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Costa Rica: day 4 - Monteverde Bat Jungle

photo taken from batjungle.com

Of course we had to stop here!

The Bat Jungle (Jungla de Murciélagos) opened in 2007 as part of Paseo de Stella. It's owned and managed by bat researcher Richard LaVal. They have, I think, 77 bats [now 85] in a reversed day/night cycle bat exhibit. It's a huge enclosure, designed to look like a rain forest at night. Inside, the bat's echolocation and social calls are picked up by a bat detector that converts them into sounds that are audible to our ears. This is then played through speakers.

There are also a lot of other nifty exhibits that are both fun and educational. And, again, the guide was very knowledgeable. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of my own, so do check out the links.

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