Manuel Antonio National Park
This park is the smallest in Costa Rica’s extensive system of parks, but by far the most popular. Manuel Antonio covers an area of 683 hectares, which preserves several vital ecosystems, including an extensive tropical rain forest. The national park is home to a great variety of animals and bird species as well as spectacular forest.
We had an outstanding beginning today at this tropical paradise. Started out with an early morning wake up call (quarter to six), many of us did our workout walking on the trail that leads to Cathedral Point. We were thrilled by the welcome of a troop of White-throated Capuchin Monkeys at the very beginning of our hike. Then after breakfast we got a closed looked at a different type of monkey - the Red-backed Squirrel Monkey.
Here in the picture we see one of the stars of today’s hike. These Squirrel Monkeys feed in large groups creating a flurry of activity that is hard to miss. Their diet consists mostly of invertebrates, with some small vertebrates, fruits, and flower nectar. Groups are active from shortly before dawn to dusk, with variable breaks during the day. This species is arboreal, a highly skilled gymnast, running and jumping along branches and from tree to tree, at all levels of the forest and occasionally descending to the ground.
In the afternoon we had a nice view of Pantropical Spotted Dolphin while sailing north towards the Nicoya Peninsula.
This park is the smallest in Costa Rica’s extensive system of parks, but by far the most popular. Manuel Antonio covers an area of 683 hectares, which preserves several vital ecosystems, including an extensive tropical rain forest. The national park is home to a great variety of animals and bird species as well as spectacular forest.
We had an outstanding beginning today at this tropical paradise. Started out with an early morning wake up call (quarter to six), many of us did our workout walking on the trail that leads to Cathedral Point. We were thrilled by the welcome of a troop of White-throated Capuchin Monkeys at the very beginning of our hike. Then after breakfast we got a closed looked at a different type of monkey - the Red-backed Squirrel Monkey.
Here in the picture we see one of the stars of today’s hike. These Squirrel Monkeys feed in large groups creating a flurry of activity that is hard to miss. Their diet consists mostly of invertebrates, with some small vertebrates, fruits, and flower nectar. Groups are active from shortly before dawn to dusk, with variable breaks during the day. This species is arboreal, a highly skilled gymnast, running and jumping along branches and from tree to tree, at all levels of the forest and occasionally descending to the ground.
In the afternoon we had a nice view of Pantropical Spotted Dolphin while sailing north towards the Nicoya Peninsula.
