Manuel Antonio National Park
What a wonderful way to start the trip! Early morning saw us off on the Zodiacs for a landing on the long, golden beach of Manual Antonio National Park. A true jewel, the park is small, with unexpected facets that lay waiting to be discovered with patience.
Tall panama trees, rain trees, palms and tropical almonds lined the trails, and hidden amongst the branches and leaves were three-toed and two-toed sloths, howler monkeys (one female with a youngster gave some of us a fantastic look at them both, hanging out on a bare branch. “Junior” also got a nice long look at the distant relatives gawking below on the road) and a variety of birds were seen. Agoutis were briefly spotted by some, delicately walking on tiny feet, and basilisk lizards scuttled off, and one spiny iguana left his tail hanging out the end of a hollow log on the ground. White-lined sac-winged bats hung in a line from the underside of a leaning tree trunk, two of which had young on their bellies.
The most excitement came from the sighting (by Maria A.) of a hairy porcupine (Coendou mexicanus) climbing a trunk, amazingly close to the ground. Normally nocturnal, this was perhaps an example of the benefits of getting on shore as early as possible, as these animals are known to normally settle into tree cavities (their homes) during the day. The unusual coloration of this individual had us guessing as to what it really was, as we tried to follow its path up the tree trunk, until a good look at its face confirmed the animal as a porcupine. Photographers quick on the mark managed to snap off a few photos as it settled into a low nook before appearing to fall into a steady doze in no time flat. An unusual coloration, this blond fur over the entire body and pink nose (but not albino), was the first of its kind seen by our Costa Rican naturalists, the others being the expected blackish color. Our Panamanian naturalist however, assured us that this coloration was normal further south in Panama, so we’ll be researching the literature to find out how common, or uncommon, this morph type is for this region.
The afternoon closed with us anchored in Drake Bay further south after Zodiac and kayak outings up the tiny Rio Agujitas (meaning “narrow”), where one Zodiac managed a sighting of a caiman under the branches of a low tree at the mouth of this freshwater river.
What a wonderful way to start the trip! Early morning saw us off on the Zodiacs for a landing on the long, golden beach of Manual Antonio National Park. A true jewel, the park is small, with unexpected facets that lay waiting to be discovered with patience.
Tall panama trees, rain trees, palms and tropical almonds lined the trails, and hidden amongst the branches and leaves were three-toed and two-toed sloths, howler monkeys (one female with a youngster gave some of us a fantastic look at them both, hanging out on a bare branch. “Junior” also got a nice long look at the distant relatives gawking below on the road) and a variety of birds were seen. Agoutis were briefly spotted by some, delicately walking on tiny feet, and basilisk lizards scuttled off, and one spiny iguana left his tail hanging out the end of a hollow log on the ground. White-lined sac-winged bats hung in a line from the underside of a leaning tree trunk, two of which had young on their bellies.
The most excitement came from the sighting (by Maria A.) of a hairy porcupine (Coendou mexicanus) climbing a trunk, amazingly close to the ground. Normally nocturnal, this was perhaps an example of the benefits of getting on shore as early as possible, as these animals are known to normally settle into tree cavities (their homes) during the day. The unusual coloration of this individual had us guessing as to what it really was, as we tried to follow its path up the tree trunk, until a good look at its face confirmed the animal as a porcupine. Photographers quick on the mark managed to snap off a few photos as it settled into a low nook before appearing to fall into a steady doze in no time flat. An unusual coloration, this blond fur over the entire body and pink nose (but not albino), was the first of its kind seen by our Costa Rican naturalists, the others being the expected blackish color. Our Panamanian naturalist however, assured us that this coloration was normal further south in Panama, so we’ll be researching the literature to find out how common, or uncommon, this morph type is for this region.
The afternoon closed with us anchored in Drake Bay further south after Zodiac and kayak outings up the tiny Rio Agujitas (meaning “narrow”), where one Zodiac managed a sighting of a caiman under the branches of a low tree at the mouth of this freshwater river.
