Manuel Antonio National Park & Refugio Curu
The sun was giving its first rays when the Expedition Leader gave us the welcome to Manuel Antonio National Park. We had slept anchored in front of the park and now it was our opportunity to visit this park that is one of the most famous parks in Costa Rica. So right after breakfast we grabbed our gear and headed to the stern for loading the Zodiacs that were to take us to shore.
On shore, a yellow-crowned night heron and an osprey were on duty looking for their breakfast but didn’t mind our presence. We started our hike along the “tombolo.” This is nothing less than the accumulation of sediment that connects an islet to the main land. While looking for wildlife we saw long-nosed bats lined up for a nap until sunset. Black iguana or ctenosour iguana making their territorial display was another attraction. The birders were having a delightful time observing masked tityras, northern orioles, riverside wren, crown woodnyph and chestnut backed antbirds when suddenly a long nose coati crossed right in front of them without paying any attention to them. The sloths were having a great meeting also. Many of us saw a female sloth feeding its offspring. What a morning and even though we wanted to stay longer, we had to return because our trip had to continue. On our way back to the Sea Voyager, a troop of white face capuchin monkeys gave us the farewell.
Back onboard, we sailed during lunch time to Refugio Curu, our last destination of the Wild Side of Costa Rica and Panama trip. During our navigation, bottle-nosed dolphins and pantropical spotted dolphins escorted us for a few miles. Humpback whales also showed up to gives us the farewell. At Refugio Curu, the hikes were outstanding for photographers and birders were in another paradise. White-fronted parrots, turquoise browed motmots, white collared magpie-jays, and many others birds showed up to give another proof that our trip had been more than wonderful. We would have stayed longer but the night was falling and our trip had to come to an end.
On our last recap the guests shared their thoughts about the trip and how important it was to their life to get to know “The Wild Side of Costa Rica And Panama.”
The sun was giving its first rays when the Expedition Leader gave us the welcome to Manuel Antonio National Park. We had slept anchored in front of the park and now it was our opportunity to visit this park that is one of the most famous parks in Costa Rica. So right after breakfast we grabbed our gear and headed to the stern for loading the Zodiacs that were to take us to shore.
On shore, a yellow-crowned night heron and an osprey were on duty looking for their breakfast but didn’t mind our presence. We started our hike along the “tombolo.” This is nothing less than the accumulation of sediment that connects an islet to the main land. While looking for wildlife we saw long-nosed bats lined up for a nap until sunset. Black iguana or ctenosour iguana making their territorial display was another attraction. The birders were having a delightful time observing masked tityras, northern orioles, riverside wren, crown woodnyph and chestnut backed antbirds when suddenly a long nose coati crossed right in front of them without paying any attention to them. The sloths were having a great meeting also. Many of us saw a female sloth feeding its offspring. What a morning and even though we wanted to stay longer, we had to return because our trip had to continue. On our way back to the Sea Voyager, a troop of white face capuchin monkeys gave us the farewell.
Back onboard, we sailed during lunch time to Refugio Curu, our last destination of the Wild Side of Costa Rica and Panama trip. During our navigation, bottle-nosed dolphins and pantropical spotted dolphins escorted us for a few miles. Humpback whales also showed up to gives us the farewell. At Refugio Curu, the hikes were outstanding for photographers and birders were in another paradise. White-fronted parrots, turquoise browed motmots, white collared magpie-jays, and many others birds showed up to give another proof that our trip had been more than wonderful. We would have stayed longer but the night was falling and our trip had to come to an end.
On our last recap the guests shared their thoughts about the trip and how important it was to their life to get to know “The Wild Side of Costa Rica And Panama.”
