Osa Peninsula

This week mom and I went down to the famed Osa Peninsula. Its a big Peninsula in the south of Costa Rica that sticks out into the Pacific Ocean and, according to National Geographic, one of the most bio diverse areas in the world.

Getting there is no easy task (especially from Monteverde). We had to bus to San Jose, spend the night and catch an early flight there. Luckily in San Jose we stopped at a book store (since I've read through almost all my books I brought) and got Harry Potter Y El Misterio del Principe--Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in SPANISH! It is great fun to read. Since I know in advance everything that happens, I can figure out all the vocabulary I don't already know. (I have already learned some words that I have heard in real conversation...super cool). I can tell its a really good exercise for my Spanish.

The flight to Osa is in this itty bitty 18-seater plane with huge windows. It wasn't nearly as turbulent as we expected. The 38min flight was definitely worth it because even though it was loads more expensive than land transportation we save a lot of time/energy. Land transport would have required some 8 hour bus ride, a night in some town, and a turbulent morning boat...in each direction!

We were staying in Drake Bay (also known as Agujitas). A small village that consisted of a dirt road with a Pulperia a multipurpose Restaurant (that also did laundry and sold ice cream), a few houses, a few more cabinas, and an elementary school. That afternoon mom and I walked along this trail that parallels the shore. We had to cross this rickety foot bridge and on it we noticed a bunch of White face Cappuchin monkeys swinging, eating and playing. Most were on the opposite side of the River but one was still in a tree on our side. It was clear that he wanted to get across via the bridge but was scared because we were standing there. So we sat down and he crossed right above us.

On Wednesday we woke up early for our tour of Corcovado National Park. It takes over an hour by boat to reach La Sirena Ranger station which is located in the center of the park. With a guide we spent all morning slowly walking along the trails. Rumor had it that this place was burgeoning with animals at every step. Unfortunately Corcovado had not seen rain in over 2 months so the whole forest was very dry and hot and thus the animals were conserving their activity. We did see: Spider monkeys, Kuwati, giant grass hoppers, red macaws, wild turkeys, currasow, and (this was the most exciting) a Tapir. The tapir was just resting in the shade of some dead brambles, so we couldn't really see its face but we had seen some fresh footprints (they are huge) and I really wanted to see the actual guy, and we finally did! We evidently just missed seeing a Puma mom and her two cubs because as we were getting back on a boat to leave we ran into another group that said the Pumas were walking right in front of them for about 15 minutes!

Instead of going back to town we had the boat drop us off at Playa San Josecitos. This gorgeous and tranquil little beach. Though mom and I didn't have our bathing suits we were so hot and sweaty and the water was so clear and calm we had to take a dip in our ropa interior. We collected a few more shells for the jewelery business, messed around with some hermit crabs (of every shape and size that populate every beach), and then walked the 6 miles back. In
the heat of the afternoon the walk felt really long, though it was remarkable gorgeous half through forest half along the sandy beaches. It was also nice to walk with some speed since all the hiking we do in the forest is slow and for the sake of animal sightings. We got ice cream as soon as we got back and the sweet cold dessert has never tasted so good.



Thursday we went snorkeling in Isla de Cano. On the boat ride over to the Island we saw some Dolphins playing. The morning snorkeling was sort of lame. The water wasn't too clear and the waves sort of choppy, and a few people who were with us got stung by some jellyfish. Even while I was in the water I began to get a little sea sick. So we headed back to shore for a lunch break and to let the tide go down some more. Mom was feeling too ill to get back on the boat to do more snorkeling after lunch, but I went and it was a lot better. The water was clearer, we were swimming over some coral reefs and I got to see tons of Parrot fish, some puffer fish, clown fish, and some other tropically iridescence fish. I even saw a small shark!



Our flight left at noon on Friday, but since we had been waking up before six (to the cacophony of parrots and other birds at dawn), we had quite a bit of time to do more stuff on Friday. We went with Don Jorge and Martin on a frog hike. On the only originally preserved land left in the Drake Bay area mom and I, equipped with knee-high rubber boots hiked along the river with our two guides. We got to see 3 different poison dart frogs that are SOOO cute! They are about the size of your pinky finger nail and are impossible to spot by the untrained eye. But these guys were experts and we saw a whole bunch. The frogs get their name because some indigenous tribes used to touch the tips of their arrows to the frogs skin to pick up some poison to hunt. The poison is a neurotoxin that paralyzes your muscles if it comes in contact with your blood. The frogs get their toxicity from eating ants, and it turns out if you raise these frogs in captivity and feed them other insects, they will loose their poison. We also got to watch a three-toed sloth (we have only seen 2-toed ones up until now) climb around, scratch himself and clean his nails.

The rest of the day was just a long series of well-timed transportation. From taxi to airplane to taxi to bus all the way back to Monteverde. Monteverde welcomed us with even worse winds and rain. Abba said the weather had been bad all week and he was definitely glad to see us back home.

P.S. True to the Lonely Planet's Danger's and Annoyances caution about Osa and our care to wear long pants, mom and I brought home at least 10 ticks!