The tide was just dropping, and the waves were quite strong
as they crashed on to the rocks and sand.
We searched for the sloths but there was no sign of them in
their favourite trees, they must have moved on.
Leaving the beach we took one more look back through the trees. This had been a lovely location, having easy
access to the beach being wonderful.
The journey today would be around three and a half hours and
we would be dropped off in Puerto Jimenez, where we would transfer to a 4 x 4
to take us to Lapa Rios at the tip of the Osa Peninsula. Lapa in Spanish means “macaw”, and “rios”
river, so literally “river of macaws”.
The Scarlet Macaw is also the symbol for the property. This would take us close to the Corcovado
National Park and the area is considered to be one of the most biodiverse in
the world for its relative size.
Our journey took us along the main route to Panama, and for
Costa Rica roads it was quite fast.
After crossingthe Rio Grande at Palma Norte, we turned off the main
highway, and headed out on to the Osa Peninsula. To the north of us was the Gulfo Dulce, and
to our south the mountains and rain forest of Corcovado.
Puerto Jimenez is the main town on the peninsula and driving
through the streets there were all the normal shops and facilities. Our drop off was at the Lapa Rios office at
the airport, or rather an air strip for light aircraft. We transferred our bags and ourselves to a 4
x 4 taxi, and headed along a very bumpy road.
We crossed several rivers and streams, as well as fording a couple
too. Finally we climbed a steep hill
into Lapa Rios.
The property has a main restaurant and bar area, and then
from there paths lead to individual bungalows that look out over the ocean or
have a rain forest view. Fortunately, we
had an ocean view, and it was quite spectacular.
As we settled in a Yellow-throated Toucan appeared in the
Cercropia tree just off of our deck.
Quickly followed by a Red-crowned Woodpecker.
And then a female Golden-naped Woodpecker, this place was
going to be special.
As always when arriving at a new property we had to get our
bearings, so we decided to walk around.
One or two of the trails were blocked off, some by plastic tape, and
others by huge spider’s webs and a resident Golden Orb Spider.
First stop was the bar, and then we took the drinks up a set
of stairs to an observation deck. This
looked out across the ocean, and as I stood their sipping my beer I noticed a
puff of white smoke on the surface of the water. I waited and there it was again; the
unmistakable blow of a whale and it was joined by a couple of other blows.
Although a considerable distance a way it was quite clear
these were Humpback Whales, from the size of the blows at least a mother and
young whale, and the others could be males that are looking to mate. I counted at least five individual blows.
At this time of year the Humpback females bring their calves
here to suckle in the calm and warm waters.
The Gulfo Dulce is perfect, but it also attracts in the males with one
thing on their minds, sex.
The males are trying to separate the female from the calf in
an attempt to mate, and more than one will engage in fights for that
right. This puts the calf at risk, and
in certain situations the males may even look to kill the calf, as then the
female would become more receptive. We
watched as the blows continued very close together, and decided then that we
would go out whale watching while here.
Leaving the observation deck we decided to head back to the
room. On the way we past one of the
butterflies I had seen around Quepos the last few days. I was still no wiser on identifying it
unfortunately.
As we approached our bungalow, we were stopped by a member
of staff who signalled for us to follow him.
We walked between the bungalows, and he pointed up into the same tree we
has seen the Toucan in earlier, and there at the top was a Three-toed
Sloth. The view from there was not too
good, but we were allowed to go into the bungalow next door to us that was
closed, and from here we had great views.
It was moving slowly through the branches, trying to find a
section with the most suitable eating leaves.
Moving back to our bungalow, we could now see the sloth
quite clearly
Once again, it seems that it is hard to keep the eyes open
all the time.
Here sun bathing!
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the deck, Helen
reading while I just watched, there was a lot going on. The Cicadas calling from all around us. They are hard to find, but one flew on to the
tree in front of us and started to sing.
Scarlet Macaws could be heard calling from the trees below
and on each side of us. Every so often
pairs would fly across.
Mostly below us, and out over the sea
But every so often they would fly past at eye level. The trick was to know when this was about to
happen.
The Cercropia tree was very much the source of attraction, a
Blue Dacis, this time a female, unmistakeable with the green body and blue
head.
Later in the afternoon as it moved towards sunset, Red-lored
Parrots would fly past.
One appearing on a Bamboo branch above the bungalow.
I was also watching the sea, and again there was the
familiar puff of smoke once again. This
time there was not the number of whales, this was just the female and calf, the
large blow followed by a smaller one, and then the arching of the back as the
female dived showing the characteristic dorsal fin. Not bad from your own deck!
As is the case in tropical locations sunset comes fast once
you reach 5.00pm. There had not been any
rain today, and the sky was relatively clear, although to the north across the
Gulfo Dulce, there were significant cloud formations above the mountains.
As we watched the cloud formations changed along with the
colours in the sky.
A lovely panorama
And then the colours start to appear
Tomorrow would be a full day here, and I was looking forward
to it, an early start would take us out birding, but this seems like the place
where anything could just turn up
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