Manuel Antonio National Park & Curu Wildlife Refuge
Our adventure could not have come to an end at a better place: Manuel Antonio National Park. This area was declared a national park in 1972, and since then, has almost doubled its size to 1625 hectares. One of the most visited areas in the national park system, Manuel Antonio owes its popularity to its beautiful forest-backed tropical beaches, dramatic rocky headlines with fantastic ocean views, prolific wildlife and a nicely maintained network of trails. Most of us chose to take the easy trail today. The trail called the “Sloth Valley Trail” certainly lived up to its name today, as we spotted eight individual sloths! The two-toed and the three-toed sloths greeted us into their domain. Once back onto the white-sand beaches, we decided to cool off in the fantastic surf. We found it very difficult to tear ourselves off of the refreshing blue waters, but off we went to our next destination.
Curu Wildlife Refuge, a small 70 hectare refuge, is at the eastern end of the Nicoya Peninsula. Privately owned by the Schutt family, despite its small size the area holds a great variety of habitats: deciduous and semi-deciduous forests, mangrove swamps, beaches, and rocky headlands. On shore it was hard not to notice the differences between this forest and the ones we had seen so far. Dryness!! Coolness!! Grays and browns and leafless trees!! Inside the seasonally deciduous forest it is hard to remember we are in the tropics. Not to mention the abundance of wildlife: both howler and white-throated capuchin monkeys, ctenosaurs or spiny tailed iguanas, Jesus Christ lizards, and a grand array of bird species bid our trip good bye.
May our paths meet again!
Our adventure could not have come to an end at a better place: Manuel Antonio National Park. This area was declared a national park in 1972, and since then, has almost doubled its size to 1625 hectares. One of the most visited areas in the national park system, Manuel Antonio owes its popularity to its beautiful forest-backed tropical beaches, dramatic rocky headlines with fantastic ocean views, prolific wildlife and a nicely maintained network of trails. Most of us chose to take the easy trail today. The trail called the “Sloth Valley Trail” certainly lived up to its name today, as we spotted eight individual sloths! The two-toed and the three-toed sloths greeted us into their domain. Once back onto the white-sand beaches, we decided to cool off in the fantastic surf. We found it very difficult to tear ourselves off of the refreshing blue waters, but off we went to our next destination.
Curu Wildlife Refuge, a small 70 hectare refuge, is at the eastern end of the Nicoya Peninsula. Privately owned by the Schutt family, despite its small size the area holds a great variety of habitats: deciduous and semi-deciduous forests, mangrove swamps, beaches, and rocky headlands. On shore it was hard not to notice the differences between this forest and the ones we had seen so far. Dryness!! Coolness!! Grays and browns and leafless trees!! Inside the seasonally deciduous forest it is hard to remember we are in the tropics. Not to mention the abundance of wildlife: both howler and white-throated capuchin monkeys, ctenosaurs or spiny tailed iguanas, Jesus Christ lizards, and a grand array of bird species bid our trip good bye.
May our paths meet again!
