Our Community

SARAPIQUÍ, Costa Rica

Selva Verde Lodge is surrounded by one of the most vibrant communities in Costa Rica. Located at the junction of Puerto Viejo and Sarapiquí rivers, the area has been a favorite destination for nature enthusiasts and adventure seekers. Once you enter the area, it is not hard to understand why it is regarded as one of the most beautiful places in Costa Rica. The area is very close to several protected zones such as Braulio Carrillo National Park and La Selva Biological Station.

Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center, founded in 1993. THE SARAPIQUÍ CONSERVATION LEARNING CENTER (SCLC)

The Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center (SCLC) was founded in 1993 by the Holbrook family and Selva Verde Lodge. Today it is a fully independent US and Costa Rica registered non-profit organization. The SCLC’s mission is to link communities and conservation through education and ecotourism in the Sarapiquí region. The SCLC offers community programs such as English classes, computer literacy, environmental education and after-school activities. By offering local residents opportunities to improve their job prospects, the SCLC hopes the population is able to cultivate more sustainable occupations to improve their job prospects. 

Tourism transportation by boat, Sarapiquí RiverABOUT SARAPIQUÍ

The Sarapiquí region of Costa Rica is in close proximity to some of the most exciting destinations in Costa Rica. Sarapiquí is the tenth Canton of the province of Heredia and it is by far the largest, comprising almost three quarters of the entire province. Sarapiquí has a population of 55,000 and five districts: Puerto Viejo, La Virgen, Horquetas, Llanuras del Gaspar and Cureña. Sarapiquí is largely agricultural with a network of important waterways such as El Angel waterfall, La Paz Waterfall, El Congo lagoon, and the Sarapiquí River.

Water dog or Nutria, Sarapiquí River A PLACE TO EXPLORE AND LEARN

Sarapiquí is also a gateway to many outstanding locations such as the Poás Volcano, along the ranges to the southwest, and Tortuguero National Park, further to the east on the Caribbean coast. Selva Verde provides an extensive collection of activities from the lodge. Sarapiquí offers 6 of the 8 tourism categories established by the Costa Rican Tourist Board: traditional tours, natural history tours, adventure activities, sport fishing, elder tours, and bird watching tours. Its varied landscapes contain tremendous biodiversity; with 3000 species of plants, 398 species of birds, 450 species of ants, and 69 species of mammals, among many others.

Selva Verde Activities - On Site

AT SELVA VERDE LODGE and Rainforest reserve

Our lodge is a wonderful place for discovering and learning about the abundant wildlife and biodiversity of the lush tropical rainforest. Choose from a variety of activities on our premises. 

TO RESERVE ACTIVITIES, PLEASE READ BELOW.

Announcing Selva Verde's New Website

New photos, recent news, travel packages and more - all mobile friendly!

If you're noticing a different look to our website, you're not imagining it. We've just launched a new website design with information to make it easier for our guests. We've chosen colors to mirror our natural surroundings and our gallery and accommodations sections provide a more vivid picture of the lodging experience. Plus, you can view the website easily from any mobile device. While we loved our old website, it was time to make a change - we hope you will like it! Feel free to provide any feedback as we want to continually improve the visitor experience, not just at the lodge. 

New Photo Gallery

 you're invited to surf our website

Check our the new photo gallery, review our FAQs, or read our blog posts. In addition to our posts on Facebook and other social media, we have a new blog for past and upcoming news. 

View new room categories

Check our the new photos of the accommodations which now features six different room categories: Pioneer Rooms (new), Sarapiquí Rooms, Bungalows, Casona Rainforest Suite, Chilamate Rooms and the Chilamate Apartment.

new website features

• Streamlined information on programs, activities and accommodations
• Mobile friendly for viewing on any device, phone or tablet
• Larger photo galleries for accommodations and new photo gallery section
• Blog posts with information on recent activities and upcoming events
• Detailed information about the area, the learning opportunities, and maps
• Section for Conference and Event organizers
• More to come!

Evening Lecture Series

SELVA VERDE LODGE, COSTA RICA

When he was 9 years old, Iván Castillo Gomez was bitten by a snake, the venomous “fer-the-lance”(terciopelo). Iván’s experience led him to study the nature around him and now, as Selva Verde’s head naturalist guide, he has created a series of interesting talks for all visitors – including snakes, frogs, migratory birds, and leaf-cutter ants. These can be requested at any time and are perfect for small groups.

“Frogs of Selva Verde”
In the case of amphibians, the country has about 192 species, being the anura order (frogs and toads) the most diverse, totaling 141 species. In this lecture we talk about how toads but especially frogs take advantage of all these particular conditions that Selva Verde provides to develop their life cycles, also based on their natural history we will describe the most representative species and families of our reserve and we will discuss about the role that Selva Verde plays through ecotourism in the conservation of species in the face of current threats such as global warming and habitat loss.

“Bird Migration - A Surviving History over the Costa Rican Skies”
Costa Rica is a biological bridge that joins the north and south of the American continent, reason why is favored by a great exchange of species between both Americas. An example of this is the case of the large number of birds that escape from the cold winter of their breeding grounds and venture in search of warmth and tropical food, that is how a number birds of North America establish their "winter homes" in this the Country, but a great majority continue their pilgrimage to specific places of South America. Where there are also some species that go northwards, with the purpose of nesting in conditions particularly suitable, that they will not find in the area of origin. Selva Verde’s rainforest reserve has a privileged position within the country, being on one of the main migratory routes of the continent; this can be easily noticed at the beginning of autumn with the ¨clouds¨ of raptors, as well as wrens, Orioles, tanagers and others that forage in the surroundings while they are heading south. So we have decided to make a general description of bird migration facts in order to understand in simple way, this fascinating phenomenon analyzing its migration strategy as well some challenges that could face during the journey.

“Leaf Cutter Ants”
This lecture was inspired because of the way this ants live and my curiosity went further, the result was wonderful to study this amazing insects. They are little that much that sometimes we step on they when we walk on the trails, but if we stop and observe this ants working very hard, cutting leaf fragments and transporting them to their nest, the different size of ants, their nest and some other details. The leaf cutter ant has developed a way to live together with a fungus, planting it and feeding on it. This symbiosis relationship is been taking place on earth since long time ago, if we stop and think about it, it is like humans way to produce food with crops. They produce their food thanks to their capacity to compost all the different plant material that becomes in a fungus garden like a “farmer”. The lecture introduces the guests in the crazy world of the leaf cutter ants, so talking about them in many aspects like when they reproduce, how they live and some more.

“Snakes and Production of Anti-venom in Costa Rica”
This lecture is about snakes in Costa Rica and at Selva Verde, my country is very rich in reptiles such as iguanas, caimans, turtle but most of them are snakes, close to 60% of the total reptiles in Costa Rica are snakes and most of these beautiful snakes are nom-venomous but that low percent is consider as deathly snakes because if you get bitten by one of these dangerous snakes, you will survive getting the anti-venom at the hospital to stop it. The lecture has the intention to educate people especially that in Costa Rica snakes could be so well camouflage, so when you do a hike in the forest is better to use hiking shoes or robber boots, a flashlight at night, all of these in order to avoid an accident with a snake. We also talk about how Costa Rica is a pioneer country in the antivenom production around the world. In the Clodomiro Picado institute thousands of anti-venom are produce every year and some of those bottles go to other countries like places in Africa to treat “mamba” bites.

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