Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Overnight the ship had repositioned south, and we awoke to the sight of the sun rising over the hilltops of the Golfo Dulce. Some of the early risers saw pantropical spotted dolphins swimming next to the ship. The Osa Peninsula shelters Golfo Dulce from the ocean swells, and creates a magnificent natural harbor. It is sculpted with picturesque beaches, rocky headlands, and is dissected by streams and rivers that cascade over volcanic cliffs on their way to the sea. The most majestic forests in all Costa Rica cover the hills and they are part of the Corcovado Conservation Area which has many corners to explore.
We began the shuttles ashore, a two-minute ride, and we were welcomed by Ron and Trudy to their little tropical paradise – Casa Orquideas (“The Orchid House”). It is a beautifully landscaped private botanical garden overlooking the sea. The 70 acre garden was quite remarkable, many plants with which we are all familiar seemed to have grown into monster specimens. We wandered the garden and in our exploration we found a colony of the common tent-making-bats under a fan palm leaf that made all of us very excited with all the animals that might be in the garden – but hidden out of our sight. The birding was also very good and toucans, tanagers, hawks, hummingbirds, and butterflies such as the heliconia and blue morpho fluttered about. Still we had time to wander at leisure taking pictures, smelling flowers or just seeking a moment of peace and quiet in this serene setting.
After a good lunch and having some time to rest, we split into two groups, some that went exploring a river in kayaks and the other group that took Zodiac cruises. Costa Rica has one of the largest mangrove forests of all Central America, and in a short distance we were able to see several different kinds of this extraordinary trees than can colonize places where other trees cannot grow due to the flooded conditions created by the salt-water. In a moment the wildlife of the mangrove forest started to be spotted: crabs, little-blue herons, ospreys, and many other birds, even a tiger rat snake was spotted up on a tree. Can there be anything that will even come close to the experience of today?
Overnight the ship had repositioned south, and we awoke to the sight of the sun rising over the hilltops of the Golfo Dulce. Some of the early risers saw pantropical spotted dolphins swimming next to the ship. The Osa Peninsula shelters Golfo Dulce from the ocean swells, and creates a magnificent natural harbor. It is sculpted with picturesque beaches, rocky headlands, and is dissected by streams and rivers that cascade over volcanic cliffs on their way to the sea. The most majestic forests in all Costa Rica cover the hills and they are part of the Corcovado Conservation Area which has many corners to explore.
We began the shuttles ashore, a two-minute ride, and we were welcomed by Ron and Trudy to their little tropical paradise – Casa Orquideas (“The Orchid House”). It is a beautifully landscaped private botanical garden overlooking the sea. The 70 acre garden was quite remarkable, many plants with which we are all familiar seemed to have grown into monster specimens. We wandered the garden and in our exploration we found a colony of the common tent-making-bats under a fan palm leaf that made all of us very excited with all the animals that might be in the garden – but hidden out of our sight. The birding was also very good and toucans, tanagers, hawks, hummingbirds, and butterflies such as the heliconia and blue morpho fluttered about. Still we had time to wander at leisure taking pictures, smelling flowers or just seeking a moment of peace and quiet in this serene setting.
After a good lunch and having some time to rest, we split into two groups, some that went exploring a river in kayaks and the other group that took Zodiac cruises. Costa Rica has one of the largest mangrove forests of all Central America, and in a short distance we were able to see several different kinds of this extraordinary trees than can colonize places where other trees cannot grow due to the flooded conditions created by the salt-water. In a moment the wildlife of the mangrove forest started to be spotted: crabs, little-blue herons, ospreys, and many other birds, even a tiger rat snake was spotted up on a tree. Can there be anything that will even come close to the experience of today?
