-"Menghayati!"

has been made possible by...

The Safina Center -- Making the case for life on Earth.

And Avalon Nature Preserve -- Connecting communities to nature since 2002.

The Peter H. Warny Conservation Fund -- Celebrating the life of Peter H. Warny through supporting this program and conservation projects worldwide.

Additional support comes from... Utalii Peer To Peer Tourism -- Providing personalized tour experiences to tourists worldwide.

The Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments and Centre ValBio -- Saving wildlife and habitats through research, community, and conservation.

EFG-Renascence Productions -- A unique, next-generation studio that broadens our mind by connecting us through films.

-Menghayati!

-Are you ready to follow your dreams, have fun, meet amazing animals, amazing people, and help our planet?

If that sounds like something you want to do, then we're right here in Manzanillo, Costa Rica.

Let's go!

♪ It's time to step outside -♪ It's time to follow your dreams ♪ ♪ It's time to step into nature and see things you never seen ♪ ♪ A quest to love our planet ♪ Like snakes, it's time to uncurl ♪ ♪ The bees and frogs are in danger ♪ ♪ Let's go around the world -♪ Let's go -In our previous episode, we were in Tarcoles, Costa Rica, to discover the amazing wildlife that lives there and our secret creature.

In today's episode, we're going to meet our secret creature that was nearly extinct in the wild.

But thanks to the determination of some amazing people, this creature is now thriving in the wild.

And in just a few moments, we're going to get a chance to meet it.

So if you're ready, let's go.

-"Menghayati!"

-Welcome to "Menghayati!"

where you get to discover creatures and cultures from around the world.

And remember, the word "menghayati" means to have a deep, loving connection to all living things.

Now, we're here today for our second season in Costa Rica!

And it's so awesome.

I'm so excited.

And I want to just say big thanks to my friend Janine for bringing me on my first trip to Costa Rica many years ago in 2006.

In today's episode, we're right here in Manzanillo, Costa Rica, to discover an amazing creature.

And this creature is really, really awesome.

However, before we get a chance to meet it, we're going to learn a bit more about Manzanillo and how you get here.

So if you're ready, let's go.

♪♪ Manzanillo is a small community located in the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.

It has amazing wildlife and one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

The word "manzanillo" actually means small apple.

The word "manzana" means apple, and "illo" means something small.

Manzanillo is located along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica in the province of Limón and the canton of Talamanca.

If you walk through the town, at the end of it, you will see some spectacular forest and views of the sea.

-Wow!

-You'll also be greeted by guides at the entrance of the Gandoca Wildlife Refuge.

-Pura vida!

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica.

♪♪ -There are many animals to see here... and guides that can bring you into the forest to go see them.

And that was our guide Abel.

Willie here was one of the first guides to bring people into the forest and out on the sea, and he's even seen our secret creature.

The earliest settlers to Manzanillo were of Afro-Caribbean descent and mostly came from Jamaica and the surrounding Caribbean islands.

What's so cool is that just beyond Manzanillo is the indigenous reserve for the Bribri people, who actually traded chocolate with the local people from Manzanillo.

♪♪ Today this beautiful diversity of people is still here, along with many people from around the world and thousands of tourists that visit every year and who will likely hear the most famous phrase in Costa Rica.

-Pura vida!

-Pura vida.

Have a nice day today.

-Pura vida.

[ Laughs ] -Pura vida, Costa Rica.

-Pura vida!

Now that we got to learn a little bit about Manzanillo, it's almost time to see our secret creature.

-"Menghayati!"

♪♪ -Everybody, now it's time to guess our secret creature.

Is it "A," the black vulture, "B," the howler monkey, "C," the great green macaw, or "D," the green iguana?

Pura vida!

So big thanks to all our guides and friends that helped us find so many animals.

And now we're going to see some out in the wild.

The howler monkey is one of the loudest monkeys in Costa Rica.

[ Howler monkeys calling ] Their calls can be heard as early as 4:00 a.m.

These monkeys are super agile and have a prehensile tail to help them hold on as they swing among the trees.

Their calls also alert other animals if there's any danger and to define their territory.

Pretty cool.

The black vulture is one of many species of vultures that can be found throughout Costa Rica.

Like all vultures, this species is super important because they actually help keep the environment nice and clean.

They have a small head and sharp beaks.

This helps them when they're eating dead animals, and their stomachs help even more because of the high acidic content of their stomachs at 1%.

The great green macaw is the largest parrot in Costa Rica and the second largest in the world.

Its majestic green and blue plumage makes it possible for them to camouflage themselves among the trees when they're resting and eating.

[ Macaw squawks ] Their beaks are incredibly strong and apply hundreds of pounds of pressure so they can easily crack open the seeds of these almond trees with their powerful beaks.

The green iguana is an amazing creature.

It can climb trees with ease by using its claws and toes, called tendrils.

They are herbivores and love to eat all sorts of plants and fruits.

They also have a very long tail that protects them from predators if they get too close.

If that doesn't work, the iguana can actually lose its tail by tail automatism and regenerate it, and it grows all the way back.

-That's pretty awesome.

-Which animal do you think it is?

[ Rustling ] ♪♪ And the secret creature is the great green macaw.

This bird is truly awesome.

It exhibits strength, smarts, and it's just beautiful.

It is the second largest parrot on our planet.

Its vocal cords make it possible for it to communicate to other creatures and to each other as they celebrate life by eating and flying around.

It uses its powerful beak to exert more than 200 pounds of pressure to crack open seeds of the great mountain almond tree.

They also spread these seeds in their poop as they fly through the forest.

Its zygodactylous feet make it possible for it to hold its food and grip onto branches even while upside down.

Their bright blue, red, and green plumage allows them to camouflage among the trees.

They can live over 50 years and, like all macaws, pair for life.

This bird is truly magnificent.

And that's why we chose it as our amazing secret creature.

♪♪ And now it's time to meet some wild macaws in Manzanillo.

-"Menghayati!"

♪♪ -One day I visited my friend's wildlife lodge... ...and met a nice lady named Emily.

At the same time, my friend Fernando gave me a pamphlet and said I should visit this place that has really cool parrots called Ara Manzanillo.

That's so cool!

I jumped up and jumped on the bus... ♪♪ ...met friends from Ara Manzanillo... walked up the hill... and five minutes later...

I saw my first wild great green macaw.

♪♪ This was the first time I had ever seen great green macaws in the wild, and it was absolutely amazing.

[ Macaws squawking ] Ara Manzanillo is a rainforest reserve for the great green macaw and all wildlife.

Since they started, they've reintroduced more than 100 great green macaws back to the wild.

These two awesome people teamed up with the local community of nature lovers and a global community of volunteers to help create Ara Manzanillo.

Thanks to these animal lovers, these birds are now reproducing in the wild and along the Costa Rican Caribbean coast.

In a few moments, we're going to meet the staff and more parrots and learn how they helped expand the species beyond the brink of extinction.

[ Macaws squawking ] -"Menghayati!"

-Now it's time for a "Creature Craft."

-Ooh, that's pretty cool.

-What's cool?

What are you watching, Grey?

-Learning about macaw parrots with Erik.

-He knows what he's talking about.

-Yeah.

-Hey, I have a fun project that we can do.

Should we share it with everybody?

-Yeah.

-Alright, I'll make a worksheet so everyone at home can follow along.

But let's go get our crayons.

Alright, Grey, we're gonna need the worksheet that I made for everybody and some crayons.

Alright, let me see your hands.

What we're gonna do is, in between these two shapes here, we're going to trace your fingertips so that we can make his feathers.

Let me see.

Ooh, I'm liking him already.

Let's do it in between these.

I love it.

One, two.

Only three fingers fit here.

What about the square?

Good.

Does it tickle?

Ooh, and now we got these boomerang shapes back here.

That's how you want it to be?

Alright, here are your tail feathers.

Let's see.

[ Gasps ] I like him already.

Oh, don't forget his feet.

Okay, so to make his feet, you can make little arrows pointing up to his legs.

And then you can connect them to make his toes.

Once he's all outlined, then just have at it and start having fun adding color as you like.

Remember, you're the artist.

Wow, Grey.

He came out really adorable.

Look at your little fingerprints.

-Yeah.

-Alright.

Well, we hope everybody enjoyed making your work of art today.

And remember, never stop being creative.

Alright, let's see what else Erik has for us to learn.

-Big thanks to the Art Nanny for creating that great macaw artwork.

And now we're going to meet another artist from Costa Rica that makes some really cool artwork of their own.

Let's go.

♪♪ Alright, you guys.

So check it out.

So we're here with Damian now at his amazing painting right here, this amazing mural that he created.

-Wow.

That's me.

Wow.

That's me.

-So, Damian, can you tell everybody about this painting?

-Yeah, I -- We did with my wife, and it's a mix of the macaw, the toucan, and the flower of life.

-Sí.

-And we use it to use some patterns of flower and leaves.

-Yeah.

-And always playing with the color, with the different colors and have a toucan and macaw really characteristic here.

-Uh-huh.

Yeah.

-Really nice.

Three days doing -- doing this.

-Three days, and just like the other one, you say the animals inspire you to keep doing it, right?

-Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-[ Laughs ] Stay tuned.

In just a few moments, we're going to meet baby parrots in Ara Manzanillo and our specialist.

-"Menghayati!"

-Alright, everybody, now it's time for a brief intermission.

In today's intermission, I want to share with you all about believing in yourself.

Now, I'm right here at Ara Manzanillo with this big cage right here, which is where we're going to see some really cool parrots in just a little bit.

But the thing of it is, is that if Enrique and Emily, who actually helped start this project, didn't believe in themselves, there would be no way that these parrots would be alive today.

And who knows?

They might even be extinct by now.

However, because they believed in themselves, guess what.

There are so many parrots now, and we're gonna learn lots more about them right now during our "Creature Adventure."

Let's go!

During my first trip to Ara Manzanillo, we had a chance to meet the staff and volunteers there and get a lesson on how they began their project with just 45 parrots.

Now the population has increased to more than 100 birds.

They did this with a lot of hard work that included climbing 150-foot-tall trees to install artificial nests and to check the health of existing nests and chicks to be sure every chick survives.

We even got a chance to see the release of three macaws that were once kept as pets.

This was made possible after nearly one year of being in a special rainforest rehabilitation cage.

Now they're flying free.

And as the day moved forward, we even got another super-duper surprise.

-"Menghayati!"

-Alright.

-Alright, you guys.

So I'm with Duaro right now.

Duaro's getting ready to go up the tree to go check the nest.

So right now they're getting ready to prepare their nest for the nesting season so they can have their babies.

And this is a huge reason why this project is so successful, because of the nest that they built right now.

And Duaro's going to go check it right now.

So let's go.

This is Duaro.

He's an expert tree climber, bird expert, and trains the staff at Ara Manzanillo to make sure they can safely climb trees and interact with the birds.

That's Lilli.

She learned to climb trees at Ara Manzanillo with Duaro.

She's climbing that tree to get prepared to help rescue one of the macaw's chicks.

Time for another message.

As you can see, the staff at Ara Manzanillo are climbing trees, but remember to never, ever climb trees alone and always do it with an expert.

-Okay, I'm working here as a volunteer, and right now I'm going to go climbing up this tree there because that's one of our nesting boxes with two chicks inside.

But one of them is not being fed by their parents.

-Sometimes when there's more than one chick in the nest, they don't all get fed well.

-I'm hungry.

-I'm hungry.

-I'm hungry.

-So the staff at Ara Manzanillo climb trees daily to ensure that every chick is fed.

And there is the mom and the little chicks.

Lilli has to be extra careful and brings a stick to ensure that the mom's beak stays occupied during that time.

And remember, the macaw's beak can apply over 300 pounds of pressure.

♪♪ After climbing that big tall tree, Lilli transported the baby bird in a special canvas bag to ensure that the bird is safe and passed it on to the next volunteer.

-Hello, everybody.

I'm Pascal.

I also work here as a volunteer.

I do a lot of different things.

I feed the birds on a daily basis here.

-Wow, that looks good.

-Hey, you guys, quick special message.

I just want to remind you that this cute little chick is not a pet bird.

This bird is a bird that's being cared for by the staff of Ara Manzanillo because they want to ensure that every single bird survives because these birds are really endangered.

There's only 1,500 left in the wild, approximately.

And so they want to make sure they bring those numbers right up so these birds can thrive in the wild.

So remember, they're not a pet.

And now it's time to get back to the chick.

-So here's the little chick Lilli just brought down from the nest.

And as you can see, the crop isn't really full.

So there are some little pieces inside of the crop, but the parents have not really fed it well.

So normally the crop must be much fuller.

-The crop is part of the bird's digestive system that temporarily holds food just before it enters its stomach.

After Pascal examined the bird's crop, he prepared a nice, warm formula for the little bird to eat.

Shortly after, he began to feed it and filled up its crop.

After another feeding and a short rest, it was time for the little bird to go back to its nest.

That's Mathieu, and he's about to bring the little bird back to its parents and its siblings.

That's Marcelo.

He's there to ensure that Mathieu and the little bird have a safe climb.

Remember, it's always important to work together as a team.

Five minutes later, that little baby macaw was back safe with its family.

-We're happy.

-We're happy.

-We're happy.

-"Menghayati!"

-Hola, Erik.

Yo soy Jaden.

Mi pregunta es, ¿por qué las lapas tienen el pico de muchos colores?

-Great question, Jaden.

The macaws have bright colors because these parrots communicate by using their vision.

They can see each other when they're flying through the forest or flying through the trees.

They can also use their green color to camouflage in case there's predators.

Hey, everybody, now it's time for a great green macaw "Creature Quiz."

And the first question is... Is it...

If you guessed "D," greater than 300 pounds, then you're absolutely right.

If you remember correctly, the great green macaw and all parrots need their beaks to break seeds open, and the great green macaw's favorite food is the great mountain almond tree seed.

Question number two... Is it...

If you guessed "D," 45 parrots, you're absolutely right.

The Ara Manzanillo project started with 45 parrots after our founders learned that there was only one parrot flying around with vultures, and then they created that, and many, many more parrots came from those first 45.

Question number three... Is it...

If you guessed "C," the mountain almond tree, you're absolutely right.

The great green macaws use the mountain almond tree nest cavity to nest, have their babies, and lay their eggs.

And without that almond tree, these birds would go extinct.

So remember, the Ara Manzanillo project created artificial nests for them to nest in and they've been using them the last 15 years.

Question number four... Is it...

If you guessed "D," more than 50 years, then you're absolutely right.

If you remember correctly, the great green macaw and all macaws live more than 50 years and they pair for life.

What an amazing adventure!

We had an opportunity to meet the friends from the Ara Manzanillo project, meet friends in Manzanillo, and meet the great green macaw.

And now it's time to meet the specialist.

Today's specialists are Emily and Enrique, the founders of Ara Manzanillo.

They are just amazing people that really believe in themselves.

And one of the most important things you can do in life is to just believe in yourself.

If you believe in yourself, everything works out.

And that's what they did.

And that's the reason why these macaws are actually thriving along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

So without further ado, we're going to meet Emily and Enrique and have a word from the staff and volunteers at Ara Manzanillo.

-So, hi, everybody.

I'm Emily.

And Enrique and I are a couple, and we started this project together.

And at the beginning, I thought, "Oh, my, I don't know if I really want to get involved with such a major endeavor that will go on for years and years," because these birds live as long as people live.

So imagine that.

And he finally convinced me that it was very cool.

So I said, "Okay.

We'll do it."

-And, boy, did they do it -- from just an idea to more than 100 wild macaws, local staff, and international volunteers.

-Hello, everybody.

My name is Duaro.

I am manager of the site here at the Ara project.

Um, they have different work.

One is to take care of the chicks and the nesting program, so build the nests, set the nests in the tree, training the volunteer, and monitoring all the staff, looking every day in the nest to see the parents is giving food to the chick.

-We're happy.

-We're happy.

-As you can see, the staff at Ara Manzanillo work together as a team to ensure the macaws have a bright future.

And they have one last message just for you.

-Pura vida!

-Pura vida.

-Pura vida.

-Awesome!

Thanks for coming, Erik.

-Thanks for coming.

-Yo!

-That was so epic.

That was the perfect timing, bro.

-Thank you all for watching.

And remember to always follow your dreams, do what you love, always believe in yourself, and enjoy nature.

Bye for now.

♪♪ ♪ It's time to step outside ♪ It's time to follow your dreams ♪ ♪ It's time to step into nature and see things you never seen ♪ ♪ A quest to love our planet ♪ Like snakes, it's time to uncurl ♪ ♪ The bees and frogs are in danger ♪ ♪ Let's go around the world -♪ Let's go -Pura vida!

♪♪ [ Bird screeches ]