After a successful journey through the beautiful Panama, our morning found the National Geographic Sea Lion at the port of Golfito, where we cleared paperwork to officially enter Costa Rica.
We could not have had a better welcome to the nation, spending the day at a geologically unique region of the world, the Golfo Dulce. Compared by many to fjords due to its geomorphology, this spectacular gulf reaches depths of up to 200 meters (over 600 feet) and is actually the result of a structural control determined by the seismic activity and faults formed throughout the geological history of Costa Rica and the interaction of Coco’s and Caribbean plates.
Our morning activity was a visit to Casa Orquídeas, an outstanding botanical garden owned by Truddy and Ron McAllister. This sweet couple has been in the region for over 25 years and they created this amazing site where we appreciated the beauty of the tropical plants such as orchids, heliconias, gingers, pineapple, papaya, star fruit and even cocoa trees – known all over the world and native to tropical America.
We walked around and exchanged knowledge about the use and medicinal properties of many of the species seen in the gardens.
The place is so enchanting, that it wasn’t only plants, flowers and trees we saw. As a matter of fact, our first sighting was scarlet macaws in flight. Their name suggests how attractive they are. Black mandibled toucans, cherrie’s tanagers, king vultures, white hawk and several beautiful birds showed up during our visit.
We returned to the vessel and repositioned close to Río Tigre. Some of us chose to work out our upper body by exploring the mangroves in kayaks, other ones chose expedition landing craft cruises. A group of perched Roseate spoonbills were the highlight of the afternoon. The spectacular pink birds feed on crustaceans by scooping in low tide for them. White ibis, whimbrels, ringed kingfishers among other species of birds and even two toed sloths enhanced our first day in Costa Rica.
As a great closing of the day, Isabel shared a very interesting lecture about Primates. We all learned a lot and enjoyed. Our day ended just before departing to our next destination.
