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Published: February 22nd 2007
Peninsula de Osa
Information on Osa Peninsula Day 2: (continued) As we headed down the Sierpe River, we came out into Drake Bay. We headed over to the area with multiple resorts, a small town called Bahia Drake, or just Drake by the Ticos (locals). As our boat headed towards land, we noticed many small grass huts and buildings up on the hill. There are very few other resorts here, as it wasn't the easiest place to gain access. Our resort,
Aguila de Osa Inn, or Bear Eagle, was an all inclusive resort with a bar, ping pong table, hammocks, delicious meals and appetizers, and had 2 included excursion activities. Our arrival was greeted with tropical fruits and ice blended drinks. We were given the layout of the resort and some information on our activities. After what repeatedly became a very tedious climb to our room, we settled into cabin 6. As we sat in our front porch rocking chairs, our stress was washed away with the amazing "Corona Commercial" view of the bay. With tropical drinks in hand, we sat serenely looking over the water, observing the tropical birds fly by, and listening to the sounds of 20,000 cicadas chirping in the trees. This
is definitely the rain forest, I thought. After an amazing lunch, we headed out to take pictures, explore the foliage on the property, and take a quick hike to the beach. After the beach swim and a quick first aid emergency with another guest at the resort, we had a few more drinks at the bar and read our books on the porch. A relaxing dinner while meeting the other guests at the resort and we were ready to rest up for the big trip to
Corcovado National Park the next day.
Day 3: The sounds of the cicadas, ocean waves, and Nick's alarm reminded me at an early 5AM of where we were. Although we were pleasantly surprised to see 4 cups and a thermos of coffee on our balcony showing us just how accommodating Aguila de Osa was. Apart from Kwon and Nick's snoring battle, I slept pretty well that first night in the un-air conditioned cabin. It was like camping again, except for the bug bites that looked slightly odd and the fact that we didn't know where they were coming from. We had also been informed by friends about certain mosquitoes can bite and lay fly eggs
Our porch at Aguila de Osa
Great View and nice chairs. So relaxing.inside you where larva grows under your skin for weeks to only hatch later into baby flies. Needless to say, we sprayed with Off religiously and kept keen eyes on all our bites. So far, no Alien movie reenactments yet.
Corcovado National Park has been called "the most biologically intense place on Earth." This park conserves the largest primary tropical rainforest on the American Pacific coastline and one of the few remaining sizeable areas of lowland tropical rainforests in the world. This was one of our primary reasons for visiting the Osa peninsula, was to see this immense national park. Wildlife was definitely on our minds, and after a 30 minute boat ride up the coast from Drake Bay, we were hauled off onto the beach. At the second our feet hit the sand our eyes were drawn upon the thousands of hermit crabs moving around the beach in a variety of sizes from a pea to a golf ball. Near the National Park sign-in sheet, 2 giant spiders in elaborate webs greeted us on the side of the building, making me cringe a little with fear of what other types and sizes of spiders we may encounter actually
My Corona Commercial
I wish I had a Corona, but Coke will have to do. inside the rainforest.
A decent length guided hike through the rainforest provided multiple chances to see interesting wildlife, a well diverse selection of flora and fauna, and take some amazing photos. Our guide was very knowledgeable in all details of the forest and even explained the strict process of becoming a National park guide where a 90% is required on the test and no repeats are allowed after your 2nd failure. The forest is home to some 140 species of mammals including anteaters, jaguars, howler monkeys, and spider monkeys. The scarlet macaws and toucans make up just 2 of the 400 species of birds you can find in the park. After just a 2 hour hike, we saw some amazing animals, which made me regret not bringing better camera equipment. After another quick hike to a waterfall, a swim in the river not 50 feet from a small 6 ft caiman, we ate lunch back on the beach. After a nap and a swim on the beach, we headed back towards Aguila De Osa Inn for some relaxing chess, book reading, and walks around town. Appetizers before dinner was amazing with a fresh Tuna that a guest had caught
in a sport fishing excursion that afternoon. This was the freshest Sashimi I have tasted in a long time. That night we met some fellow poker enthusiasts and gathered a small group together for a game of 7-card stud. Needless to say, this was not Kwon's game, but Eric, Nick, and I managed to make a small profit.
Day 4: Caño Island or Isla Del Caño, is a small island off the coast of the Osa Peninsula. It has been established as a National Park as well, but the main attractions remain in the bay surrounding it. The island has become a very popular place for snorkeling and scuba diving with the coral beds having amazing visibility all the way down to 60 feet in spots. We organized our snorkel gear and strapped into our flippers and eagerly jumped into the warm water. The one thing I forgot to mention, was the water in Costa Rica felt like it was in the 80's. It was like warm bath water, with us wishing it to be cooler to have a more refreshing feeling. So after a few minutes in the water, the sun came out and showed us why this
was a favorite among marine lovers. The colors of the fish were amazing, swimming around beautifully, swaying coral all the way down to the sand. I've snorkeled in Hawaii many times, but this was truly amazing. Nick was taking pictures with his underwater disposable camera, so I hope to have some of those pictures posted at some point.
After a nice lunch on the beach near the ranger station, we walked around and took some more scenic beach pictures. After an hour we were ready to see some more fish and this time, in a deeper area of the waters. After the scuba guys jumped out, we proceeded to suit up for our second run. The ocean bottom was 40-60 feet in areas and were surrounded by large, colorful moving coral reefs. The scuba divers were swimming fluidly at the bottom with a large variety of fish, sharks, and turtles with their bubbles floating to the surface like a freshly poured glass of Guinness beer. This was truly amazing to see them in action and move so effortlessly at 60 feet below the surface with 6-7 foot sharks. It dawned on me that I need to get my scuba
Hike to Room
These were our stairs that we had to hike each day to get to the our room. It got easier towards the end, but remember it was very hot and humid. certification before Australia. It would be like going to the Swiss Alps and not knowing how to ski. So after I observed the 6 to 7 sharks swimming below me while humming the theme song to Jaws, I took off towards some large coral structures and just observed the many fish. Our guide had swam off to another area chasing something halfway from the top of the water. As I got closer I noticed it was a 4 foot manta ray swimming away from us at quick speeds. My first encounter with an amazing species like this outside of an aquarium and again, I didn't have an underwater camera to capture it.
Note to self: Buy Underwater Camera when Snorkeling in Exotic Foreign Countries. On our way home from the Island we got lucky enough to see dolphins and whales swimming in the waters between the Peninsula and the Island. This truly was an amazing 2 days of animals from land to sea. That night at the resort, a guide brought in a 7 inch praying mantis, a few exotic frogs, 2 large toads, pointed out a bat on the roof of the dining hall, a Basilisk on a
Bridge to Beach
This was a Bridge that we had to cross to get to the beach near Aguila de Osa. tree, and a stick bug near our room. I kept thinking to myself, "I'm camping in a zoo!" As the day ended with drinks at the dinner table, I commended Nick for finding such a great gem of a resort and also thanked the owner, Brad, for running such a resort. We headed off for our last night of sleep on the Peninsula and got ready for our long bus ride up to Punta Leona the next morning.
...next blog (Day 5-9: Punta Leona & Jaco)
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Darcy
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Jealous
Looks like a great trip cuz! I can see that you're enjoying the good life, free from the stresses of work and LA. Looking forward to swapping travel stories when u get to Australia