Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
After sailing 140 nautical miles, the Sea Voyager anchored in the calm waters of Golfo Dulce in the southern part of Costa Rica. During the 16th century, Spanish explorers venturing into this area were so impressed by the fact that its waters appeared to be less salty than the ones found in the Pacific Ocean outside this gulf. The reason for this peculiarity was the fact that numerous rivers from the surrounding rainforests flow into it. Thus the Spaniards named it Golfo Dulce which means “Fresh Water Gulf”.
Right after the Costa Rican immigration officials cleared the ship, we were allowed to continue our journey. “Where are we going now?” was the common question asked by our guests. “We are heading to Casa Orquideas (The Orchid House)”, was the answer. This is a fantastic botanical garden which an American couple, Ron and Trudy Macallister, planted on an abandoned cacao plantation around 26 years ago. Once anchored, we were ready to go ashore and explore this hedonic garden.
We spent the morning walking through the well kept trails with our naturalists looking for birds or learning about the huge collection of tropical plants. Orchids, heliconias, gingers, palms, aroids, verbenas, fruiting trees, blue crowned manakins, bananaquits, red crowned wood peckers, white hawks, chestnut mandibled toucans and cherries tanagers were some of beautiful elements that gave this garden a similarity to Eden’s paradise. We explored with our cameras and binoculars to fully enjoy the dynamics between flora and fauna.
Back on board we prepared for lunch while the Sea Voyager repositioned close to Rincon River, a nice place to observe one of the most interesting of ecosystems, a mangrove forest. The options for the afternoon were Zodiacs, kayaking and a bird watching walk. There was so much to see here. The different species of mangrove trees proved that they support abundant sea life and flourish where no other trees can survive. They are among the most productive and biologically complex ecosystems on Earth.
Our first day in Costa Rica was just another fantastic day of our trip.
After sailing 140 nautical miles, the Sea Voyager anchored in the calm waters of Golfo Dulce in the southern part of Costa Rica. During the 16th century, Spanish explorers venturing into this area were so impressed by the fact that its waters appeared to be less salty than the ones found in the Pacific Ocean outside this gulf. The reason for this peculiarity was the fact that numerous rivers from the surrounding rainforests flow into it. Thus the Spaniards named it Golfo Dulce which means “Fresh Water Gulf”.
Right after the Costa Rican immigration officials cleared the ship, we were allowed to continue our journey. “Where are we going now?” was the common question asked by our guests. “We are heading to Casa Orquideas (The Orchid House)”, was the answer. This is a fantastic botanical garden which an American couple, Ron and Trudy Macallister, planted on an abandoned cacao plantation around 26 years ago. Once anchored, we were ready to go ashore and explore this hedonic garden.
We spent the morning walking through the well kept trails with our naturalists looking for birds or learning about the huge collection of tropical plants. Orchids, heliconias, gingers, palms, aroids, verbenas, fruiting trees, blue crowned manakins, bananaquits, red crowned wood peckers, white hawks, chestnut mandibled toucans and cherries tanagers were some of beautiful elements that gave this garden a similarity to Eden’s paradise. We explored with our cameras and binoculars to fully enjoy the dynamics between flora and fauna.
Back on board we prepared for lunch while the Sea Voyager repositioned close to Rincon River, a nice place to observe one of the most interesting of ecosystems, a mangrove forest. The options for the afternoon were Zodiacs, kayaking and a bird watching walk. There was so much to see here. The different species of mangrove trees proved that they support abundant sea life and flourish where no other trees can survive. They are among the most productive and biologically complex ecosystems on Earth.
Our first day in Costa Rica was just another fantastic day of our trip.
