Casa Orquideas & Rincon River, Costa Rica
After a calm night, the early hours of the morning were the only witnesses of the Sea Voyager bordering the delicate irregular coast line of the Osa Peninsula. Our destination was a breathtaking botanical garden in the morning and kayaking the estuaries of the Rincon River, in the late afternoon.
Our exploration today takes place in the Golfo Dulce, which translates to sweet water gulf, because of the many rivers that flush their waters into it. This area of the country is very unique in several ways; first it is known to be a tropical fjord, with a 700 ft deep center hole close and a fairly shallow and narrow entrance. Second, it is framed with the lushness of the tropical rain forest which gives the area its mysterious feel.
Our first activity of the day was the visit to Casa Orquidea, a tropical garden owned and very well pampered by two US-expatriates. The garden runs through exotic and delicate orchids that hang everywhere to plastic look-a-like inflorescence known as heliconias. The garden includes as well fruiting trees, like mangos, papayas, pineapples, cashews, coconuts and the chocolate tree. All of them aid to attract a lot of birds like toucans, macaws, parrots, honeycreepers, colorful tanagers and more; even bats were part of the faunal that are attracted.
After all the walkers were back to the beach, the ocean waters were very appealing to cool off from the tropical heat. Jumping from the stern was the best option for that! Then a delicious lunch, served up at the launch, let us enjoy the view of the gulf as the ship repositioned to our afternoon destination.
The kayakers were the first explorers, leading the way through different species of mangroves. The main ones were the black, the red and the ti mangroves. They are not a taxonomic classification but an assembly of saltwater-tolerant plants. Mangroves are very important ecosystems, in the way that they ensure the healthiness of another ecosystem, the ocean. They play a nursery role for small fish, which hide in the entangled root system of these trees.
Another way that we had to explore the estuary of this river was by Zodiac. We got to see several species of herons, ibises, toucans, flycatchers, kingfishers, hawks and every now and then a fish leaping out of the water.
As the sun was setting down, we all headed back to our ship. Another beautiful day in Costa Rica, and it just gets better.
After a calm night, the early hours of the morning were the only witnesses of the Sea Voyager bordering the delicate irregular coast line of the Osa Peninsula. Our destination was a breathtaking botanical garden in the morning and kayaking the estuaries of the Rincon River, in the late afternoon.
Our exploration today takes place in the Golfo Dulce, which translates to sweet water gulf, because of the many rivers that flush their waters into it. This area of the country is very unique in several ways; first it is known to be a tropical fjord, with a 700 ft deep center hole close and a fairly shallow and narrow entrance. Second, it is framed with the lushness of the tropical rain forest which gives the area its mysterious feel.
Our first activity of the day was the visit to Casa Orquidea, a tropical garden owned and very well pampered by two US-expatriates. The garden runs through exotic and delicate orchids that hang everywhere to plastic look-a-like inflorescence known as heliconias. The garden includes as well fruiting trees, like mangos, papayas, pineapples, cashews, coconuts and the chocolate tree. All of them aid to attract a lot of birds like toucans, macaws, parrots, honeycreepers, colorful tanagers and more; even bats were part of the faunal that are attracted.
After all the walkers were back to the beach, the ocean waters were very appealing to cool off from the tropical heat. Jumping from the stern was the best option for that! Then a delicious lunch, served up at the launch, let us enjoy the view of the gulf as the ship repositioned to our afternoon destination.
The kayakers were the first explorers, leading the way through different species of mangroves. The main ones were the black, the red and the ti mangroves. They are not a taxonomic classification but an assembly of saltwater-tolerant plants. Mangroves are very important ecosystems, in the way that they ensure the healthiness of another ecosystem, the ocean. They play a nursery role for small fish, which hide in the entangled root system of these trees.
Another way that we had to explore the estuary of this river was by Zodiac. We got to see several species of herons, ibises, toucans, flycatchers, kingfishers, hawks and every now and then a fish leaping out of the water.
As the sun was setting down, we all headed back to our ship. Another beautiful day in Costa Rica, and it just gets better.
