Caletas Reserve and Corcovado National Park
Today we woke up at Drake Bay in the southwest of Costa Rica, a mere five nautical miles from the destination for our explorations today in the Corcovado National Park area. After spending a restful night in the calm waters of Drake Bay, National Geographic Sea Lion relocated to nearby Caletas Point, part of the buffer zone of this pristine mega-park of Corcovado.
In Caletas we spent the morning walking on the trails inside the forest and along the beach. Some guests observed the spectacular and colorful scarlet macaws flying from tree to tree, eating beach almonds. We also had good looks at a mother three-toed sloth with her young firmly attached to her belly.
Upon our return from our walks we were surprised with a delicious barbecue lunch prepared by our galley and crew. After lunch we relocated again a short distance away to San Pedrillo. After disembarking we split into groups to explore the forest or to visit the San Pedrillo Waterfall, and enjoy a refreshing swim in its waters. Others followed the trail to the Pargo River, following the coast through its adjacent forest.
Corcovado is always a place for special sightings. Today we had great views of male and female great curassows, large turkey-like birds of the understory that try to elude human presence, since they have been hunted in the past; it was fun to see them hidden but so close in the dense foliage, doing their best to pass unseen.
Also we had great views of howler monkeys moving carefully through the tree tops, probably on their way to trees with newer and tenderer leaves. At the end of the trail we observed a magnificent enormous garlic tree, one of the emergent tropical trees found here. On our way out, we were very pleased to find a troop of spider monkeys swiftly moving through the canopy, always on the move, looking for fresh fruit, probably their last meal of the day.
It is always so rewarding to visit such a place as Corcovado, one of the last remote large and pristine areas left on the Pacific coast of Central America.
