that brings in the diverse wildlife. But not all of the plants so carefully set into the landscaping are local varieties -- and some of the plants aren't even native to Costa Rica. I asked one of the lodge managers about the trees lining the road to the cataract.
"Ah. Those. They're eucalyptus," he responded.
"Eucalyptus? From Australia? Don't they burn easily or cause other problems?"
"They do -- but they solve other problems. Here we needed a forest -- one that would grow quickly. We also need wood for furniture and other products. So we choose trees that grow well and are saleable so that our own native trees can have a chance to recover."
That gave me pause for thought. I'm a strong advocate of the "plant local" concept and have tried hard to make sure that all the plants I put in my yard are (usually) native or naturalized to my part of the world. But the managers of the farm and lodge took a different route for wildscaping at the lodge: plant things that supported the environment and select carefully the native species to replant. The lodge can be a difficult environment to wildscape since they never know when the volcano may decide to dump a load of black ash all over them or start heaving red-hot bounders at them. Acres of plants can be wiped out in a single night. By planting quick growing trees (including the non-native eucalyptus), the managers were able to reforest the area quickly after the devastaing eruption of 1968. Quicker reforestation meant that more birds and animals were saved and more were able to move back into the area.
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