July 1, 1999

We headed to the Corcovado National Park today. It's Costa Rica's most remote and undisturbed trek of rainforest that covered most of the Osa Peninsula. It rained on and off lightly on the way there and we had to land in another sandy beach right to the side of the ranger station. Another couple from Germany arrived last night and joined us on this trip. We had to cross this small fast moving stream to reach the station and just as we were crossing the stream, it started pouring.

Most of us got under the big open-aired shelter without getting too wet, but once we were in there, it started pouring sheets of rain. A few people scrambled out of the rainforest with tripods and telephoto zoom lens cameras in tow and rushed for the shelter. There were about 6 other people from another tour group there and they were completely drenched in water. We waited for a few hours and it finally let up to a light drizzle. We headed into the park along a trail and stayed pretty close to the shoreline. I spotted 2 different troops of white-faced monkeys and a few Coti Mundies but nothing else. The German couple had bright red umbrellas open along the forest trail, which I thought was a rather amusing scene to observe. Their umbrellas frequently got tangled by the low hanging branches and vine.

I must say I was disappointed with the hike because we stayed so close to the shoreline and I felt a bit rushed. I was able to catch another blue-clawed shrimp in a stream and a small brown tree frog. We came back along the beach after a few hours and ate lunch under the shelter. It stared raining again but not too hard. Everybody else decided to stay under the shelter because of the rain except for me - I hiked along a trail that started at the rear of the ranger station and moved through some very dangerous muddy trails before ended up at a small waterfall. There were not that many mosquitoes surprisingly, and I was more than happy not having to spray myself with DEET.

I came back after about an hour and we headed back to the bio station again. I know I will have to go back there one day and spend more time exploring the rainforest.

After getting back to the bio station, it cleared up considerably so I took another muddy hike toward another waterfall a bit further into the jungle behind the bio station. The hike was very pleasant with damp earthy jungle smell that I loved so much. The trail to the waterfall was more dangerous than the one in Corcovado but I managed to reach it without breaking anything. On the way back, I decided to take a wide trail that heads out to the sea first so I could come back along the beach.

While on that trail, I heard the cries of the holler monkey echoing through the forest. It was a really cool experience and eerie at the same time. At one section of the trail, I was bombarded with pieces of figs and when I looked up, I saw a flock of Scarlet Macaws feeding high above. They started squawking noisily at each other and I observed them for a long while before heading out to the beach and walking back to the station. On the station grounds, a small kinkaju-like mammal was in the coconut trees, napping, so I woke him up and snapped a sleepy picture of him.

It's been a lovely stay in the Osa Peninsula and I wished I didn't have to leave so soon.