Located in Costa Rica’s North Atlantic region, Sarapiqui offers an incredible biodiversity to thousands of local and foreign tourists each year.  At least 5,000 tourists visit Sarapiqui each month to engage in a variety of adventure and nature activities.

One of the places in Sarapaqui that offers visitors an opportunity to observe the thousands of species in the area in one place is La Selva Biological Reserve.  A playground for the world’s top biologists, La Selva gladly receives visitors who would like to learn more about the local biodiversity.

La Selva, which translates to “The Jungle”, is bordered on its south region by the Braulio Carillo National Park that consists of 46,000 hectares of forest under the country’s conservation law.  La Selva covers 1,600 acres of rainforest that joins with the surrounding Braulio Carillo National Park allowing the development of 4 major tropical life zones.

La Selva has over 5,000 species of flora and an almost equal amount of wildlife.  Reserve representatives and scientists have reported a variety of predators that include jaguars, pumas and the venomous bushmaster.  At least 400 species of resident as well as migratory birds have been spotted at La Selva Biological Reserve representing almost half of the country’s total amount of bird species.

An impressive 50 kilometers of trails allow visitors to access a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic habitats as well thanks to the reserve’s location between the joining of two major rivers at these Caribbean lowlands.  Visitors will find that the entire property has been thoroughly surveyed and that a total of 3,000 posts have been placed to mark the 50 x 100 meter grids allowing for tranquility when exploring the reserve.

For a chance to thoroughly explore La Selva Biological Reserve, the station can sleep up to 80 people for an extended stay.