We arrived in Sierpe in the afternoon and had a mini-tour of the town with our guide, Manfred.
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| One of the mysterious bolas de piedra – stone balls |
One of the more interesting archaeological artifacts in Costa Rica are the stone spheres found throughout the area. They are thought to be from the Diqui culture, carved around 1500 years ago – but their origins are basically unknown since their creators disappeared after the Spanish conquest.
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| Lineated Woodpecker |
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| Central American Spider Monkey |
After a brief rest, we went for a guided evening walk around the property. We saw several birds – a woodpecker, heron, macaws, and toucans – as well as a spider monkey enjoying dinner from a fig tree. Halfway through the walk, we stopped at the Margarita Bar for sunset. The view of the Pacific Ocean and Cano Island on the horizon was incredible – it’s definitely where we planned to relax before dinner every night!
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| Not gonna complain about this view! |
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| Hello, darkness, my old friend |
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| Red-eyed tree frog |
A huge Costa Rican Orangemouth tarantula was known to live in a tree on a side path. Tarantulas are large, venomous spiders that are primarily nocturnal, so we stopped to see if it had come out of his home. This guy was about the size of my open hand… but I wasn’t going to get close enough to double check…
After the walk, we had dinner at the lodge. It rained HARD during dinner, and we got soaked walking back to our room. And since each casita only had screens with no glass in the windows, we could hear the steady downpour all through the night. Made it feel like we were truly in the rainforest!
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5
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| Yer so great, Mr. Curassow |
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| Didn’t really want to hug these trees… |
The Osa Peninsula is a unique location, surrounded by beach and dense rainforest. Corcovado National Park, located on the peninsula, is considered one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world, with around 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity. We were excited to experience the wild rainforest and explore the area. We were greeted by a variety of bird species, with the Great Curassow being the most prominent.
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| A pretty little ghost anole |
As we continued our hike, we made our way down to San Pedrillo Beach. Unfortunately, the beach was home to a swarm of little invisible sand flies that relentlessly attacked us and left us with many bites.
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| Night orchid |
We continued on our hike along the beach, taking in the sight of coconuts that had sprouted and even spotting a night orchid.
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| Common black hawk |
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| Scarlet Macaw |
After the hike, we made our way back to the resort for a picnic lunch on the beach. On the walk back, we were greeted by several bird species, including a Common black hawk, keel-billed toucans, scarlet macaws, and crested guans.
After a much needed shower, we had a lovely massage overlooking the ocean; then went straight to Margarita Bar for drinks.
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| Not a bad place for a massage… |
Manfred showed us the footage from the camera traps around the park, showing tapir, peccaries, agouti, coati. On another camera, there was footage of an ocelot, puma, and jaguar that crossed the same area in the span of one week! We spent some time chatting with Manfred about conservation and education, which made for an interesting evening.
Today we opted to take a tour into the largest mangrove on the Pacific Coast. A mangrove is a plant that grows in brackish water, where fresh and salt water mix. They absorb and store a huge amount of carbon and their roots protect the coastlines from erosion, so they play a big role in fighting climate change. Additionally, they provide an important habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. The mangroves near Drake Bay make up the largest mangrove forest in Costa Rica, so we were eager to get a closer look.
We took the boat over to the Sierpe River, then slowly made our way back towards town. We stopped in several inlets to see up close the red mangroves and the animals who lived there.
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| Taking a break from working at the DMV… |
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| We see you, potoo! |
Another surprising sight while motoring back downriver was a large American crocodile swimming in the Sierpe River! It was unusual to see a crocodile in this area so close to town, but the locals say that lately they’ve been told not to swim in the river because of this very risk.
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| The lovely view from the Margarita Bar |
After returning to the resort, we had a relaxing afternoon and evening, hanging out at the Margarita Bar and playing cards with the three kids that we’d met and befriended.
FRIDAY, APRIL 7
While our original plan was just to relax for the day, we decided to take advantage of a last-minute opportunity to join Jose’s hike through the forest surrounding the lodge. Since it was our last day in Corcovado, we decided jump on the opportunity. The hike was particularly interesting since we crossed thought both primary and secondary forest.
We saw many strange fungi, including ones that looked like fur and another that looked like white veins on the trunk of a tree. These fungi play important roles in the ecosystem, breaking down dead plant matter and recycling nutrients back into the soil. |
| The beautiful buttress roots of taller trees help keep them stable in strong winds |
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| Shimmering golden sugar ants. I even love the name! |
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| Bye, Costa Rica! |