After watching the spectacular sunrise over the Osa Peninsula, we returned back down to Xiña’s cabin and ate a delicious breakfast of homemade pintos, eggs, tortilla and fresh fruit. I lavishly drank several cups of freshly roasted Costa Rican coffee and prepared for our day of adventure at Costa Rica’s crown jewel, the Corcovado National Park.
The Corcovado National Park was created in 1975 by the government to protect and conserve this amazing place which contains over 50% of Costa Rica’s biodiversity and is the last remnant of humid tropical rainforest on the Pacific Coast of Central America. The Corcovado National Park is enormous. It is the largest national park in all of Costa Rica and covers one-third of the Osa Peninsula. It is home to over 750 species of trees (1/4 of tree species in Costa Rica), 390 species of birds, 6,000 species of insects, and 140 species of mammals, and 116 species of reptiles and amphibians. It also is one of the only places in Costa Rica that has all four species of monkeys – howler, white-face, squirrel and spider, and has the largest concentration of scarlet macaws in the country. All in all, the Corcovado National Park is a pretty magnificent place and a natural treasure that is well worth protecting.
Our guide Rolando (who goes by the nickname “Toti”) was there waiting for us. Toti is from Dos Brazos de Tigre and lives just a few houses down from Xiña. He grew up in a mining family with the surrounding Corcovado National Park as his playground. After he finished school, he trained to be a certified guide for the park and began working with tourists once the new park entrance at Dos Brazos de Tigre opened a couple of years ago.
A farewell shot of Nuria, me, Xiña and our guide Toti outside of Xiña’s cabin.
Josue (the carpenter working on updating the cabin), me, Eytan and Xiña (still in her pajamas that she wore on our morning sunrise hike).
After breakfast, we packed our daypack of belongings, took a few last minute photos and said our goodbye to Xiña and her sister Nuria. We loaded up on bug spray, sunscreen and water for our six hour hike. The air was thick with humidity and I was already sweating profusely at nine am when we left Xiña’s cabin and headed back up the trail to the entrance of the park. It was going to be another adventure-packed day and I could hardly wait.
We walked for about 15 minutes along the dirt trail until we reached the entrance to the park. Ever since the death of a tourist a few years back, all visitors to the park must visit with a certified professional guide. Entering the Corcovado National Park is not something you want to take lightly. It is insanely hot and humid and there are lots of venomous snakes and spiders not to mention other large mammals. Furthermore with so many species of flora and fauna, it would be impossible to know what you are even seeing without a trained guide. I would soon discover that Toti seemed to have rather a sixth sense of spotting wildlife which made the experience even better.
For the next six hours, we tramped through the remote mountainous part of Corcovado National Park (CNP) following the seven-mile El Tigre Corcovado Trail (also known as “Le Sentier Brazos”. It was absolutely amazing as we did not see another soul the entire time we were there. Apparently, in the more popular parts of the park you usually see a lot of people and are rarely alone. Yet thankfully the park limits the number of daily guests for conservation thus hiking in CNP is nothing like it is in American parks.
We saw an incredible amount of wildlife ranging from a pair of nesting scarlet macaws, to a troupe of monkeys playing overhead while we ate lunch, to the surprise encounter with a herd of “chancho de monte or sainos” (collared peccary) whose strong musky odor was smelled before we saw them. We also lucked out by seeing a family of coatimundis rather nearby in the trees.
Around noon we rested for lunch under a canopy of trees and watched the spider monkeys high above us. I had to pinch myself to believe it was real. It was a pretty spectacular feeling and we had the entire jungle to ourselves.
Finally a clearing in the jungle. This is where we ate lunch and watched the monkeys play high above us in the trees.
I was delighted to have a delicious, hot meal wrapped in a banana leaf of rice and beans and garlic chicken. The still cold pineapple juice was amazingly refreshing and I can still taste its sweet tang on my tongue.
Perhaps the highlight of the hike was when we encountered a pack of Sainos (Collared Peccary) . We were walking along the trail chatting away when Toti gave us the sign to be quiet and tiptoe slowly without making much sound. We followed his lead and then waited behind him in deep anticipation.
Following Toti as he tracked animals.
Toti gesturing for us to follow slowly and quietly.
Toti was amazingly knowledgable and had a sixth sense for finding wildlife. I never heard the noises but of course he did and if we missed seeing what it was Toti knew the animal based on its sound or smell. He also spotted a pair of fresh puma tracks in the mud as well as fresh tapir tracks which meant these animals were somewhere around but we never saw them.
Toti spotting animal tracks
These tracks look quite large and fresh which made me a bit nervous
Toti pointing out a termite mound
I often wondered what was lurking in the depth of the jungle? A jaguar, an ocelot, a Tapir, or a magical sloth?
Towards the end of the hike we saw three sloths which is really rare and almost a strange coincidence as I had just said how bad I wanted to see a sloth and Eytan literally looked up in a tree and saw a mother and baby sloth. It was pretty amazing. They were all at least forty feet up in the tree so I couldn’t get a picture of them. Toti told us the most dangerous part of being a sloth was having to come down the tree to defecate. That was when a lot of them got eaten by pumas or other animals since it takes them so long to get back up the tree.
As we were reaching the end of the trail, we discovered the bones of a sloth that most likely died a month ago in the aftermath of the hurricane. Tito said that it rained for 17 days straight and tons of wildlife died in the Osa Peninsula. Here are some photos of Toti re-assembling the sloth.
Towards the end of the hike, I felt sad that our fantastic adventure had drawn to a close. Toti proved to be just as warm and delightful as Xiña. His love and passion of the jungle was infectious.
Me and Toti
By three o’clock we had reached our car parked in Dos Brazos de Tigre. I was exhausted by invigorated by such a magical day in paradise. Little did I know I was in for an amazing surprise. Stay tuned.
I am going through difficult times; timing in receipt of this blog post seeming coincide with troubles that I am having with some persons. Life is challenge for some more than others by way of ethnic group and origin; yet, always it is the lighter that seem to shine light on plight of those seeming less fortunate when they are not. At one time, the world was flat and one platelet…that got scattered about with erosion or global warming etc.
I knew of an historical minded person who I typed for many years and he did visit Costa Rica and say that it is beautiful place; he has since passed on; and coincidentally, I was someplace for an appointment at a hair salon where one of the young women working there is from Costa Rica whose name is Nadju; the salon did not open because of the storm ; yet none thought to phone me and say they would not open the store for appointments or follow up with me after the fact. I did spend part of the time waiting at a tax place: Liberty Tax, is next door to this hair salon but the owner or woman there did not know the store’s owner etc. no matter how close their store/shop is next to them; she knew the one on the other side of her. Proximity is sparse as in rarity. My deceased friend, also knew a woman name Liberty; and so another coincidence in the tax store being next door where this Costa Rican girl works for years and years.
in quoting of this blogger: leaving behind a shadow of me; I would rather not but a righting of what has been wrongly done to me for years and years. Wrong milieu for this.
I hope things get better for you. Sending light and hope your way!
You send many fine epostcards to many people, thank you for mine.
Thank you!
That’s why locals come in pretty handy. Toti seems one hugely knowledgeable man.
Great experience for you spotting a large number of wildlife species!
Yes I always prefer to travel with local guides. You learn so much not only about the place but also about the culture too. Toti was a wonderful guide! Thanks for commenting!
Nicole your posts always transport me to a world of wonder. So beautiful.
Oh thank you Miriam. I feel like I put so much time and effort in them so am always glad when people not only read them but enjoy them! 🙂
I can tell how much you put into your posts and they truly do inspire me. Thank you.
Oh thanks for reading them Miriam!
Wow Nicole between the videos and slide show I felt like I was hiking with you in this amazing place. Well I’m a lot colder of course. 🙂 Was that a puma that when running across in the video?
That is great to hear Sue! In the video it is a collared peccary. We found a herd of them. They made such interesting noises and the smell was really bad.
What an awesome adventure!!
Thanks Amy! I’m looking forward to reading more about your trip to Thailand. I’ve wanted to go there for a very long time. 🙂
I waited years to visit Thailand, wish I had gone sooner. 🙂 We use BKK as a base and took a few day trip. Next time we may stay in different places, like Pattaya Beach, Chiang Mai (beautiful!), and a couple of national parks. 🙂
I’m really enjoying your posts Amy. I hope to get to Thailand someday not too far away. My aunt is from Chiang Mai so would really like to see it.
How wonderful! Chiang Mai is beautiful, I plan to visit and stay there for 3, 4 day next time. 🙂
Wow! I just love your photos and being transported into a different world. The coatimundis, macaw, and plants…what an experience!
Thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed. Yes it is another world. One so absolutely different than mine at home. 🙂
ASTOUNDING. I am fresh out of adjectives to describe how beautiful and wonderful and transcendent your post was! Your writing is superb (you somehow describe everything in rich detail in just a few words) and your gorgeous photos really bring your stories to life. What a privilege it has been to follow along on your journey! And how lucky you are to have seen not one sloth, but three in the wild — plus an ex-sloth, may its furry little soul rest in peace. 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to write this.
Oh you are so incredibly kind! I’m loving all your praise as I put a lot of time into my posts and sometimes I wonder if anyone reads them. So thank you so much! It was a really special day. The whole trip was pretty magical. I guess because it was so different and so out of the norm. That is what I love about traveling and especially when you go off the beaten path. 🙂
“Different from the norm”?! Yes, yes … I think you could say your travels are DEFINITELY different from the norm — in a most wonderful way! I’m glad my comments provide a bit of encouragement to please keep writing. You are a wonderful ambassador for the people and places you’re encountering.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Wonderful photo galleries you have there, Nicole. I especially like the intense gaze of that adult Capuchin monkey. What an experience! 🙂 :0
Thank you Jo! It was such a great trip!
I so want to go to the Osa Peninsula. Thanks so much for taking me there Nicole. I could also hear and smell the sights of the jungle. What an amazing experience!
Thanks LuAnn! It is a special place and very affordable too once you get there.