It was early in the morning when National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor in front of a gorgeous beach near the town of Quepos, a part of Manuel Antonio National Park. This lovely park combines superb beaches with a fabulous wildlife viewing. It was created in 1972 and is the smallest park in Costa Rica covering an extension of 6 square miles (16 sq km).
From our ship we could hear howler monkeys claiming their feeding area. At the distance, some wood storks perched peacefully in different trees. This was going to be a glimpse of what we were about to see.
Right after breakfast we boarded the expedition landing crafts and went ashore. Some went to a trail called “Cathedral Point” while others went to an easier paced trail called “Sloth Valley Trail”. With the gear ready, everyone departed to explore this park.
Little by little, the wildlife of the park revealed itself to us. One of the first sightings was an important seed disperser, the Central American agouti. He didn’t even notice our presence as it buried a seed to come back later to feed on it.
While we were enjoying the hike, a troop of white-faced capuchin monkeys showed up and followed us to the beach. One of the juveniles performed for us by playing in the sand while the rest of the group looked for food in the trees. All photographers took this opportunity to put into practice what they had learned on this photo expedition.
Two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths also offered another opportunity for photographs. The parked offered a lot of subjects to tell a story with photos. It was just a spectacular morning.
We returned back to National Geographic Sea Lion for lunch. After resting a little bit, we returned to the beach to refresh ourselves and to discuss about how wonderful our voyage has been. It was hard to accept that it was our last day on the paradise of Costa Rica.
