Rafting

• Rios Tropicales, our guides down the Pacuare River

Full-color, zoomable map
More maps of Costa Rica

Books

We suggest the following books to help prepare for a trip to Costa Rica:

Forsyth, Adrian and Kenneth Miyata. 1987. Tropical Nature. Scribners, New York
This book provides a general introduction to neotropical ecology. It has a very readable style and gives insight to some of the natural phenomena found in Costa Rica.

Janzen, Daniel, ed. 1983. Costa Rica Natural History. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
This is a fantastic (but big!) all-around guide to Costa Rica's plant, bird, mammal, insect, reptile, and amphibian life. The introduction also includes excellent overviews of Costa Rican history, geology and geography. It contains lots of great pictures and good information on many things participants will see during the program.

Beletsky, Les. 1998. The EcoTravelers' Wildlife Guide to Costa Rica. Academic Press
Endorsed by the Wildlife Conservation Society and researched by professional biologists, the series provides an extensive introduction to Central America's flora and fauna, as well as a friendly primer on the principles of ecotourism and hundreds of pictures and photographs.

Kricher, John. 1989. A Neotropical Companion. Princeton University Press, Princeton
This is a great reference for many tropical ecology subjects. It is more in-depth and detailed than Miyata's book.

Stiles, Gary and Alexander Skutch. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica.
Cornell University Press, Ithaca
If birds are your thing, don't leave home without this book. This field guide has pictures of all of Costa Rica's 830 species of birds.