Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
The rising orange ball of the sun found us moving slowly through the tepid waters of the southernmost large bay of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This area truly epitomizes the “Rich Coast” of this small country. Lush rainforest covers most of the surrounding hills. Calm waters lap at the sandy and pebble beaches. Mangrove lined river deltas abound with birds and fish. Today we were able to experience all of these aspects of this region.
Our morning started at the small botanical garden and reserve of Casa Orquidea. The location is beautifully set in a small bowl of flat land rimmed on most sides by natural forest and fronted by a coconut-lined beach of smooth rounded pebbles. We were welcomed by Ron and Trudy MacAllister and then divided into groups for slow walks on the pebble paths. All over the grounds there are a huge variety of native and some introduced plants. The naturalists identified many of the plants and told us about their biology, ecology, and in some cases uses by man. Everyone marveled at one of the most important plants to mankind especially around Valentine’s Day – the cocoa or chocolate plant. We heard how this drink of the Mayan God’s was and is processed today to produce some of our favorite treats. Unfortunately, the production of chocolate in the New World has been severely depleted due to a fungal disease.
Birds also were very evident in the tree-tops and among the shrubs of the gardens. Many of us had the luck of spotting this rather unusual looking avian species, chestnut-mandibled toucan. Today’s bird list was probably the longest of any day of the voyage and included a number of tanager species like cherie’s tanager, palm tanager, and blue-gray tanager. Beny Wilson, the main staff naturalist for birding spotted a number of small delicate hummingbird nests and on one, the female purple-crowned fairy was probably incubating the pea-sized eggs. Upon returning to the ship many people plunged into the warm waters of the gulf before lunch.
We then moved to the very end of the large bay to the northern corner, appropriately named Rincon. This provided us with opportunities for a number of options. Some decided to spend the remaining part of the afternoon cruising by Zodiac up the small river and through a mangrove channel. Some decided to peacefully paddle along the mangroves and through a narrow channel by kayak. A small group walked the local dirt road to search for birds. In the dense forest along the road the birders spotted such tropical birds as tourqoise cotinga, riverside wren, slaty-tailed trogon, orange-chinned parakeets. This group was picked up by Zodiac and en route back to the ship was treated to the sighting of a Roseatte Spoonbill.
The rising orange ball of the sun found us moving slowly through the tepid waters of the southernmost large bay of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This area truly epitomizes the “Rich Coast” of this small country. Lush rainforest covers most of the surrounding hills. Calm waters lap at the sandy and pebble beaches. Mangrove lined river deltas abound with birds and fish. Today we were able to experience all of these aspects of this region.
Our morning started at the small botanical garden and reserve of Casa Orquidea. The location is beautifully set in a small bowl of flat land rimmed on most sides by natural forest and fronted by a coconut-lined beach of smooth rounded pebbles. We were welcomed by Ron and Trudy MacAllister and then divided into groups for slow walks on the pebble paths. All over the grounds there are a huge variety of native and some introduced plants. The naturalists identified many of the plants and told us about their biology, ecology, and in some cases uses by man. Everyone marveled at one of the most important plants to mankind especially around Valentine’s Day – the cocoa or chocolate plant. We heard how this drink of the Mayan God’s was and is processed today to produce some of our favorite treats. Unfortunately, the production of chocolate in the New World has been severely depleted due to a fungal disease.
Birds also were very evident in the tree-tops and among the shrubs of the gardens. Many of us had the luck of spotting this rather unusual looking avian species, chestnut-mandibled toucan. Today’s bird list was probably the longest of any day of the voyage and included a number of tanager species like cherie’s tanager, palm tanager, and blue-gray tanager. Beny Wilson, the main staff naturalist for birding spotted a number of small delicate hummingbird nests and on one, the female purple-crowned fairy was probably incubating the pea-sized eggs. Upon returning to the ship many people plunged into the warm waters of the gulf before lunch.
We then moved to the very end of the large bay to the northern corner, appropriately named Rincon. This provided us with opportunities for a number of options. Some decided to spend the remaining part of the afternoon cruising by Zodiac up the small river and through a mangrove channel. Some decided to peacefully paddle along the mangroves and through a narrow channel by kayak. A small group walked the local dirt road to search for birds. In the dense forest along the road the birders spotted such tropical birds as tourqoise cotinga, riverside wren, slaty-tailed trogon, orange-chinned parakeets. This group was picked up by Zodiac and en route back to the ship was treated to the sighting of a Roseatte Spoonbill.
