Today we had the extraordinary opportunity to visit one of the most remote areas of the tropical dry forest of Costa Rica, Bahia Santa Elena. Here our guests walked one of the new trails in the protected area; one highlight was our sighting of the famous northern tamandua anteater, a mammal which is not that common to see. Everybody went out with our local “pangas” to see the rock formations of the Bahia Santa Elena, the oldest of the country. The naturalist explained how the country first formed, and how that connects to the landforms and ecosystems of today. Later on after lunch, we split our group activities between land and water. Some guests walked into the wildlife refuge where they enjoyed the company of iguanas, lots of birds, and white-faced capuchins. Our other group of guests went snorkeling at Munecos Island to see lots of different fish species. We are thankful for this very productive day, and are feeling ready for tomorrow’s activities.
11/22/2024
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National Geographic Quest
Curu
Today was a sunny, muddy, wildlife extravaganza. Along our forest walks in Curu we saw greater white-lined bats (Saccopteryx bilineata), Central American agoutis (Dasyprocta punctata), white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus), howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), white-nosed coatis (Nasua narica), bare-throated tiger herons (Tigrisoma mexicanum), and common black hawks (Buteogallus anthracinus). Curu is a multi-use sustainability development project that prioritizes forest protection, sustainable agriculture, and wildlife conservation. It has been involved in projects featuring scarlet macaws (Ara macao), a gorgeous parrot native to humid evergreen forests of the Americas. We spent the afternoon at Isla Tortuga where guests enjoyed coconuts and then watched charismatic collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu) feed on the leftovers. It was difficult to leave the beach, but we had the world premiere of our guest slideshow to enjoy, prepared by our magnificent Photo Instructor, José Calvo.