Monday, March 19: Morning at the Osa Conservation Area and Caleta Beach

Our second day of hiking took us to the isolated, wild Osa Conservation Area, home to the country's largest national park, Corcovado. We chose to do the two hour "invigorating hike" into the rainforest. It started well, as we walked along a good path just above the water level. 

The thicker growth on the edge of the rainforest.

A pretty view through the palm trees. 

Angie was thrilled to offer us this view of a three-toed sloth. We found him to be a little too distant to get a good look, unfortunately.

staff photo

my photo

What we had hoped to see

We were pleased to see a scarlet macaw and some pretty flowers before turning back to begin our hike into the rainforest.

staff photo

Angie told us that the sloth eats this leaf. It has medicinal properties that sedate the sloth - thus it's slow, almost reluctant movement.

As we moved up the pathway through the rainforest we were able to see the difference from the dry forest we had visited the previous day. The growth was much heavier and diverse. The temperature was 30C with humidity at 90%. We were already starting to feel the effects. Our guides had advised bringing two bottles of water each as well as electrolytes to maintain our hydration. We needn't have worried about having to pee, as walking would use up all of our inner moisture.

The difference between roots and vines was explained.




Vines are hanging vertically from the trees.



The photos below are roots.

staff photo

These two photos, below, on the other hand, are large vines. 

Probably at least 10cm across a single vine - huge!

monkey vines

More monkey vines, which got their names
because monkeys use them as ladders.

A monkey comb, very stiff, and actually used by monkeys
to comb their hair, we're told.

These large leaves had an interesting story - which we can't remember.

Two burrows where tarantula spiders live. Even they weren't at home.

As we moved further into the rainforest, the trail became more challenging, due to tangled roots and steeper climbs. We didn't look up too often, focusing on the path instead. It was easy to place your foot under a vine.

A view of the path, crisscrossed with vines,
making it essential to keep your eyes on your feet
so as not to trip. 

Occasional handrails,
when there was a drop beside the trail

staff photo

This was really hard going.
We were pausing often for a drink.

Looking down on a small pool as we finally headed downhill.

Exhausted and happy to be done!

The "before" photo of the other group who did the 'short hike".

Greg and Cecilia: Are we there yet?

In this staff photo this group looks pretty good. They did the longer hike.

We found out later that much of that walk was along the beach, 

though they did have to change shoes a few times.

They only went about 20-30% way along the forest path.

Had we only known!

 Staff photo

And this group just did a short meander...  Staff photo

Lunch for Terry, from Fort Francis,
and his daughter, Kim, from Toronto

Angie and Erika look pretty perky!

Wating for the skiff on the beach.

Overall, it was a disappointing hike, as this is what we were expecting. It was interesting to learn about the plants and trees, but we saw so few birds and animals. We did see some leaf-cutter ants. Fascinating - but more about them in  a later post.

"The area is known for its diverse plant and animal species--a whopping 2.5% of the entire planet's biodiversity is found here--including all four of Costa Rica's monkeys, tree frogs, caimans, anteaters, scarlet macaws, coatis, and 16 different species of hummingbird."