Caletas / Corcovado National Park
Quite early this morning we arrived at one of our favorite destinations of the voyage, Corcovado National Park on the southwestern Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, one of the country’s largest and most remote national parks. We always drool about the wildlife possibilities of such an unspoiled and pristine place, and dream of the possibility of encounters with truly elusive and iconic creatures like jaguar and tapirs.
We started our day by disembarking on the buffer zone of the park, and area locally known as Caletas. Some of our guests were eager to get into the rainforest and walk under its dense canopy and others preferred the more open ocean’s forest edge. During the morning some of the creatures we could observe were common black hawks, slaty tailed trogons, colorful scarlet macaws, and one lonely and very wet three-toed sloth.
As for the afternoon activities, National Geographic Sea Lion was relocated to the nearby San Pedrillo sector, where we found the park ranger station. It was a rainy afternoon in the rainforest, and some guest chose to stay in the warmth and comfort of the ship, but others chose to disembark and walk the trails. The walks again were split into two different areas, with some people heading to the waterfall trail to cool down in its soothing waters and even sit under the smaller cascading waters to get a back massage, and others went on the flatter and easier Pargo trail, dodging puddles and roots along the way, while at the same time looking up and around for wildlife. Among our sightings this afternoon were distant spider monkeys, boat-billed herons and the large finely barred tiger heron walking along a stream, probably looking for a meal of frogs, lizards or snakes.
We enjoyed our visit today to Corcovado and all the lessons about the rainforests and the origins of its rich biodiversity. No jaguar or tapirs were spotted today, but there’s always hope. Maybe next time!
