The Osa Peninsula and nearby Golfo Dulce are unquestionably some of the best places in the world for wildlife watching. Scarlet macaws squawk over villages and loiter in the palms around soccer fields, while all four of the country’s monkey species seem to outnumber local residents. This beautiful peninsula is extremely isolated– an arduous eight to ten hour drive from the Central Valley.
It has long been my dream to visit this wilderness first-hand. I could barely contain my excitement when I discovered I would be exploring this frontier – and by plane, …
Spans the northwestern part of Costa Rica, from the Nicaraguan border to Puntarenas, including the Nicoya Peninsula.
The central Pacific coast from Puntarenas south to the Baru River mouth, just north of Dominical.
Includes the southwest coast of Costa Rica and the southern part of the Puntarenas Province from Playa Dominical south to Panama.
Includes most of the border with Nicaragua, stretching south to Arenal Volcano and the northern parts of the Heredia and Alajuela Provinces.
Encompasses the Monteverde area, from the Santa Elena Cloud Forest in the north to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in the east.
Includes San Jose, the Juan Santamaria International Airport, and parts of Alajuela, Cartago and Heredia provinces.
This was it. The last 24 hours of my 17-day trip through the Osa Peninsula and Golfo Dulce. Last month, during the planning phase, I was positive that by the sixteenth day I would be exhausted and ready to return home.
Now that the trip was drawing to a close, I found the exact opposite to be true. This little corner of the world, and all of the amazing people that I had met in it, energized me – and the idea of heading back to Liberia made me want to cry.
Vincent and I took the …
For peak wave conditions, the best time to surf in Pavones is the few hours before and during high tide. Today this would fall in the afternoon, meaning that I could enjoy a leisurely morning. After a big breakfast panini with fresh fruit, I caught the tail end of Free Willy on Satellite TV – and then watched a much more entertaining family of squirrel monkeys play in the trees from my window.
Around noon, Vincent, Aaron and I walked downtown to meet Tommy Neuner, an instructor for Venus Surf Camp, an organization whose curriculum – …
I woke to the sound of rain and howler monkeys. After 14 days of waking up at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m., opening my eyes at 7:15 a.m. was as close as it came to sleeping in.
With squinting eyes trying to bring the world into focus, all I saw was wood, rainforest, and a panoramic view of Pavones. I thought for a millisecond “how in the world did I fall asleep in the middle of the jungle?” Then I remembered that I was in the swankiest suite at Castillo de Pavones. I was well-rested and excited …
Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge’s owners were attending a rally in Pavones, the next and final stop of my trip, to protest the opening of a destructive tuna farm. We traveled together by boat to Golfito, and from there transferred to a smaller vessel for the hour-long journey to Pavones. The boat landing here was less than ideal. Enormous waves threatened our bags, cameras, and computer equipment. After waiting out three giant swells, the captain pulled the back of the boat up to the beach and our group of four, all with heavy suitcases, disembarked in less …
This morning we were going to explore Piedras Blancas National Park and do a waterfall hike. Our guide, a botanist named Eric, specialized in arboreal studies as well as medicinal plants. His goal today would be to show us how useful the rainforest can be to modern society.
Before the tour began, he explained that Piedras Blancas is a relatively new park, composed of lands that remained unprotected until 1992. As a result,the wildlife in the area is still recovering, and is not as prevalent as that found in Corcovado. Next, he somberly warned us to …
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