Our Jungle Adventure

Geri at our tent

We began our southern excursion about dawn on Geri’s birthday.  The ultimate destination:  the Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula at the edge of the Pacific Ocean just above Panama.  National Geographic has called this rain forest consisting of nearly 300 square miles “the most biologically intense place on earth“.  Our home for the ensuing five nights was the Corcovado Adventures Luxury Tent Camp.

Now, admittedly, the term ’luxury’ juxtaposed to ’tent camp’ sounds a whole lot like an oxymoron, but in this case, there is a scintilla of truth to the implication.  The setup consists of a wooden platform about 2’ off the ground, upon which sits a 12’x12’ tent containing comfortable beds on individual platforms.  The deck extends beyond the front of the tent to provide space for a table and chairs while the whole enchilada is sheltered by a 20’ tall canvas covered A-frame to protect the tent from rain and sun.  The ‘luxury’ part derives from the fact that the tent is swept clean each morning by a caretaker and the comfortable cotton sheets are changed daily while the visitors enjoy 3 delicious meals a day.  So there.  Not such an incongruous use of terms after all.

The Ocean kisses the toes of the Jungle

On the tropical Osa Peninsula, the jungle meets the ocean just above the high tide line.  There are slivers of sandy beaches all along the coast interrupted by mounds of volcanic rock that bubbled from the earth thousands of years ago.  Since there are no roads in this area, the only access is by boat or small charter plane which can land on a cleared grass strip at one of the ranger stations in the park.

One navigates the jungle via well worn paths barely wide enough to put one foot in front of the other.  A “main” path runs parallel to the beach just 20 to 100 feet inland. The tent camp property borders the beach but is entrenched in the wilderness so the night time jungle music produced by thousands of animal, reptile and insect inhabitants can be incredibly loud in combination with the rhythmic roar of the ocean’s waves just a few yards away.

Macaws kiss & make up after a fight

The daytime adventures were so fraught with sensory bombardment it is difficult to convert the experience to words.  Meeting the wildlife in their natural habitat, up close and in person, provoked reactions ranging from excited to awestruck to comical.  It was always exciting to see Scarlet Macaws and Toucans disguised as a streak of primary colors soaring through the air then landing overhead in an almond tree while announcing their arrival with ear splitting squawks.  And we were awestruck upon encountering a Tapir and a Jaguar on the trail as they each regarded us cautiously before slinking off into the privacy of the path-side flora.  But it was the several varieties of monkeys that were the comedians, throwing pieces of fruit at us and at our tents.  As we hiked and strolled along the paths and beaches, it seemed that the animals we met were almost as curious to see us as we were to see them.  The main difference…..we had cameras and they didn’t.

White Face Monkeys look on curiously

Asleep by 9:00 p.m. and awake by 5 a.m. we never knew what surprises each day would bring.  Whether hiking through the jungle from beach to beach, snorkeling off the shores of Cano Island, catching Spanish Mackerel while trolling the sea, or body surfing in the warm waters of the southern Pacific, every moment came wrapped in novelty, presented in Technicolor, and enhanced with high-definition sound giving new meaning to “the real deal”.

For me, the highlight of all surprises was putt-putting alongside a mother whale and her baby as they lolled lazily southward in search of even warmer waters..  The six of us in our little 20’ boat were close enough we could have practically reached out and caressed this mammoth animal who exhaled mightily through her blowhole each time she surfaced for a gulp of air.  The enormity of this peaceful beast can scarcely be described and the opportunity to share in her journey was very likely an experience we will never repeat in our lifetimes.

Our Campsite

While there are many subsets of stories related to some of the charming and fascinating people we met of both the local and visitor categories, my efforts to confine these individual blogs to a reasonable length forces me to leave some stories untold and others postponed to a later date.  You can find those upcoming blogs as well as previously archived segments at:  http://moorecostaricathoughts.blogspot.com/

And for the benefit of the curious, I am including the web site for the hosts of our adventure.  It’s just a click away at http://www.corcovado.com/  .  I’ll leave you with the photo below in which Geri caught a small troup of white face monkeys having a conference at the base of a tree near one of our beaches.  Adios until next time.

The Monkey Creed: "JUST SAY NO" to humans who want to join their party!