Introduction and first stops.

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After 2 years, the covid pandemic was slowing down. Here in Canada, with the start of school year, and the weather getting colder, cases are on the rise. Good news is that the severity of cases is rarely severe, especially if vaccinated. We then, decided to travel abroad, but not too far at this point, avoiding connection flights. From where I live, I checked the direct flights. Decision was made to return to Costa Rica, my little paradise, and concentrate on South Pacific Coast, a section of the country I visited very briefly, 16 years ago. I especially wanted to visit Osa peninsula and Corcovado national park. In this park, many rarer animals, can be seen. I stayed 6 days on Osa peninsula and wasn't deceived, but more on that later. :-)

Next stops, would be Uvita, Manuel Antonio and Carara.

This time, I didn't rent a car, and travel only by bus. With a couple of 3-4 days stays, we thought that having a car would be a waste.

This brings some little challenges and requires a bit more preparation, but is not difficult. Good point for me is that I normally am the driver when we rent a car, and can't look too much around when I drive, (!), but in the bus I can relax and look around.

My entry point in Osa is Drake Bay. There are 3 ways to arrive here: car, (not recommended in rainy season), plane and boat. I arrived by boat. Took direct bus from San Josa to Sierpe, (about 6 hours). As you drive south West on the coast, you can easily see that climate is more and more humid, and vegetation gets denser and abundant.

Arriving in Sierpe, you can see many pre-Columbian artifacts. They are stone spheres. No one is sure how exactly these stones were carved and polished. Between Palmar and Sierpe, an archaelogical site, contains the biggest concentration of these spheres, in their original astronomical alignments. No time to visit it, but it seems interesting.

The boat ride to Drake Bay is quite an experience. It takes about one hour. For two thirds of the time, you snake your way through the mangroves, having the chance to spot crocodiles and all sorts of water birds. One important point to note if you have problems with your back: try not to sit in front of the boat: when you reach the sea, the intense flapping of the boat is a bit rough for the vertebras.

Next blog, we arrive in Drake Bay.

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