Hej, would you like to be my friend??

If you come to Costa Rica and forget your alarm clock, that's not a problem... the howler monkeys will wake you up at 3: 00 am... Too early?? Well, anyway, you can just grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy the sunnrise!! This big male howler monkey that you see in the picture was cought up just walking across the employes dinning area.
I guess he just wanted to show off!! Howler monkeys travel in troops of 15 to 20 individuals, they are vegetarians feeding mostly on leaves and flowers, and this is the reason why they are the only primate of the new world that sees color.
The males are the only ones that howl, and the sound can be heard as far as a kilometer( or half a mile)away. Wow!!! That's a lot of noise for an animal that is only about the size of a cat( 3-6 kilos, or 7-13 pounds). This incredible mammals feed on specific fruits and leaves from primary forest trees, that's why is so important to preserve the forest where they live, to make sure that we will keep hearing the incredible sound of the howler monkeys. Thanks again to all those around the world that help us everyday to save our beautiful rainforest!!!!

Stars are on the sky...ups!!! Not this one!!

You can not imagine the amount of interesting creatures you can find on the tide pools around Arenas del Mar Hotel, just check out this one!!
This is a fragile starfish, this weird looking animal lives right under the rocks at the Playitas beach, they feed on detritus which basically is sand. What?? Did I say sand?? How can anybody survive just on eating sand?? Well, they filter little particules of fitoplancton that get stock on the little sand grains, so , that´s how they do it!!
Some thing really interesting about fragile starfish is their capability to regenerate their limbs, also, if you cut up a starfish in several pieces everyone of them would become a new individual!! Isn´t that amazing?? Please help us preserve this amazing animals by not throwing garbage on the beach neither the ocean, we want this guys to have a nice and clean home!! Thank you!!

Hej, I just had a bite to eat of a delicious piece of clay

One of the most common animals to see at Arenas del Mar, is the three toad sloth. That's why today we want to dedicate a few minutes to talk about this bizarre animal. Three toad sloths are animals with very slow metabolism, the average temperature of them is about 20 celsius, which makes it the living mammal with the coolest blood temperature. They feed mostly on leaves and flowers, and they can get their food from more than 90 diffrent species of trees. These, protect themselves with poison in the leaves that the sloth also eats, so, they come down once or twice a week to the ground to eat cley . Mmm!! sounds tasty!! Give me some of that, I have a stomach ache!! The three toad sloth is also a master of hidding, they grow a special type of mold in their fur that makes it even harder to spot when up on a tree. I dare you to find one by yourself !!!

What time is it please?

We were walking down the Manuel Antonio National Park, near the end of the Perezozo trail we spotted this Sand Clock frog or Hyla ebraccata. This specie of frog lives up on bromelias as high as 20 meters above the ground, that makes it really hard to find unless you are a really good climber!!

That day we were lucky to find it jus 1.5 meters off the ground. This frog is only about 5 centimeters long and it feeds mostly on insects. Frogs like this one, are indicators of enviromental disorders in the planet, such as the ozone layer hole, this situation has triggered the growing of a fungus in their skins that can wipe out a whole specie of frog. This, we think, happened with the Golden Toad up in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. Another big reason why is important to preserve the rainforest of the world, all this little guys need the canopy of the trees as a shelter to protect them from extintion. Thanks to all those that help us save the rainforest and our little colorful friends. !!!

Much more than just “drinks by the pool”!

Arenas Del Mar is definitely a very special place. With spectacular beach, rainforest setting and ocean views you will enjoy of much more than just “drinks by the pool”.

Here you have the perfect base to explore the country’s natural treasures. Enjoy howler, white-faced, and squirrel monkeys, sloths, crabs, among other forms of exotic wildlife either at Manuel Antonio’s National Park or right outside your room!

Sloth!

Arenas Del Mar Resort is blessed with much kind of mammals. The property includes 11 acres of Rain Forest and you will see monkeys, raccoons, and agoutis. This afternoon a male sloth surprises us in the hotel truck. Sloths are very common in the Rain Forest of Manuel Antonio and we planted many native trees like Guarumo, since they are herbivorous you will see them hanging and lazing at the trees very often.

First Guests!

Arenas Del Mar is a very special resort surrounded by the rain forest. Here you will see the most abundant flora and fauna of Manuel Antonio as white face monkeys, howler monkeys and sloths. Seating in the room’s deck you can hear the sound of the waves and feel the sea breezes. Today we received Andrea and Darryl our first guests making this day memorable for a beautiful place.