Casa Orquideas and Rio Rincon on the Osa Peninsula
During the night we entered Costa Rican waters and cleared customs at Golfito. Our goal today was a wonderful botanical gardens and a winding river for kayaking, hiking and Zodiac cruising. The calm waters behind the Osa Peninsula and a bright blue sky welcomed us.
During breakfast we anchored off the beach at Casa Orquideas, a garden developed and owned by Trudy and Ron McAllister. Ashore, the McAllisters welcomed us and told us how they got to this beautiful part of the world. We soon split into smaller groups to explore the wonders of their enterprise. A shout went up as one of our better spotters saw a king vulture soaring overhead. From then on it was a steady parade of lovely sights. We found tent bats under a folded palm frond (see picture). We saw the Talipot palm, which we was seen when crossing the Gaillard Cut in the Panama Canal. There, two trees had been in full blossom, purportedly the largest inflorescence of any plant in the world. It takes the better part of a century for the tree to blossom and then it does it only once. The McAllister’s Talipot is only 25 years old and still a youngster. Continuing on our walk, we found cacao, lemon grass, orchids, Pride of Barbados, heliconias and a never-ending parade of floral designs. It was a fantastic morning that ended with almost everyone swimming off the stern in crystal clear waters.
After repositioning over lunch, we anchored off Rio Rincon. Here by foot, by kayak and by Zodiac we headed up the river, all merging at a cantina for refreshing drinks. We saw sloths, nesting flycatchers, white-throated capuchins, keel-billed toucans and fiery-billed aracaris. But the sighting of the afternoon was a brilliant turquoise cotinga. Even the name, cotinga, rolled off the tongue in a lovely way.
Back aboard the Sea Voyager we enjoyed a refreshing shower, drinks in the lounge and a special Costa Rican dinner. It would have been hard to imagine a better day.
During the night we entered Costa Rican waters and cleared customs at Golfito. Our goal today was a wonderful botanical gardens and a winding river for kayaking, hiking and Zodiac cruising. The calm waters behind the Osa Peninsula and a bright blue sky welcomed us.
During breakfast we anchored off the beach at Casa Orquideas, a garden developed and owned by Trudy and Ron McAllister. Ashore, the McAllisters welcomed us and told us how they got to this beautiful part of the world. We soon split into smaller groups to explore the wonders of their enterprise. A shout went up as one of our better spotters saw a king vulture soaring overhead. From then on it was a steady parade of lovely sights. We found tent bats under a folded palm frond (see picture). We saw the Talipot palm, which we was seen when crossing the Gaillard Cut in the Panama Canal. There, two trees had been in full blossom, purportedly the largest inflorescence of any plant in the world. It takes the better part of a century for the tree to blossom and then it does it only once. The McAllister’s Talipot is only 25 years old and still a youngster. Continuing on our walk, we found cacao, lemon grass, orchids, Pride of Barbados, heliconias and a never-ending parade of floral designs. It was a fantastic morning that ended with almost everyone swimming off the stern in crystal clear waters.
After repositioning over lunch, we anchored off Rio Rincon. Here by foot, by kayak and by Zodiac we headed up the river, all merging at a cantina for refreshing drinks. We saw sloths, nesting flycatchers, white-throated capuchins, keel-billed toucans and fiery-billed aracaris. But the sighting of the afternoon was a brilliant turquoise cotinga. Even the name, cotinga, rolled off the tongue in a lovely way.
Back aboard the Sea Voyager we enjoyed a refreshing shower, drinks in the lounge and a special Costa Rican dinner. It would have been hard to imagine a better day.
