Manuel Antonio National Park & Agujitas River
We started the first day of our voyage in Manuel Antonio National Park. This site is one of the smallest protected areas of Costa Rica, yet a great place to see wildlife. The morning was overcasted with some drizzle, a bit surprising for some of the guests, but after all, Manuel Antonio is a rainforest and, even during the dry season, we can get scattered showers. Regardless of the weather conditions, the visit was as promising as expected. We offered two kinds of walks, one to Punta Catedral, - a former island now connected to main land - with a very uneven trail that we nicknamed “the tropical stair master”, and another walk to the valley of the sloths, more even and flat.
Those who decided to exercise going through Punta Catedral had the opportunity to experience an impressive rainforest covered with big trees and tropical palms. At the higher stops the guests were able to have some great ocean views as well. They had the chance to see agouties, white-throated capuchins and chestnut-backed antbirds. The ones who did the “sloth valley” went mostly at sea level, near the shore and had good views of sac-winged bats, spiny-tailed iguanas and three-toed sloths. As we were walking back to the beach, the trail was filled with the calls of the black-hooded antshrikes, red-crowned woodpeckers and howler monkeys in the distance, which we later saw.
After lunch we repositioned to Drake Bay. On our way, we had a very interesting presentation by one of our guest lecturers, on tropical habitats. He was able to put into perspective the different aspects that shape the tropical climates and the major habitats that result from the combination of plants and weather.
Before sunset we offered Zodiac or kayak expeditions into the Agujitas River, a nice and relaxing outing where we found the white-throated capuchins again, tricolor herons, snowy egrets, osprey, and ringed kingfishers.
The day finished with cocktails and recap session up in the lounge.
We started the first day of our voyage in Manuel Antonio National Park. This site is one of the smallest protected areas of Costa Rica, yet a great place to see wildlife. The morning was overcasted with some drizzle, a bit surprising for some of the guests, but after all, Manuel Antonio is a rainforest and, even during the dry season, we can get scattered showers. Regardless of the weather conditions, the visit was as promising as expected. We offered two kinds of walks, one to Punta Catedral, - a former island now connected to main land - with a very uneven trail that we nicknamed “the tropical stair master”, and another walk to the valley of the sloths, more even and flat.
Those who decided to exercise going through Punta Catedral had the opportunity to experience an impressive rainforest covered with big trees and tropical palms. At the higher stops the guests were able to have some great ocean views as well. They had the chance to see agouties, white-throated capuchins and chestnut-backed antbirds. The ones who did the “sloth valley” went mostly at sea level, near the shore and had good views of sac-winged bats, spiny-tailed iguanas and three-toed sloths. As we were walking back to the beach, the trail was filled with the calls of the black-hooded antshrikes, red-crowned woodpeckers and howler monkeys in the distance, which we later saw.
After lunch we repositioned to Drake Bay. On our way, we had a very interesting presentation by one of our guest lecturers, on tropical habitats. He was able to put into perspective the different aspects that shape the tropical climates and the major habitats that result from the combination of plants and weather.
Before sunset we offered Zodiac or kayak expeditions into the Agujitas River, a nice and relaxing outing where we found the white-throated capuchins again, tricolor herons, snowy egrets, osprey, and ringed kingfishers.
The day finished with cocktails and recap session up in the lounge.
