Highlights of your Rolling
Rainforest eco-adventure
Did you know that more than 50% of the world's species live in tropical
rainforests? Or that 90% of all primates are found only in the tropical
forest regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia. Would you believe that 43
ant species were found on one tree in Peru - the same number as in the entire
British Isles! Better yet, more than 2,000 tropical plants have been identified
as having anti-cancer properties!
Thank the Capuchin monkey for the chocolate we love to eat.
Without the ingenuity of these monkeys learning how to crack the very hard shell
of the cacao pod and slurping up the sweet milky liquid inside, we might not
know about chocolate! The monkey dislikes the bitter seeds of the cacao pod
and spits them out onto the forest floor, enabling more cacao trees to grow.
Don't miss the Sapodilla tree! This tree produces sap called chicle,
which is used to make chewing gum.
Did you know that, until recently, almost all study of the rainforest
took place on the ground? The rope bridge, which you cross when you
enter the Rolling Rainforest, is similar to those created by scientists
to explore the canopy of a rainforest. Our canopy bridge is built with car springs
underneath it to simulate the "give" of an actual rope bridge.
Look for the three-toed sloth as you cross the bridge. The sloth descends
from the trees about once a week (to relieve himself)!
Find and open the three tree pods/nuts to observe the Castana
(Brazil) nut pod, the cashew nut pod, and the cacao pod (chocolate).
Notice the "soil" on the path through the Rolling Rainforest
- it's actually made from recycled tires!
Search for three different types of animal tracks in the Rolling
Rainforest - the collared peccary, the red-brocket deer, and the Brazilian
tapir.
The nose knows! Sniff the three scents detectable in the Rolling
Rainforest: chocolate, vanilla, and coffee - all derived from rainforest
plants.
You may find several live animals in the Rolling Rainforest:
a Chilean tarantula, a red-tailed boa constrictor, a sun conure parrot, hissing
cockroaches and giant millipedes.
Can you spot the two stick insects in the Rolling Rainforest?
They just might be the most difficult insects to find, because they are so well
camouflaged to their environment. During the day they remain motionless and
completely inconspicuous. It is when they hunt at night that you might be able
to see them.
The monarch butterflies you see in the Rolling Rainforest
are like those that fly from the United States and Canada to the Amazonian basin
each year. Monarchs spend their summer with us in North America, then make a
miraculous migration to Southern Mexico and Central America each fall. They
make the longest migration of any butterfly. Considering that
their life span is only nine months, this is pretty remarkable!
Feel the hieroglyphs and images on the Mayan stela. They tell
the story of how the ancient Mayas depended upon and used their natural environment
- specifically, how they used plant fibers as dyes for their textiles.
