Osa Peninsula, Caletas Nature Reserve & Corcovado National Park

The Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park are one of the country’s great natural attractions and, although a bit difficult to access, well worth a visit. This park was created to protect and preserve one of Costa Rica’s last (mostly untouched) wilderness areas. This is one of the few places in the country where jaguars are occasionally sighted.

On our morning nature walks we understood why it is so well known as a great place for nature lovers: Scarlet macaws were spotted eating fruits right along the beach, as well flying above us. On that same walk, a chestnut-mandibled toucan perched just in front of us, giving us the opportunity to check him out and enjoy the sighting of one of the birds that has become an icon of the Neotropics.

One of the groups of hikers came back with exciting news. They had encountered a swarm of army ants and got to see some of the most spectacular ant birds following the ants. The ant birds go for the creatures that are trying to escape from these aggressive ants. In addition, they saw mixed flocks of birds, where more than 10 different birds were identified by the naturalists.

Right after lunch, and after repositioning the National Geographic Sea Lion from our morning outings, we came ashore to explore Corcovado National Park. Some groups went to enjoy a nature walk that ended in a waterfall followed by swimming in a waterhole, deep in the rain forest.

Another group went birding on a different trail. We had to go across a small creek in order to get on the trail. Crossing it, the water got to our knees at the most. Two hours later as we were heading back, it happened that the creek had turned into a river due to the rain and the high tide of this afternoon, and the water level crossing it, got to our chest!

There were staff and crew members waiting for us to help us cross. Not only was the water at a high level, but also there was a crocodile nearby checking us out. Therefore, while some staff was helping us to cross the river, others were keeping an eye on the crocodile so it would not get too close to us.

What an expedition flavor we got in the rain forest of Corcovado National Park!