Manuel Antonio National Park and Curu Wildlife Preserve, Costa Rica
Our last day on board could not have been any better! Our early morning rise, before sunrise, into Manuel Antonia National Park, was worth the effort. All of us followed the naturalists down a road that, for the first few minutes, was a bit dark. As we walked the trail, we heard the howler monkeys and watched the light come up over the horizon. We hiked to the end of the trail and luck had not yet come our way, we needed to see a sloth… The last two groups started heading back and voilà, up on the treetop, looking exactly as our naturalists had described it, a big brown blob way up on the crown of the tallest tree, rested a brown-throated three-toed sloth!!! How on Earth did our naturalist spot it? That will remain a mystery, artists never give away their secrets, but what counts is that he did. Out came cameras, binoculars, telescopes and a neck ache... Little did we know that just a few minutes later we were going to be flooded with more wildlife: sloths, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, white-throated capuchin monkeys, agoutis, double toothed-kite, laughing falcons, and a fearless coatimudi. It decided that we were not a threat and pose for us for more than 20 minutes, it dug and scraped and walked along the trail with us. We went back to the ship with a sense of fulfillment.
Later that afternoon, we let the hottest part of the day go by, before we disembarked in Curu Wildlife Refuge. The best surprise of the day awaited us! At least the best sighting for the naturalists this week! We saw more monkeys, coatis, Jesus Christ lizards, litter anolis, and many more, but wait what is that blonde, tan creature? Unbelievable!! A kinkajou was scared out of its resting site for the day by a bold coatimundi. Out it came, with big, wide, sleepy eyes to make the perfect ending of a perfect last day.
Our last day on board could not have been any better! Our early morning rise, before sunrise, into Manuel Antonia National Park, was worth the effort. All of us followed the naturalists down a road that, for the first few minutes, was a bit dark. As we walked the trail, we heard the howler monkeys and watched the light come up over the horizon. We hiked to the end of the trail and luck had not yet come our way, we needed to see a sloth… The last two groups started heading back and voilà, up on the treetop, looking exactly as our naturalists had described it, a big brown blob way up on the crown of the tallest tree, rested a brown-throated three-toed sloth!!! How on Earth did our naturalist spot it? That will remain a mystery, artists never give away their secrets, but what counts is that he did. Out came cameras, binoculars, telescopes and a neck ache... Little did we know that just a few minutes later we were going to be flooded with more wildlife: sloths, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, white-throated capuchin monkeys, agoutis, double toothed-kite, laughing falcons, and a fearless coatimudi. It decided that we were not a threat and pose for us for more than 20 minutes, it dug and scraped and walked along the trail with us. We went back to the ship with a sense of fulfillment.
Later that afternoon, we let the hottest part of the day go by, before we disembarked in Curu Wildlife Refuge. The best surprise of the day awaited us! At least the best sighting for the naturalists this week! We saw more monkeys, coatis, Jesus Christ lizards, litter anolis, and many more, but wait what is that blonde, tan creature? Unbelievable!! A kinkajou was scared out of its resting site for the day by a bold coatimundi. Out it came, with big, wide, sleepy eyes to make the perfect ending of a perfect last day.
