Osa Days

We went by boat.

There were scarlet macaws, trogons, and toucans. There were tapirs, a sea snake, and peccaries so close you had to hold your nose. There were dolphins, false killer whales, and barracudas. There were more monkeys than we could count—squirrel, spider, white-faced Capuchins, and howlers.  At breakfast this morning, someone said, “Hey, there’s monkeys,” and some didn’t even bother to look up from their gallo pinto. Who could blame them after a monkey was caught hanging from the gutter looking into one of the girls’ cabins just two days ago? Junior Kristen Pedersen described the peeping monkey, saying, “He hung over like this and looked at me!” and dangled her head upside down.

The Osa Peninsula delivered.

Living up to its reputation as one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, wildlife spotting became part of our routine the past three days on Costa Rica’s southwestern tip—a place so remote that few visitors get to travel there.

Still, getting there is half the fun. A 45-minute boat ride through Central America’s largest mangrove swamp, our tiny boats were suddenly met by the rolling waves of the eastern Pacific. From the delta, it’s another 45-minutes by boat through open sea to Poor Man’s Paradise. From the boat, our students saw the wild land. Sea caves, sea tunnels, and a waterfall that fell straight into the sea.

After a long travel day, we’re back to civilization. And, maybe too soon. Near the San Jose airport now, where advertisements point the way to Hooter’s, Denny’s, and the Holiday Inn Express, the wildness of the Osa Peninsula seems very far away indeed.