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Birds, Butterflies and Coffee of Costa Rica..... and those Potholes !


Chakra

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Corcovado National Park : a slice of pristine wilderness.


For this I give "credits" :rolleyes: to the inefficiency, red tapes, bureaucracy of the park management combined with its lack of suitable road access, terrible accommodations and the huge amount of rainfall in the Osa peninsula swelling the rivers and cutting it off for several months. But if you love nature then you have to experience it.


A few years back the park authority prohibited hiking without guides. That has made it even more expensive to explore, but this is one decision that I entirely support. There are basically two ways of exploring this. Day trip : arriving by boat from the nearest town Bahia Drake. But your time is limited as the boat arrival and departure are tide dependent. Or hiking from Puerto Jimenez or Boating from Bahia Drake and then staying inside at the only available accommodation at La Sirena ranger station.


Recently a newer trail called Dos Brazos has also opened but the animals there are still quite skittish. Hunting has been prohibited for a long time in the Corcovado. Although poaching does take place but not usually near the ranger station. As a result of that the creatures have become extremely tolerant of humans, especially on the trails around Sirena.


I had to stay overnight but I did not want to do the seven hours of hike from P. Jim. So I cheated and took a 15 minute flight, reaching by mid-morning and then stayed inside for 2 nights, leaving on third ady lunch time. It was an expensive option but totally worth in my view. The flight itself was spectacular to say the least.


When I was researching I did not find too many informative reviews of La Sirena and the pictures I saw of the toilets, the cramped hot sleeping tents and the tattered foam mattresses were horrifying !! Unfortunately we could not carry our own camping gear so we had to use those. Renovations were going on for years and just couple of days before we arrived, they opened the new toilets and shower blocks. But it was so poorly constructed that the new roof had already started leaking, there was no cooking facility, just couple of tables, electric sockets and the toilets had started to overflow straightaway making them unusable.


There is only one ranger present for looking after the whole station which is a disgrace.


And the most important aspect is the guide. A guide will make or break your trip.


After extensive research I contacted several agencies. Some were prompt, some not so much. Some demanded advance payment in full ( I quickly dropped them ). Eventually I selected Surcos Tour and specifically Nito, who is reputed to be one of the best in the business. It is a family run business and his Sister Estela handled all my query. She was very prompt and everything went smoothly, we exchanged close to thousand e-mails confirming my 2 nights stay and I was very happy !!


Now, on the night before entering the park Nito came to meet us at P. Jim and we discussed the plans and he told me , " You are booked for one night". I was flabbergasted. Apparently Estela had messed up my booking and had booked for one night only, whereas I had already paid for 2 nights. They were very apologetic but I was extremely angry. The booking system is an absolute mess. Nothing can be done on-line. The authority will only take booking 30 days before the day of travel, payment by a postal order only, 30 permits are issued daily for staying and they fill up very quickly.


At this point Nito just calmly said, "Do not worry. We got one night secured. Let’s go in and then we can try and I'm hopeful we can get the second night". Because we were flying by plane and not carrying our own food so we had some flexibility with weight of food. Nito suggested getting a big watermelon and a pineapple. I was wondering about that, but later I realised how important it was when we shared those with the poor ranger. The ranger is posted there for a month and poor chap gets very little fresh supply. He gets grumpier every day. He genuinely enjoyed the fresh fruits we offered him. As there were not too many people so the second night's stay was not a problem at all. So I could not fault Nito too much.


I have written an extensive review of La Sirena , which I hope will not leave any stone unturned and please have a read here and a review of Nito as well. -_-



La Sirena ranger station



https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g309281-d309769-r427272251-Sirena_Ranger_Station-Corcovado_National_Park_Osa_Peninsula_Province_of_Puntarena.html



Surcos tours



https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g309284-d2027575-r418235496-Surcos_Tours-Puerto_Jimenez_Osa_Peninsula_Province_of_Puntarenas.html




So the bottom line is that La Sirena is not for faint hearted and my family cursed me for 3 days. But would you believe it !!! My wife actually told me she felt genuinely sad when our little plane took us away from Corcovado.


Edited by Chakra
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"( @Chakra declined my generous offer, fearing that dos comediantes en un coche might be just a tad too much for his family :D:D ) / OK, not entirely true, but very likely scenario /"

 

These Two come to my mind

 

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Ha ha ha but who will play the Ollie part?!

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@@Chakra

 

Can't wait to hear about your adventure in Corcovado. You are right that it is not for the faint of heart. I've got it on my list, but haven't leapt yet.

 

They do a fly-in day trip from Bosque del Cabo, which was so mind-boggling expensive that I didn't even pursue it. Then there is the camping option, and when I compared that to sipping wine on the deck overlooking the Pacific at sunset before a full-spread dinner at BdC, and then slipping into a comfortable bed with nice sheets and fans, I also dismissed.

 

But, I'm also thinking it won't be so difficult for me to change my mind....

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Nearly there

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I have decided to stay at Puerto Jimenez the night before flying into La Sirena.

Puerto Jimenez is a nice small town with 2 banks, post office, gas station, park office and the supermarket. Perfect place to start your adventure.

We stayed in a small place called Cabinas Tropicales. For $70 it was not a bad place at all with nice big air conditioned rooms, good en-suite showers , a small garden and a communal kitchen and just 5 minutes from the airstrip. The owner is captain Mark Corn who is a well known fisherman and also organises trips to Corcovado. He was a nice gentleman to chat about the changes which were taking place in CR. Unfortunately he had suffered a significant cut to his heel recently from an accident, so he was bedridden and unable to take me around P. Jim, but I only had an afternoon, so we just relaxed.

In the evening Nito came, we had long discussions about planning and then off we went to the BM supermarket to get some food supply. You can order food at Sirena in advance, but $25 a meal it was not cheap and the food did not look very appetising to us. In fact in such high heat and humidity I actualy did not feel like eating too much. We bought some bread, sandwich filler, 2 minute noodles, soup, granola bars, biscuits and some fruits including that big watermelon and the pineapple, later used to appease the ranger. No cooking facility. All you get is boliled water.

Most important is drinking water, which previously either you carried on your back on the hike ( careful of the weight) or bought from the ranger. Thankfully now they have opened a water fountain where you can fill up your bottles and the water is supposedly safe. I did take the precaution of purifying the water with Iodine tablets; although I did see some folks drinking straight from the tap. Once by mistake I opened the lid of the communal kettle and saw practically the whole jungle floating inside. But I guess as the water was getting boiled repeatedly so the bugs did not stand any chance !

The day trippers who came from the very posh resorts of Bahia Drake by boat, had sumptious lunch packed for them by the resort staff. So while they enjoyed their smoked fish and prawn with chilled wine, I munched on my granola bar and drank the stinking iodinated water.

But Sirena does give one a very communal feeling, especially in the evening where everyone sits in the small terrace, some people even managed to find a footbal and start a game. We exchanged stories and photos, with broken Spanish and English. Most of the campers were from Europe, not many from North America.

I became known as the guy with the Big Lens !! Once one of the guides spotted a rare bird and just grabbed my camera and ran towards the bird, while I ran after him. Must be a rare bird for him to get excited !! I once again had no clue.

Some of the guides were excellent photographers as well and I genuinely liked the fact they were helping each other. Several times I saw writings on the trail with arrow pointing towards. Once it said "Oso" with an arrow. Oso means bear or sloth. We looked for it but could not locate it. Nito's pride was pricked and after good ten minutes he eventually spotted the sloth high up. I was amazed at the spotting ability of the original guide.

Wildlife crosses the clearing in front all the time. The Tapir also came out in the night. I could see nightjars easily. I believe recently someone saw a puma crossing the open.

A sound sleep is practically impossible as lots of people are up by 4 am and unfortunately I was stuck between two heavy snorers. Please bring ear-plugs !!

Anyway, enough scaring. Now back to some photos.

So 7 am in the morning we proceeded to the "Airport" carrying our handbags for our pre flight security and check in. The plane was a six-seater cessna and the pilot was a very nice man who has been flying in this area for nearly twenty years. The flying rule is very simple. If you can see then you fly, if you cannot then you do not and the Pilot has the final say, even if you are stuck and running out of ration. Nito told me stories how once he got stuck in the interior with several travellers because of storm and the pilot kept on ferrying them out 5 at a time, when ever a small gap appeared in the cloud cover. It usually takes 15-20 minutes to reach p. Jim.

As we were getting ready to board two lovely Scarlet Macaws came and sat on the branches giving me a good chance to take pics. Nice begining to our trip, I hoped !

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Edited by Chakra
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Once upon a time in the sun kissed shores of Costa Rica where the lush green rainforest tumbled down into the arms of the swirling blue foamy waves of Pacifico.



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The pre-flight instructions



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The Co-Pilot



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The Broccoli salad of Primary Rainforest



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Approaching the ocean



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The landing strip



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We have landed



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The Return Flight. I left my heart in Corcovado, hidden under one of those stinking mattresses -_- -_- -_-



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Well , you have been hearing a lot about Sirena. Here are some photographic proofs to back my cliams up. Make up your own mind. Sadly this is not a 4D presentation so I can't add the smell and snoring !!

 

The meeting point : the Terrace. Not many chairs or tables so we just sat on the floor

 

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The Kitchen ! And the charging points as well

 

 

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Edited by Chakra
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I am so glad that 2 days before we arrived they had opened the new shower and toliet block which made life so much better.

 

This was the old washing area

 

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New shoe washing and drinking area

 

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The new ablution block

 

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Coffee : The Life Blood of Latin America. I was wondering where would I get my coffee in Corcovado. But Nito reassured me and took me to this Coffee Station.

Apparently the filter used was Nito's old sock and the older it got, the better was the flavour of the coffee filtered. Nito told me that different rivers had different flavours and he could tell just from sipping his coffee if his socks had recently crossed Rio Sirena or Rio Rincon or Rio Osa :P :P

 

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Now let's have a look at the topography, trails and some scenes of Corcovado before we start our hikes



Of course it all starts with Nito enjoying his gallo pinto



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Nito leading the pack. Light is very poor




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From Here to Eternity





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Crossing a river at very low tide




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The typical scene



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Rio Sirena river-mouth




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30938448592_f267786b40_b.jpgRio Sirena





Hike towards Karate on the Beach



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Gentleman Nito helping my wife out




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The heavy camera and lens were proving to be a pain in the backside, especially when looking for frogs




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Nito looking out for crocks and sharks




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One happy camper



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The Pacifico




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Apocalypto, one of the best movies I've ever seen, opens with a tense sequence of a group of Aztec hunters from 15th Century stealthily moving and then all of a sudden a big beast breaks out of the dense jungle and runs incredibly fast.
The chase begins and after a long chase eventually they kill it with a lot of cunning.

It was a Baird's Tapir, one of the most bizarre looking animals in the world, a mishmash of a rat, a pig, an elephant and a horse !
I was introduced to South America in my childhood not by any scholarly article but by the comics of Tintin.
Sweet memories of eagerly waiting for the next episode in the magazine Anandamela, telling the story of Prisoner of the Sun where Captain "Ten Thousands Bilious Blistering Barnacles" Haddock was knocked over by a tapir.
Since that day I had wished to meet a tapir in person, of course in a more civilised way than Haddock did !
But this iconic animal, which once roamed the whole of Central and South America is now in the verge of extinction.
A road built through Guatemala, continuous hunting to poach and total destruction of its habitat for cattle farming to feed us McDonald's Big Mac, have Tapirs fighting for survival.
Then I came to know of Parque Nacional Corcovado, one of the Last Bastions of Baird's Tapir.

At present there are possibly 5000 Baird's Tapir left in the whole world and about 1000 of them live in Costa Rica.
Being a shy nocturnal animal Baird's tapir is not easy to spot but with luck one can see it in Corcovado as hunting has been banned for last 40 years, there are no roads there and the Tapirs are slowly recovering.

But you still need a good guide to find the Tapir for you and I had Nito, one of the best guides in the world to help me out. He actually knows the few Tapirs of Corcovado personally and they trust him like their brother : The Tapir Whisperer !

Sujata had no clue about tapir and when Nito eventually found one her response was, "What is that?"
It was indeed a weird animal and it had toes but not hooves like other herbivores. It has a weird trunk which it uses as a snorkel when swimming.
The Tapir reached out with his long prehensile nose to eat the juicy top shoots while I tried to take some photos. It was very difficult to get a clear shot in dense foliage but I'll never complain about that.
At least I did not have the fate of Captain Haddock. My wife managed to catch the Tapir in action, which I edited professionally and had submitted for the Academy Awards. In fact Sujata has been approached by BBC to assist Sir David in making Planet Earth 3 !!

Here is a video of the Tapir eating his breakfast usng his long nose. We saw this Tapir thrice . First time it was enjoying its siesta and was not bothered by us at all and then the next morning again and again in the night when he came grazing in front of the camp. You are practically guaranteed a Tapir sighting in Corcovado.

https://youtu.be/Abm7cmv_P_A

Siesta time

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The attractive backside : it was a male

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And a blast from the past

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Edited by Chakra
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To #107--you warmed up to the mattresses it appears. If you had not been able to get your second night, the result would have been much worse than those mattresses. Glad that worked out. I'd be mad too.

 

Stunning aerial shot, and then the scarlet macaws! Is that 15-minute flight to La Sirena ranger station a scheduled flight?

 

Broccoli is a good description!

 

Watermelon and pineapple--great ideas.

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@@Atravelynn no, it was a chartered flight for us and Nito, 400 Dollars each leg , so not a cheap option but was very convenient and more importantly time saving. There is no scheduled flight into Corcovado.

I actually managed to have some sleep despite the thin mattresses, heat and close proximity of others. But I think two nights is the limit.

The Broccoli is borrowed from the local guides. The primary rainforest is so dense that from top it does look like green Broccoli?

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Tapir - strike! Also loved Tintin (and still do). :-)

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Just catching up on your interesting, informative and entertaining report @@Chakra. I'm really enjoying the extra details you provide, it certainly helps understand your experience. I'm hoping to get to CR sometime soon, since its relatively close for me. Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to go to Sirena, my wife expects a certain level of comfort while traveling (ok, I'll admit I don't complain), and I can just imagine the trouble I'd be in if i brought her there. Haha.

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Tapir - strike! Also loved Tintin (and still do). :-)

We probably are of same age group. My kids were not that interested in Tintin sadly ??

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The shell looks fabulous! Did you brought it home, @@Chakra ?

No Amigo, I firmly believe in bringing back only the memories and leaving only the footprints. But I carried plenty of volcanic sand inside my ear canal all the way to England, to that extent that they needed removal with micro-suction ???

Edited by Chakra
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Just catching up on your interesting, informative and entertaining report @@Chakra. I'm really enjoying the extra details you provide, it certainly helps understand your experience. I'm hoping to get to CR sometime soon, since its relatively close for me. Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to go to Sirena, my wife expects a certain level of comfort while traveling (ok, I'll admit I don't complain), and I can just imagine the trouble I'd be in if i brought her there. Haha.

Thanks for the appreciation. I suggest you do not give your wife any prior warning. Once she is there she can't escape and after couple of nights she'll forgive you ??
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We started our hike and within 10 minutes my hiking boots were completely wet as we had to cross a small stream where water was above ankle level. Those boots did not dry for 3 days.


All the guides use the knee length rubber boots, "Wellington boots or Wellies" to us in UK. I did consider using those and in fact on second day did use a pair available in the station. But if you are not used to hiking for long hours in those, then they can be uncomfortable. But for short hikes they were fine. Thankfully I had three pairs of socks so at least the socks could be changed at the end of the day.



I hope you remember my moaning about La Selva and bat viewing where I had to wait in a queue to see the bats hidden inside a banana leaf , which took me nearly 20 minutes. And I did not even get a decent photo. Here the situation was completely different. Nito kept on gently pressing the banana leafs to feel for any movement and Hey Presto. within just five minutes he had located one. No queue. I had a good look at them. They looked back at me. Impossibly cute. I do not know why people are scared of bats.


Photography was as usual difficult because of darkness. I do not like blinding little ones with flash. So I asked Nito's and the bats' permission. Everyone agreed and I took a photo with my sony which had turned out quite well.



Here they are : Piggy-batting




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I once again found them, but this time adult ones stuck to the tree trunks



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I have always been fascinated with the blue Morphs butterfly and the amazing phenomenon of iridescent lamella on their wings. The Electric Blue colour is not due to any pigments but due to iridiscence of light falling on them and giving the impression of these colours. Nito actually managed to catch one and show me up, close and personal how it looked like. Amazingly mesmerising colour with changing colour, which no camera can capture. Nito continued to amaze me as well.


No butterfly was harmed during this phto shooting !



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Some colourful fungi




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Any idea my learned friends, what are these ? Fungi ?




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Boots gone !!



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Thank God , I was not going for this hike !!



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Another river. But my boots are already soaking wet !! So, no worries.




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Looks like, we are not the only one who was looking for sun to dry some important accessories. Truly Majestic !!



Sun bathing beauty



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I'm holding my breath!

 

@@Livetowander : you can breathe again. I have arrived :D :D

 

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Your wife and daughters deserve a medal each! Well done all of you for following in the great Davina's footsteps! Edited by penolva
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Just catching up on your interesting, informative and entertaining report @@Chakra. I'm really enjoying the extra details you provide, it certainly helps understand your experience. I'm hoping to get to CR sometime soon, since its relatively close for me. Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to go to Sirena, my wife expects a certain level of comfort while traveling (ok, I'll admit I don't complain), and I can just imagine the trouble I'd be in if i brought her there. Haha.

Thanks for the appreciation. I suggest you do not give your wife any prior warning. Once she is there she can't escape and after couple of nights she'll forgive you

 

 

Obviously you don't know my wife @@Chakra, that would not be a popular move on my part. :)

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Just catching up on your interesting, informative and entertaining report @@Chakra. I'm really enjoying the extra details you provide, it certainly helps understand your experience. I'm hoping to get to CR sometime soon, since its relatively close for me. Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to go to Sirena, my wife expects a certain level of comfort while traveling (ok, I'll admit I don't complain), and I can just imagine the trouble I'd be in if i brought her there. Haha.

Thanks for the appreciation. I suggest you do not give your wife any prior warning. Once she is there she can't escape and after couple of nights she'll forgive you

 

 

Obviously you don't know my wife @@Chakra, that would not be a popular move on my part. :)

 

 

@@Zubbie15 , I am sure that a couple of nights at Bosque del Cabo would smooth your relationship back to normal :wub: .

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