We woke up on our first morning aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion to a warm 79 degrees and a light breeze. What a contrast to the cold weather most of us left back home! As we were stretching on the sundeck we dropped anchor in the bay just off Manuel Antonio National Park. This is the most popular park in Costa Rica and also one of the smallest.
After a delicious breakfast of fresh fruits, pancakes, and much more, we took expedition landing crafts over to beautiful Espadilla Beach. We were greeted by local park rangers and we set off with cameras, binoculars, and scopes to look for wildlife and explore the park.
Hiking the Punta Catedral trail had several steep up and down sections, but we were rewarded with magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean and we got a good workout as well. Bird sightings included the chestnut-back antbird and the black hooded ant-shrike.
The sloth valley walk started out along the white sandy beach. We saw a spiny tailed lizard who decided to climb up the nearby tree after we snapped our pictures of him. A three toed sloth was spotted in the branches of a tree by our guide and we were able to get a great close up view through the spotting scope. We were even able to take great pictures of the sloth through the scope.
After a great meal onboard the ship and a lecture on Costa Rican history, we arrived at Caño Island National Park in southern Costa Rica. This national park is well known for its marine life and it is a famous site for snorkeling, scuba diving and whale watching. Some of us went to the place called “The Gardens” for snorkeling and others went to the beach to enjoy the warm tropical water.
Snorkeling at the Gardens, the group spotted numerous kinds of fish such as the Moorish Idol and the king angel fish. The Gardens is a rocky reef that doesn’t have a lot of coral, but a great amount of fish. Everyone enjoyed this first snorkeling opportunity as a preparation for the next snorkeling spot later in the trip which is considered to be the best in the region.
Back on the National Geographic Sea Lion, the drinks and hors d’ oeuvres were served as the astonishing sunset was happening. The traditional session of recap and an amazing dinner ended a perfect day in a perfect destination.
