Golfo de Papagayo, Costa Rica
This morning after breakfast we disembarked on one of the islands in the Murcielago Archipelago (Bat islands) in the Northwestern side of Costa Rica. The islands belong to the Guanacaste Conservation Area and are quite barren, because the fishermen who came first used to set them on fire. Some of us started the day with a wonderful hike along the ridge of the hills shown in the picture above. Climbing almost a 90-degree angle slope, we reached the summit to a magnificent view of blue oceans, white surf, and eroded rocks in the shapes of sitting men and arches. Gushes of wind blew at us, but we kept on going. After a one and a half hour hike along the ridge, we came back to the beach. We joined the rest of the group in the most amazing snorkeling experience of the trip, some people even saw an octopus!
Back on board, the ship was repositioned a little further south. While moving, we were surprised with a humpback cow and calf couple and several spotted dolphins. We got to a beach called Playa Huevos (Egg Beach), some of us took a kayak trip up the estuary, others took a Zodiac cruise, and just two of us walked among the mangroves, where we saw a group of howling monkeys.
To make a great day perfect, as we came back from our different tours, spotted dolphins swam with the children off the stern and followed our Zodiacs for a good twenty minutes. What a way to end the day!!
This morning after breakfast we disembarked on one of the islands in the Murcielago Archipelago (Bat islands) in the Northwestern side of Costa Rica. The islands belong to the Guanacaste Conservation Area and are quite barren, because the fishermen who came first used to set them on fire. Some of us started the day with a wonderful hike along the ridge of the hills shown in the picture above. Climbing almost a 90-degree angle slope, we reached the summit to a magnificent view of blue oceans, white surf, and eroded rocks in the shapes of sitting men and arches. Gushes of wind blew at us, but we kept on going. After a one and a half hour hike along the ridge, we came back to the beach. We joined the rest of the group in the most amazing snorkeling experience of the trip, some people even saw an octopus!
Back on board, the ship was repositioned a little further south. While moving, we were surprised with a humpback cow and calf couple and several spotted dolphins. We got to a beach called Playa Huevos (Egg Beach), some of us took a kayak trip up the estuary, others took a Zodiac cruise, and just two of us walked among the mangroves, where we saw a group of howling monkeys.
To make a great day perfect, as we came back from our different tours, spotted dolphins swam with the children off the stern and followed our Zodiacs for a good twenty minutes. What a way to end the day!!
