Early this morning, we woke up to an astonishing sunrise. In front of us, a thick carpet of rainforest covered every visible hill. We were in the Piedras Blancas National Park, and we visited a section of the Rio Seco Rainforest near the coast.
The Piedras Blancas National Park is one of the jewels in the south of Costa Rica. The park has over 30,000 acres of wilderness, and it is full of incredible jungles. It is also home to some of this lush country’s most astonishing wildlife, including toucans, macaws, tapirs, pumas, jaguars, and four species of monkeys.
As part of the national park, the Rio Seco Rainforest is 400 acres of private property. It offers visitors the opportunity to walk through a tropical rainforest full of wildlife. With very few access points due to a lack of roads, the park can only be accessed by sea.
We took short, medium, and long hikes today. Scarlet macaws seemed to be painting every single tree with colors, and it was overwhelming. We observed a lot of great wildlife, especially birds. The hikers were very satisfied with the adventure.
In the afternoon, we repositioned to the town of Golfito for kayaking and Zodiac tours. Kayakers discovered a good coastal section, and their efforts paid off when they finished their tour in a local bar. Those in Zodiacs enjoyed a wealth of wildlife sightings. We spotted howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and many birds. The star of the day was the colorful scarlet macaw.
IMAGE: Scarlet macaw. Photo by Jose Calvo
