Resorts across three countries and three ecosystems, each with wildlife found nowhere else on Earth.
Bird species in Costa Rica alone. Three toucan species live in the canopy around Nayara's Arenal resorts.
Native trees planted at Nayara Tented Camp, creating a corridor that brought sloths and toucans back to the land.
In short: Nayara operates inside three of the most biologically significant ecosystems on Earth: the Arenal rainforest in Costa Rica, the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Panama, and the Atacama Desert and Rapa Nui in Chile. This series explores the wildlife that lives alongside our guests, the conservation work that brought them back, and why their presence is the truest measure of whether we are doing this right.
We did not build resorts and then decorate them with nature. We chose land that was already alive, or land that could be brought back to life, and then built around what was already there. The sloths that returned to Nayara Tented Camp after we planted 40,000 trees did not come because we invited them. They came because the cecropia leaves they eat were growing again. The toucans that perch outside the villas at Nayara Springs are not trained or fed. They are permanent residents of a canopy that was here before us and will outlast us.
That is the thread connecting this series. In Arenal, it is the story of reforestation and the birds that followed the trees back. In Bocas del Toro, it is the story of a reef, a mangrove, and a rainforest that function as one system, where the health of each depends on the others. In the Atacama and Rapa Nui, it is the story of life at the extreme edge of what is possible, where flamingos breed in salt lagoons that mining threatens to drain, and a community 3,500 kilometers from any continent voted to protect 720,000 square kilometers of their ocean.
These are not marketing stories. They are ecological ones. The animals in this series are not amenities. Their presence, or absence, is a verdict on the land and the people who manage it.
The land beneath Nayara Tented Camp was cleared cattle pasture when we acquired it. Open, exposed, functionally empty. No canopy, no food web, no connection to the surrounding rainforest. We planted 40,000 native trees. Cecropia became foundational, colonizing disturbed land rapidly and producing the leaves that sloths depend on.
As the canopy closed, structure returned. Shade stabilized the understory. Insects reappeared. Movement corridors formed overhead. And the sloths came back on their own. Two species now live here year-round: the brown-throated three-toed sloth and Hoffmann's two-toed sloth. They are monitored by resident naturalists tracking movement, condition, and habitat use.
The sloth is not a symbol. It is a living measure of whether the forest is functioning. When a sloth moves into a tree you planted fifteen years ago, that is not a photo opportunity. That is a fifteen-year experiment returning its first result.
Three-toed sloths are surprisingly strong swimmers, crossing rivers when canopy bridges are unavailable. This individual was photographed near Nayara's Arenal properties.
Three toucan species live in the canopy around Nayara's Arenal resorts year-round. The keel-billed toucan, with its rainbow-colored bill, is the most photographed. The chestnut-mandibled toucan, the largest of the three, moves in flocks of six to twelve through the upper canopy. And the collared aracari, smallest and most social, nests in tree cavities within sight of the villas.
Unlike many tropical birds, toucans do not migrate. They are permanent residents, which means their presence is a year-round indicator of forest health. When the canopy provides enough fruit, enough nesting cavities, and enough connectivity between forest patches, toucans stay. When it does not, they disappear.
Our full birdwatching field guide covers all three species in detail, including where to find them, when to look, and what their presence means for the ecosystem. Read the full toucan guide →
Three primate species move through the canopy around Nayara's Arenal resorts. Mantled howler monkeys announce dawn and dusk from the treetops, their calls carrying over a kilometer through the valley. White-faced capuchins travel in troops of fifteen to twenty, foraging through the mid-canopy with a social intelligence that makes them among the most studied primates in the Neotropics. And spider monkeys, the acrobats, swing through the upper canopy using prehensile tails as a fifth limb.
All three species depend on forest connectivity. A gap of even fifty meters between canopy patches can isolate a troop, cutting off access to food, mates, and genetic diversity. Our wildlife corridors, planted and maintained by the conservation team, reconnect fragmented habitat across the Arenal region. These living bridges allow monkeys, sloths, kinkajous, and olingos to move safely between forest patches that were once separated by pasture.
After dark, the rainforest belongs to the frogs. Dozens of species emerge from leaf litter, bromeliads, and stream banks, each with a call distinct enough to identify by ear alone. The red-eyed tree frog, Costa Rica's most iconic amphibian, clings to the undersides of leaves during the day and becomes active only after nightfall. The strawberry poison dart frog, no larger than a thumbnail, carries its tadpoles on its back to individual bromeliad pools high in the canopy.
Amphibians are the most sensitive indicators of ecosystem health. Their permeable skin absorbs everything in their environment: water quality, air quality, chemical contamination, temperature shifts. When frog populations decline, it is the earliest warning that something in the system has changed. When they thrive, it means the water is clean, the humidity is stable, and the food web is intact.
Our guided night walks follow the volcanic trails where dozens of rare species emerge after dark. Their calls create a symphony that can only be heard after nightfall, a sound that tells you more about the health of this forest than any certification ever could.
White-nosed coatis are the most visible mammals at Nayara's Arenal resorts. Related to raccoons but far more social, they travel in bands of ten to thirty, foraging along the ground and in the lower canopy with their long, flexible snouts. You will see them on the pathways between villas, along the bridges, and around the restaurant terraces, particularly in the early morning and late afternoon.
Their comfort around humans is not the result of feeding or habituation. It is the result of decades of non-disturbance. Coatis are intelligent and cautious. They avoid areas where they have been harassed, chased, or fed unpredictably. Their willingness to forage openly within meters of guests is itself a behavioral indicator: it means this is a place where wildlife has learned it will not be harmed.
Males are solitary outside of mating season, larger and more cautious than the matriarchal bands. Females raise young communally, with older juveniles helping to watch for predators while the group forages. Watching a coati band move through the resort grounds is watching a functioning social system, one that has decided this place is safe enough to raise its young in the open.
Luxury hospitality has a habit of treating wildlife as a feature to be listed alongside thread counts and spa menus. We see it differently. The animals that live on and around our properties are not there for the guests. They are there because the ecosystem is functioning. Their presence is the result of specific decisions: which trees to plant, which reefs to leave untouched, which shorelines to keep dark at night, which water sources to never draw from.
When a sloth moves into a tree you planted fifteen years ago, that is not a photo opportunity. That is a fifteen-year experiment returning its first result. When flamingos continue to breed in a lagoon near your property, that means the water chemistry has not been compromised. When a reef supports the same diversity it held a decade ago, that means the runoff from your construction did not kill it.
This series documents those results. Not as marketing, but as accountability. The animals are the auditors, and they do not grade on a curve.
"The animals are the auditors, and they do not grade on a curve."
— Nayara Resorts
At Nayara's three Arenal resorts (Gardens, Springs, and Tented Camp), guests regularly encounter three-toed sloths, keel-billed toucans, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, coatis, red-eyed tree frogs, and more than 900 bird species. The resorts sit within a reforested corridor that reconnects fragmented rainforest habitat.
Can I see sea turtles at Nayara Bocas del Toro?+Yes. The beaches of the Bocas del Toro archipelago are nesting grounds for critically endangered leatherback sea turtles. Nesting season runs from March to July. Guided nighttime excursions observe nesting females and hatchlings under strict minimal-disturbance protocols.
What animals live in the Atacama Desert?+Despite being the driest nonpolar desert on Earth, the Atacama supports three flamingo species (Andean, Chilean, and James's), vicuñas, guanacos, culpeo foxes, viscachas, and numerous reptile and bird species adapted to extreme aridity. Wildlife concentrates around high-altitude salt lagoons fed by snowmelt and geothermal springs.
How many Nayara Resorts are there and where?+Nayara operates six resorts across three countries: Nayara Gardens, Nayara Springs, and Nayara Tented Camp in the Arenal region of Costa Rica; Nayara Bocas del Toro on a private island in Panama; Nayara Alto Atacama in the Atacama Desert of Chile; and Nayara Hangaroa on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile.
Does Nayara do conservation work?+Yes. Nayara Tented Camp planted more than 40,000 native trees on former cattle pasture, creating a habitat corridor that brought sloths and toucans back to the land. All Arenal properties are Green Globe certified. In Bocas del Toro, the resort operates within strict protocols to protect reef, mangrove, and nesting beach ecosystems. In Chile, excursions follow minimal-disturbance guidelines developed with local conservation authorities.
What is the Rapa Nui Marine Protected Area?+In 2018, the Rapa Nui community voted to establish a 720,000 square kilometer marine protected area around Easter Island, one of the largest in the world. It shields at least 142 endemic marine species, including the ura lobster found nowhere else on Earth. The MPA was community-led and is co-managed by the Rapa Nui people and Chile's national fisheries service.
When is the best time to see wildlife at Nayara?+In Costa Rica, wildlife is present year-round. Toucans and sloths are permanent residents, most active at dawn and dusk. The green season (May to November) brings more bird activity and lush vegetation. In Bocas del Toro, sea turtle nesting peaks March through July. In the Atacama, flamingos are present year-round at the salt lagoons, with breeding activity concentrated in the austral summer (November to February).
1. Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Neotropical Bird Research
2. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — iucnredlist.org
3. BirdLife International — Andean Flamingo Factsheet
4. NASA Earth Observatory — Atacama as Mars Analog
5. SINAC Costa Rica — Arenal Conservation Area
6. Green Globe Certification — greenglobe.com
7. Rainforest Alliance — Keel-billed Toucan Species Profile
8. National Geographic — Three-toed Sloth
Come Meet the Places We Answer To
Six resorts. Three countries. One philosophy: build around what is already alive, and prove you belong by what stays.
Plan Your StayFour stories about the wildlife that lives alongside guests at Nayara.