Casa Orquideas and Rio Rincon, Osa Peninsula
This morning the Sea Voyager anchored in Golfo Dulce by the port of Golfito where Costa Rican authorities cleared the ship. We then sailed for just a few minutes to our first stop for the day: Casa Orquideas, an amazing botanical garden in the middle of nowhere. Casa Orquideas is owned by Ron and Trudy McAllister, a couple from New Hampshire who came to Costa Rica some 25 years ago. Shortly after their arrival in the country they found this cocoa plantation in this most remote of places, the Osa Peninsula. Cocoa has been farmed in Costa Rica since pre-Hispanic times and traditionally it was cultivated in the midst of the rainforest. This method of farming protected trees from pests since by respecting the biodiversity of the forest, cocoa trees grew apart from those of their kind. When a cocoa tree got sick, other trees would not be affected since they were not in contact with the others. As demand for cocoa grew during the green revolution, cocoa farmers abandoned the traditional method and resorted to monoculture which is basically a man-made pest of cocoa trees. It was then when “monilia,” a disease that attacks this crop, appeared and many farmers abandoned their farms. Ron and Trudy sought simplicity in life. They planted a beautiful garden for their own enjoyment using mostly plants from their neighboring rainforest and some exotic plants introduced by the banana company during the 1930’s. After years of arduous work, the garden grew into a magnificent tropical garden that eventually became their livelihood. Our visit to this garden started around 8:00 A.M. and went on through the entire morning. Aside from numerous ornamentals, we were able to see medicinal plants as well as herbs and fruits we’ve consumed all our lives but had never seen outside of a supermarket stand, such as chocolate, vanilla, aloe vera, bananas, soursop and cashew nuts, just to mention a few.
The afternoon was hot and humid and we stayed onboard while the tropical heat dissipated, some of us indulging in a siesta. Isa gave a lecture on the “National Parks and habitats of Costa Rica” which helped us put what we are discovering in this small country into perspective. Then the weather changed, as should be expected to occur in the tropics, and from the oppressive heat of noon the skies opened and poured heavy rains over the ocean, the mangroves and the forests. After the storm, we took Zodiacs into the Rincon River feeling a little skeptical about this particular outing being worthwhile. In a short time we encountered many birds, a cayman, three very active two-toed-sloths and thousands of plants. A great start in our visit to Costa Rica.
This morning the Sea Voyager anchored in Golfo Dulce by the port of Golfito where Costa Rican authorities cleared the ship. We then sailed for just a few minutes to our first stop for the day: Casa Orquideas, an amazing botanical garden in the middle of nowhere. Casa Orquideas is owned by Ron and Trudy McAllister, a couple from New Hampshire who came to Costa Rica some 25 years ago. Shortly after their arrival in the country they found this cocoa plantation in this most remote of places, the Osa Peninsula. Cocoa has been farmed in Costa Rica since pre-Hispanic times and traditionally it was cultivated in the midst of the rainforest. This method of farming protected trees from pests since by respecting the biodiversity of the forest, cocoa trees grew apart from those of their kind. When a cocoa tree got sick, other trees would not be affected since they were not in contact with the others. As demand for cocoa grew during the green revolution, cocoa farmers abandoned the traditional method and resorted to monoculture which is basically a man-made pest of cocoa trees. It was then when “monilia,” a disease that attacks this crop, appeared and many farmers abandoned their farms. Ron and Trudy sought simplicity in life. They planted a beautiful garden for their own enjoyment using mostly plants from their neighboring rainforest and some exotic plants introduced by the banana company during the 1930’s. After years of arduous work, the garden grew into a magnificent tropical garden that eventually became their livelihood. Our visit to this garden started around 8:00 A.M. and went on through the entire morning. Aside from numerous ornamentals, we were able to see medicinal plants as well as herbs and fruits we’ve consumed all our lives but had never seen outside of a supermarket stand, such as chocolate, vanilla, aloe vera, bananas, soursop and cashew nuts, just to mention a few.
The afternoon was hot and humid and we stayed onboard while the tropical heat dissipated, some of us indulging in a siesta. Isa gave a lecture on the “National Parks and habitats of Costa Rica” which helped us put what we are discovering in this small country into perspective. Then the weather changed, as should be expected to occur in the tropics, and from the oppressive heat of noon the skies opened and poured heavy rains over the ocean, the mangroves and the forests. After the storm, we took Zodiacs into the Rincon River feeling a little skeptical about this particular outing being worthwhile. In a short time we encountered many birds, a cayman, three very active two-toed-sloths and thousands of plants. A great start in our visit to Costa Rica.
