Visiting Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsular of Costa Rica, was another dream come true for me. I read about it many years ago in the National Geographic, who claim Corcovado to be “the most biologically intense place on Earth in terms of biodiversity”.
Getting there entailed a bus from San Jose to Palma Norte, then a cab to Sierpe and boarding a small boat down the Sierpe River and into the ocean and along to Bahia Drake (Drake Bay).
I found a very friendly hostel in Drake Bay with a wonderful view. I recommend Cabinas Jade Mar not only for the view, but affordability and a very friendly and helpful manager. This is the view from the verandah outside my room.
Forget about sleeping in here! The scarlet macaws and other parrots make a lot of noise, both in the evening and the morning. They were very high up in the trees so my photos are not so great. However I did see an interesting lizard, on the tree just near my room.
I took a guided day tour into the Corcovado National Park, on a very hot and sweaty day. I was picked up by boat at 6:00am and was incredibly lucky to be one of a group of only three. The boat ride was about an hour and a half to Sirena, then we hiked for the rest of the morning until about 1pm. The park comprises primary low lying rain forrest, and it is really magnificent how it runs right to the ocean.
The highlight for me was seeing a Baird tapir. Our guide found her and we very quietly crept near enough to take some photos. Her ear twitched a few times, but otherwise she did not seem to mind our presence. Here is a short video of my approach.
They are indeed fascinating creatures, being the largest South & Central American land mammal. They can grow to 2m in length and weigh between 150 – 400kg. They usually hang out near water as they love to swim and wade and cool off on hot days. Tapir’s have a long gestation period of 400 days, and when not with their young, they are generally solitary creatures. Tapir’s are mostly nocturnal and feed on vegetation. Sadly they are endangered due to habitat loss and poaching. Efforts are being made to improve their status, but they are slow to reproduce. Their natural predators are large crocodiles and jaguars, although once they reach adulthood, they are less of a target.
This short clip shows us setting out, arriving and then walking through the forrest and spotting a white tailed deer, a young spider monkey leaping in the tree tops, a golden orb spider, white-lipped peccary (similar to a wild pig) and some army ants. It gives a brief idea of the scene.
The following are some photographs, although some things were hard to capture. One cause for exictement was a fresh jaguar paw print by the river.
This post is a month late – sorry.