Today was a great day on our eco adventure. It started with a wake-up knock on our door at 5am. We had breakfast at 5:30 and left on a boat to visit Corcovado National Park at 6:00. It took over an hour to get there and when we entered swapped our flip-flops for tennis shoes and started on our 5 hour hike. Before even paying the park fees and officially entering the park trailhead we saw some pretty birds, lizards, a sloth, and huge ficus trees. There are a ton of pictures to upload and I may not be able to get them all up today because it takes quite a while with the internet here. When you look at the pictures you’ll see some really fantastic extremely close shots. Those were taken by our little digital camera looking through our guide’s telescope. Most of the other pictures were taken on the new Nikon with the 200 zoom, but it still doesn’t look like we got that close. I just have to say, National Geographic photographers make it look easy. Whatever they’re getting paid they should probably be getting more. It’s tough work being in the heat, listening and looking for animal sounds and movements and maybe catching a glimpse after several hours, maybe not.
A few facts about where we were today: 1. It is one of the most biologically dense places on earth, but the animals are still no dummies. It was tough to spot them. 2. It makes up for 3.5% of the world’s diversity of species. 3. It is estimated that only 10% of Costa Rica’s visitors see a tapir (it’s Costa Rica’s most endangered species). We did see one resting today and even though they’re nocturnal it’s still a treat to see one. The females get up to 800 pounds and the guide said if she had stood up her back would probably come to our waists. For some more information about Corcovado, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corcovado_National_Park
We also caught glimpses of all 4 types of monkeys found in Costa Rica, some better than others. Wilds pigs too. I wish we had seen a croc and an anteater, but maybe next time. Tomorrow we start our three days of diving. It should be a lot of fun. We heard that whales and stingrays are migrating right now so we might see some of those. And for those of you worried about our first time diving out on our own (oh wait, that was us)… we’ll actually be with a guide the whole time. Nice to know!
As for my flip-flops that I left with everybody else’s on the beach when we first arrived, they vanished by the time we returned. Nobody goes in and out of there except the guys that transport the supplies and a few other tourists so the guide said he’d check with the ranger tomorrow, but I’m sure they won’t show up. I guess some Costa Rican wanted some stinky wet flip-flops. My only options were to keep wearing my tennis shoes the entire trip, or sacrifice good judgment. We walked down the beach to the local market when we got back and below you’ll see a picture of my purchase. Oh well, what can you do?
2 comments:
What a great adventure! You'll save the price of your new camera by what you won't spend in film and developing. . . Looking out the window at leafless Kansas, it's hard to imagine what you are describing. . . We're glad for a snorkel guide, too. . . Good thing your flat friends weren't wearing flip-flops. . . Looking forward to your next entry. - Tom - PS: We were at seventy-eight degrees yesterday and low humidity.
Um . . . are those crocs?
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