Playa Caletas and Corcovado National Park
The moon began to hide on the horizon when the first sun rays appeared. National Geographic Sea Lion had spent the night anchored in the peaceful waters of Drake’s Bay. This day we were going to visit Costa Rica’s most remote area in the southwest.
While we ate breakfast, our captain weighed anchor and repositioned the ship in front of our first destination of the morning. As we approached the Playa Caletas Reserve, we were astonished by the lush pristine tropical forest behind the gorgeous beach. We could hardly wait to get ashore and explore.
Once on shore, the photographers were granted a unique sighting – a pair of scarlet macaws perched and feeding on a beach almond tree. The sound of clicking cameras didn’t bother them at all. It was a good way to start the day! While some guests started changing their footwear for a hike, others got ready to explore the area by horseback riding. As the horses began their walk, the rest departed to different trails. It was spectacular scenery of forest and beach.
Along the beach trail, the horseback riders encountered a troop of white-faced capuchin monkeys disputing a foraging area with a troop of spider monkeys. It was an interesting behavior to observe. The white-faced capuchin monkeys, careless about our presence, managed to chase the spider monkeys away.
After the hikes and ride, we all gathered for a delicious picnic lunch prepared by our galley. It had been a great morning and we needed to recharge our batteries for the afternoon activities. So once we had lunch, we went back to our ship and weighed anchor. We were en route to Corcovado National Park.
On our way to the park, a humpback whale with its calf was sighted by our officers. We followed them and enjoyed the shallow dive and fluke performed by the calf. The whales will use this area to mate and give birth as well.
Soon we arrived to Corcovado National Park. With an extension of around 103,258 acres, the park is one of the richest and most diverse tropical areas in Costa Rica. It was protected by law in 1975 from being destroyed by gold-panners and loggers.
On shore we divided in groups to explore more areas. One group had the opportunity to hike towards a great reward: swimming at a waterfall. There is no better way to end a hike than taking a dip in a cool waterfall.
At the end of the day, we concluded that the heavy task of conservation depends on all of us!
