Curu Wildlife Refuge and Manuel Antonio National Park
We began our week’s adventure walking through the trails of the Curu Wildlife Preserve, within the seasonally dry forest. This forest is one of the most endangered in the Central American region, as only 8% of its original half a million hectares remain. The plants and animals in this habitat are adapted to survive six months of heavy rain and six months of no rain at all, some of these adaptations include dropping their leaves at the peak of the dry season and having green bark through which they can photosynthesize. Also many of the species of plants and birds are exclusive to this habitat. We had a choice of two walks this morning, one long trail walk through the forest and one on a gravel road with more chances of spotting animals. We were rewarded with sightings of howler and capuchin monkeys, agoutis, coatis, bats, many bird species and interesting species of plants.
Back on board we repositioned our ship towards the Central Pacific area, to Manuel Antonio National Park. As we disembarked, the draping vegetation of the rainforest welcomed us into its realm. As we walked along the Sloth Valley trail with our spotting scopes and our skilled naturalists, we located two species of sloth, two species of monkey, rodents, nesting anhingas, ctenosaurs, coatis, agoutis, and the list goes on. Eleven species of mammals in one day, in a habitat that is not known to offer its treasures quickly, is not at all bad!!
Tomorrow will come with its infinite unpredictability, but we will all be ready to take what it has to offer.
We began our week’s adventure walking through the trails of the Curu Wildlife Preserve, within the seasonally dry forest. This forest is one of the most endangered in the Central American region, as only 8% of its original half a million hectares remain. The plants and animals in this habitat are adapted to survive six months of heavy rain and six months of no rain at all, some of these adaptations include dropping their leaves at the peak of the dry season and having green bark through which they can photosynthesize. Also many of the species of plants and birds are exclusive to this habitat. We had a choice of two walks this morning, one long trail walk through the forest and one on a gravel road with more chances of spotting animals. We were rewarded with sightings of howler and capuchin monkeys, agoutis, coatis, bats, many bird species and interesting species of plants.
Back on board we repositioned our ship towards the Central Pacific area, to Manuel Antonio National Park. As we disembarked, the draping vegetation of the rainforest welcomed us into its realm. As we walked along the Sloth Valley trail with our spotting scopes and our skilled naturalists, we located two species of sloth, two species of monkey, rodents, nesting anhingas, ctenosaurs, coatis, agoutis, and the list goes on. Eleven species of mammals in one day, in a habitat that is not known to offer its treasures quickly, is not at all bad!!
Tomorrow will come with its infinite unpredictability, but we will all be ready to take what it has to offer.
