Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
This morning we awoke in the calm waters of Golfo Dulce, one of the most unique gulfs you can find in Central America. This gulf is considered a tropical fjord, as steep hills surround it and deep hills make its underwater topography. Instead of having been carved by the constant wear of a glacier, it was formed by the interaction of the tectonic plates and local falls that made the land collapse, which allowed the ocean water in. The gulf itself is very deep, with depths of over 700 feet in certain places, but the opening to the ocean is much shallower, about 120 feet. Its name – Sweet Gulf – is due to the fact that during the rainy season (five inches of rain in one afternoon) the amount of fresh water that gets in the gulf reduces the salt concentration in the ocean waters within the gulf.
Gulfo Dulce is not only unique in its geology, but in its flora and fauna as well. Today we had a great chance to see it by, spending our morning in what can be better described as an open botanical garden called Casa Orquidea, or the house of the orchid. Immersed in the tropical rainforest, this collection of local and foreign plants made quite a remarkable net of manicured trails to spend the better part of our day.
And what a better part of the day it was! We got to see all kinds of tropical flowers and fruits from orchids, heliconias and bananas, to cocoa and lipstick trees. We also saw a very interesting fruit called “the miracle fruit”, whose miracle consists of saturating the sour and bitter taste buds and transforming these two flavors into sweet. As if fruits and flowers were not enough, we also enjoyed many of the different species of birds that came to visit the garden, like the beautiful scarlet macaws, trogons, tanagers and many other animals, including basilisk lizards, skinks and tent making bats.
After lunch, we went on a short Zodiac cruise around the edge of the gulf to get a better look at this exuberant tropical forest and some of its creatures, including a nice troop of howler monkeys.
It was and another great day in the tropics, and our last day in Costa Rica.
