Manuel Antonio National Park & At Sea
One of the jewels of the Costa Rican National Parks, Manuel Antonio has an area of about 3600 hectares (9000 acres), and is one of the most popular areas to visit in the Central Pacific coast of this country. Draped with lush green vegetation and covered with white warm sand, Manuel Antonio was one of the first parks to be established, and since then it has protected a grand array of flora and fauna. This forest is known as a transitional forest, which means that it is the “transition” between the dry forest of the north and the wet lowland forests of the south. As we walk through its trails, we found organisms - particularly plants - that belong to either type of forest. As a biologist it is a bit mind boggling as plants that never should meet, meet here. A couple of examples of these trees are the rain tree and the “stinking-toes” tree.
We got the chance to walk through the park’s trails today! Either on the long strenuous walk up that we call the “stairmaster” of the rainforest, or a walk on a flatter trail known as the “sloth valley” trail, we were rewarded by sightings of mammals such as sloths, monkeys, agoutis and crab-eating raccoons and birds such as double toothed kites, great kiskadees, and chestnut backed antbirds. After a hot long walk, we had loads of time to come back to the beach and take a dip in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, the first time in this ocean for some of us.
Back on board for a well deserved lunch, we started cruising towards the southern part of the country looking for marine wildlife. Pantropical spotted dolphins, brown boobies, and even yellow bellied sea snakes were spotted from the outer decks of our vessel. As the sun set on the horizon, we were out trying to finally see the elusive green flash, and watch the bright orange and red colors of the sky turn into the dark blues of the tropical nights.
One of the jewels of the Costa Rican National Parks, Manuel Antonio has an area of about 3600 hectares (9000 acres), and is one of the most popular areas to visit in the Central Pacific coast of this country. Draped with lush green vegetation and covered with white warm sand, Manuel Antonio was one of the first parks to be established, and since then it has protected a grand array of flora and fauna. This forest is known as a transitional forest, which means that it is the “transition” between the dry forest of the north and the wet lowland forests of the south. As we walk through its trails, we found organisms - particularly plants - that belong to either type of forest. As a biologist it is a bit mind boggling as plants that never should meet, meet here. A couple of examples of these trees are the rain tree and the “stinking-toes” tree.
We got the chance to walk through the park’s trails today! Either on the long strenuous walk up that we call the “stairmaster” of the rainforest, or a walk on a flatter trail known as the “sloth valley” trail, we were rewarded by sightings of mammals such as sloths, monkeys, agoutis and crab-eating raccoons and birds such as double toothed kites, great kiskadees, and chestnut backed antbirds. After a hot long walk, we had loads of time to come back to the beach and take a dip in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, the first time in this ocean for some of us.
Back on board for a well deserved lunch, we started cruising towards the southern part of the country looking for marine wildlife. Pantropical spotted dolphins, brown boobies, and even yellow bellied sea snakes were spotted from the outer decks of our vessel. As the sun set on the horizon, we were out trying to finally see the elusive green flash, and watch the bright orange and red colors of the sky turn into the dark blues of the tropical nights.
