Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica
We woke up this morning navigating toward a beautiful cove with a long sandy beach draped by a green lush tropical rain forest. This was the first view we had of Manuel Antonio National Park. This Park is considered by many one of the crown jewels of the conservation areas of Costa Rica; not only because of its beautiful scenery, but also for being one of the best places in the country to observe wildlife up close. Monkeys, sloths, coatis, agouties and others can almost be guaranteed when one visits this park. There is a very important reason as to why this is so. Manuel Antonio is the smallest national park in the country, so small that big animals such tapirs, jaguars, or eagles can not make a living within its boundaries. Some of these animals are what people would consider “alpha predators” which in normal conditions keep control of the population growth of medium size animals; consequently medium size animals are found in a demographic explosion in the park, which makes them easy to spot. Today was the living proof of it! As we walked through the trails either in the morning or the afternoon, we saw white-throated-capuchin monkeys, white-nose coatis, Central American agouties, crab-eating raccoon, two-toed sloths, three-toed sloths, woodpeckers, flycatchers, and more.
This morning in addition some of us took the opportunity of going on a zip line through the canopy! This is more of an adrenaline rush than anything else, but very enjoyable indeed. All through the day we could also enjoy the tropical sun on the beautiful white-sand beach and take our last chance to have a swim in the warm Pacific Ocean.
We woke up this morning navigating toward a beautiful cove with a long sandy beach draped by a green lush tropical rain forest. This was the first view we had of Manuel Antonio National Park. This Park is considered by many one of the crown jewels of the conservation areas of Costa Rica; not only because of its beautiful scenery, but also for being one of the best places in the country to observe wildlife up close. Monkeys, sloths, coatis, agouties and others can almost be guaranteed when one visits this park. There is a very important reason as to why this is so. Manuel Antonio is the smallest national park in the country, so small that big animals such tapirs, jaguars, or eagles can not make a living within its boundaries. Some of these animals are what people would consider “alpha predators” which in normal conditions keep control of the population growth of medium size animals; consequently medium size animals are found in a demographic explosion in the park, which makes them easy to spot. Today was the living proof of it! As we walked through the trails either in the morning or the afternoon, we saw white-throated-capuchin monkeys, white-nose coatis, Central American agouties, crab-eating raccoon, two-toed sloths, three-toed sloths, woodpeckers, flycatchers, and more.
This morning in addition some of us took the opportunity of going on a zip line through the canopy! This is more of an adrenaline rush than anything else, but very enjoyable indeed. All through the day we could also enjoy the tropical sun on the beautiful white-sand beach and take our last chance to have a swim in the warm Pacific Ocean.
