Tag Archives: Costa Rica - Port Limón.com

Heliconias

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Over 200 species of Heliconia in Central and South America, only three are found outside this region, in Solomon Islands and somewhere in Africa, and in this places those heliconias are not colorful as in the big majority found in tropical Americas, but green, and this is because in these places there are no hummingbirds, so Heliconias are bat pollinated, and bats need no colors in order to find their target.

All this profusion of color in what we think is a flower really comes from modified leaves also known as bracts, this modification of leaves into colorful and hard-tissue apparatus, plays the same function as in petals in roses, which is to advertise like in a billboard: "Please Mr Hummingbird come to drink nectar so I´l be pollinated". Such strategy may be related to the heavy rain that quickly destroys petals in this environment, all these bracts are long lasting, and if you observe carefully, you will probably find the tiny cream-colored tiny flowers hidden inside de bract.

Ready for a heliconia related shore excursion in Port Limón?

Yellow Poui (Tabeuia ochracea).

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Yellow poui (Tabeuia ochracea).
Common names: Ipê, Poui, trumpet trees and pau d'arco.

A gorgeous blooming tree with medicinal properties

This is probably one of the most gorgeous trees when blooming around the World.

Part of Bignoniaceae family, which is a family that joins tropical trees and woody vines with very beautiful flowers and interesting woody fruits.

This tree blooms at the end of the dry season and produces dense clusters of yellow flowers while has dropped its leaves making the view of flowers even more impressive.

Its bark contains Lapachol, an important ingredient in naturalistic medicine that works as expectorant, and as topical antibiotic. Lapachol has also shown to have anti corcenogic activity in laboratories. (Pablo Sanchez, personnal comunication)

It’s more common to observe this tress blooming on the pacific slope of Costa Rica but there are also present on the Caribbean slope.

Calypsonians in Limón

Calypso is a musical genus originated in the Caribbean islands specially Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica. Since a large portion of the Port Limón province is Jamaican descendant, such music is part of our history and folclore. In the video features Raymond and his Palls.

Bonita Beach

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Bonita means nice, and it really is! A golden sand beach, with its ocean sometimes flat and calm, and sometimes a place for strong & expert surfers to enjoy a very enclosed tube and powerful lip.

The earlier you arrive the better in order to avoid crowd, normally this happens only Saturdays and Sundays.

If you leave your belongings unattended while swimming they will definitely will be gone once you return.

If medium to strong waves are present definitely a strong rip tide will ocurre, ask for advice before getting into the ocean.

Are you ready for booking a visit to Bonita Beach?