Golfo Dulce

Today was our last day exploring Costa Rica and what a wonderful day we had!

Our first sighting happened during our wake up call. A group of pan tropical spotted dolphins decided to pay us a visit and play in the waves our ship was creating, in what otherwise would be the very calm waters of the Golfo Dulce.
After the performance the dolphins displayed, a good cup coffee and a filling breakfast, we were ready to explore the gulf. It is a narrow, deep tropical gulf with a very shallow mouth.

In the morning, we explored the mangrove forest at the river mouth of the Rincon River via our choice of kayak or Zodiac. Our Naturalists revealed all the mysteries and explained the natural history of what is considered to be one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on our planet. By the end of our morning we had several new birds to add to our bird list including toucans, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets yellow headed caracara, amount many others plus some more dolphins a crocodile and some river turtles.

Back on board the captain repositioned the ship in the gulf. This allowed us to explore what I can only describe as an open botanical garden known as Casa Orquidea, which literally means the house of the orchid.

This is a tropical heaven with manicured trails full of native and introduced plants of all different species. From miniature orchids to star fruits, many of them were in bloom or fruiting, which works well to attract tropical birds of the region like the honey creepers, tanager, toucans and hummingbirds. So, this place turned out to be not only a good place to see plants, but a great place for birding as well.

After our hikes, or for others just a stroll, through this garden we were ready to go for a refreshing swim before heading back on board.