Today, our last day in Costa Rican waters, we are ready to explore some more amazing sites in the Golfo Dulce, the southernmost gulf of the country. Loaded with rich greenery and deep dark green waters, the Gulf has quite the distinct feature of being very deep. At its mouth around 60 meters deep, but in some areas inside the Gulf are even 250 meters deep. This morning we concentrated on the eastern side of this body of water and visited two interesting places.
Early after breakfast, we disembarked onto the lovely Casa Orquidea Botanical Garden, where Spike the owner’s dog, along with hundreds of plants, flowers, and tropical fruit, welcomed us into their realm. Amongst other things, we saw a yellow-throated toucan raiding a great kiskadee’s nest, destroying it and eating the chicks, scarlet macaws, a white-nosed coati, Cherrie’s tanagers, yellow-headed caracara, king vultures, and many, many more.
Back on board for an interesting presentation, lunch, and snorkeling gear distribution, we got ready for our second activity of the day, which involved the area surrounding the largest town inside the gulf, Golfito. We went out by kayak or by Zodiac to explore the water’s edge and mangrove forests that surround the town. There were good sights of green iguanas, white throated capuchin monkeys, and mantled howler monkeys. Another great day in charming Costa Rica. On we go to Panama tomorrow.
