The Osa Peninsula: Corcovado National Park and Caletas
This morning couldn’t have started any better. We were greeted in the swaying waters just outside the Corcovado National Park by a couple of humpback whales, a mother and her calf. They surfaced and moved so close to our ship we felt we could just reach out and touch them. We could only take this as an omen of a wonderful day ahead, and so it turned out to be.
We disembarked onto the warm sandy beach of San Pedrillo Station, one of the four ranger stations within the park. Corcovado National Park is one of the last remaining sizable pieces of tropical premontane wet forest on the Pacific side of Central America. We split our group into three: two of us walked parallel to the beach on a flat and long trail to be rewarded with sightings of spider monkeys, white throated capuchin monkeys, army ants, coatimundis, agoutis and even tapir tracks… A third group took a rougher trail which led to an unbelievable waterhole and waterfall right in the heart of the park. We saw giant “garlic” and fig trees, spider monkeys, basilisk or Jesus Christ lizards, bare-throated tiger herons and boat-billed herons. But the best and most rewarding part of this hike was the waterhole at the end of a muddy, hot and difficult trail. Some of us decided that if our clothes were already drenched from our own sweat, we might as well take a refreshing dip, and a good hydro massage under the waterfall. As we headed back on board another couple of mother and calf humpback whales escorted us towards our next destination.
Moving on to the middle of the day, our Hotel Manager Erasmo Estripeaut and his fantastic hotel staff prepared a delicious barbecue on the beach for us. While we ate under a brief rain shower, the food couldn’t have tasted better. Tired and full we watched the clouds move away to give room to the warm yellow sun. Ready for some more adventure we chose to either ride local horses or walk along the beach and forest trails. The forest walkers were rewarded with a five-foot long boa constrictor right on the middle of the path. As curious about us as we were about it, it decided to study our camera, which helped our video chronicler to take this picture.
Back on board for an out-of-this-world sunset, cocktail hour, recap, tomorrow’s briefing, and a great dinner, we went to bed sure that tomorrow will be another great day!
This morning couldn’t have started any better. We were greeted in the swaying waters just outside the Corcovado National Park by a couple of humpback whales, a mother and her calf. They surfaced and moved so close to our ship we felt we could just reach out and touch them. We could only take this as an omen of a wonderful day ahead, and so it turned out to be.
We disembarked onto the warm sandy beach of San Pedrillo Station, one of the four ranger stations within the park. Corcovado National Park is one of the last remaining sizable pieces of tropical premontane wet forest on the Pacific side of Central America. We split our group into three: two of us walked parallel to the beach on a flat and long trail to be rewarded with sightings of spider monkeys, white throated capuchin monkeys, army ants, coatimundis, agoutis and even tapir tracks… A third group took a rougher trail which led to an unbelievable waterhole and waterfall right in the heart of the park. We saw giant “garlic” and fig trees, spider monkeys, basilisk or Jesus Christ lizards, bare-throated tiger herons and boat-billed herons. But the best and most rewarding part of this hike was the waterhole at the end of a muddy, hot and difficult trail. Some of us decided that if our clothes were already drenched from our own sweat, we might as well take a refreshing dip, and a good hydro massage under the waterfall. As we headed back on board another couple of mother and calf humpback whales escorted us towards our next destination.
Moving on to the middle of the day, our Hotel Manager Erasmo Estripeaut and his fantastic hotel staff prepared a delicious barbecue on the beach for us. While we ate under a brief rain shower, the food couldn’t have tasted better. Tired and full we watched the clouds move away to give room to the warm yellow sun. Ready for some more adventure we chose to either ride local horses or walk along the beach and forest trails. The forest walkers were rewarded with a five-foot long boa constrictor right on the middle of the path. As curious about us as we were about it, it decided to study our camera, which helped our video chronicler to take this picture.
Back on board for an out-of-this-world sunset, cocktail hour, recap, tomorrow’s briefing, and a great dinner, we went to bed sure that tomorrow will be another great day!
