Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
New day new country! Today, early this morning, we woke up in Golfo Dulce, the southern most tip of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The extremely deep calm waters of the bay welcomed us. Golfo Dulce stands for “Sweet Gulf,” indeed the calm waters surrounded by lush densely forested land resemble a relatively small fresh water lake. All this greenery is truly a refreshing sight! Hopefully a premonition of all the diversity of life that Costa Rica and the tropical rain forest are so well known for.
Our morning activities today took place at the Esquinas River, on the inner “corner” (that’s what “esquina” stands for) of the Golfo Dulce. We visited the estuary and adjacent mangrove forest of this river, via Zodiacs and kayaks.
Several birds and other species were observed as we wandered our way through this vital ecosystem, the mangrove forest: mangrove warblers, white ibis, American crocodiles, and rainbow boas, among other things.
After lunch we swam in the calm relaxing waters of the gulf and also offered some not-so-relaxing Zodiac driving lessons and banana boat rides for our younger and young at heart guests.
Later this afternoon in this remote area of Costa Rica, we visited Casa Orquideas, a botanical garden and tropical plant collection that has been tenderly attended and created by Ron and Trudy McAllister for the last 30 years. We enjoyed an easy stroll through the beautiful and colorful gardens, with their incredible display of colorful tropical flowers, butterflies, and birds. Among all the colorful array of tropical plants and fruits, we could observe several bird species like roufous-tailed hummingbirds, white hawks, crested caracaras, spectacular scarlet macaws, and a must-see bird for the American tropics, our largest toucan species, the chestnut mandibled toucan.
Later towards the end of this beautiful first day in Costa Rica, we relocated our position to a perfect harbor at Golfito port, to spend a good portion of the night anchored at this little gulf within a gulf and prepare and renew our energy for what awaits us tomorrow at Corcovado.
New day new country! Today, early this morning, we woke up in Golfo Dulce, the southern most tip of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The extremely deep calm waters of the bay welcomed us. Golfo Dulce stands for “Sweet Gulf,” indeed the calm waters surrounded by lush densely forested land resemble a relatively small fresh water lake. All this greenery is truly a refreshing sight! Hopefully a premonition of all the diversity of life that Costa Rica and the tropical rain forest are so well known for.
Our morning activities today took place at the Esquinas River, on the inner “corner” (that’s what “esquina” stands for) of the Golfo Dulce. We visited the estuary and adjacent mangrove forest of this river, via Zodiacs and kayaks.
Several birds and other species were observed as we wandered our way through this vital ecosystem, the mangrove forest: mangrove warblers, white ibis, American crocodiles, and rainbow boas, among other things.
After lunch we swam in the calm relaxing waters of the gulf and also offered some not-so-relaxing Zodiac driving lessons and banana boat rides for our younger and young at heart guests.
Later this afternoon in this remote area of Costa Rica, we visited Casa Orquideas, a botanical garden and tropical plant collection that has been tenderly attended and created by Ron and Trudy McAllister for the last 30 years. We enjoyed an easy stroll through the beautiful and colorful gardens, with their incredible display of colorful tropical flowers, butterflies, and birds. Among all the colorful array of tropical plants and fruits, we could observe several bird species like roufous-tailed hummingbirds, white hawks, crested caracaras, spectacular scarlet macaws, and a must-see bird for the American tropics, our largest toucan species, the chestnut mandibled toucan.
Later towards the end of this beautiful first day in Costa Rica, we relocated our position to a perfect harbor at Golfito port, to spend a good portion of the night anchored at this little gulf within a gulf and prepare and renew our energy for what awaits us tomorrow at Corcovado.
