Refugio Curu and Isla Tortuga, Costa Rica
We landed on the cup-shaped bay of the privately owned Curu Wildlife Refuge, which protects a wide variety of flora, including several endangered mangrove species. It is considered the ecologically richest reserve on the Nicoya Peninsula, due to its diversity of habitats, including mangroves swamps and dry tropical forest. Its beach is home to hundreds of red crabs that come out in droves during low tide. We had the chance to witness a big brown iguana chasing the crabs for its lunch.
In the refuge, there is a ongoing program to reintroduce species that once were abundant a few years ago and now are gone due to the habitat loss and illegal hunting. The group that took the forest walk spotted a mother spider monkey with her offspring on her back. They were recently released by the program after they were taken away from poachers a few weeks ago.
After a nice walk through the dry tropical forest and crossing suspending bridges, we were lucky to see a large number of white-faced capuchin monkeys crossing the trail. It was great to see how some of the males were guarding the troop of juveniles and females, while they crossed the open area on their way to the mangrove swamp. Colorful birds, squirrels, termites and army ants were some of the sightings reported by the groups that did the walk.
Pretty much everyone got in the ocean to cool off and enjoy the beach.
Right after lunch, we repositioned the ship and headed to the Tortuga Island, characterized by its poster-perfect white sands, palm-lined beaches and lush, tropical deciduous vegetation. We were more than happy to swim, followed by playing on the beach building sand-castles. Probably the highlight for our young guests was the zip line ride from aerial platforms up in trees high off the ground.
We landed on the cup-shaped bay of the privately owned Curu Wildlife Refuge, which protects a wide variety of flora, including several endangered mangrove species. It is considered the ecologically richest reserve on the Nicoya Peninsula, due to its diversity of habitats, including mangroves swamps and dry tropical forest. Its beach is home to hundreds of red crabs that come out in droves during low tide. We had the chance to witness a big brown iguana chasing the crabs for its lunch.
In the refuge, there is a ongoing program to reintroduce species that once were abundant a few years ago and now are gone due to the habitat loss and illegal hunting. The group that took the forest walk spotted a mother spider monkey with her offspring on her back. They were recently released by the program after they were taken away from poachers a few weeks ago.
After a nice walk through the dry tropical forest and crossing suspending bridges, we were lucky to see a large number of white-faced capuchin monkeys crossing the trail. It was great to see how some of the males were guarding the troop of juveniles and females, while they crossed the open area on their way to the mangrove swamp. Colorful birds, squirrels, termites and army ants were some of the sightings reported by the groups that did the walk.
Pretty much everyone got in the ocean to cool off and enjoy the beach.
Right after lunch, we repositioned the ship and headed to the Tortuga Island, characterized by its poster-perfect white sands, palm-lined beaches and lush, tropical deciduous vegetation. We were more than happy to swim, followed by playing on the beach building sand-castles. Probably the highlight for our young guests was the zip line ride from aerial platforms up in trees high off the ground.
