As an early riser, I love to witness a new day’s sunrise. A placid sentiment of wonder arose watching the morning sky colors today from National Geographic Sea Lion. The natural harmony in our world is unique, no matter where you are; even a simple element fulfills your soul with joy. When I reached the bridge of our ship and talked with Captain Dion: “Buenos dias, Capitán! We had a little bit of swell last night. However, it is great to see we arrived to Manuel Antonio right on time.”
During this full day it was our opportunity to discover one of the smallest protected areas in Costa Rica. With a land extension of just 1983 Ha (4900 acres) Manuel Antonio National Park is a corner of paradise protecting a variety of lowland wet forest, offshore islands, estuaries and beach areas with a special beauty.
As soon as the park opened and we cleared our entrance process, it was time to either hike to Catedral Point or the Sloth Valley trail. I was delighted to see many of our guests joining the long walk to Catedral. Six staff members, including a couple of local guides from the area, escorted our guests in search of wildlife within the trails. Obviously there are always special critters to observe. Spiny-tailed iguanas, white-faced capuchin monkeys, Central American agouti and the crab-eating raccoon made their usual appearances while exploring both trails. Among the special moments we were able to observe a charming female hummingbird sitting on her nest made out of plant fiber combined with lichens. Outstanding! Perhaps those lichens are trying to conceal the nest from potential predators.
However, what about the sloths? The partially cloudy skies kept the temperature below 82˚F. (27˚C) and the rain in the area last night made our elusive sloths harder to find. Nonetheless, after about an hour of walking, we spotted a few individuals of Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth and brown-throated three-toed sloths resting among the branches of the tree tops.
By 4:00 p.m., when the park closed, we return to our ship to reposition toward Osa Peninsula. During the last couple of hours of daylight a talk by Max on the history of Costa Rica and a rainbow ended up our second day of discovery in Costa Rica.
