Biodensity, Underwater Mountains, and More | A Different Perspective on Our Ecosystems

Arenal Volcano and the Costa Rican Rainforest

In short: The four landscapes Nayara calls home were each built by deep time: Costa Rica's rainforest by the rise of the Isthmus of Panama 3 million years ago and the volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire; Bocas del Toro by seas that flooded coastal peaks just 8,000 years ago; Easter Island by three undersea volcanoes that surfaced 700,000 years ago; and the Atacama, perhaps the oldest desert on Earth, by 200 million years of aridity sharpened by the rise of the Andes.

Every deep forest, rugged coast, and towering mountainside came to be somehow. Most travelers never ask how, and that is perfectly fine: nature's beauty is a treasure in itself, offering endless moments of gratitude, wonder, and appreciation. But every landscape, within the bounds of our resorts and beyond, holds a story millions of years in the making, and knowing it changes what you see.

These are the histories of the four landscapes we call home: the tectonic shifts, mass migrations, and climate evolutions that shaped them. We hope they inspire you to dig into the geological story of your own surroundings, too.

Costa Rica sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most volcanically active regions on Earth.

The story of Costa Rica as we know it began around 3 million years ago with the rise of the Isthmus of Panama. This narrow land bridge, stretching from Costa Rica's eastern border to Colombia's western edge, emerged from the ocean, connecting North and South America and separating the Atlantic and Pacific. For marine life, the separation was a pivotal evolutionary moment, sending species down distinct paths in the newly formed Caribbean and Pacific waters. On land, the Great American Biotic Interchange began, with species from both continents migrating, mingling, and diversifying across the connected landmasses.

Costa Rica, at the heart of these monumental shifts, became a cradle for new species. But the country's extraordinary biodiversity owes just as much to another factor: Arenal Volcano and the many volcanoes dotting the landscape. Sitting on the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most volcanically active regions on Earth, Costa Rica was sculpted by eruptions over millions of years into rugged, mountainous terrain that gave rise to twelve distinct microclimates and thousands of habitats, each teeming with life.

The result is a simple yet profound recipe for diversity: two continents' worth of species converging on a mosaic of volcano-built habitats, with more than 3 million years to adapt, compete, and thrive. The fruits of that ancient process are on display every time you step outside your room at Nayara Tented Camp, Nayara Springs, or Nayara Gardens.

The Bocas del Toro Archipelago

Sunken mountains: 8,000 years ago, these islands were coastal peaks on the mainland.

Bocas del Toro shares Costa Rica's ancient history, thanks to its position on the Isthmus of Panama, and it benefited from the same Great American Biotic Interchange. But the archipelago's defining moment came recently, by geological standards. Just 8,000 years ago, an instant on the timeline of tectonic shifts, rising sea levels isolated the islands from the mainland. A region of rugged coastal peaks became the half-submerged landscape you sail through today.

As always, wildlife adapted. Aquatic species claimed the new shallow-water habitats and competed for dominance. Terrestrial life, isolated on the islands, evolved into unique species or learned to thrive in the new environment, from endemic mangrove oysters to the snails and crabs that made these islands home.

Eight thousand years on, this ecosystem of sunken mountains is still evolving, shaped by the ocean, by species migrating from the mainland, and by the ongoing adaptations of its inhabitants. And exploration here has only begun; the best way to continue it is in the water at Nayara Bocas del Toro.

Every rugged coast, archipelago, towering volcano, and arid desert is the result of millions of years of Earth's history. Each has a tale as unique as the landscape itself.

Easter Island

The peak of three undersea volcanoes, alone in the Pacific, 3,500 kilometers from mainland Chile.

What do Panama and Costa Rica have in common with Easter Island, an isolated landmass over 5,000 kilometers away? All three were shaped by volcanic activity. But while Panama and Costa Rica belong to larger landmasses, Easter Island stands alone, more than 1,800 kilometers from the nearest inhabited island and over 3,500 kilometers from mainland Chile. The island is the merged peak of three massive undersea volcanoes, and it broke through the ocean's surface around 700,000 years ago, young as islands go.

Seven hundred thousand years is still ample time for nature to move in. Seeds arrived by migratory bird, wind, and current, and marine species that lived on the submerged volcanoes evolved into the island's endemic animals. Unlike the story of steady adaptation in Bocas del Toro, though, Easter Island's ecological history carries a cautionary twist: the arrival of Polynesian settlers, and later Europeans, brought plants and animals that competed fiercely with native life, while farming and animal husbandry disrupted the fragile ecosystem further.

Many species once unique to the island are believed gone forever. Yet more than 100 species of plants, animals, and fish found nowhere else on Earth still survive here. The ecosystem has been preserved, and with care, it can flourish with diversity once again.

The Atacama Desert

So otherworldly it has trained astronauts and tested rovers. Parts of it haven't seen rain in centuries.

Next to the rainforests of Arenal and Bocas del Toro or the rich waters around Easter Island, the canyons, plains, and valleys of the Atacama might seem barren at first glance. They are anything but. The Atacama is one of the most singular habitats on Earth, so otherworldly it has served as a training ground for astronauts and a testing site for unmanned rovers, and life abounds here, adapted over millennia to the extreme.

Some researchers believe the Atacama is the oldest desert on the planet, with evidence suggesting Antarctic wind currents began drying it as far back as 200 million years ago, when today's continents were still joined in the supercontinent Pangea. In those ancient times the Atacama was dry but not yet hyper-arid; its climate likely resembled modern Namibia. Then the central Andes rose, between 6 and 10 million years ago, and their rain shadow transformed a typical desert into one of the driest places on Earth. Parts of it have not seen rainfall in centuries.

The species of the pre-Andean Atacama were pushed to their limits. Some migrated to gentler country; those that stayed evolved extraordinary adaptations to endure the aridity. Today these resilient plants and animals thrive in a landscape where 99.9 percent of life on Earth would perish within a week, and you can meet them from Nayara Alto Atacama.

Fascinating Stories All Around Us

The four stories above belong to some of the most singular locations on Earth, but natural history surrounds all of us. What are the major factors, biological, geographical, and occasionally human, that created your home habitat?

We'd love to have you visit one of the Nayara destinations and come share.

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