Casa Orquideas and the Rincon River
This morning we suddenly woke up in Costa Rica. The immigration authorities came aboard before most of us had awakened. While having breakfast, we sailed to our first destination: Casa Orquideas (Orchid House), a beautiful botanical garden planted in an abandoned cocoa plantation some thirty years ago by a couple of U.S. expatriates in the middle of nowhere. To this day, they continue taking care of their life’s work in splendid isolation. The waters were calm and a soft breeze blew across Golfo Dulce, but the sun’s intensity increased by the minute. As we prepared to board the Zodiacs that would take us on land, we wondered how we would manage to endure the tropical heat. But as soon as we landed we realized how soothing a garden could be. The songs of birds, the shade of the trees and the smell of fruits and flowers gave us the feeling of being in paradise. We learned that, aside from being beautiful, every plant has a story to tell and secrets which have not been fully revealed. Before lunch we enjoyed the sight of a couple of false killer whales and were escorted by spotted dolphins to our next stop at Rincon River.
An after-lunch siesta was made compulsory by the tropical sun. As the day cooled down, we took Zodiacs and kayaks into the Mangroves of the Rincon River. Others decided to walk along a public road through the forest. Cotingas, trogons, egrets and jacanas revealed themselves, each for an instant, in a constant competition between their modesty and our passion to preserve these precious moments in long-lasting photographs.
This morning we suddenly woke up in Costa Rica. The immigration authorities came aboard before most of us had awakened. While having breakfast, we sailed to our first destination: Casa Orquideas (Orchid House), a beautiful botanical garden planted in an abandoned cocoa plantation some thirty years ago by a couple of U.S. expatriates in the middle of nowhere. To this day, they continue taking care of their life’s work in splendid isolation. The waters were calm and a soft breeze blew across Golfo Dulce, but the sun’s intensity increased by the minute. As we prepared to board the Zodiacs that would take us on land, we wondered how we would manage to endure the tropical heat. But as soon as we landed we realized how soothing a garden could be. The songs of birds, the shade of the trees and the smell of fruits and flowers gave us the feeling of being in paradise. We learned that, aside from being beautiful, every plant has a story to tell and secrets which have not been fully revealed. Before lunch we enjoyed the sight of a couple of false killer whales and were escorted by spotted dolphins to our next stop at Rincon River.
An after-lunch siesta was made compulsory by the tropical sun. As the day cooled down, we took Zodiacs and kayaks into the Mangroves of the Rincon River. Others decided to walk along a public road through the forest. Cotingas, trogons, egrets and jacanas revealed themselves, each for an instant, in a constant competition between their modesty and our passion to preserve these precious moments in long-lasting photographs.
