Casa Orquideas & Golfito, Costa Rica
Very early this morning the National Geographic Sea Lion entered quietly into the peaceful waters of the Golfo Dulce in the southernmost tip of the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Today, on our last day in Costa Rica, we are visiting Casa Orquideas botanical garden, a beautiful exhibit of tropical flowers and birds that was created by Ron and Trudy McAllister, two American expatriates, who have made this remote part of the world their home for the last 32 years.
The easy walks on the beautifully trimmed gardens and pebbly beach are truly a joy for the eyes and soul. As we eagerly disembarked from our Zodiacs we were cheerfully welcomed by brightly colored and loud scarlet macaws flying constantly overhead. Macaws are truly great ambassadors of the immense diversity and color of the tropical avifauna; these large parrots go throughout their lives making sure (at least it would seem so!) that they truly don’t go unnoticed! The gardens where great! So many plants and birds of different kinds, a showcase of the high numbers of species that is so representative of the tropics.
After the morning walks and as the sun positioned itself higher above our heads, the rising temperature made it an ideal moment for refreshing ourselves taking a dip into the calm waters of the bay; all in preparation for a well earned lunch.
For our afternoon activities the National Geographic Sea Lion repositioned to the nearby peaceful port of Golfito to touch base, and to do the necessary immigration paper work before leaving Costa Rica and head into Panama. Golfito is a very remote port town in a beautiful setting surrounded by lush forested hills. Once the “banana capital” of Costa Rica, in 1938 the United Fruit Company established extensive banana plantations in the area until 1985 when they moved out and closed operations in Golfito. Today this town is an important local tourism site as Costa Ricans come here attracted by its duty-free zone.
So our afternoon consisted of visiting the lush forest edge of the bay by Zodiac or under our own power by kayak to enjoy the scenery and look for wildlife. Among some of the things observed this afternoon it is worth mentioning the important mangrove ecosystem with some of its typical birds like spotted sandpipers, snowy egrets, white ibis, great egrets, ruddy turnstones, green herons, tricolored herons, and great looks at troops of mantled howler and white faced capuchin monkeys.
This was our well-spent last great day at the lush forests of Costa Rica; tomorrow we will awaken in a new country: Panama! With its very many islands with gorgeous white sand beaches and in preparation for our grand finale! The Panama Canal!
