If you are interested in Wild Life, Costa Rica is the place to go. There are several preserves. Two we visited were the Manuel Antoniop National Park and the Curú Wildlife Preserve.
Manuel Antonio National Park
This park contains rain forest, beaches, and coral reefs. It is home to ore than 109 species of mammals, 184 species of birds, and various reptiles and amphibians. We had to tender to shore and wade to the beach before our hike. We broke into groups of ten with a naturalist as a guide. Our guide carried a telescope to find and observe the wildlife. We had a three-hour hike through the rainforest. We saw colorful toucans, screeching howler monkeys, iguanas, squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and my favorite, the sloth. It was a fabulous and informative hike.
After this wonderful experience, we headed up the coast to Puntarenas for more nature viewing. Curú Reserve
Curú Wildlife Refuge
The Curú Wildlife Refuge, a privately owned and managed nature preserve, sits all the way out on the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula in the province of North Puntarenas. Here there are 3,707 acres of tropical forests, mangrove swamps, and grassy fields sitting right along the coastline. The refuge even has its own 656-foot stretch of white sandy beach. The refuge encompasses five distinctive untouched habitats. To date, researchers have identified: 78 separate species of mammals, 87 species of reptiles, 232 different types of birds, and over 500 species of plant life. We saw white-tail deer, armadillos, iguanas along the trails as well as several varieties of monkeys. Our guide was so knowledgeable. Probably the worst thing I saw was a rope of termites. There were several we encountered.
Dolphin and Whale Watching
While we were on the coast on the Nicoya Peninsula, we spent an afternoon on a Dolphin and Whale watching tour. We spoted humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins, and spinner dolphins.
Leave a Reply