Early this morning we entered the Golfo Dulce, the gulf at the southernmost end of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. At daybreak National Geographic Sea Lion was still navigating to our destination, deep inside the Golfo Dulce, at Finca Saladero. Finca Saladero is one of the many private properties owned in this region by American expatriates who fell in love with Costa Rica.
We landed on the beach of Finca Saladero before breakfast; that is the ideal time of the day for observing the waking up of the rain forest, to observe all the daylight creatures starting their daily quest for food without becoming food for someone else. This is also the ideal time of the day for photography, to look for the low warm light (golden hour) and the time of the day when the characteristic high humidity and temperatures of the tropical rain forest are much lower.
At Saladero we walked the open property adjacent to the thick primary forest to enjoy the scenery and search for subjects to observe and photograph. The scenery itself was breathtaking. There was an ocean of calm water and green, pristine forest everywhere we set our eyes. Pretty soon we found subjects to photograph – red-lored parrot, roadside hawk, white hawk. After our pre-breakfast walks we returned to the ship for a well-deserved breakfast, and to prepare for more activities.
The later hours of the morning we spent visiting the nearby Esquinas River. We explored the mangrove forest at the mouth of the river by boat and by kayaks, and then meandered upstream through the gallery of stilt roots that are so characteristic of this very important ecosystem. We spotted little blue herons, snowy egrets, green herons, white ibises, whimbrels, willets, and ospreys among several other birds. The highlight may have been the reptiles we found hiding in the hanging vegetation over the water, waiting for their prey – a couple of tree boas.
Later in the afternoon Sea Lion repositioned to the nearby Casa Orquideas botanical garden, and the home of Trudy and Ron McAllister, another couple of American expatriates who have been living in this remote place for over thirty years, little by little collecting and implementing their love for tropical plants. A full-fledged thirty year’s creation of love and hard work that now is well-known garden in this area. The walks through Casa Orquideas are always easy and great fun; there is always something for everybody, especially when we have a group of avid photographers.
Our photographers in Casa Orquideas got totally immersed into their photography niches; some went for the close-ups of flowers, bugs, etc., and others with the bigger zoom lenses for the colorful birds.
We had so much fun, we all lost track of time. As it started to get dark we lifted anchor and repositioned again to our last port of call in Costa Rica, Golfito. During dinner and while we were totally unaware of it, our officers took care of the necessary immigration paperwork for us to be able to leave Costa Rica tonight, and wake up tomorrow and see what surprises are waiting for us in Panamanian waters.
