Corcovado National Park

4:30am. That's the time we had to wake up this morning.

We headed to Corcovado National Park, "the most biologically diverse place on the planet" as National Geographic calls it. We took an hour boat ride out to the park. The boat would slam down on the waves and lucky us, dad and I got to ride up front. On our way out, we saw false killer whales, which are actually a part of the dolphin family. They came up very close to the boat and they were traveling. It was lovely seeing them out in their true home instead of in a zoo.

False Killer Whales

When we arrived at the park, we walked across the rocky bottom and headed to the beach. We made sure to arrive early so we could see more wildlife. Later on in the day, more groups come to the park and scare away the animals. We headed right on the trail and soon into our hike, we saw a type of turkey, a curaçao, a male and a female. They walked right across the path and didn't seem bothered by us at all!

Male Curaçao

We also saw lots of different kinds of birds (blue heron, gold-throated heron, egret, and a violaceous trogan) and a black iguana basking in the sun. On our way through the rainforest, we saw huge spiders. They were probably about 3 inches long and extremely thick, bigger than any spider I had ever seen before. Their web is so strong that when our guide, Rolando, pushed on the web, it wouldn't break.

A bit later, we saw a group of peccary, wild pigs. They were following each other through the forest, probably headed towards the river. The trees in this park were enormous and healthy. Everything was so lush and alive, and felt so untouched. It was wonderful.

We headed out to the beach and walked along there. Hundreds of hermit crabs fled from us to safety. We also saw the elusive tapir tracks, which is the largest land mammal in Central America, getting to be up to 800 pounds. However, they are nocturnal so we didn't think we would see one. As we got towards one of the rivers in the park, we spotted a crocodile and a bull shark in the water, both on their way to the other river.

Crocodile Hiding

We headed back in towards the jungle and spotted an anteater up in the tree eating... well ants... and termites! Rolando could tell there was an anteater nearby because of the smell, which to me smelled like manure, while others thought it smelled sweeter. Agree to disagree. But they were wrong.

As we headed down the path, a camper up ahead quietly waved us over, mouthing that he had spotted a tapir walking through the jungle! As we slowly crept up, we saw the huge mammal walking through the jungle with fresh mud on it's back. The fact that we were able to not only spot it, but spot it awake in the daytime was quite remarkable. It also didn't seem to care we were there. We followed it for a while and one of the men on our tour with us, Marty, was able to come within 10 or 15 feet of the creature.

Tapir

We spotted some lovely birds and three species of monkeys on our hike: white-faced monkeys, spider monkeys, and squirrel monkeys, and we could hear the howler monkeys. Ironic, I know. We had lunch at the main ranger station and then headed back towards the boat.

Once we arrived back, Rolando told us that we had to quickly get in the boat because the tide had completely come in and the waves were strong. Lucky for dad and I, we got the front again, and this time, we paid the consequences. Right as we were about to take off, dad turned around to take a picture and Rolando yelled, "LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT!" I turn around just in time to see a massive wave headed straight towards the boat. It crashed up against the side and flowed into the boat, drenching us. "Sir, this is not the time to be taking pictures!" I sternly told dad to put his camera away. Once we got off the beach, the water was much calmer. Still a bit bumpy, but nothing compared to what we had just experienced.












When we arrived back at the shore near our hotel, right as we were about to get off the boat, we were greeted by yet another huge wave, right as we had just gotten dry. All in all, the day was definitely a success. We arrived back at 1:30 and took it easy the rest of the day.

It is so calm and peaceful here. I love sitting at the bar and talking to the bartender, talking to the other guests about their adventures, their work, their lives back home. The men who work at the hotel would love for me to come back and volunteer in Drake Bay. The other day, I was telling them about how I was volunteering in San Jose, and they responded, "you know, we need a volunteer here..." So tempted to take them up on the offer.


Tomorrow, dad and I have horseback riding and a canopy tour (which includes zip lining) to look forward to! Luckily, it's an 8:30 departure so we have a bit more time to sleep. So sad our adventure in Drake Bay is almost over, I've fallen in love with the area. I can't wait to come back.