Drake Bay and Corcovado National Park
Early in morning we awoke anchored at Drake Bay, in the Southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This is one of the many areas named after the famous Francis Drake, Sir Francis for the British, simply a pirate for the Spanish. Supposedly he used to stop occasionally to rest on these calm waters after his oceanic forays in the area.
After spending a very restful and peaceful night in these protected and calm waters, we awoke and setup our gear for our early morning activities.
The proposal today was to visit the area of Caletas in the morning. Early risers had a short visit first at the very crack of dawn, followed later by a second and more extended visit after a proper breakfast. After lunch, we would set up and continue for Corcovado National Park.
So we started with a short Zodiac cruise to the nearby zone of Caletas, on the buffer zone of the Corcovado National Park. Truly a magnificent morning, we all remained in silence while navigating along this pristine and lush coast, all enjoying the lovely sunrise in a semi-cloudy sky, full of contrasting hues of orange and blue. In the distance we could see Cano Island, a small island, Cano, just by itself, in the vast ocean. Looking at it, and the clouds that are always lingering above it, I can understand why Cano Island was considered by the indigenous people that inhabited this area, a magical and sacred place.
So! In the morning, while in Caletas we enjoyed great sightings of bare throated tiger herons, the acrobatic spider monkeys, huge "V" formations of brown pelicans "Costa Rica's air force" (since there is not an army in this peaceful country), slaty- tailed trogons, red lord parrots, also we were surprised by fresh tracks of the rare baird tapir, the largest ground mammal in Costa Rica. After a delightful barbecue lunch at Caletas, we relocated to the San Pedrillo sector of Corcovado National Park for our afternoon activities. Corcovado is one the most remote areas of Costa Rica, and thereby the world. Access to this area is via the ocean or a very long hike along the beach, from the town of Agujitas.
In Corcovado, we split our group in two, and had the choice of exploring the waterfall trail or the Rio Pargo trail. Later before dusk, after the walks, we retired again to spend the night in Drake Bay, grateful after being rewarded yet again by great sights in Corcovado, with uncommon animals and birds not often seen. That is the great thing about Corcovado! We had today: cat like tayras, actually large weasels, endemic black cheeked ant tanagers, white throated shrike tanagers and the largest of all forest birds in Costa Rica, the great curassow (among other less unusual things). Another day at the office!
