Customer Reviews

Nature of the Rainforest: Costa Rica and Beyond

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book contains a lot of excellent pictures. Each chapter explores different topic. My favorite chapters:

"Frogs." Describes a great diversity of rain forest frogs and their strategies for surviving.
"The essence of snake." Why the snakes are the way they are.
"Fruit of reason." Purpose, variety and importance of tropical fruits.
"The hidden." Camouflage of tropical animals. The chapter contains probably the most impressive photographs of the whole book. It is unbelievable how evolution molded animals in their environment.
"The virtues of sloth." Who has not heard about a sloth? It turns out I knew very little about this animal.
"Beetlejuice." Chemical defenses used by tropical animals. The most innocently-looking animals can be armed to teeth (even if they have don't have any :-) ).

Through the whole book one feels the author's pain for rain forest destruction, disappearance of tropical species, many of which are not even discovered yet. The book made me want to visit tropical forests of Costa Rica.

I have been to Costa Rica twice in the last couple years to see the rain forest and have found this book to be an invaluable resource. The author has written detailed chapters that really give wonderful details ...easy to read and enough info to learn quite a lot, no matter how much you think you already know. And the pictures on glossy paper are just a treat to see ... When you first see the book, you'll likely just flip through the pages and wonder at the majesty of rain forest life ...This is highly recommended for anybody going to Costa Rica!

I purchased this book as a gift for a friend who had recently been to Costa Rica on an 'eco-tourism' trip. The feedback ( from my friend) about the book was absolutely glowing! She raved about it! If you're looking for a good gift for someone who has been to Costa Rica, give this book serious consideration.

This book is extremely well written and the photographs are outstanding as well. It is the quality of the writing and the quality of the information provided that sets this book apart. It gets into the ecology of the rainforest and the interrelationships of the plants and animals and the impact of human activities in a way I have found in no other book of its kind.

Very accessible for anyone as the writer clearly wants to inform rather than impress the reader. I can only hope for more books from these people that cover additional species. It covers areas of Costa Rica and Peru but the information is applicable to other rainforest environments in Central and South America.

I purchased and read the book after returning from my first trip to Costa Rica and only wish I had done so before the trip so I might have been a more perceptive traveler. If you have an interest in the wildlife of Costa Rica this is a must have book.

If you are going to travel to the tropical rainforests in Mexico, Central America, or Amazonia-you will benefit from reading the text. Forsyth has fashioned a great blend of scientific fact and personal anecdote. The photographs are also stunning. This is not a book you will pack along on your trek-too large. But it will prepare you for looking, understanding, and crying for what the world is losing in the depredations being made to these neotropical rainforests.

I did not expect this book this book to be great and it isn't. It is Wonderful. Beyond my expectations. It is a beautifully made photo book on high gloss paper with detailed writing about the rainforest.