Rainforest books and Wildlife Field Guides are a must if you are willing to enjoy Costa Rica’s nature.
They will enlighten you and help you enjoy life around your lodge or your walking trail.
There are many, some of the rainforest books and wildlife field guides are excellent, but some are a mere commercial effort to get to the massive tourism arriving on our coasts and airport. My advice as a nature tour guide (And regarding the Costa Rica wildlife field guides) is to get the ones with drawings instead of pictures and to get some of the plastic ones to take on the trails.
And yes, trust me on this: you may find some for your tablet and phone. However, remember it is a rainforest. It rains. Sometimes it pours. Get the paperback, get a transparent plastic bag and enjoy identifying what you see.
You may also find these page-size laminated wildlife field guides. They only have the images and names of the animals, flowers, or butterflies, and no natural history. If you are the type of person that likes to know about natural history to get the most out of it, also buy the guides and let these work in the field.
Some of the best Costa Rica wildlife field guides are:
And the most classic rainforest book for serious bird watchers:
Laminated wildlife field guides:
Laminated wildlife field guides are ideal for the trails! They are light, water resistant, and super easy to use while walking. However, if you want to know more about the natural history of what you see, get the book and the laminated guides. Yes, both.
You can find them on Amazon, at the airport, and you can find them all over Costa Rica (Probably cheaper).
My advice on this is to get the general wildlife and, as an option, some for specific things you may be interested in:
Costa Rica Wildlife Guide (Laminated Foldout Pocket Field Guide) (English and Spanish Edition) Pamphlet – 2010 by Rainforest Publications (Author), Mark Wainwright (Illustrator), Robert Dean (Illustrator), Jannah Brown (Illustrator), Enrique Leal (Illustrator)
Laminated Costa Rica wildlife field guides:
Costa Rica Butterflies Wildlife Guide (Laminated Foldout Pocket Field Guide) (English and Spanish Edition) Pamphlet – January 1, 2014, by Rainforest Publications (Author), Jannah Brown (Illustrator)
On the rainforest books
A bunch of rainforests is written in such dynamic ways that you will not want to put them down.
The rainforest books are meant for readers to enjoy the surrounding nature, but beyond that, rainforest books are a way to awe. The beauty of the rainforest, its perfect relations, and how the organized system works will touch you forever.
As a naturalist, I thoughtfully thank the authors of these books for the time they spent researching; they opened my eyes to the magnificence of tropical nature. And I live here. I am supposed to know it… No. Read as many rainforest books as possible before your trip and while you are here. They will make your Costa Rica Vacation an unforgettable experience!
The list is long, but my favorite rainforest books are:
A Neotropical Companion by John Kricher
Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America by Adrian Forsyth
Life Above the Jungle Floor by Perry, Donald
Life Above the Jungle Floor is funny, entertaining, and quite addictive. It is the story of how rainforest ziplining tours started in Costa Rica first and then in the World.
