Golfo Dulce & Casa Orquideas
During the night National Geographic Sea Lion entered the quiet deep waters of Golfo Dulce, on the southwestern coast of Costa Rica. On this last day in beautiful Costa Rica, we’re looking forward to the spectacular entrance to this pristine bay. It‘s truly a magnificent view; as far as our eyes can see there is no development in sight… all water and greenery! We can’t help but worry about the future of this gorgeous pristine area though; the government of Costa Rica recently has been planning to “develop” this area by building an international airport and a big marina. This is a kind of “progress” that we would rather not see.
We started our day by visiting the Esquinas River deep inside of Golfo Dulce, and today we had the choice of traveling through the river either by 60-horse-powered outboard engines in our reliable Zodiacs or at our own pace and power by kayak.
This morning we visited the estuary of this river and its mangrove forest, where we got to see many of the trees and plants that characterize this very important ecosystem, as well as many different kinds of birds like snowy egrets, little blue herons, white ibis, whimbrels, ospreys, and kingfishers. We were surprised to be able to get a really good look at a three-toed sloth quite actively coming down a tree. But I have to say that the specialty for today was the reptiles; we really got great looks at as many as four different tree boas coiled up on the vegetation at the river’s edge.
Back on board the ship, we had a nice lunch and relocated to nearby Casa Orquideas Botanical Garden. This is a must-see place, especially for our plant lovers. Casa Orquideas is a small property with a vast collection of tropical plants, slowly gathered over the last 30 years by Ron and Trudy McAllister, two American ex-patriots who made this area their home. At Casa Orquideas, plant people truly feel like kids in a candy store – but even for people who are not so much into plants, the many different kinds of fruiting trees that are spread throughout the garden also attract many colorful birds, like toucans, manakins, and scarlet macaws. It is a small, easily accessible, idyllic showcase of what you can find in the tropical rain forest. It rained a little, but that didn’t stop us!
And with this, we perfectly close the chapter of Costa Rica, and prepare for what is awaiting us tomorrow in Panama.
