Corcovado Adventure Part III: Corcovado

PART III: Corcovado National Park

We woke up at 5:30am and met our tour group at 6.  It's important to get an early start because not only will it get unbearably hot, but most animals take mid-morning naps.  An early start is the best way to maximize your experience.  We packed small snacks, two huge bottles of water (so as not to have a repeat of Cabo Blanco), bug spray (important!), sunscreen, my inhaler and some first aid stuff.  It would have been a good idea to pack a plastic bag because you can't leave any garbage in Corcovado.  They have NO garbage cans.  Any garbage you accumulate, you have to bring back with you.
They provided us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and apple and a juice box (I had elementary school flashbacks) and we were off to catch a boat to Corcovado.  Again, the beach boarding was rough, we had to take our shoes off and I got wet up to my butt (not pleasant).  We took some pics from the boat because although the ride was really rough, it was super beautiful.

I took this for my brother (his name is Narayan, pronounced Na-ryan), so this reminded me of him:

Once we got to the beach in Corcovado (about an hour), we had another rough beach landing and then had to try to dry our wet, sandy feet while crouching over a tree-stump in order to get our shoes on and start our hike.  Not the best way to start a long day of walking, with wet, sandy feet and salty pants, but I was excited and ready!

This is where everyone was trying to reassemble themselves after the rocky ride.  This kid was having a rough day:

Aaron and I couldn't stop laughing (I know that's mean), but this kid was like 12 and he was acting like he was 5.  It ain't gonna get any better from here, kid.

Then we met up with our group (there were 7 of us total and besides us, everyone else was French) and got our hike on.  Some parts of Corcovado look more like a jungle and some parts look more like a forest.  There were usually pretty clear paths and we had a guide leading us the whole time, so no worries about getting lost.  They recently made a rule that to visit Corcovado you must have a guide because the park can be pretty dangerous without one.  It would be quite easy to get lost, not to mention there are many dangerous, poisonous creatures lurking in the shadows or under leaves, just waiting for an unassuming human to get too close.  It was important we not only stay with the guide, but also that we follow his path and not touch anything.  Got all that??  Now, let's see Corcovado!

Right off the bat, we saw monkeys swinging from trees (I think they were spider monkeys):

So, our guide, Joaquin, told us the species of everything, the origins, history and really fun anecdotes.  I barely remember ANY of that shit.  I was just so happy to be there and there was so much to take in, that half the time I could barely even pay attention to what he was saying.  Of course, I regret that now, but it is what it is.  I know, I suck.  I'll try to do my best to remember...no promises.  I know, I suck.

It's simply amazing to see animals in their natural habitat.  We've all seen monkeys at the zoo, but seeing them here was a whole different ball game.  They were wild and free and happy.  It was exhilarating.  Then Joaquin (who was incredible at spotting wildlife), put down his telescope and pointed it at this giant bird (I can't remember the name, sorry).  We all got to take a peek and he even took my phone and put it up to the telescope and took a picture for me.

 Pretty cool, huh?  Then we kept on walking.  I took all kinds of random pictures of plants, no idea what any of them are, but they look pretty interesting.

Giant spider web (I couldn't get a clear picture of the spider, but it was gigantic, of course):

The web was thick like fishing line.  Crazy.

Joaquin pointed out this plant that grows long, tiny green buds and said they're a type of avocado that monkeys just love:

Looks like a cucumber with a tomato on top.  

This plant only grows leaves on one side of it's stem, so it looks like a staircase:

Tiny lizard, so fast I barely got a picture:

A dead butterfly.  RIP little guy:

These were everywhere, there were times when I would look up and just see tons of them flying by.  Incredible.

The ants here are so big, they look like spiders..my worst nightmare realized.

This tree grew furry limbs and left little tufts of fur scattered across the ground:

Crazy.

We heard a rustling and saw a giant hog coming towards us.  It was a peccary.

Under normal circumstances, I'd be terrified to see ANY of these creatures, but today I was fascinated by everything.  I tried to get as close to everything as I possibly could, without touching.  The fear in me was momentarily replaced with star-struck wonder.  

We saw more monkeys (howlers):

I know it's hard to see, but they were so fast that it was hard to get a good shot.  Lucky for you, Joaquin made sure I got my shot:

OMFG!  Crazy.

The brown, leaf-looking thing perched on the branch is a butterfly.  

We even saw some that were as big as my hand.  Unbelievable.

We learned from Joaquin that these are termite nests.  They were all over and by far the biggest I've ever seen.

Joaquin said you can eat the tree termites, but not the ground ones.  I think I'll just avoid eating ALL termites, just to be safe.

Then we arrived at a clearing and we were told it was Sirena Station, where we had to sign in and we got a 20 minute break. 

While in the clearing, we saw both scarlet macaws and toucans fly overhead.  Way too fast to snap a picture, but the toucans were the most amazing birds I've ever seen!  They really do look like Toucan Sam from Froot Loops!  Crazy.

That was a scarlet macaw (a parrot), but you can't tell from looking at it.  Sorry.

At Sirena Station, they have lots of cool artifacts and skeletons of animals found in Corcovado:

Let's take a closer look.  Ohhh skulls:

Monkey:

Shells:

I see a few jaw bones and maybe a pelvis:

Hey, handsomes!

Whale bones?

Turtle shell:

Crikey!  A croc:

Footprints:

Lots of people choose to get to Sirena and camp, so they can either do night tours or just spend more than one day here (both good options):

That room was full of tents, like a full-blown shanty town.  Right smack in the center of they're ramshackle abode, look what we found:

Those are two different spiders, by the way, and I got right in their faces and snapped pictures.  It's Renegade Sharmeela today!  Watch out, bitches.

Then we got back on the trail and kept going.  

Elephant Ear leaves:

They're huge.

Peccory tracks...we're getting close!

Can you spot the lizard?  This one's a toughie.

Another dead butterfly:

This is a certain type of cashew plant, not edible for humans;:

Another beautiful bird:

It's about 11am now and it's starting to get hot!  Keep going!!

This tree is called a Naked Indian (Hey, don't look at me, I didn't make it up):

It sheds it's bark every so often to rid itself of parasites.  The skin is paper thin:

Tiny bamboo:

The most dangerous creature we saw was this snake:

I have no idea how Joaquin saw it because it was hiding in this tree.  He wouldn't let any of us get too close because it's very poisonous, so he took pictures for all of us.  Joaquin was awesome!  Later we looked in a Corcovado wildlife book and found it:

It's the Eyelash Palm Pitviper.  If it strikes, I guess you slowly pass out and never wake up!  Joaquin said you have about 4 hours to live.  CRAZY.

Keep going:

Spiky tree:

Then we got to Rio Sirena, where crocodiles roam free (we didn't see any):

Everywhere we walked, this is what the ground looked like:

Little pink flower petals everywhere.  Crazy.

We got a lead on a tapir from another guide, so Joaquin took us deep into the jungle to find it:

It was napping, so I snapped a couple quick pics from behind:

It might not look like much, but this is rare to see anywhere else in the world.  Tapirs are an endangered species.  Crazy.

Sweaty couple shot:

We also spotted a white-nosed coati:

It kinda looked like an anteater, but with a super long tail.

More birds:

This was a super duper poisonous caterpillar we found on the bottom of a leaf.  Touch it and you will be sorry:

I got right up in its face too.  Sharmeela's going rogue!  CRAZY...

This strange hollow branch had tons of tiny bees coming out of it: 

No idea what to make of it.

Two owls snoozing the day away:

Then we saw more monkeys, howlers again.  They were LOUD!  We could hear them through the entire jungle, just howling away (they're such whiners).  They were throwing these at us:

No idea what they are, but one hit me in the head and it did hurt!  Damn monkeys!

Joaquin busted out the telescope and hooked it up!

Super cute!  Although they're little jerks because they get a kick out of peeing and pooing on the people down below.  So whenever they would climb right above us we had to move before we got crapped on.  

We only saw one sloth (3-toed) and it wasn't facing us, so it just looks like a big furball:

Still pretty adorable though.  I want one!

I know I keep talking about Joaquin and his telescope, so I snapped a picture, so you could see what it looked like.  All the guides carry them and the tour wouldn't be half as good without it.

These guides really know what they're doing.  They are ICT-certified, basically meaning they're legit.  They go to school for a long time to become qualified guides and most speak a few different languages to communicate with tourists.  It really made the experience well worth the money (not to mention we had no choice but to go with a guide anyway).  If we'd gone alone, we probably wouldn't have spotted much, plus I'm pretty sure the Pitviper would've gotten to me somehow (it was looking at me funny).

We finally found the peccary family (large family, at least 8).

Most weren't fazed by us at all, but the babies were getting a little spooked.  We were able to get really close though, which was so much fun.  They're like potbellied pigs, snorting and scrounging for food.  Frickin cute!  I want one of those too!  We need to get a zoo or a farm or something when we get home.

The tour ended around 12:30pm, so we got a good 5 hours of hiking in.  It was an incredible experience and if you ever get the chance to come to Costa Rica, try to come down and see Corcovado.  It does take quite a bit of effort, but it's so worth it, every minute and every dime we spent was completely justified in the end.  Try not to judge it by my horrible pictures, it was the best thing I've done in Costa Rica so far.  

Now we're back at the beach where we entered and we got all the fixings to assemble our own sandwiches, as well as some Spanish rice and fruit.  Not super fancy, but it totally hit the spot because we were starving! 

We noticed all the rocks near our feet moving and we realized they were ALL hermit crabs:

Every tiny rock you see was a moving hermit crab:

There were hundreds of them (I'm sure I accidentally stepped on a few...oops!).

After eating we tripped around on the beach awhile.  The tide was super low, so the rock underneath (where we entered this morning) was exposed.  

Apparently at one point, lava flowed over this land, making the earth all pot-marked.  Super neat.  Even neater, the potholes made excellent tide-pools with tiny creatures living inside them!

Crab:

Hermit crabs in their shells:

Cool rock:

I was trying to collect shells and the most unique ones were already taken by hermit crabs!

Even the beach at Corcovado is teaming with wildlife!  View of the shore from the ocean-side:

Around 1:30pm, it was back on the boat to Drake Bay.  All the boats we've been on have this sticker:

It's about protecting marine life and practicing responsibility while promoting tourism.  There are a few really good organizations to protect the wildlife and rain forests in the area.  I'm all for it!

Back at Drake Bay, we saw (and heard...they're loud!) a bunch of scarlet macaws in a tree:

We hit the beach for a dip and met some nice people from Alberta, Canada.  We also made a friend:

Then we watched the sunset at this little overlook:

and chilled in the hammocks for a bit:

Turns out the Alberta, Canada people were staying at Martina's as well!  What a small town (well we knew that already).  The son really liked bugs, in fact, they were going on a bug night tour to find all kinds of creepy crawlies (no thank you!).  He showed us this giant beetle he had found:

Crazy.

Then we went for a nice dinner.  I got a chicken with this amazing white cheese sauce (hey, I hiked for 5 hours today!):

Aaron had rice with chicken:

He was less impressed.  The place was very quaint.

Check out the moon:

Well, if you made it this far, congratulations!  You basically traveled to Corcovado and back without having to break a sweat!  Double congratulations! 

On Friday morning, we got up early and caught the taxi boat back to Sierpe:

Then we got back on the bus and it took us straight to Jaco.  We got home around 2:30pm and couldn't get enough of our comfy bed and air conditioning.  Ahh, what an adventure it's been...

I found this on Pinterest:

Yipee!  I love it!