Costa Rica
Tour and Panama Cruise with CruiseWest
Rain Forest Aerial Tram - Text
and Photos by Jack
Yeazel
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New Cen Rut GPS track location map.
"DEEP- CANyon" is where GPS signals
Couldn't be received on a fairly treacherous
road across the Continental Divide.
General:
The tram cable rollers are spaced at two levels on the towers which
were installed from helicopters so as not to disturb the plants around
them. On the ride out, the tram travels near the forest floor for
a good view of the plants and (sometimes) animals. The light on the
forest floor is so dim, it's hard to take photographs. The trip back
is at a much higher level where we mostly traveled along the forest canopy.
At the end of the tram ride, we had a nice lunch and then took a hike through
part of the rain forest for some interesting sights.
Click on the following
thumbnails for larger views
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Tram entrance
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Tram car "in flight".
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Our guide sits in the "back seat".
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Plants along the forest floor.
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A narrow cut for the tram travel
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Another car follows.
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On the way back, we are looking at
the top of the forest canopy.
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In the third frame is an example of a tree
plant that drops its roots down for 100 feet or more.
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A buffet lunch at the end of the tram ride.
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The Greens and the Yeazels.
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The Guehlers
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Interesting red flower as we walk through
the rain forest.
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Leaf-cutter ants traveling along the forest
floor to their ant hill.
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Leaf-cutter ant hill -about 5 feet tall!
The ants have to gather about 25 pounds of leafs a day to make a fungus
that they can eat. See: http://www.blueboard.com/leafcutters/what.htm
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This plant mimics a predator that likes
to eat a bug that likes to eat the plant!
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The incredible Walking Tree which can move
up to 3cm a year to find more sunlight in the rain forest by adding and
subtracting roots.
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Tram car making a "U-turn" at the lower
end.