Manuel Antonio National Pack
What a way to start our trip between Costa Rica and Panama!!! Today we visited Manuel Antonio National Park, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. One of the first National Parks established in the country. Founded in 1973 it protects about 1200 hectares of the last remaining tropical wet forest left in Mesoamerica. We had an early wake up call, at 6:30 am. We were sent ashore before the park officially opened and before breakfast. Do you think it was worth it? Well we believe it was, but we’ll let you be the judge of that. Along the “Sloth Valley” trail we saw Northern raccoon, red-backed squirrel monkeys, slaty-tailed trogon, and many other things, including of course, three toed sloths. How close did we see them? Let the pictures be our evidence. Here, in the first picture, we see a White-throated Capuchin monkey, one of the most intelligent monkeys of the New World; we have seen them trained to act in Hollywood movies. Posing for our camera and almost smiling at it, the monkeys welcomed us into their realm. Not too far from the monkey we found this White-nosed Coati-mundi. In the same family as raccoons, this individual didn’t have much interest in us and was busy looking for a snack on the ground. Coati males are solitary, except during the breeding season (“Coatimundi” is a South American term for a lone male).
During the afternoon we enjoyed the beauty of San Josecito beach in the Osa Peninsula, South of the country. Bird watching and snorkeling were at hand until we were ready to go back to our faithful vessel.
Wouldn’t you say this was a great day? Now the real question is: do you think it can get better? Well who knows, lets leave it to time, but if you want to know the verdict, follow our journey.
What a way to start our trip between Costa Rica and Panama!!! Today we visited Manuel Antonio National Park, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. One of the first National Parks established in the country. Founded in 1973 it protects about 1200 hectares of the last remaining tropical wet forest left in Mesoamerica. We had an early wake up call, at 6:30 am. We were sent ashore before the park officially opened and before breakfast. Do you think it was worth it? Well we believe it was, but we’ll let you be the judge of that. Along the “Sloth Valley” trail we saw Northern raccoon, red-backed squirrel monkeys, slaty-tailed trogon, and many other things, including of course, three toed sloths. How close did we see them? Let the pictures be our evidence. Here, in the first picture, we see a White-throated Capuchin monkey, one of the most intelligent monkeys of the New World; we have seen them trained to act in Hollywood movies. Posing for our camera and almost smiling at it, the monkeys welcomed us into their realm. Not too far from the monkey we found this White-nosed Coati-mundi. In the same family as raccoons, this individual didn’t have much interest in us and was busy looking for a snack on the ground. Coati males are solitary, except during the breeding season (“Coatimundi” is a South American term for a lone male).
During the afternoon we enjoyed the beauty of San Josecito beach in the Osa Peninsula, South of the country. Bird watching and snorkeling were at hand until we were ready to go back to our faithful vessel.
Wouldn’t you say this was a great day? Now the real question is: do you think it can get better? Well who knows, lets leave it to time, but if you want to know the verdict, follow our journey.
